Sunway Alumni Awards 2024

The Sunway Alumni Relations team recently hosted the annual Sunway Alumni Homecoming. This tradition was created to bring together alumni from all walks of life, uniting those who have been a part of the Sunway family over the years.

This year, we were honoured to have Professor Dr. Dato Sri Idris Jala as our esteemed Guest of Honour. His inspiring speech and captivating performance left a lasting impression on everyone present.

A key highlight of the evening was the presentation of the alumni awards. The awards committee introduced four special categories, adding one more than the previous year, to celebrate the outstanding contributions of our alumni to their fields and the Sunway community. The awards recognise dedication, excellence, and commitment to the institution and society. The categories include:

Sunway Distinguished Alumni Award - This award recognises the remarkable accomplishments of alumni who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields or professions or the community, and whose endeavours reflect admirably on and bring honour to the Sunway institutions.

Sunway Outstanding Young Alumni Award - This award recognises alumni aged 30 and below whose endeavours in their chosen fields or professions or the community are worthy of recognition and have brought honour to the Sunway institutions.

Giving Sunwayian Award - This award recognises alumni whose dedication and contribution to the Sunway institutions’ programmes or activities have significantly enriched the institution.

Sunway Awards for Excellence in Sustainability - This award recognises alumni or projects which involves our alumni, that have demonstrated outstanding commitment and contribution to sustainability, locally or globally, showing innovation, leadership, and dedication to promoting sustainable practices that benefit the environment, society, and economy.

This year, we were proud to present these awards to five remarkable alumni:  

Dr Lim Teck Ting is the recipient of the Sunway Distinguished Alumni Award as he is the first Ph.D. graduate from Sunway Business School in 2017 and the founder of Super Memory Map (SMM) Education Group, which pioneered whole-brain development programmes for children in Malaysia and Singapore. His donation of RM360,000 to the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation to fund doctoral scholarships in entrepreneurship showcases his commitment to nurturing the next generation of scholars and entrepreneurs. This scholarship not only honours his dedication but also fosters a culture of entrepreneurship within the university community.

Loh Wan Chin is our Sunway Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2024 recipient. As the co-founder of the Malaysian Youth Fintech Association, Wan Chin has expanded its partnerships to an international level. Her dedication and commitment led to her winning the "Rising Star of the Year" at the recent Asia Fintech Awards 2024. Wan Chin has also initiated university-based fintech societies and regularly volunteers as a speaker on topics such as fintech, AI, and insurtech at major conferences both locally and internationally. Her past and ongoing involvement with Sunway University highlights her commitment to inspiring the next generation of students. Wan Chin said that this award meant a lot to her as it helped recognise the hard work she put in during the tough journey she had endured while starting the Malaysian Youth Fintech Association, and it further encouraged the spirit of altruism to continuously give back to society. She hopes to encourage more Sunway alumni to invest in the next generation to give them a brighter future.

Our winner for the Giving Sunwayian Award 2024 is none other than Kimberley Mah from VU @ Sunway. Kimberley was a scholarship student for both her AUSMAT and VU studies at Sunway, she excels in her role at HSBC, and is even an international Latin dance performer! In addition to all of this, she has consistently been giving back to Sunway as a speaker, as a project leader and even assisting to raise funds! She truly has a heart for the students from her previous programmes and has supported many of their projects and events. In her words, Kimberley is very grateful for being recognised for her contributions towards the current students. Kimberley once again reiterates that Sunway is an ideal place for one to learn and develop their skills and discover their career and passion.

The awards selection panel decided to go with 2 winners instead for the Sunway Awards for Excellence in Sustainability. The first winner for this award is Freida Razali. Freida has been a leader in sustainable business by providing advisory and coaching to SME companies transitioning to low-carbon operations. She is an advocate of youth empowerment through the GreenTech Youth Innovation Challenge, allowing students to engage in green innovation. Community engagement and advocacy is also close to her heart as she co-authored “That Green Book” to promote green lifestyles among tweens and teens. Freida is proud and grateful to be part of the Sunway Alumni community that values and supports sustainability efforts so passionately. This award and community continues to push her to lead and advocate her work in the sustainability sector and she hopes that this recognition will continue to push each other to strive for excellence in sustainability to leave a lasting impact on our environment and society.

Lastly, our final winner for the Sunway Awards for Excellence in Sustainability goes to Ang Ker Soon. Ker Soon can be described as a modern indoor farmer and an ethical and socially responsible entrepreneur. He launched an indoor farming business amidst Covid-19 and evolved the whole concept of indoor farming, integrating it with farm-to-table F&B + lifestyle. The focus is to promote a healthy eating lifestyle with cultivating pesticide-free herbs and greens, aligning seamlessly with the SDGs. Being socially responsible, he has donated his greens to various old folks & orphanage homes. This is a meaningful achievement for him as he feels that regardless the size of the effort, it all leads to a greater purpose, leading to a change in society towards the greater good. He encourages all to continue to put in the work, no matter big or small, as it will make a greater impact on the next generation.

We are incredibly proud of the remarkable achievements of our alumni and their dedication to making a difference in the world. Their hard work, commitment, and passion inspire us all to strive for excellence, reminding us that no matter the size of our contributions, they all add up to create a better future.