Cover Tan Sri Abu Hassan Othman, a trustee of YTL Foundation, and Dato’ Kathleen Chew,
group legal counsel for YTL Corporation and programme director at YTL Foundation. (Image: Khairul Imran)
Tan Sri Abu Hassan Othman, a trustee of YTL Foundation, and Dato’ Kathleen Chew, group legal counsel for YTL Corporation and programme director at YTL Foundation. (Image: Khairul Imran)
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For 25 years and counting, YTL Foundation has uplifted the local education scene through empowering educators and students alike.
Staying true to the ethos of its founder, the late Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, the YTL Foundation is making a positive impact in the realm of education, helping Malaysian individuals overcome barriers to learning and success to strengthen the future of our beloved nation.
In celebration of its 25th anniversary, Tatler sits down with Dato’ Kathleen Chew and Tan Sri Dr Abu Hassan Othman, who are integral members of the YTL Foundation, to find out more about its founder and its pioneering programmes and initiatives.
As a former teacher and a Fulbright-Hays scholar who holds a PhD in sociology, Dr Abu Hassan shares Yeoh’s passion for education and holds the man in great esteem.
“The late Tan Sri didn’t have the opportunity to go to university himself, but always saw tertiary education as a path that he wanted the young people of Malaysia to have,” he says. “He was an all-round supporter of education, even helping out his school, Hin Hua High School in Klang, which he co-founded in 1947.” (Yeoh and his wife, Puan Sri Tan Kai Yong, had set up a charity fund to aid in the school’s future development before his passing in 2017.)
Abu Hassan continues: “He even helped UMS (Universiti Malaysia Sabah) students with scholarships to continue their studies. And his contributions and commitment led to him becoming the pro-chancellor of UMS back in 2005.”
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Above Children in the 54C Learning Space in Bukit Bintang, KL. (Image: YTL Foundation)
Children in the 54C Learning Space in Bukit Bintang, KL. (Image: YTL Foundation)
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Chew who serves as the programme director of YTL Foundation is also YTL Corporation’s group legal counsel. It was her idea to formalise the distribution of scholarships and suggested forming the foundation. Thus, the setting up of the foundation was spearheaded by her, back in 1997.
Looking back at its early years, she shares a heartwarming story of the first scholar under the foundation: “We were working in our old office in Bukit Bintang at the time. Across the road was a business called China Company where I befriended a lady. One day she says, ‘Can I ask you a favour? My brother works in a residential school in Perak, and there’s a bright boy that lost his father who was the breadwinner. The teachers have been contributing to his school fees but it’s unsustainable, so could you grant him a scholarship?’
“He was Form Three at the time, and later did Form Six in Penang Free School. He wanted to become a doctor and ended up studying medicine in Universiti Putra Malaysia. I still remember the day he got his full qualification; he sent me an email—it was so emotional that I cried,” she tells of Dr Narasimman Sathiamurthy, who is now a thoracic surgeon based in KL.
Since then, YTL Foundation has disbursed more than 500 scholarships. This number includes the foundation’s first visually impaired scholar, Kenzon, who’s currently pursuing his tertiary education in Curtin University, Sarawak where he’s studying computer science, with the goal to one day develop software to aid those like him.
Above Tan Sri Dr Abu Hassan Othman and Dato’ Kathleen Chew
Tan Sri Dr Abu Hassan Othman and Dato’ Kathleen Chew
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The foundation has helped many students as well as parents cope with the ubiquitous need to bridge the education and technological gap in a myriad of ways—from providing 100,000 smartphones to students in need during the pandemic under its Learn From Home programme, giving them access to virtual learning via the foundation’s Leaps Academy, to providing after-school support and engaging educational programmes for children via its 54C Learning Spaces in Bukit Bintang.
Then there’s the Frog Classroom programme, that caught the attention of the Ministry of Education and has seen 350 classrooms (and counting) being transformed into 21st century learning spaces that promote technology-abled, student-focused learning across the nation.
Believing that strong and effective school leadership is fundamental in transforming schools and classrooms, YTL Foundation partnered with Pemimpin GSL to launch a local edition of the prestigious Global Teacher Prize—the Malaysia Teacher Prize. Launched earlier this year, the award not only aims to recognise the achievement of outstanding educators in the country but also to elevate the calibre of the teachers and consequently, that of the public school system in Malaysia. (An organisation focused on improving school leadership, Pemimpin GSL has already impacted over 70,000 students across 200 schools so far.)
A spark is all it takes to raise the standard of public education and empower communities. As YTL Foundation continues to do its good work, a brighter future for the next generation is within our grasp.
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