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“I believe that each of us should have a higher purpose in life. In my case, that purpose is to give back to society in a meaningful and impactful way and to encourage others to do so as well. My personal motto is: I aspire to inspire before I expire.” 
-Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah-

As one of the recipients of Jeffrey Cheah Community Scholarship, I was rewarded with full scholarship for my Diploma and Degree programmes in Sunway University. Those words by Tan Sri Jeffrey had been an inspiration to me to give back to society. It cultivated a believe and conviction in me that giving back to the community is important. It is with the support from the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation that I was able to graduate and land myself a job in an MNC. 

Now, as an alumni scholar, I’m proud to be one of the monthly donors to Jeffrey Cheah Foundation and I try my very best to contribute my time by attending and joining Alumni / Scholarship events. I hope I can in anyway encourage the current Jeffrey Cheah Community Scholars to appreciate everything the foundation has provided and share my story and experiences to them during the gathering session. Apart from that, I also join the Sunway Mentoring Programme as a mentor to student who is graduating soon and entering the workforce. This is a very meaningful event to guide graduating Sunway students and a great opportunity to network with people. 

One of my highest achievements during my time in Sunway is to represent Jeffrey Cheah Foundation to give thank you speech to the foundation contributors and to present “Appreciation Memoir” to Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah during the Alumni Homecoming Dinner in 2017. 

The key giving experience which I’ve encountered is definitely the contribution from Jeffrey Cheah Foundation and it does impact my life by giving me the opportunity to complete my tertiary education in Sunway University and be part of the Sunway family. The foundation did encourage me to contribute to the society and I hope I can encourage others to do the same. 

LEONG CHEE KEONG
#TheGivingSunwayian
#AlumniGiveBack
Time.Talent.Treasure

“What is done in love is done well.” I have always kept these words by Vincent van Gogh close to me as I navigate life in university and eventually the adult world. Debate is a huge part of my life, and it has given me so much: life-long relationships, confidence in myself, a love for learning, and so on. Van Gogh’s words serve as a reminder not only for me to seek fulfilment in whatever I do; they remind me if there is someone else out there who might share the same love for something as I do, I have a duty to make sure they have an opportunity for it.

I've always been aware of privilege. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunities and platforms I've received, and I try my best to use my luck and privilege to help those who haven't been as lucky. Having some previous experience, I felt I had a responsibility to impart it onto the next generation of debaters who may not have had strong debating backgrounds, or strong public speaking confidence, or even a strong sense of community. I started out my debating career offering free online coaching to high school students during the pandemic. So, once I was in university, I took on the presidential role in Sunway Debate Club to fulfil a promise I had made: not to waste the passion and experience I have, and instead use it for others discover the same. I think all of us are not bounded by differences in talent or skill; the only thing separating us is opportunity. I have worked in Sunway Debate Club to make sure as many people in my community are not deprived of it. 

I have taught debate to a diverse group of secondary school students even prior to starting my life in Sunway University. I will never forget watching my students mature in the sport and as individuals. They always seem to find the time to thank me for the guidance I’ve offered as a mentor, and even though I am fully aware a lot of the progress they have made was due to my students’ own hard work, they serve as a reminder for me to continue giving to the community I hold on to so dearly, as it is the members of our community who will carry it on after us.

One of my personal highlights was when I came home as amongst the Top 10 speakers in Asia after the annual 2022 Asian Championships. It was a culmination of all the countless days and nights I have put into the sport and my club. The award only gave me the motivation to strive for higher and continue to contribute to our club members, as they were instrumental in giving me the platform in the first place. 

As sitting president of Sunway Debate Club, I dedicate my time to ensuring a fair and open space for our members to develop not just skills for debate on a competitive level, but to also develop the self-confidence needed to translate into real-world interactions. Above all, I have done my best to foster a strong sense of community in the club, where our members feel safe to talk about anything and everything, and to trust one another as equals. To do so, my wonderful team and I have successfully done multiple workshops, training series, and mini-events for our members. Furthermore, as tournaments can sometimes cost a high registration fee, I place focus on increasing our members’ accessibility to competitive opportunities as much as I can, whether it is through subsidizing the teams using the club’s funding, seeking sponsorships, or raising funds on our own. I can’t take all the credit and owe a great deal to my fellow club committee as well. Through our teamwork, I am proud to say we have built a strong community where our friendships triumph over any other competitive achievement we have brought home. 

#TheGivingSunwayian
#ScholarsGiveBack
Time.Talent.Treasure

“If you’re feeling aimless or you don’t know what you’re passionate about, IT’S OKAY, DON’T GIVE UP. Let me tell you a short and inspiring story.

22 years ago, there was an unhealthy baby girl born in Kuala Lumpur. To be better taken care of, her grandparents brought her to Ipoh and ever since then, she recognized Ipoh as her home. Her grandparents love her a lot, but restrictions were often rationalised as it was a normal practice in elderly people. Thus, she was not allowed to have as much freedom as her friends had. She felt suffocated and unfair. All she wanted was to have freedom just like her friends. The feeling of not being understood by anyone leaded her to favour her friends more than the grandparents whom raised her. Until one fine day, the best friend whom the girl favours broke her heart deeply.

With zero special talent and skill inherited, she doubted if she could even achieve anything in life. Everything seemed impossible. As the saying goes, “after you hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is up”. This has never been true until she understood her inner self. She realized she should start focusing on something that would make her life meaningful, but she did not know what was she passionate about. Thus, she decided to put full effort on studies.

Thankfully, hard work does pay off; her results improved from being the last few ranks in class to achieving a second place in the whole form. However, life was never a straight line. Even after putting all the effort, she did not manage to enroll into the Pre-university programme that she wanted. Instead, STPM, which she once said she'll never take it into consideration, was the only option left at that moment. Though, that didn’t stop her because she knows that it’s always okay to fail but it never okay to give up. She worked even harder hoping that she could be able to create her own future thereafter.

Today I’m proud to say, that was me; Lee Yi Xian.

I’m glad and thankful that I did not give up since the day I was born. The credits go to those difficult days that kept me strong going and this was where I wanted and am now. Truthfully, I am more than grateful to be given this opportunity to utilize #MySunwayStory as a platform to share my very own experience in life. I am sincerely thankful to receive Jeffrey Cheah Foundation Scholarship, it is definitely a reward of the past, motivation of the present and opportunity of the future to me. I hereby seize the opportunity to show gratitude for this scholarship by continuing to push myself beyond limit every day, to live my life to the fullest.

Nothing is easy but achieving is always possible.

Work hard, stay disciplined and be patient, your time will come.

JUST REMEMBER: NEVER GIVE UP!”

Lee Yi Xian
BSc (Hons) Accounting & Finance
Jeffrey Cheah Foundation Scholarship

“Tragedy struck a little girl when she was 12 years old when her father had a sudden stroke. Till this day, he is still under medical and physical treatment. From that moment onwards, her mother was the only one who is financially responsible to take care of the family at home.

However, before the first wave recedes, a new wave rises. When she was 17 years old and pursuing her SPM in high school, another tragedy happened. This time, it was worse. Her mother had the same sudden stroke as her father but she was less fortunate. She passed away the next morning.

Yes, that little girl was me.

Besides the tears and sadness, I began #MySunwayStory with the help of the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation Community Scholarship. This is clearly the turning point of my life as I never thought that I will be given a chance to pursue my diploma in Sunway University with such good environment and people.

Before I got to know about the scholarship, there were many times I felt like giving up. But when I thought about my two younger sisters and my father, I had no choice but to be more confident and optimistic. So, I decided to apply for the scholarship. God bless everyone, I made it. With the help of the scholarship, I will put full effort into pursuing my studies, leaving no regrets in my life.

My words to all my fellow friends, if you are facing extreme hardship, do remember that miracles do exist. All you have to do is to go out there and create one, try the impossible until you succeed!”

Ooi Chiew Ee
Diploma in Business Administration
Jeffrey Cheah Foundation Community Scholarship

“Growing up I am always an outgoing and athletic girl. Basketball has been a huge part of my life since young. I was introduced to this sport by my friend back when I was 12 years old and life has never been the same ever since. I loved the game and I’m very grateful for the people I’ve met along the way. Basketball has taught me and shaped me into who I am today, by knowing the significance of having discipline and determination in whatever I do.

In sports, regardless of minor or major, injuries are inevitable especially when basketball is a high contact sport. Flashback to a few years ago while I was representing Kuala Lumpur in a national basketball championship, I suffered an injury which all basketballers fear the most during one of our most crucial game. Tears started rolling down from my eyes as I realized that I am unable to help my teammates to fight for our goal at his very crucial moment. I have torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) which is a ligament in the knee that helps us with our knee’s stability. Suffering from this injury means that I have to cease playing basketball for approximately one year due to the slow recovery process after surgery. The recovery process was tough, I have to be really consistent in my rehabilitation in order to have a smooth recovery. I consulted the physiotherapist and went to the gym every day almost on a daily basis, and I gave myself no excuses.

When I was fit to play again, I returned to the sports battlefield and that’s when I joined Sunway. With the help of the Sunway Sports Scholarship, I began #MySunwayStory and I was given this opportunity to be part of #TeamSunway to represent the institution and have participated in various inter-campus competitions since then. I am proud to say that I have contributed two gold medals in both MAPCU Basketball and IPT Basketball competition. For that, I am truly grateful Sunway has granted me the Sunway Sports Scholarship and trusted me even when I doubted myself. Playing sports in such great environment in Sunway University at the same time enjoying memorable experiences definitely become a tiny checkpoint in my life.

The journey of my recovery has taught me to cherish every moment while I am still able to play my favourite sport. I have also learned to be patient and to persevere despite the setback I am facing and to trust the process.

As Jeremy Lin once said in his Instagram caption, “adversity forces us to reevaluate, adapt and improve.” It has definitely made me wiser and stronger as a person mentally and physically. Nothing grows in the comfort zone, so be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire, constantly improve yourself and learn through every mistakes and setback that go in your way and conquer them.”

See Wenn Chyi,
BSc (Hons) Business Studies
Sunway Sports Scholarship

“This story reaches out to those who have so much more to offer than excellent academic achievements.

I must admit that I don’t come from a family background of extreme hardships, in fact my parents gave me everything to nurture a child that is both academically and aesthetically inclined. I came from what seemed like a comfortable upper middle-class family where my parents did their best to invest in things they nurtured me to be good at and thankfully, I grew to be very passionate about one particular interest: Music.

I grew up as just the average performing government school student. I always participated in music exams, competitions, events, the school choir and even external music events as it gave me happiness. I always believed my efforts in it would benefit me some day. Half-way through my pre-university studies, reality kicked in hard when my father had lost his balance of a stable income that further damaged my parents’ already rocky relationship. I completely stopped doing music at the time because I was emotionally affected. I was not doing well in my studies at that time, even failing one of my favorite subjects. Though this gave my mother a lot of anxiety and insecurity, she did her best at maintaining her stable job to give me the life she believed I deserved.

So, I told myself that the choice of my degree program has to be a place that could give me quality education, personal growth and most importantly some form of financial assistance to help my parents. I vowed to be resourceful, hardworking and grabbed every opportunity I found and it led me on to #MySunwayStory. After unexpectedly landing upon the Sunway Music Talent Scholarship, I challenged myself to become a better singer and expanded my abilities out of my comfort zone. Today, performing on stage has become second nature to me and I am proud to call the people in the #SunwayUniversityChoir my family as they helped me grow, become better as a performer and as a person. There are many other individuals that I appreciate sincerely such as singing gurus, music teachers, band members, mentors and friends that I owe so much for motivating me to go higher and further. The scholarship was not merely a financial reduction, it was a platform that opened many opportunities. Despite my father’s faults, I still have a lot to thank him for, because his influence is the reason why I love music today. My mother’s persistent love and support is the reason why I can stand where I am today. Though I believe I still have so much more I want to achieve in the music scene, I am grateful and happy at how far I’ve come. I am truly thankful for that.”

Shorolipi Emma Chaudhury
BSc(Hons) Psychology
Sunway Music Talent Scholarship

"Hello everyone, I’m Eunice Foo. I may be recognisable as Sunway’s Got Talent season one winner, maybe not. It was a great honour to win the competition. Many congratulatory wishes poured in, most of them along the lines of ‘You are so talented’ or ‘You are so lucky to have the gift of music’.

I do thank God every day for this beautiful gift. Most of you may have heard of this quote before – “Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work”. Don’t get me wrong, I am not labelling myself as a genius, not even close to being one, but I do believe in the importance of hard work and perseverance. After all, extraordinary things are accomplished by ordinary people.

I grew up in a house filled with music. My mother loves oldies and classical repertoires while my sister practices her musical instruments diligently every day. Probably influenced by them, I started learning the piano and violin at the age of 5. I enjoyed it a lot as making music helps me relief stress and I love to entertain people with my music. Years of practicing brought me two diplomas with Distinction in Violin and Piano at the age of 12 and 14 respectively.

Travelling around the world performing with the National Youth Orchestra, performing as a Solo Violinist for the former US President Barack Obama and 20 other world leaders helped develop my self-confidence and self-esteem. While actively participating in musical activities, I managed to maintain my academic performance, all thanks to my mum’s endless reminders, which I truly appreciate.

Without her continuous advice, especially on time management skills, I will not be the person I am today. As I play table tennis since the age of 8, the years of intensive table tennis training did not go to waste as I emerged as the national champion twice. Apart from that, I am also a recipient of the BRANDS Smart Achiever Award 2017 and was selected to film a commercial for BRANDS regarding my passion and interest as a high-achieving student in both curricular & co-curricular activities.

Being awarded the ‘Anugerah Tunas Jaya Peringkat Kebangsaan” for two years has also taught me that hard work and dedication is crucial in achieving success.

That’s a brief snapshot of my life to share on #MySunwayStory. A friendly piece of advice to my fellow friends, “The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in overcoming it.” A satisfying life requires effort and action on your part. The choice is yours!"

Eunice Foo
GCE A-Level
Jeffrey Cheah Entrance Scholarship

“I was born and raised in Indonesia to a family of four. We are really close to each other and no matter how busy we are, we will adjust to have a quality time together whether it is just a meal or simply watching movies. My family would always be there to support me during the ups and downs of my life, teach me to become a strong person and learn to cope with anxiety and depression as well as to prevent stress.

They also encourage me to be patient so I could handle most situations thereby giving me the motivation to become a hardworking person. Moreover, my parents are strict about education as it truly plays an important role in every individual’s life. No playing around is allowed in studies.

Acknowledging my dad who always works hard for the family day and night, no matter healthy or sick, he always does his best as he is the only source of income in our family. To show my gratitude to him, I have to become a successful person for my family.

Through the Jeffrey Cheah Entrance scholarship, I am on the right path towards my dream. I am also able to explore another side of the world which is Bandar Sunway, a nice, vibrant city and awesome Sunway University which has a great atmosphere to study, with whole range of facilities like the library, elevator, delicious campus food and a lot of room for studying.

Other than that, studying here has given me the opportunity to pursue an Australian degree of my choice through Victoria University in Sunway College.

To fellow Sunway students, please don’t ever give up, always remember that you can achieve anything you dream of, just give yourself a try!”

Ayu Dewanti Putri
Bachelor of Business (Victoria University)
Jeffrey Cheah Entrance Scholarship

Picture a boy saying to his mom, "Ma, I'm going to the cafe to go research for scholarships", but instead ends up scrolling through Facebook. Well, I am that boy and this is how my application and approval for the Chancellors Scholarship flipped my life around.

On the plane ride here, I didn't know what Kuala Lumpur had waiting for me. I once helped my church produce one of its production projects when I was younger. Then, I realised that everyone wants to be a director or cinematographer, but no one wants to be a producer. Thus, I did my own research on production and I was very intrigued by it. I got involved in more projects. I've worked with many local celebrities and a few big brands in producing for events as well as videos. If you want to take a lesson from this story, take this; always be bold and strive for your passion. Don’t do something because everyone is doing it and always follow your passion.

Getting my scholarship application accepted has granted me the opportunity to learn in depth about digital film production. I used to be a "guerilla shooter", a production term for just shooting with no real structure, but being educated about this industry has opened my eyes and I can never watch films the same way again. "Why does this director shoot this scene this way?", "Why do they shoot the shoes first before anything else?", and most importantly "Could this be foreshadowing?", are the questions I ask myself nowadays when I'm watching a film.

In my first year here I can definitely say that I have experienced the full Sunway experience. I am grateful for this opportunity that I have been given. I'm Graeme Tan Jie and this is #MySunwayStory.

Graeme Tan Jie
BA (Hons) Digital Film Production
The Chancellors Scholarship of Sunway University & Lancaster University