Reminiscing About Sedaya
 

Reminiscing About Sedaya

The Student Council members of Sedaya College in a team building excercise back in the day

Reminiscing About Sedaya

Goh Tze Meng, (far right) together with his Student Council members

Reminiscing About Sedaya

Goh Tze Meng reminiscing about the past
 
Mr. Goh Tze Meng is no ordinary alumni member of UCSI University. As a student back in the days when UCSI University was Sedaya College, Mr. Goh was the first ever Student Council President of the college, creating history as he was handed his Letter of Appointment.  He reminisces about the past when we met him shortly after his Welcome Ceremony speech for the September intake of new students.

Nine years ago, as the world celebrated the new Millennium, Mr. Goh, fresh out of high school, entered Sedaya College at Taman Segar, Cheras. “Sedaya College was a small place back then, and everyone knew everyone else,” mused the alumnus. “There was great teamwork, and the staff at the Student Affairs Office were great mentors.” He said that his lecturers constantly challenged his thinking, allowing him to think ahead and out of the box. “They also gave me many opportunities to try new things which in turn honed my leadership skills.” According to Mr. Goh, his tenure as the President of the first Student Council taught him a lot of soft skills as he had to talk to many departments and individuals. “Being the Student Council President meant that I had to focus on setting up the groundwork and on acquiring more student services to benefit the student population.”

Among his treasured memories at Sedaya College was representing Malaysia in the Rakan Muda Team Malaysia at a Youth Trade Delegation to Canada that was organised by Rakan Muda and Kementrian Belia Malaysia. He had been selected after winning an essay competition that he wrote to the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad on the management of the national economic policy. Mr. Goh had been among 20 other students selected for the delegation team to Canada.

Mr. Goh went on to do a twinning programme in 2002, studying Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba.  He found the foreign country to be well... rather foreign to him. “The campuses there were larger, and almost everyone was a stranger. There was no longer that ‘familiarity’ in campus.” He also found people’s attitude towards him was different then when he was back in Malaysia, and that there were different standards of expectations for different people.

Armed with a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Manitoba, he worked as a Project Manager for construction projects in Canada. These projects included major highways and other civil engineering projects where he was involved in designing, handling the costing for the projects, tendering for contracts and managing the overall projects. He was also responsible for setting up the BOS (Blue Ocean Strategy) Canada office in partnership with the UCSI-BOSRC (Blue Ocean Strategy Regional Centre). This got him involved in partnership programmes with other institutions and organising workshops.

His future plans however, involve relocating to Malaysia and joining the Malaysian office of the UCSI-BOS Regional Centre to co-ordinate North American operations from the headquarters itself. “I hope to give back to Malaysia by sharing my knowledge and applying it to a Malaysian business context.”

He is excited to be back at his alma mater, and proud of UCSI University’s achievements and tremendous growth in such a short space of time. “The buildings are very modern, and the facilities are newer and more comprehensive,” he said.

His advice to current students? “Students should always have the determination to succeed. Things do not come easy, and one’s efforts in the space of four years at this University define who you would be in the future.” He also said that the more one saves up in his or her “piggy bank of knowledge”, the more one will be able to gain in the future.  “You shape you own future, the choice lies in your own hands. Your academic qualifications and your experiences would reflect on your future career.”
     
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