Seven Malaysian students in US win Perdana Scholar Award

Seven Malaysian students currently studying at universities in the United States (US) have been selected for the 2016 Perdana Scholar Award for outstanding performance.

Higher Education Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Kamel Mohammad presented the awards to the winners at a presentation ceremony held at the Malaysian Embassy in Washington on Saturday.

Three of the students were awarded for their academic excellence while the rest won in various categories. Three student associations were also awarded.

The academic excellence awards were won by Plant Biotechnology student Cheong Kuan Yu, 23, from Rutgers University; Economics and Statistics student Calvin Yeoh Kai Yuan, 22, of Stanford University; and, Geological Science student Norhafiza Jahaya, 20, of Arizona State University.

The award in the Voluntarism and Entrepreneurship category went to Aisyah Ilani Mohd Zin, 22 of Drexel University and her college mate Mohammad Hazraf Khan Hakim Khan, 23.

Dr Chong Chin Heo, 33, of Texas AGM University won the award in the Research, Innovation and Publication category while Sue Ann Yong, 21, of Harvard University was awarded for her involvement in sports and culture.

The three student associations awarded were from the Pennsylvania State University, University of Washington and University of Tulsa.

Kamel in his speech said the Perdana Scholar Award was a platform for continuous excellence for Malaysian students in America.

In this regard, the Malaysian Education director in Washington, Assoc Prof Dr Md Amin Md Taff said about 300 applications were received from 7,000 Malaysian students studying in America.

The Perdana Scholar Award is aimed at recognising excellent students in line with the core of human capital building and promoting these excellent students to important industries in Malaysia. -- Bernama