Monday, 14 January 2019, Kuala Lumpur – HELP University held its first Conversation on National Issues, themed ‘Building a New Malaysia: Agendas and Aspirations’ which featured a panel of prominent political and economic specialists from various industries.
Datuk Professor Paul Chan, President of HELP University said during the event that Malaysia is facing global and national complex challenges. Universities like HELP University can play a meaningful role and contribute constructive ideas to help the government.
“We feel that this type of sharing between experts is a powerful education forum for the university students as they are part of the voting population,” said Datuk Paul Chan. “The government is also considering lowering the voting age to 18 years old, so students should be wise voters, be knowledgeable and can think critically to evaluate the capability of leaders and government policies.”
The ‘Conversation on National Issues’ was thus launched. It provides a platform to share ideas about three critical issues which are what does the Malaysian nation mean to us; how do we build an enterprising economy that has an equitable sharing of prosperity; and how Malaysia would define its foreign diplomacy and security in the global and Asian context.
HELP University invited five renowned specialists in their respective fields to have a dialogue on the many challenges facing Malaysia. With a slowing global economy, increasing trade protectionism, a high debt, and a potential war in the South China Sea, all these may this impact Malaysia’s economy and national sovereignty.
The panel of speakers at this conference each specialize in politics, economics, and foreign policy. Dr Bridget Welsh, a prominent political scientist shared with the audience her views on Malaysian politics and the political scenarios ahead; Mr Patrick Tay, a Partner from Pricewaterhouse Coopers discussed about the challenges the Malaysian economy will face; and former ambassador Dato’ Redzuan Kushairi spoke about Malaysia’s foreign policy challenges.
Following the panel talk, there was a lively and interesting discussion amongst Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff bin Mohd Kassim, Former Secretary-General of Treasury, Ministry of Finance; Mr Tawfik Tun Ismail, a former UMNO Minister of Parliament; and Professor Dato’ Dr Zakaria bin Ahmad, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), HELP University on the various matters raised by the previous panel of speakers facing the New Malaysia.
There were approximately 200 invited guests from the government, embassies and high commissions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), media, and members of the public who were invited to HELP’s first Conversation on National Issues.
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About HELP University
HELP University was founded in 1986 to provide affordable quality educational opportunities for Malaysians. It has since developed into a leading institution of higher learning in Malaysia with an international reputation among universities, research organisations, scholars, business, corporate leaders, and governments. HELP University offers a wide and diverse range of programmes covering business, law, management, economics, IT, the social sciences, and the humanities at undergraduate and graduate levels.
HELP has won numerous awards. It was recognised by Forbes Asia in 2011 as one of the top 200 Top Performing companies in Asia Pacific with capitalization below USD 1 billion. It also won the KPMG Shareholder Value Award in 2010, and was ranked 43 among 1,000 public listed companies on the Malaysian Stock Exchange. HELP was also included in the Malaysian Corporate Governance Indext by MSWG, and won the Brand Laureate Award for Best Brand Award for Private Tertiary Education in 2012. In 2011, Group CEO, Datin Chan-Low Kam Yoke, was named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.
For more information, please visit www.help.edu.my
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