Dato' Seri Stephen Yeap Leong Huat
Chairman, Heng Lee Group of Companies
A prominent banker, company director, philanthropist and trustee of the Yeap Chor Ee Charitable Trust and former chairman of the Wawasan Education Foundation.
Executive Chairman of Heng Lee & Company Sdn Bhd, a Penang-based group with diversified interests in education, property development, investment holding, sports complex operations, credit financing, warehousing and investments.
Dato’ Seri Stephen is the Chairman of Wawasan Open University Sdn Bhd and Deputy Chairman of Wawasan Education Foundation, an established not-for-profit education foundation based in Penang. He is also the Founder and Executive Advisor to the Penang Chinese Clan Council.
Previous directorships in public listed companies included CIMB Bank and Island & Peninsular Bhd.
Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon
Chairman, Board of Governors, Wawasan Open University
With a first degree in physics from Princeton, Dr Koh received his MA and PhD in comparative education from the University of Chicago and was later a Fulbright Scholar in Stanford University. He started his career as a lecturer in the School of Educational Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 1975 and became a Deputy Dean in 1978.
He ventured into politics in 1982 by joining Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia and was elected as a Member of Parliament. In 1986, he was appointed as the political secretary to Dr Lim Chong Eu, the second Chief Minister of Penang.
He subsequently succeeded Dr Lim in 1990, serving until 2008. He drove Penang’s industrial transformation towards high-tech, high value-add, development and design; and promoted education, sports, skills training, youth development and caring society. He also prepared George Town for the UNESCO World Heritage Listing which was successfully inscribed in 2008. Later, he served as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of national unity and performance management (2009 – 2013).
He is presently also the Chairman of the Wawasan Education Foundation (since 2013). He served as WOU’s Pro-Chancellor from September 2012 to December 2018, and was appointed as WOU’s Board of Governors Chairman in March 2017.
Ms Janice Yeap Liew Kee (Alternate Director to DS Yeap Leong Huat)
Chief Executve Officer, Heng Lee Group of Companies
She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Heng Lee Group of Companies, a position she has held since 2018.
She has extensive experiences in the financial services sector that include being the former Director of Private Equity at CIMB Investment Bank and before that she was the Director of Group Strategy at the same bank. She has also served as Vice President of Group Insurance at CIMB Bank, and Senior Manager of Southern Bank Berhad.
She holds a Bachelor of Finance from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
Tan Sri Andrew Sheng Len Tao
Chairman, George Town Institute of Open and Advanced Studies, Wawasan Open University
Tan Sri Sheng is a former central banker and securities regulator. He is currently the Chairman of WOU’s George Town Institute of Open and Advanced Studies (GIOAS), a Professor of Practice at WOU’s School of Business and Administration (SBA), a Distinguished Fellow of Asia Global Institute, the University of Hong Kong, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute for Capital Market Research Malaysia (ICMR). He writes columns for Project Syndicate, AsiaNewsNet that includes South China Morning Post, The Star and various papers across Asia. He also writes for Caijing Magazine and Caixin Magazine in China. His books include From Asia to Global Finance Crisis (Cambridge University Press) and Shadow Banking in China (Wiley).
He is on the international advisory panels of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), China Investment Corporation (CIC), China Development Bank (CDB), and China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Thailand Development Research Institute, as well as one of the trustees of the Bank Indonesia Institute.
He was former Assistant Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Senior Manager at World Bank, Deputy Chief Executive of Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Chairman of Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. He was previously independent non-executive director of Sime Darby Berhad and Khazanah Nasional Berhad. He previously served on the Governing Council of the International Centre for the Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), and was a Tun Ismail Mohd Ali Visiting Professor at Universiti Malaya (UM). He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, and UM’s Faculty of Economics, Kuala Lumpur. He was also Pro-Chancellor of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UniRazak) till 2017. He is currently Pro-Chancellor, University of Bristol.
A chartered accountant by training, he holds a first class honours degree in Economics and Honorary Doctorates of Law from the University of Bristol, UK, and Universiti Malaya.
Professor Dr Lily Chan
Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor, Wawasan Open University
Professor Chan has over 30 years of leadership experience in the triple helix sphere of academia, industry and government, from initiating start-ups and venture investments, to creating innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
She is well-equipped to lead and transform the open distance learning (ODL) initiatives at Wawasan Open University (WOU). She is passionate about developing an education framework for those who have missed the opportunity for tertiary education, as well as continuing education for working professionals to meet the needs of industry in an affordable, flexible and accessible format.
Prior to joining WOU in May 2019, she served as the Chief Executive of NUS Enterprise at the National University of Singapore (NUS) for 13 years, where she nurtured hundreds of tech startups and help built a successful higher education entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Before NUS, she had been the Managing Director, Investments, of Bio*O Capital Pte Ltd, and General Manager (Singapore) and Director of Product Development (USA) for Genelabs Diagnostics Pte Ltd Singapore.
In 2018, for her immense contributions, she was honoured with the Public Administration Medal (Silver) at the Singapore National Day Awards ceremony.
She holds a PhD (Microbiology & Immunology) from the University of Illinois, Chicago, which she pursued under full scholarship, and a BA (Hons) in Biology from Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, Georgia.
Mr Hew Thin Chay
Chief Operations Officer, Wawasan Open University
Mr Hew has vast experience in strategic and operational finance. He has held several leadership positions, including as the Chief Executive Officer of Nomad Group Bhd (2006-2009). He was also a Director at Ho Hup Construction Company Bhd and Avillion Bhd; an Accountant at Coopers & Lybrand; a Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young; and the Managing Director of Park May Bhd.
He is the founder of Red Seed Sdn Bhd, a management consulting firm focused on solving strategic, operational and financial concerns for top management and entrepreneurs in the Asean region, and implementing the solutions.
He is a fully certified Chartered Accountant registered with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA); a Certified Public Accountant member of the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA); and a Fellow Certified Practising Accountant (FCPS) of CPA Australia.
Dato’ Seri Chet Singh a/l Karam Singh
Director, Penang Institute
Ms Annie Khor Seow Keow
Former Chief Information Officer, Schenker Logistics (M) Sdn Bhd
Holds a Master in Business Administration (Information Systems) and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Business Chemistry (Magna cum Laude) from Northern Illinois University, USA.
She also holds a Diploma in Logistics Management from the Australian Institute of Management and is a lay examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
She began work as an information consultant with Arthur Andersen Sdn Bhd (now known as Accenture Sdn Bhd) before moving on to the banking and logistics industry.
She is now retired after having spent more than 35 years in Information Technology with more than 20 years in leadership positions in Information Technology and business functions.
Mr Chia Loong Thye
Director, Disted Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd
Mr Chia is a lawyer by profession. He obtained his LLB from University of Warwick, England in 1982 and his Barrister-at-law from Gray’s Inn, London. He was called to the English Bar in 1983 and was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in March 1985. He is also a qualified mediator and an adjudicator.
Mr Chia has been involved in a number of non-governmental organisations and currently, he is a member of the Penang Philharmonic Orchestra Management Board.
Mr Loo Choo Teng
Former Chief Executive Officer, Heng Lee Group of Companies
Former chief executive officer and company secretary of all companies in the Heng Lee Group. He holds a BSc (Hons) and a Diploma in Business Administration from Universiti Malaya and has more than 25 years of working experience. Initially with Ban Hin Lee Bank Bhd for 2 years before taking up the post of personal assistant to Tan Sri Geh Ik Cheong, chairman of Perlis Plantations Bhd and Kuok Group of companies, which are principally involved in manufacturing, plantations, trading and hotel.
He joined the Heng Lee Group in 1985.
Emeritus Professor Dato’ Dr Hassan Said, FASc
Chairman, Board of Governors, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN)
Professor Hassan has extensive experiences from various public and private universities. He has held positions as Vice Chancellor and President of Taylor’s University (2008-2016), Vice Chancellor of University Teknologi MARA (2016-2019) and Vice Chancellor of Asia e-University (2019-2021).
He started his career as a lecturer in Mathematics at the School of Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 1984, and was later appointed as Dean of the School in 1990. He became the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) of USM in 1995, before being seconded to the Ministry of Education (MOE) in 1998 as the Director, Department of Higher Education.
He held the position of Director-General of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), from January 2005 to April 2008. He is a Fellow of the Malaysian Mathematical Society; Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical and Its Applications, United Kingdom (FIMA); and Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (FASc).
He is currently Chairman of the Board of Governors, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN); member of the Board of Governors, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM); member of the Board of Directors, Usains Holding Sdn Bhd; Council Member, Taylor’s University; Independent Non-Executive Director of AwanBiru Technology Berhad (Awantech); Education Committee’s Member, Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP); and member of the Board of Directors, Securities Industry Development Corporation (SIDC), Securities Commission Malaysia (SC).
Professor Dr Tan Thiam Soon
Institute Professor, Singapore Institute of Technology
Professor Tan is the inaugural Institute Professor of Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the former President of SIT (2013-2021). He obtained his Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and subsequently his M.S. and Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology, USA, all in Civil Engineering. Prior to joining SIT, he was with the National University of Singapore for more than 26 years and was a Professor of Civil Engineering and Vice Provost for Education.
Professor Tan’s main research interests are in land reclamation, deep excavation and soil improvement. He received the ASTM’s C.A. Hogentogler Award in 2007 and the Best Research Paper Award 2008 from the Japanese Geotechnical Society. He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2008, the Minister of Transport’s Distinguished Innovation Award in 2008, the Ministry of National Development’s 2015 Minister’s Award (Team), and the Public Administration Medal (Gold) in 2017. He was also conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education by Wheelock College (US) in 2018, and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering by the University of Glasgow in 2019. In 2022, he was named the Outstanding Geotechnical Engineer by the Geotechnical Society of Singapore and the Distinguished Professional Engineer by the Professional Engineers Board, Singapore.
He is a registered Specialist Professional Engineer (Geotechnical). Currently, he is the Deputy Chairman of the Building Construction Authority, a board member of the Land Transport Authority, and a member of the 44th Council of Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan.
Datuk Lim Si Pin
Former Chief Executive Officer/Director Cempaka Sdn Bhd
Datuk Lim is currently Director of Wawasan Open University Sdn Bhd and also Director of the Wawasan Education Foundation. From 2013 to 2018, he has held several positions which included Director cum Chief Executive Officer of Cempaka Sdn Bhd and Director of Eight-Tel Sdn Bhd. He was also the former Director of CPMS Sdn Bhd.
He holds an MSc (International Banking & Finance) from the University of Wales, College of Cardiff (UWCC), Wales, UK and a BSc (Joint Honours) (Law & Economics) from the University College of Wales (UCW), Aberystwyth, Wales, UK.