PETALING JAYA, 1st October 2009 – 143 students from across 9 schools in the Klang Valley were awarded KDU College’s Teo Soo Pin Scholarships for year 2010.
At the scholarship presentation held yesterday, a total of 60 students, from SMK (L) Methodist (Methodist Boys’ School), SMK (P) Pudu, SMK Kepong FRI, SMK Kepong Baru, SMK Bukit Rahman Putra and SMK Seri Saujana, were at the college to receive the scholarship letters and attend a workshop held specially for them. Similar presentations and workshops were also conducted to scholarship recipients from Taiping, Ipoh, Seremban, Klang, Malacca and several other schools in Selangor.
Present at the scholarship presentation were KDU’s Executive Chairman Dato Teo Chiang Quan, CEO & Principal Dr. Chia Chee Fen, Vice Principal Dr. Tan Hui Leng, Centre for Pre-University Manager Ms. Ong Soo Weon and Pre-University Academic Department Head Ms Sathyavathy Rasanayagam.
Dato’ Teo, who is an alumnus of SMK (L) Methodist himself, presented the scholarship letters to the students, who were awarded based on their forecast SPM results.
Addressing the students, he told them the story of how KDU College was built on his grandfather and father’s expectations, aspirations and hope for the younger generation to have a better chance in education.
He said that although both his grandfather and father had little education, they held strong philanthropic values and contributed to society in terms of education as they understood and saw the need for education for all, and instilled the concept of life-long learning in their offspring.
With that vision, KDU was born and the college began its legacy in awarding scholarships.
Dato’ Teo also said that although academic grades are important, it should always be coupled with great human values such as honesty, diligence and having a sense of responsibility, trust and commitment. Students should also concentrate on building their soft skills such as communication to different people and level, as these will all be essential when they begin their journey to higher education as well as their career.
83 other recipients from SMK Taman Bukit Maluri, SMK Taman Desa, SMK Damansara Utama. and SMK USJ 12, not present at the ceremony, were also awarded the Teo Soo Pin Scholarship.
KDU, upholding the values of the Teo family’s patriach, believes that each and everyone should have a right to education. Its objective to assist students in all aspect of their education extends beyond quality improvements in teaching and learning.
The Teo Soo Pin Scholarship is an ongoing Corporate Social Responsibility effort of the college and the Teo family, which began a few years after the inception of the college.
It is an academic merit-based scholarship awarded to high achievers in government schools so that they can have an opportunity to get a good private education. It is also awarded in recognition of their good performance in school.
Besides the scholarship presentation today, the college has awarded the Teo Soo Pin scholarship to a host of students from other schools this year. Out of the 248 students who were awarded the TSP scholarship, which amounted to RM1million, 24 were given full scholarships.
The scholarships, which are for the 2010 January intake, are for programmes housed under the college’s Centre for Pre-University Studies, namely, GCE A Level, UNSW Foundation Year and KDU Foundation Studies. The Centre for Pre-University Studies has been offering Pre-U programmes for more than 25 years with focus on qualified, caring and experienced teaching staff; some of whom have been teaching Pre-U programmes for more than 15 years and are specialists in A level subjects. The Centre has also been receiving scholars from Petronas and JPA since 1990s and many graduates have progressed to Ivy League Universities in the US and Top ranked universities in UK, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand.
After the presentation, the students proceeded to a workshop on Six Thinking Hats, a thinking tool for group discussion and individual thinking, conducted by the college’s Teaching and Learning Centre trainers, Mr. Alwyn Lau.and Mr Nelson Allan
The workshop was focused on how to think more systematically and effectively plus how to attain a high-level synergy among team members. These sessions are what all KDU students are expected to undergo as part of their personal development, as the college believes in ensuring that its graduates possess all the necessary skills to make a strong impact in their professional careers.
