Institute to set up fund for Sabahan students
KOTA KINABALU: Institut Sinaran will establish an education fund to help eligible but less fortunate Sabahan students make their higher education dreams come true.
The institution’s Board of Governors chairman Fong Tet Kong said based on the enrolment information made available by MoHE (Ministry of Higher Education) in 2012, out of an estimated 40,000 Sabahan students who had sat for their SPM and STPM, 36,000 of them managed to acquire the required results to enter colleges and universities.
However, he added, approximately 20,000 of the qualified students discontinued their academic progress due to poverty.
“Not many young people are as lucky as you and able to reach the point that you have now. There are those who possess the knowledge and passion to continue their studies after secondary school, but are unable to do so,” he said during the Institut Sinaran June 2017 Graduation ceremony for 117 A-level certificate graduates and nine Diploma in Commerce graduates here yesterday.
“Hence, we are establishing an education fund to help these students with financial difficulties to continue their studies in Institut Sinaran.
“We are hoping to get some generous sponsors who are concerned with the future of our local younger generation as well as the future of Sabah, to donate.
“The Institut Sinaran Education Fund will help students cover their program fees and thus alleviate the burden from their parents.
“It is important that Institut Sinaran play its role in nation building by improving Sabah’s situation through this education fund,” he emphasized.
In the spirit of Institut Sinaran’s 30th anniversary on August 5, Fong also called upon students and graduates to delve into entrepreneurship.
“It does not matter whether you want to be a businessperson or a scientist, or even a musician, as entrepreneurship emphasizes on skills that can allow you to accomplish tasks and solve problems independently through creativity and innovation,” said Fong.
The Board of Governors Chairman also acknowledged the outstanding Institut Sinaran alumni, some returning back to teach the institution’s future generations like Further Mathematics Lecturer Chia Hien Khiam and Biology Lecturer Joanna Chong, whilst others such as 1991 graduate, Dr Lim Chen Vui, became a senior lecturer in Accounting at University of Exeter Business School, England.
Besides that Institut Sinaran Major Patricia Yapp is now serving in the Royal Malaysian Air Force as a member of the Smokey Bandits aerobatic display team and currently holds the world record as the first ever woman to become a qualified fighter pilot to fly the Russian-made MikoyanGurevich MiG-29N.
Those successful in the science field include distinguished 1989 Alumnus Dr Set Sze Yen, the lead inventor of the carbon nanotubes short-pulsed laser in 2003 based in Japan, whilst its 1991 graduate, Dr Ko Tun Kiat, is now a cancer stem cell biologist at DukeNUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore.
In the music industry, 1992 graduate Roger Wang is currently Malaysia’s most-renowned finger-style master guitarist.
Insitut Sinaran CEO Marie Yong Pik Hua also reiterated the institution’s record breaking total of 40 students scoring straight A’s in the Advanced Subsidiary (AS) level exams, out of 117 A-Level batch graduates, last November.
In addition, she said the June Diploma in Commerce graduates also have obtained better results with more than two-thirds of the graduates scoring CGPA 2.5 and above.
Yong added that Institut Sinaran will also focus on increasing the level of effective English communication skills among Institut Sinaran students.
“The institute is planning to establish an English Language Laboratory to help students who are weak in English communication,” she said.
“The progression of the Language Laboratory is going smoothly and it will not be long before we have our first batch of students learning and communicating in English with the help of this digital technology laboratory,” she assured.