AUAM Malaysia Alumni Experience Sharing Session: Ong Kian Ming, Tee Tone Vei, and Teng Chan Leong

Several weeks ago, if you had told me that there was an organization like the AUAM, I would have looked at you with a blank stare and just said, “Huh? What is that? Is that a meditation group of some sort?”
But no, as it turns out, it's a very real thing. AUAM refers to the American Universities Alumni Association of Malaysia, and I had the opportunity to attend their UNESCO International Jazz Festival on June 1, 2024, partly because I knew that Kian Ming (Dr. Ong) and also Chan Leong, both of whom I interviewed on this channel and had known from Taylor's and USApps, were going to be speaking at the event.
Here are some helpful links to the community in case you'd like to be a part of it or discover the US alumni connection in Malaysia that you didn't know you needed!
AUAM Facebook: www.facebook.c...
AUAM Website: www.auam.org.my
True to form, the sharing did not disappoint!
This was a wonderful experience of learning from the distinguished panelists as they spoke about how their education had influenced the way that they view the world, and also how it had ended up shaping their careers and thought processes along the way.
It was an incredible panel and town hall of sorts with incredibly qualified people, some of whom I've had the privilege to interview, from whom I am confident that the entire audience had learned much; in fact, many people also asked for the recording of this talk after the session from the organizers only to realize that there weren't arrangements to make one at that point in time, at least.
How fortunate it was then that the man that I had chosen to sit next to on that particular day, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, was someone whom I had met at an airport five years ago and had recognized upon sight; went straight up to talk to the man without realizing that where he was seated was effectively at the front of the room as defined by proximity to the location where the speakers would be sitting.
As such, here is the entire talk recorded for posterity and for all generations to appreciate.
To my understanding (which may well be wrong), it is also Dr Ong's very first experience sharing about his experience of education in the United States, which not many people had heard about prior to the event - it will give insight into the mind of one of Malaysia's most influential academics and politicians along the way.
It was also a wonderful insight to learn from both Chan Leong and Ton Wei, both stalwarts of industry in their own rights both new and old, charting their paths as entrepreneurs in a world where opportunity is borderless; it was a fascinating opportunity to explore the question of how the intellectual leadership and resources of the United States could be brought to bear in Malaysia, and how that continuing relationship brought forth through individuals who have experienced the best of what America has to offer, organisations such as EducationUSA, MACEE, the Fulbright Foundation, and many others, will in turn continue to influence the complex that is our academic leaders, industry, and government in the days ahead.
It was a truly consequential panel session, and one that I was most fortunate to attend. Many thanks to the AUAM committee for organising this event, and it was an absolute pleasure to record this here for posterity and for all of your future memories.
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Yours, Victor.
LinkedIn: / victortanws
Past interview with Dr. Ong: • From YB to PPE: A Conv...
Past interview with Chan Leong: • USApps, Carnegie Mello...