Reach out to us!

25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION | Dec 2022

The YTL Foundation
25th Anniversary Dinner 

"

It was truly a memorable night to celebrate the 25-year milestone of YTL Foundation. 
Here’s to more years of successful programmes and collaborations. 

On 7 October 2022, YTL Foundation celebrated their 25th Anniversary in full regalia with a dinner at The Majestic Hotel. Commemorating 25 years of building better education in Malaysia, the gala night was graced by the presence of the DYMM Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir.

Providing accessible education to the most deserving children of this country has always been close to the heart of the late Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr Yeoh Tiong Lay and wife, Puan Sri Datin Sri Kai Yong Yeoh. Growing up, the Yeoh children were constantly reminded by their mother about strength in unity through the anecdote whereby a single chopstick would break easily but a bunch of them held together would be almost impossible to break.

In this 25th Anniversary celebration, pencils (in lieu of chopsticks) were chosen to represent the different programmes of the Foundation over the years that have impacted the community and brought the Foundation to its current strength thus far.

Throughout the years, each programme grew to help overcome education challenges which has created opportunities for many.

The milestones and journey of each programme along with the representatives and volunteers behind them were given due recognition on stage:

• YTL Foundation Scholarship – Dr Narasimman Sathiamurthy, 1st Scholar
• 54C Learning Space – Dorvenesh Raj A/L Vinod Raj, student
• Malaysia Acumen Academy – Daniel Lee, a national aspiring Paralympian and Acumen Fellow
• PEMIMPIN GSL – Cheryl Ann Fernando, CEO and Founder of PEMIMPIN GSL
• Teach for Malaysia (Learn From Home) – Chan Soon Seng, CEO of Teach For Malaysia
• FrogAsia & Leaps of Knowledge – Lou Yeoh, Executive Director of FrogAsia
• Ruang KITA – Puan Mastura and Puan Sherry, community leaders at Ruang KITA

Apart from this, the Foundation took the opportunity of its 25th year to introduce the first-ever Malaysia Teacher Prize, to honour teachers for their outstanding contribution in their profession and to highlight the important role teachers play in society. Organised by PEMIMPIN GSL in collaboration with the Foundation, the Malaysia Teacher Prize is the localized version of the internationally renowned Varkey Foundation, Global Teacher Prize Award, which is often known as the Nobel Prize of the teaching profession. It recognises teachers who not only empower the lives of their students but the community around them. 

The top 5 finalists and winner were announced in a separate ceremony held on the same day and later awarded their respective prizes during the Gala Night. DYMM Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir, later presented the awards to the Top 5 teachers.

One notable highlight of the evening was the throwback to the Foundation’s scholarship programme which started in 1997. Throughout the years many successful scholars have gone through the Foundation’s doors, but none more memorable than its first scholar Dr Narasimman Sathiamurthy who was present for the dinner. His story, "The Boy from Teluk Intan”, told and immortalised in a touching video left many eyes wet. The bright, unassuming young boy who was raised in a rubber estate in Teluk Intan and helped by his teacher to apply for the scholarship is now a highly successful surgeon and holds a big role at the Ministry of Health as the Head of Thoracic Surgery Services.

The night ended with the beautiful sounds of the Ruth Milal Choir, composed of refugee youths from the Ruth Refugee Education Center formed in 2016. Guests were serenaded with a harmonic rendition of The Heart Song, the theme song for the annual Leaps of Knowledge, yet another educational annual programme held jointly with FrogAsia to keep Educators creative, inspired and updated.

It was truly a memorable night to celebrate the 25-year milestone of YTL Foundation. Here’s to more years of successful programmes and collaborations. May the journey continue to redefine the teaching and learning process as we build better societies through better education together. 

Read More

Malaysia Teacher Prize

"

The Malaysia Teacher Prize, organised by PEMIMPIN GSL in collaboration with YTL Foundation, is an annual award that celebrates Malaysian teachers and is designed to support their efforts in creating a sustainable impact not only for their students but communities beyond their schools.

Anuthra Sirisena from Tenom, Sabah was chosen as the first-ever winner of the Malaysia Teacher Prize. The localised version of the world-renowned Global Teacher Prize recognizes the outstanding contribution of teachers nationwide. As the winner, Anuthra brings home a whopping RM50,000 for her innovative teaching methods and impact on inspiring her students and community.

A champion both in and out of her school setting, Anuthra teaches chemistry at SMJK Chung Hwa where she integrates technology and gamification in her classroom. This has contributed to her school consistently being in the Top 10 schools for SPM Chemistry in Sabah. Outside of the classroom, she is the co-founder of Tenom Innovation Centre (TIC), a makerspace which has trained over 2,000 teachers and students from rural schools in robotics and coding. The proud winner of the inaugural Malaysia Teacher Prize hopes to expand TIC and build a ‘Pedalaman Makers-Hub’ with the money that she has won.

“I am humbled to be the inaugural winner of the Malaysia Teacher Prize. When I applied for the award, I never thought that I would be receiving this recognition. Being a teacher has always been a passion and I am so proud of what we - my students and I - have achieved together. Teachers play a vital role in inspiring our students to become the very best they can be and I am proud to represent my fellow colleagues in uplifting the teaching profession in Malaysia. I am also very grateful to PEMIMPIN GSL and YTL Foundation for organising the Malaysia Teacher Prize and giving us the platform to share our everyday stories.”

Alongside Anuthra, four other teachers were announced as the Top 5 finalists and were awarded RM5,000 each by DYMM Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir at the YTL Foundation 25th Anniversary Gala Night. As part of the Malaysia Teacher Prize’s broader scope to drive long term impact for the education landscape in Malaysia, the Top 10 finalists will also be given professional development to sharpen their expertise and scale their teaching methods beyond the classrooms.

The Malaysia Teacher Prize, organised by PEMIMPIN GSL in collaboration with YTL Foundation, is an annual award that celebrates Malaysian teachers and is designed to support their efforts in creating a sustainable impact not only for their students but communities beyond their schools.

The inaugural Malaysia Teacher Prize submission period was launched on May 10 2022, which gathered over 800 applications across Malaysia. Entries were shortlisted to 10 by an esteemed panel of judges consisting of academicians, Ministry of Education officials, individuals from educational and non-educational organisations nationwide. The Top 10 shortlisted teachers were selected based on their innovative classroom practices, contribution to the teaching fraternity and their community, best usage of the prize money as well as their journey towards becoming an educator.

As part of Malaysia Teacher Prize’s broader scope to drive long term impact for the education landscape in Malaysia, the Top 10 Finalists will also be given professional development training to sharpen their expertise and scale their teaching methods beyond the classrooms. 


Read More

Sign Up for Our
Touchpoints Newsletter


Find out about how we are impacting our communities. Sign up here for our quarterly newsletter!
YTL Foundation was founded in 1997 on the belief that education is the basis on which every society progresses. By improving education, empowering future generations and building tomorrow’s leaders, YTL Foundation aims to empower individuals and communities to be catalysts of change.

More Information

Helpful Links

Terms & Policies

Menu

Get In Touch

ADDRESS
YTL Foundation
[199701006074 (421570-A)]
32nd, Menara YTL
205, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Follow Us
Copyright © 2022 YTL Foundation [199701006074 (421570-A)]. All rights reserved
menu