Press release

British High Commission bids farewell to Chevening scholars 2015

Her Excellency Vicki Treadell CMG MVO, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, hosted a pre-departure briefing and reception for the scholars last week.

High Commissioner Vicki Treadell bids farewell to Chevening scholars

High Commissioner Vicki Treadell bids farewell to Chevening scholars

The Chevening award is the UK government’s global scholarship programme offered by the UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office. On top of the UK government’s funding, there were additional funding from various partners including BAE Systems, the Prudence Foundation, Shell and British universities. This year’s award is the largest Chevening programme Malaysia has seen thus far since the turn of the century.

Her Excellency Vicki Treadell CMG MVO, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, hosted a pre-departure briefing and reception for the scholars last week. She said, “As Prime Minister Cameron made clear during his recent visit, Malaysia is an important partner of the UK. Cooperation in trade, investment, research and education is growing from strength to strength. Our education partnership has been reinforced by the tripling of Chevening funding to enable more Malaysians to study in the UK. Currently, Malaysia is among the five largest recipients for Chevening scholarships in the world, and the largest recipient per capita.”

Successful scholars were chosen from over 600 applicants who have undergone a highly competitive selection process. They will study a wide range of Master’s programmes at top UK Universities with the aim of returning back to Malaysia to make a significant contribution in one of these priority areas: human rights; foreign and security policy; good governance and education; climate change and sustainable development; trade, economics and Islamic finance; and science, engineering and cyber security.

Scholar Patrick Lee from Johor who will be studying an MSc in Public Policy at University College London said, “Chevening scholarship will help me reach my ambitions of making a difference especially through education policy planning. Nothing is impossible. I am also looking forward to blending the best practices of both the East and the West to support Malaysia’s quest to be a developed nation by 2020.”

Scholar Nabila Mohammad from Penang who will be studying for an MSc in Islamic Finance at Durham University said, “I am definitely curious to find out how the different culture and perspective in the UK would influence the outlook on Islamic Finance - a field which I am particularly interested in.

“Receiving the esteemed Chevening Award not only means an opportunity to study in one of the UK’s top universities, it’s the opportunity to be part of the global nexus of aspiring leaders forming the Chevening Alumni that will set us apart from others en route to achieving our career goals,” Nabila added.

The Chevening scholarship programme has long been renowned for giving its recipients the opportunity to study in British universities which rank among the world’s best whilst, at the same time, experiencing the best that the United Kingdom has to offer. The scholars will depart for the Chevening Scholarships 2015/16 session in as early as September.

The British High Commission is currently receiving applications for those wishing to study in the UK for the academic year of 2016/17. For more information please visit http://www.chevening.org/

Published 27 August 2015