KUCHING – Young professionals Victor Gan and Alexander Tho have appealed to the thousands of their fellow Swinburne University of Technology graduates to join them in founding a Swinburne Alumni Chapter for the first time in Sarawak.
As the majority of Swinburne’s large community of graduates in Malaysia graduated from Sarawak, it is a natural step to set up a Swinburne alumni chapter in Kuching although a Swinburne alumni office has been in existence in Kuala Lumpur for a number of years.
Gan said the new Sarawak chapter – to be launched on October 26 – was timely since the Sarawak campus had been established for over 10 years.
“For many, university years may be some of the best years of their life. With this new network we hope to keep a common thread alive within the many graduates who have left the university and are now working here in Sarawak,” he said.
Many of the hundreds of students celebrating their graduation from Swinburne Sarawak this year have been invited to attend the formal launch of the Swinburne Sarawak chapter at the special alumni dinner ceremony in Kuching on 26 October, 2011.
Swinburne Alumni Manager Chanel Hughes said the university has been overwhelmed with the initial response to attend the launch with the event now fully subscribed.
“There has been a wonderful response to this event from our alumni. It is fantastic to see such enthusiasm from the graduate community, and we look forward to supporting many future activities.”
In a message to mark the launch and 11th anniversary of the Sarawak campus, Swinburne Vice-President (International & Development) Jeffrey Smart, said Swinburne was “extraordinarily proud” to count many Malaysian citizens as graduates of its programs.
“A university experience does not end at graduation: the benefit of graduating from an internationally renowned university is that our alumni instantly become part of a network of more than 90,000 graduates who have gone before them,” he said.
Swinburne looked forward to celebrating its achievements with its alumni in Malaysia, and very much “hoped to reconnect with any graduates who have lost contact with us,’’ Smart said.
Swinburne Sarawak’s Pro Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Helmut Lueckenhausen – who is attending the dinner – said returning graduates would enjoy all the traditional benefits open to alumni of a first-class research university.
With Swinburne Sarawak’s extensive connections into industry, returning alumni would also be kept informed of emerging career opportunities such as that associated with the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy, or SCORE.
“Government authorities expect SCORE to develop the Central Region and transform Sarawak into a developed State by the year 2020, with more than 800,000 jobs at various industries and skills levels expected to be created in the Corridor by 2030,’’ he said.
Swinburne Sarawak has successfully designed and conducted short SCORE-relevant programs sanctioned and approved by the state government in the last two years, Professor Lueckenhausen said.
If you would like to become a part of the Sarawak alumni chapter, contact Swinburne’s Alumni and Development Office, email: alumni@swin.edu.au or visit www.swinburne.edu.au/alumni