UCSI scholars host exclusive Leadership Lecture Series

KUALA LUMPUR: The UCSI Scholars’ Circle (U-Schos) — formed by scholarship recipients at UCSI University — recently kicked off the U-SchoS’ Leadership Lecture Series (ULLS) 2016 on 18 June 2016.

Themed, ‘LEADnovate the Future’, this returning lecture series featured a roster of distinguished speakers who will share their expertise on leadership, which aims to inculcate strong leadership values among young leaders across the country.

The speakers included Guest of Honour and keynote speaker Yang Berhormat Datuk Seri Panglima Madius bin Tangau, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation. This marks the minister’s first appearance at a private university.

During Yang Berhormat’s speech, he highlighted the importance of recognising the urgency to innovate and taking action towards it.

“History has shown that an actively innovative society has the competitive edge. And the stark reality faced by our country today is that we need to create a national innovation environment or an innovative ecosystem not only to be innovative but also to stay competitive in order to achieve our Vision 2020.

“We must realise that to rejuvenate our economy, technological innovation is the key to unleash our nation’s potentials.   So it is imperative for Malaysia to translate those R&D works into viable and sustainable businesses which I firmly believe are paramount in strengthening and to contribute extensively to the economic prosperity of the nation,” he said.

“Malaysia can no longer stay silent and treat it as business as usual as it will soon be further exposed to more advanced countries with far superior technological and innovative skills that far outweigh our own.”

ULLS provides the ideal platform for students — from various institutions of higher learning (IHLs) in Malaysia — to not only learn about leadership practices from top leaders but also how they impact the community through their roles and capacities.

Attended by approximately 500 participants from various institutions of higher learning in Malaysia, they enjoyed masterclasses, forums and lightbulb sessions with outstanding industry leaders and community champions such as Ashran Dato’ Ghazi, CEO of MaGIC; Dr Renard Siew, Group Sustainability in Sime Darby; and Ruben Cortes, Founder of Build for Tomorrow, amongst others.

The event was also attended by UCSI Vice-Chancellor and President Senior Professor Dato’ Dr Khalid Yusoff.

The leadership lecture also saw an exclusive award — The Malaysia’s Top 10 Most Innovative Young Leaders Award 2016 — being presented to prominent corporate leaders, industry leaders or community champions. The award recognises young Malaysians who have contributed innovatively to the community, region and nation.

Among the winners for the award include Anthony Tan, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Grab; Ms Alina Amir, Co-Founder of Arus Academy; and Teo Wei Kiat, Founder of myBurgerLab, to name a few.

In total, 26 candidates were nominated by Malaysian students — between 16 and 25 years old — from local public and private IHLs. The Top 10 Most Innovative Young Leaders will be selected based on votes by the students.

President of U-SchoS, Bernard Chin, expressed his eagerness to learn from the speakers.

“We realised how wonderful ideas and innovations have improved thousands of lives of other people, while at the same time creating endless possibilities for our future, and leaders are the individuals who continuously drive these innovations.

“I am eager and excited to meet our LEADnovators who will be sharing leadership and innovative insights from each of their own respective fields,” he said.