First City University College (First City) with quality education as its hallmark seeks to provide affordable higher education opportunities to both Malaysian and international students. Courses available at First City ranges from academic to professional fields. First City can boast of producing future-proof and industry-relevant graduates that are highly sought-after in the global employment market. Graduates of First City are adequately empowered to be globally competitive. In 2023, First City achieved a “Competitive” rating under the Integrated Rating of Malaysian Higher Education Institutions (SETARA).

The testimonies given by three INDUSTRY EXCELLENCE AWARD winners of First City undoubtedly prove that First City has been successful in fulfilling its vision and mission of providing industry-relevant education to its students.

The Industry Excellence Awards recognise exceptional and outstanding achievements by graduates of Bachelor’s programmes in their respective fields.

The criteria include the following:

• Strong recommendation from Faculty Deans and Industry Mentors
• Successful completion of industry projects
• Excellent feedback from internships
• Active participation in industry events and competitions
• Significant contributions to impactful industry projects
• Previous awards or recognitions from industry bodies and academic institutions

The three Award Winners for this year (2024) are:

• Jacqielynn Saw Sze Wye, BSc Intelligent System (Honours)
• Khoo Chaw Hong, BA (Honours) Furniture and Product Design
• Chong Xian Lim, BA (Honours) Business Management

According to Mr Weladavi Acharige Rahula, the Head of Student Services of First City, the awards are given to reward excellent students and the fact that the reward comes from the industry lends credibility to the relevance of courses offered by First City. The awards are given based on students’ expertise, academic and extracurricular achievements.

StudyMalaysia has the opportunity to interview Prof. Dr Saw Sor Heoh, the Vice Chancellor of First City and the three award winners to get their takes on the Industry Excellence Awards and the education provided by First City.

Below are the interviews conducted by Tan Mui Hong of STUDYMALAYSIA (SM) with Prof. Dr Saw Sor Heoh, Vice Chancellor of First City and the three award winners.

Interview 1 - StudyMalaysia and Prof. Dr Saw Sor Heoh

SM: Prof. Dr Saw, regarding this Industry Excellence Award, what are the criteria used to assess students’ eligibility for the awards?

Prof: The criteria are mainly on their performance during internship, their industrial projects, extracurricular activities, awards they have obtained or competitions they have been involved in, which are related to the industry they are in.

SM: Are they involved in competitions of any kind to win the awards or are they selected based on criteria you mentioned earlier?

Prof: They are selected. The top student from each of the 3 faculties are chosen based on their academic performance and industry-related learning.

SM: Who gauges them on their industry-related learning?

Prof: All selection is done by the dean of the faculty with feedbacks from the industry on their internship. At the moment, we only have one award for one faculty. We hope that eventually as we proceed further, we can have one award for each degree programme. Hopefully this will be an incentive for our students to perform even better. Who knows we may even expand the disciplines and fields of study.

We hope to have more activities for our students to participate in, especially in the actual industry because graduates will eventually be absorbed into the different industries. Employers now expect graduates to be industry-ready and be able to perform immediately upon graduation unlike in years gone by. We joined the workforce. They trained us to do the work. But today, employers don't train you. You must be able to quickly contribute to their business and help them make money. So, that’s why we hope that by exposing our graduates or rather our students to more industry activities, like projects, talks, seminars, workshops, they will be better-prepared to face the world. Students get to see first-hand how an industry carries out the work process.

Another attribute we want our students to possess is the spirit of teamwork. Teamwork is very important in the workplace. Although sometimes we want our team to consist of all perfect and brilliant people, in reality this may be just wishful thinking. According to one award winner, Jacqielynn, whether at the university or at work there's no perfect team. It’s up to us to make our team perfect. Working involves teamwork and we can make our team perfect by capitalising and focussing on the strength of each team member. In a team there should be no selfishness like not wanting others to be as good as you. On the contrary we can pool together the different strengths of the individuals to make the team better and to be better able to accomplish projects.

Everything today is connected through the internet. The whole world is a global village where people get together and learn from one another. Thus teamwork and collaboration are very important. We need to focus on the strength of individuals, the skills we need and get our projects running.

We are trying to push forward this spirit of collaboration and make it our target for this year. However, I cannot make this happen without Mr. Rahula, First City’s Head of Students Services. He is the one who keeps liaising with the industry outside. He would make sure we sign the MOU before a certain date in order not to lose out. I think to secure the Industry Excellence Awards for First City is one of his greatest achievements. Each award winner receives RM1k prize money.

SM: Therefore we can conclude that these 3 award-winning students from First City are exemplary students in their respective fields.

Prof: Yes, absolutely. They have been chosen from their respective faculty which offers so many degree programmes. In order to get the awards they must have demonstrated exceptional quality and achievements both in their academic as well as extracurricular performance.

Interview 2 - StudyMalaysia and Jacqielynn Saw Sze Wye, BSC Intelligent System (Honours)

SM: Congratulations Jacqielynn on winning the Industry Excellence Award. We would like to know what you think of this award and how you are going about your career planning.

JS: Thank you. Hi everyone, I’m Jacqielynn.

SM: Jacqielyn, first question coming up for you. How is your feeling of getting this award?

JS: I feel very fortunate and grateful for the recognition given to me to get this award. As this is the first time such an award has been given out during a graduation ceremony it makes me feel overwhelmed.

SM: How do you think this award will help you in your career?

JS: This award is definitely a plus point to include in my resume or portfolio profile when I apply for jobs. I believe this achievement will not go unnoticed by future employers.

SM: To be able to get this award you must be among the top students in your faculty. What motivates you to do so well?

JS: During my secondary school years, I was never the top student or top scholar and not even one in the top range. I guess starting my education journey in a Foundation course in First City was the right choice that I made. The course that I chose suited me well and I found myself able to perform. As I achieved good results, I was spurred to do better then before in order to stay ahead of others.

SM: What made you decide to choose a course in computer?

JS: At the time when I was choosing a course to study, AI (Artificial Intelligence) was the in-thing and a hot topic among students. There were lots of discussion going round that we would eventually be replaced by AI and be unemployed. As I was preparing to spend four years at university (1 year of Foundation and 3 years of degree) I told myself that I was going to study something that would keep me relevant in the job market. So, I decided to study an AI-related course and hence my choice of studying computer science intelligence system. I hope by studying this course my future job at least will not get replaced by AI. In fact I will be the one to create and maintain AI systems.

SM: Do you think your study at First City prepares you well for the job market?

JS: In First City, the teacher-student ratio is not too high, so the lecturers can actually focus on the students more and there is more interaction among lecturers and students and as well as among the peers. Students here have more space and opportunities to participate in a lot of events like hackathons or even networking events just like what happened on 27 July 2024 when we had an Alumni Reunion. This gives students here a chance to talk to and socialise with alumni of First City.

SM: Were you actively involved in extracurricular activities in the university?

JS: I was the president of the Taekwondo team, the President of the Computer Technology Club, as well as the Head of Logistics for the Sports Council.

SM: Do you think the First City’s study environment is conducive to moulding students for the world outside?

JS: As I mentioned earlier the good teacher-student ratio here allows for more opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities. Among this small group of students we try to do our best in order to stand out in both academic and extracurricular activities. The collaboration First City forms with industries outside enables the students to study things that are relevant to world outside.

SM: Jacqielynn, can you let us in on your career planning?

JS: Currently, I’m working as a full-stack developer, focusing on data engineering and back-end development at Mercedes Benz Tech Malaysia. I think I will continue to pursue this path because that's where my interest lies. Later on in my career, perhaps I would want to aim for an administrative managerial post. But right now I would like to focus more on the technical side.

SM: Do you find what you have studied at First City relevant and useful to what your are working as now?

JS: Yes, absolutely. My degree is a Bachelor of Science in Intelligent Systems. What I studied in First City and what I learnt during my internship is all about data engineering. My current job calls for precisely the skills I have been endowed with. So, what I studied does equip me well with the technical skills and knowledge for the job.

Interview 3 - StudyMalaysia and Khoo Chaw Hong, BA (Honours) Furniture and Product Design

SM: Over to you,Chaw Hong. How do you feel to be recognised and to be selected to receive this Industry Excellence Award?

KCH: It is really a pleasant surprise for me. This is especially so because there are so many other outstanding students here who are very active in their respective courses. Thus to be chosen from among them is indeed an honour for me.

SM: From all the design courses available such as industrial, furniture, fashion and product designs, why did you choose furniture and product design?

KCH: This is because I love creating new and innovative designs. I am excited to use my skills to solve problems and come up with new ideas.

SM: What is the nature of your present job?

KCH: I'm working as product designer in a GWP company. GWP stands for Give With Purchase. Like for example, when you buy Milo, they will give you extra Milo or other small gifts to add value to your purchase. My job is to design products like toys or other gifts.

SM: Do you have any future plans?

KCH: I plan to continue working in this company because I still have a lot of things to learn. In future, I may want to create a product that I can call my own.

SM: How does First City prepare you for the job market?

KCH: I think First City has done a good job for us graduates in preparing us to enter the job market upon graduation. The course that I took gave me the software skills that I need for my job. It also gives me the opportunity to practise skills like Rhino and to do 3D stuff. We were really exposed to very solid work while studying.

SM: Will you recommend this course at First City to your friend?

KCH: Yes, I’ll recommend this course to my friend whom I think will be interested in Furniture and Product Design like me. Before I enrolled in F First City I scouted around for this course offered by different institutions. I found this course at First City which is affordable, not exactly cheap, but where I could get value for my money.

Interview 4 - Study Malaysia and Chong Xian Lim, BA (Honours) Business Management

SM: Xian Lim, can you tell us what is your feeling now for being chosen as a recipient for the Industry Excellence Award?

CXL: How am I feeling right now? Overjoyed! When I saw my name in an email I received, I felt a bit shocked. Because, to be honest, in the business course faculty, there are a lot of students with potentials. And like me it is very possible for them to be chosen for this award but I think I am luckier than them. Thus I am really surprised and thankful to all concerned who have given me this honour. As this is also the first time such an industry excellence award has been given I feel proud to be among the first three chosen.

SM: Did you share your joy with your parents and loved ones when you received the email?

CXL: Not immediately. My parents and girlfriend only got to know about it today at the graduation ceremony. I wanted to give them a pleasant surprise.

SM: Were you prepared for this award?

CXL: No, because none of us knew about this award as like what Mr Rahula said we are the first batch to receive this award. So, I just did the best I could in my study and co-curricular activities without thinking of any reward. Everything came as a surprise.

SM: Do you feel that First City prepares you well for the job market?

CXL: Academic-wise I think First City’s standard can be considered high. For my course, I was exposed to Accounting, Marketing and Business Management. Moreover we were taught by lecturers who are Masters and PhD degree holders, some of whom have many years of industrial experience. Thus they are able to bring to us textbook knowledge as well as industry knowledge. All our projects and assignments are made applicable to the outside job market.

SM: Why did you choose this course?

CXL: My first consideration was not business management. After the SPM exam I was involved in organising some events. So I thought perhaps I could do a course in event management. Then after some serious thinking, I began to think of a larger picture that can include event management and can allow me to set up a business of my own. I want to learn how to run a business and manage people. That was how I ended up choosing Business Management.

SM: How well has First City prepared you for the job market?

CXL: It gave us a good platform for interactions with others and opportunities for participation in a lot of activities. There are a lot of clubs, sports activities and events where teamwork is needed and organisational skills are needed. We learn to participate, negotiate, work with others, talk to the management etc. Doing all these allows us to brush up on our communicational skills.

SM: Can you tell us about the business you are in now?

CXL: I just started freelancing as an event planner and coordinator. My previous experience after my SPM does help to a certain extent as I know some of the companies. When they land on a big project and need more manpower, they will approach me. By doing this, I get to meet more people and widen my networking. I hope to gain as much experience as possible now before striking out on my own.