Wawasan Open University (WOU) is saddened by the loss of the University’s Chancellor Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik, 73, who passed away in Petaling Jaya today.
Tun Dr Lim served as the Chairman of the WOU Council from 2005 and was later appointed as WOU’s second Chancellor on 9 May 2011 for a three-year term. Tun Dr Lim was formally installed as WOU’s second Chancellor on 19 November 2011.
During the National Delegates Conference of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) held in Penang in 1999, the then President, Tun Dr Lim, put forward the vision for a virtual open university to the delegates. He was instrumental in not only conceiving the idea of WOU but also in ensuring that there was sufficient funding support to bring about its birth and nurturing the institution through its early infancy.
Tun Dr Lim most recently presided over the third Convocation Ceremony held at the Main Campus in Penang on November 24th. He proclaimed Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, incumbent President of Parti Gerakan, as Pro-Chancellor and conferred the Honorary Doctor of Letters on Dato’ Seri Chet Singh, founding general manager of the Penang Development Corporation.
At the third Convocation Ceremony, Tun Dr Lim also conferred degrees on graduates of the Commonwealth Executive MBA (CeMBA) and the Commonwealth Executive Master of Public Administration (CeMPA) programmes.
Tun Dr Lim is survived by his wife, Toh Puan Wong Yoon Chuan and three children – Dato’ Lim Si Pin and daughters Dr Lim Poi Giok and Lim Poi Jing.