Chow Shenn Kuan

Coming from a small town, a B40 family with a sole breadwinner, a sibling of 4, a 9As SPM student, and a first-generation college graduate; my literacy on universities and scholarships was extremely limited. Therefore, I did not manage to secure any full scholarship for college due to the lack of exposure and guidance from parents and teachers. Despite all that, I am very grateful to Sunway College for awarding me the Sunway Special Scholarship, the Ministry of Education for granting me a PTPTN loan, and Sunway University for conferring me the Jeffrey Cheah ACE Scholarship (previously known as Jeffrey Cheah Continuing Scholarship) which crafted my pathway into pursuing my tertiary education.
 
Going through all that, I would never want any other youth out there to experience the lack of exposure and know-how to hinder them from reaching their full potential, as it was for me. Ergo, I have pledged to support other underprivileged, underserved, and underrepresented students as I currently donate monthly to the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation (JCF) to the benefit of the JCF Community Scholars' educational resource fund. I am also mentoring low-income students under Closing The Gap to obtain full scholarships. Besides that, I personally mentor a few students, where they manage to secure 3 scholarships! In the past, I had served as a Panel Interviewer for the Kennedy-Lugar Scholarship (USA) and the Kakehashi Scholarship (Japan) to select Malaysian students for exchange-abroad opportunities under the American Field Services (AFS)
 
Having prior work experiences in HR consultancy, higher education, management consultancy, agriculture, and NGOs; I have had corporate, education, and NGO exposure. With an interest to broaden my knowledge and with a passion to serve the rakyat, I am currently working at the Ministry of Finance Malaysia as a Perdana Fellow. I have had the opportunity to assist in weekly reports, industry decks, economic charts, meetings, notes for Budget 2021, and speaking points for the Minister or Ministry. Additionally, I have had the chance to accompany the Minister for state visits to Perak and Pahang to discourse with Malaysian industry players and during sessions at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament. Despite the trials, the tribulations, and the all-nighters, I have been learning and gaining experiences thanks to the encouraging supervisors and colleagues that surround me.
 
Besides upholding Sunway's core values: integrity, humility, and excellence; another lesson imparted to me is "giving back to society". I suppose my way of giving back to society is through the plethora of NGO work that I do and giving back to the rakyat is through my work at the Ministry of Finance. As an alumna of this prestigious educational institution, I reckon my way of giving back is to propagate what I have learned to the juniors; be it by speaking at talks, panels, or workshops.
 
So, what do I love the most being a Sunway scholar? The little things such as sauntering across campus – glance right and you see cheerleaders flying in the lobby; glance left, and you see a pianist tinkling the keys of the grand piano; walk forward, and you see athletes kicking a ball across the field. The Sunway campus never sleeps – not at twilight, nor on weekends or public holidays! I still reminisce about the good times waking up in the wee hours of the morning to volunteer with the Sunway Student Volunteers; rushing from one block to another for the next class, and staying up till the break of dawn on campus to finish up preparations for conferences. The little things – that we are all part of a community – the Sunway community! Discussing with lecturers about life, talking about food with the security guards, chatting with the Ramly burger mak cik at the side gate – this whole experience of growing up on the Sunway campus for 5 years has been wondrous. Sunway is filled with little happenings, and these little things are what's meaningful and joyous moments that makeup #MySunwayStory.
 
Chow Shenn Kuan
Sunway Alumna