WOU is set to recognise four titans of industry and roll out 664 graduates at its 9th convocation ceremony to be held at Hotel Equatorial Penang on November 24th.
PRESS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS.
Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and Dr William Fung Kuok-lung are to be awarded the Honorary Doctor of Letters degree, while Tan Sri Soong Siew Hoong and Dato’ Gooi Hoe Soon, the Honorary Doctor of Business degree.
Speaking at the press conference at the main campus today, Wawasan Education Foundation (WEF) chairman Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said WOU will honour four corporate giants who have “exemplified strong entrepreneurial spirit, good business acumen and excellent managerial practices, coupled with social responsibility”.
TAN SRI AZMAN MOKHTAR.
He described Azman as “indeed a truly remarkable and trusted leader, a role model for corporate leaders entrusted with huge funds”. He shared than during Azman’s tenure of 14 years as Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional Bhd from June 2004 to July 2018, the net worth of Khazanah had increased by RM82.3 billion or 3.5 times as of December 2017.
Azman, 57, an accountant by profession, will be honoured for his sustained effort and outstanding contributions in promoting economic growth, heritage conservation, urban regeneration and social development in Malaysia.
DR KOH DESCRIBES TAN SRI AZMAN AS A REMARKABLE AND TRUSTED LEADER.
Dr Koh described Soong, also a Gerakan party stalwart, as an “evergreen” who is still active in business, social, political and philanthropic work, and “is well respected for his self-discipline, honesty and frugality”.
He said Soong, the oldest Honorary Graduand at 93, is a self-made businessman in the iron and steel industry and director/chairman of a few other corporations, and is known as the Father of SMIs (Small and Medium Industry) for helping to upgrade the SMIs in Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Uzbekistan.
TAN SRI SOONG SIEW HOONG.
He highlighted that Dr Fung, 69, is regarded as one of a few truly global businessmen from Asia, having won international accolades, who believes in serving and giving back to society.
Dr Fung is presently the Group Deputy Chairman of Fung Group of Companies, the Group Chairman of Li & Fung Limited, and Chairman of Global Brands Group Holding Ltd, based in Hong Kong, “He is being honoured for his great achievements in the global supply chain industry and sponsorship of higher education and research,” Dr Koh remarked.
DR WILLIAM FUNG.
On Gooi, 61, Dr Koh pointed out his belief in finding “practical win-win” solutions to benefit all parties, while committed to honesty and humility. He declared that Gooi, a Director of Bank Negara Malaysia, has contributed immensely to the Malaysian corporate, financial, stock broking and insurance industries.
In her speech, Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Zoraini Wati Abas informed that 600 of the graduates will be come from part-time, open distance learning (ODL) programmes and 64 from full-time studies.
DATO’ GOOI HOE SOON.
She said WOU will award a posthumous Bachelor of Software Engineering (Hons) degree to Wong Vic Tor, from Shah Alam, who died on May 1st this year from ischaemic heart disease. WOU will also have two special needs graduates, including Low Yew Loi who had lost both legs to an industrial accident 9 years ago while working as a construction site manager. He will receive his Commonwealth Executive MBA (CeMBA).
Six programmes will produce their inaugural batch of graduates. Two lecturers will be the first to be conferred a PhD in Arts and Humanities. The remaining are the full-time programmes in the fields of Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Sales & Marketing, and Computer Systems & Networks, and the ODL programmes in Human Resource Management and Mechatronics.
TOP GRADUATE FROM THE ODL POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES, POOONAM DEVI.
Prof Zoraini announced that the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Memorial Prize recipient for best graduate from the ODL postgraduate programmes is Ms Poonam Devi Talissiram from CeMBA, while the Chancellor’s Gold Medal recipient for top ODL graduate from the undergraduate programmes is Paul Goh Yeng Weeh from Bachelor of Technology (Hons) in Construction Management.
PAUL GOH IS TOP GRADUATE FROM THE ODL UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMMES.
The winner of the Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik Memorial Gold Prize for top full-time graduate is Lau Sheue Wen from Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Management.
LAU IS TOP GRADUATE FROM FULL-TIME STUDY.
