UTAR inks pact with Phisontech

UTAR and Phisontech Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd set sights on greater collaboration after having sealed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at UTAR Perak Campus on 27 March 2014.

Prof Chuah (second from left) and Dato' Pua exchanging MoUs while Prof Choong (left) and Pua look on

Signing on behalf of both parties were UTAR President Prof Academician Dato' Dr Chuah Hean Teik and Phisontech Chairman and CEO Dato' Pua Khein Seng, while UTAR Faculty of Business and Finance Dean Prof Choong Chee Keong and Phisontech site manager Pua Kein Keing signed on as witnesses. The ceremony was also attended by UTAR staff, students and Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) representatives, who were later taken on a tour around the award-winning flagship campus. Prior to the signing ceremony, an autograph session with Dato' Pua was held, along with a book sale by Popular Bookstore.

Prof Chuah and Dato' Pua (centre) posing with UTAR and Phisontech staff and MIDA representatives after the signing ceremony

"It has always been UTAR's initiative and strategy to collaborate with key industry partners so that our graduates will be more competitive when the start working," said Prof Chuah, adding that students should consider becoming entrepreneurs instead of seeking employment in large multinational corporations. He continued, "The country needs more small and medium industries and enterprises to maintain a strong economic growth." Prof Chuah then elaborated on the UTAR Entrepreneurship Start-Up Scheme and the UTAR Undergraduate Research Scheme, which are part of the university's drive to promote R&D and entrepreneurial activities. Before closing his speech, Prof Chuah accorded his appreciation to Dato' Pua for fostering ties between UTAR and Phisontech.

Prof Chuah encouraging students to become entrepreneurs

Dato' Pua reciprocated by saying that it is never easy to start a business, let alone to expand or diversify it into a multipurpose conglomerate - a sentiment that echoed Prof Chuah's remarks that people often glorify success stories while remaining oblivious to the arduous efforts that render it possible. He also narrated an experience attending a seminar in Taiwan where, a speaker motivated students to not just find but also create jobs. "Under this MoU, Phisontech has pledged to support UTAR's persistent endeavours in RDC - research, development and commercialisation," affirms Dato' Pua, a Sekinchan native who has visited UTAR three times and on two occasions, gave talks to UTAR staff and students.

Dato' Pua pledging Phisontech's commitment to working closer with UTAR

In a bid to escalate awareness on entrepreneurship, UTAR Vice President Office for R&D and Commercialisation also partnered with Phisontech, UTAR Young Entrepreneurship Society, Computer Society and Marketing Society to bring in accomplished speakers and industry players to share their gems of wisdom with the students.

One of the speakers was Prof Albert Teo Chu Ying from the Department of Management and Organisation Business School, National University of Singapore. Those who were in the dark over social entrepreneurship would have been enlightened after attending his talk titled 'Social Entrepreneurship and Community Development', held at Heritage Hall at UTAR Perak Campus on 27 March 2014. "Social entrepreneurs are people skilled in leveraging. They acquaint and pool people with the resources necessary to help them combat a social issue that they are passionate of," said Prof Teo, who cautioned that social entrepreneurs are not catalyst for change and hence, need to stay grounded to create the right conditions for empowerment and self-sufficiency to happen. He added, "A sustainable social development helps, in long run, eradicate the target community's dependency on external aid so that they live with renewed hope, purpose, dignity and confidence."

Vice President Office for R&D and Commercialisation assistant manager Vincent Ng Kim Sheng (left) presenting a souvenir to Prof Teo at the end of the talk

Prof Teo's talk was preceded by a three-series entrepreneurial talk held a day earlier at LDK Block at UTAR Perak Campus on 26 March 2014. The speakers were (in chronological order) AppWorks partner Joseph Chan, Fandora (Taiwan) CEO Steven Su and PubGame CEO Benjamin Tseng.

Organising committee for the entrepreneurial talks (front line) posing with (second row, from right) Hotayi Electronics Sdn Bhd Chairman Dato' Lee Hung Lung, Chan, UTAR Department of Entrepreneurship head Oon Kam Hoe, Tseng, Phisontech advisor Lai Yit Loong, Su and AppWorks Associate Yvette Lin

Chan kick-started the session by delivering a talk titled 'AppWorks: Build a World-Class Mobile Ecosystem in Taiwan.' "AppWorks is a leading accelerator and venture capital fund focusing on mobile and internet businesses in Asia. We have since trained more than 200 startups," opened Chan, who also quoted Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt's premeditative mantra, "The trend has been mobile was winning; it's now won." He then divulged details entailing why mobile internet is the biggest paradigm shift in our era. "Mobile is the only media growing in 2013 and accounts for more than half of Facebook's ad revenue," revealed Chan, who advised aspiring technocrats to start young so that their chances at success and groundbreaking feats will be automatically enhanced.

Chan outlining AppWorks services and the paradigm shift to mobile era

A former Student Union president at National Cheng Kung University, Su was offered a lucrative job after graduating from Master's studies with top honours. However, the enterprising lad chose a path less crowded and signed up for AppWorks where he learned the key to strategic business management. His previous ventures were catastrophic but a resilient Su remained unperturbed. In a tell-all talk titled 'From a Student to an Entrepreneur', Su chronicled his life after graduation up to the establishment of Fandora, his brainchild and one-stop centre for digital imagers, visual artists and graphic designers to market their unique designs online. "Three hundred years ago, Fandora was non-existent but our revenue today has exceeded TWD200 million," beamed Su whose optimism was evident in his self-styled mantra, "Failure is something you can believe in."

Su relating the hardships he faced in setting up Fandora

Audience who relished Tseng's talk, titled 'My Journey Establishing PubGame', would discern that there is one striking similarity between his story and Su's: That both visionaries have tried and failed but they never gave up on their dreams. "PubGame is a startup built from failures and experiences," disclosed Tseng, who recounted a painful episode of losing all his savings to E-City, one of his previous ventures that crashed. Forced to start from scratch again, it took him countless failures to finally established PubGame, a profitable web and mobile social games publishing business involved in the marketing of provisioned game services in Asia. "One important lesson I learnt is that educating the market is much more difficult than one thought," said Tseng, who amused with a "Don't play games all the times" remark when asked about his secrets to entrepreneurial success.

Tseng edifying the audience on exemplary business acumen and leadership

Phisontech Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd, a digital lifestyle product developer based in Penang, Malaysia, is wholly owned by Phison Electronics Corporation (PEC) in Taiwan. Started with the world's first single-chip USB flash drive IC, PEC is now a market leader in NAND Flash controllers and applications including USB, SD, eMMC, PATA and SATA. A NAND flash total solution provider, PEC also offers system and OEM services for major retail brand names.