As a Penang-born who lived in Kuala Lumpur for over 20 years, the decision to join Swinburne in Sarawak was one of the biggest decisions I have ever made in my life —and it certainly turned out to be one of the best decisions too.

Swinburne gave me the platform to shine. Since joining the Sarawak campus, I have had the opportunity to help transform the culture of the business school from one that was teaching-oriented to one that is now research active and capable of producing world-class research with impact on scholarship and practice.

In 2016, the business school had only one academic with a single A-ranked journal publication. Today, more than 25 percent of academics in the business school have published in at least one A-ranked journal. In addition, the graduate employability rate at the business school has consistently soar above the 90 percent mark over the past four years, and the business school is now represented at world-leading outlets, such as the Journal of Business Research and the World Economic Forum. The AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) Accreditation that we collectively achieved in 2019 is perhaps one of the biggest, if not the biggest, achievement of the business school to date.

In the midst of these collective achievements, I am delighted to have accomplished my personal dream of becoming the “Youngest Professor” in the Malaysia Book of Records. For that, I am immensely grateful and thankful to Swinburne.

Happy 20th anniversary, Swinburne Sarawak!