| Rokiah Mahmud |
ELEVEN students from Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) yesterday penned scholarship agreements with Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd for its joint Chemical and Process Engineering Scholarship Programme between UBD and Zhejiang University, China.
The Chemical and Process Engineering Scholarship Programme was established by Hengyi Industries with UBD and Zhejiang University to sponsor outstanding UBD students to undertake the latter part of their academic studies and industrial training at Zhejiang University for one and a half years.
The programme will see the students being attached to a petrochemical plant in China to gain firsthand experience in a real-life operational refinery environment. Upon completion of the programme, the students will be offered employment at Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd.
Yesterday’s scholarship agreement signing, the fifth for Hengyi, was held at the Chairman’s Lounge of Hengyi Industries’ offices at The Empire Hotel & Country Club.
Witnessing the event was Dr Haji Azman bin Ahmad, the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) at the Ministry of Education.
Signing the agreements on behalf of Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd was the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chen Lian Cai, while the students signed their agreements in the presence of their parents as guarantors.
In his welcoming remarks, Chen noted that Hengyi will continue to be actively involved in the development of human resources in Brunei.
“Today the fifth scholarship signing ceremony involving 11 scholars dem-onstrate our continued commitment in further ensuring the right skill sets and employment opportunities are made available to young aspiring Bruneians,” said Chen.
“Our first and second batches of scholars have completed their studies and are employed by Hengyi. The third batch has competed their studies and industrial training in China and will begin their six-month internship with Hengyi. The fourth batch of scholars is in China and will complete the programme in July 2018.
“This annual joint scholarship programme between UBD and Zhejiang University has produced 68 scholars in total. The 11 scholars have spent one and a half years at UBD and will spend another one and half years at Zhejiang University in China.”
These students, Chen added, will undergo six months of industrial placement at one of Hengyi’s plants in China to gain firsthand work experience. Upon completion of the course, the students will be offered employment with Hengyi Industries in Brunei.
“With ongoing construction work at Pulau Muara Besar and in preparation for the commencement of operations, we take this opportunity to train and equip ourselves with the skill sets,” said the CEO.
He added that as a company, Hengyi has placed much emphasis on human capacity development with particular focus on developing locals.
“Having laid our foundation in Brunei, Hengyi Industries is excited to contribute to the economic growth of the country. Hengyi will endeavour to comply with every regulatory and technical requirement to ensure that our plant facilities and operations comply with local and international standards,” Chen said.
Muhammad Muiz bin Haji Ahmad, one of the scholarship recipients, explained to the Bulletin that the scholarship will be one of his key successes in his academic life.
“Having to study for one-and-a-half years in Zhejiang University will not be a problem, the language barrier will not be a hindrance as we’ve already taken a Mandarin course for three semesters [at UBD] and will continue learning the language while studying in China,” said Muhammad Muiz.
“I hope that our learning journey will be smooth and we will be able to adapt to the locals there.”
Twenty-one-year-old Wong Jun Hong, a second year chemical engineering student under the Faculty of Integrated Technologies (FIT) at UBD, expressed his gratitude at being awarded the scholarship.
“I hope that I will be able to contribute back to the country once I finish my studies,” he added.
The 11 signing the agreements yesterday are the fourth batch of students under the scholarship arrangement with UBD and Zhejiang University.
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