UTAR, UWC Berhad and Hua Lian High School (Hua Lian) signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) on 13 April 2023 at Hua Lian High School, Taiping.

The MoA was signed by UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat, UWC Berhad Co-Founder, Group COO and Executive Director Lau Chee Kheong and Hua Lian High School Principal Ong Beng Joo. It was witnessed by UTAR Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT) Dean Ir Prof Dr Ng Choon Aun, UWC Academy Assistant Talent Development Manager Mike Lee Weng Leong and Hua Lian High School Board Vice Chairman Teh Kok Lim.

The MoA is an education sponsorship collaboration agreement advocated by UWC Berhad to sponsor tertiary education scholarships for Hua Lian students to pursue their studies at UTAR.

UTAR and UWC Berhad previously signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 2 December 2022 at UTAR Kampar Campus. Under the current MoA, UTAR will provide four tuition-free scholarships yearly, sponsored by UWC Berhad, to qualified Hua Lian graduates who are recommended by the school. Priority will be given to students preparing for Bachelor of Electronics Engineering with Honours, Bachelor of Industrial Engineering with Honours, Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Industrial Management and Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Electronic Systems programmes. Other than that, the scholarship recipients will also be given an opportunity to intern and work at UWC Berhad.

Lau, who is also an alumnus of Hua Lian High School, said, “Hua Lian is not only a well-known school in Taiping, but it also provides quality education by paying attention to the personal conduct of students and vigorously promoting the five virtues, namely virtue and morality, knowledge and intellect, physical and mental health, sociality and humanitarianism, and aesthetics and harmony, to create countless social elites.”

He added, “‘Taking from society and giving back to society’ is the spirit that UWC Berhad has always adhered to. Therefore, participation in the education sponsorship for Hua Lian students is meaningful for us. We promise to continue funding and cultivating the pillars of society in the future.”

Prof Dato’ Ewe emphasised, “UTAR has always adhered to the bedrock principle of ‘by the people, for the people’ since its establishment. We hope that every secondary school graduate who aspires to complete tertiary education will not give up the opportunity to continue their studies because of economic factors. Therefore, over these years, UTAR has done its best to provide financial assistance such as scholarships or study loans to students in need, so that the beneficiary students will be able to complete their studies without any worries.” He then encouraged students to apply for the scholarship sponsored by UWC Berhad.

He revealed, “Over the years, UTAR has been able to have sufficient funds to provide students with a number of scholarships and loans, relying on enthusiastic corporate institutions and donors as our strongest backing. I would like to take today’s opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to UWC Berhad for generously sponsoring this scholarship so that more students have the opportunity to further their studies and at the same time cultivate talents for society. As the saying goes, ‘It takes ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to nurture a person’, education is a long-term systematic project. It is also an important cornerstone of national revitalisation and social progress.”

“The road of Chinese independent high school has never been easy. Being able to take root, grow and blossom on this land is entirely dependent on the support and selfless dedication of all sectors of society, especially the Chinese community, which has nurtured countless talents. UTAR is very honoured to cooperate with Hua Lian, which has a history of 110 years, to improve the path of Hua Lian graduates and promote the effective connection between secondary and tertiary education,” he added.

In his welcome speech, Ong expressed his gratitude to UTAR and UWC Berhad for providing the scholarship to Hua Lian students. He said, “I have always believed that education is a powerful agent of change; it improves people’s and families’ livelihoods. Under the MoA, the beneficiary students of our school will be able to complete their tertiary education at UTAR without having to worry about financial pressure.”

The ceremony ended with a souvenir exchange and group photography session.

An insightful talk titled “Career Planning: My Future Path” was conducted by Prof Dato’ Ewe after the ceremony. The talk aimed to provide insights into the routes students should consider after graduation. Furthermore, a competition on “Optimisation of manufacturing process” was conducted for Hua Lian students by UTAR FEGT. The cash prizes for the winners were sponsored by The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM), Perak Branch.