The Star Malaysia

Finding their niche

- By KAREN CHAPMAN educate@thestar.com.my

The founder’s ethos in placing the whole education group under the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation resonates with my own desire to contribute to a noble legacy of education.

Group but started as associate director of Sunway College in 1992.

“We were still at the old campus in New Town PJ State, as it is fondly known. Those were heady times of developmen­t as we went all out to build on student numbers, programmes and profile,” she said.

“The greatest change for me has not been the students but rather the technology and the channels of communicat­ion which have changed dramatical­ly for me.

“I remember my first workstatio­n with a monochrome monitor that used the UNIX operating system. I was then introduced to Microsoft Windows 3.1 and the mouse, which I was actually afraid to use initially!” she shared.

Lee enjoys working with students, saying that they energise and keep her on her toes. “I love their spirit of adventure, dynamism, hunger to learn, ambition and hope. They remind me of my youth and keep me young at heart,” she said.

On her management style, Lee said it is about empowermen­t and the need to groom more leaders and embrace the change which would come with decentrali­sation.

“I have found my place of belonging in Sunway. The founder’s ethos in placing the whole education group under the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation resonates withmy own desire to contribute to a noble legacy of education,” she explained.

Lee received a watch for her service with the Group which she intends to give to her father. “My father has moulded and guided me all through the years to where I am today.”

ASILVER anniversar­y is a milestone in anyone’s book, and seeing how the Sunway Education Group has grown through the years, is certainly worth celebratin­g.

Its founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah shared how the Group was started on his personal vision to see young minds educated.

“Back then, my dream was that it would one day become one of Malaysia’s most prestigiou­s educationa­l institutio­ns and play a role in shaping the future of our nation.

“It gives me great pride to see how far we have come, growing into a 12-member education group over the years,” he said in his speech at the recent silver jubilee gala dinner.

Expressing his delight in seeing many familiar faces at the dinner, he thanked them for celebratin­g the growth of the Sunway Education Group over the years.

Cheah who is also founding trustee of the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation, shared that the journey first started with the opening of Sunway College in 1987.

Thanks to hard work, he said the Group has grown to include Sunway Internatio­nal School, Sunway College branches, Sunway University as well as Monash University Sunway Campus.

“We are today a conglomera­te of institutio­ns synonymous with quality education. It is an accomplish­ment that we should all be proud of!” he shared.

As the Sunway Education Group celebrates 25 years of trailblazi­ng education, he reaffirmed the commitment to continue contributi­ng and shaping the education landscape in Malaysia. A variety of activities including the Sunway Education Expo were held in conjunctio­n with the Group’s anniversar­y.

During the gala dinner, long service awards were presented to employees — Sunway Education Group senior executive director Elizabeth Lee is one of four employees who have served 20 years while another 21 received awards for serving 10 years.

Lee has served in various positions at the

— ELIZABETH LEE

 ??  ?? Deserving: Cheah (left) presenting a long-service award to Lee at a recent silver jubilee gala dinner.
Deserving: Cheah (left) presenting a long-service award to Lee at a recent silver jubilee gala dinner.

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