TWO Penang “boys” have returned to their roots and want to contribute to the state in a move to take Penang back to the days when it produced such great players as the fabulous Choong brothers Datuk Eddy and David, 1966 All England champion Tan Aik Huang, 1967 Thomas Cup winning team captain Datuk Teh Kew San and modern day Datuk Lee Chong Wei, among others.
Their first project launched on Sept 27 is the Penang Learning Centre and Penang Badminton Academy. “Penang holds a special place in both Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan’s and my heart as we were born and grew up here,” said ECM Libra Foundation Board of Trustees member, Lim Beng Choon. Kalimullah is a member of the Board of Trustees of ECM Libra Foundation and chairman of ECM Libra Financial Group Berhad. ECM Libra Foundation sponsors numerous tuition programmes covering over 500 children at learning centres both in the rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak and also in the cities. “Outside Penang, the general comment we often hear is that Penang people are ‘one kind’. I think this is meant to be a positive comment because Penangnites are loyal and passionate about anything and everything that has to do with Penang.
Lim together with Penang state leaders and ECM Libra Foundation Board ofTrustees members at the groundbreaking ceremony at Kampung Buah Pala.
Therefore, for this project, we were excited when first approached by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to sponsor the building of a learning centre for the people of Penang,” said Beng Choon. Last April, the Penang state government made an important announcement about the setting up of Penang Learning Centre and Penang Badminton Academy at Kampung Buah Pala. The RM4 million Penang Learning Centre (PLC) and Penang Badminton Academy (PBA) will take 18 months to complete and occupies 2.9 acres of state land. It will include a library, seven class rooms for tuition and language classes, six to eight badminton courts and a can teen. Among the languages focused on will be foreign languages apart from Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil. The PLC and PBA will serve the community in terms of being a unique com munity location where students weak in their academic studies will have an affordable option to seek tuition and learn new languages as well as excelling in badminton.
“As part our continuous efforts to make Penang the preferred destination to live, learn, work, play and heal, the PBA and PLC will serve to nurture minds by keeping the body healthy. “Parents who send their children to this centre can exercise by playing badminton while waiting for their children. Both parent and child can then go back happy as healthier parent and knowledgeable child. This is the first library built by the PR state government and also the first badminton academy in Penang,” Guan Eng said in his speech. He added: “The Penang state government accepts that education is under the Federal government. In our efforts to ensure that Penang is not left out of the best educational facilities or smart schools, the state government has adopted the three tier approach at the top level to attract private institutions of higher learning whether they are top international schools or top international private universities.
Beng Choon delivering his speech at the event.
One notable success is the selection of Penang by AWLU run by Smith College, the premier women’s college in the United States. AWLU will be the premier international women’s university in this region training women both the African and Asian regions to become future leaders. AWLU was much sought after by many countries as well as many other states which offered much better terms but Penang was the final choice due to its reputation of respecting human rights and politics l freedom and its cultural diversity. The Penang Science Council (PSC) was also established to transform Pen‑ang into a centre of excellence for sci‑ence and technology. The PSC and its attendant Penang Tech Dome will have seed money from the state government but will be driven purely by the private sector. Since its establishment, the PSC has achieved tremendous success because of the active involvement of all the rival competitors in the private sector and also the state government’s non‑interference policy. The final initiative is to provide remedial education for weak children. “This is the most challenging because voluntary teachers will be sought to assist where our school system has failed! But I have faith that the people of Penang will find their way to teach the average students to excel,” the chief minister said. “With the PBA, the state also hopes to create more ‘Lee Chong Weis’ and world badminton champions from Penang in years to come. The state government wishes to thank ECM Libra Foundation for its generous contribution in promoting education and mastery of languages amongst the young.
From: Bulletin Mutiara
By: Chan Lillian
Their first project launched on Sept 27 is the Penang Learning Centre and Penang Badminton Academy. “Penang holds a special place in both Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan’s and my heart as we were born and grew up here,” said ECM Libra Foundation Board of Trustees member, Lim Beng Choon. Kalimullah is a member of the Board of Trustees of ECM Libra Foundation and chairman of ECM Libra Financial Group Berhad. ECM Libra Foundation sponsors numerous tuition programmes covering over 500 children at learning centres both in the rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak and also in the cities. “Outside Penang, the general comment we often hear is that Penang people are ‘one kind’. I think this is meant to be a positive comment because Penangnites are loyal and passionate about anything and everything that has to do with Penang.
Lim together with Penang state leaders and ECM Libra Foundation Board ofTrustees members at the groundbreaking ceremony at Kampung Buah Pala.
Therefore, for this project, we were excited when first approached by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to sponsor the building of a learning centre for the people of Penang,” said Beng Choon. Last April, the Penang state government made an important announcement about the setting up of Penang Learning Centre and Penang Badminton Academy at Kampung Buah Pala. The RM4 million Penang Learning Centre (PLC) and Penang Badminton Academy (PBA) will take 18 months to complete and occupies 2.9 acres of state land. It will include a library, seven class rooms for tuition and language classes, six to eight badminton courts and a can teen. Among the languages focused on will be foreign languages apart from Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil. The PLC and PBA will serve the community in terms of being a unique com munity location where students weak in their academic studies will have an affordable option to seek tuition and learn new languages as well as excelling in badminton.
“As part our continuous efforts to make Penang the preferred destination to live, learn, work, play and heal, the PBA and PLC will serve to nurture minds by keeping the body healthy. “Parents who send their children to this centre can exercise by playing badminton while waiting for their children. Both parent and child can then go back happy as healthier parent and knowledgeable child. This is the first library built by the PR state government and also the first badminton academy in Penang,” Guan Eng said in his speech. He added: “The Penang state government accepts that education is under the Federal government. In our efforts to ensure that Penang is not left out of the best educational facilities or smart schools, the state government has adopted the three tier approach at the top level to attract private institutions of higher learning whether they are top international schools or top international private universities.
Beng Choon delivering his speech at the event.
One notable success is the selection of Penang by AWLU run by Smith College, the premier women’s college in the United States. AWLU will be the premier international women’s university in this region training women both the African and Asian regions to become future leaders. AWLU was much sought after by many countries as well as many other states which offered much better terms but Penang was the final choice due to its reputation of respecting human rights and politics l freedom and its cultural diversity. The Penang Science Council (PSC) was also established to transform Pen‑ang into a centre of excellence for sci‑ence and technology. The PSC and its attendant Penang Tech Dome will have seed money from the state government but will be driven purely by the private sector. Since its establishment, the PSC has achieved tremendous success because of the active involvement of all the rival competitors in the private sector and also the state government’s non‑interference policy. The final initiative is to provide remedial education for weak children. “This is the most challenging because voluntary teachers will be sought to assist where our school system has failed! But I have faith that the people of Penang will find their way to teach the average students to excel,” the chief minister said. “With the PBA, the state also hopes to create more ‘Lee Chong Weis’ and world badminton champions from Penang in years to come. The state government wishes to thank ECM Libra Foundation for its generous contribution in promoting education and mastery of languages amongst the young.
From: Bulletin Mutiara
By: Chan Lillian
