teachformalaysia.

org
 What is Teach For Malaysia? We’re working towards
a Malaysia where all children are empowered to be leaders of their own
learning, their future, and the future of our nation.
We’re on a mission to mobilise a movement of leaders to
empower our nation through education. Help us impact more lives.
Be the ETA that students could remember for the rest of their lives.
We believe that a child’s education and future should not
be determined by his or her circumstances in life - so we recruit
our country’s rising generation of leaders to be part of the solution
to the challenges faced by our communities today. They teach for
at least two years as Fellows in high-need schools across
Malaysia, working with these communities to impact lives in the
classroom and beyond. After the Fellowship, they join our growing
network of Alumni who are lifelong advocates for education and
expanding opportunity for students, working as a movement to
build an ecosystem of solutions at all levels of society – from the
classroom to the boardroom.

We partner with the government, private corporations and

society to invest in our collective future, to see real and lasting
transformation in our schools and communities. As the challenges
affect all of us, the solutions must involve all of us.
 Kok Wei, a student from Chumbaka Cyberjaya explained, “We
received training on our presentation skills and managed to
present to very successful entrepreneurs from across a variety of
industries. Chumbaka has helped us develop our skills because
we have the chance to take part in a lot of different innovation
competitions, exhibitions and camps experiences that help us
communicate and present our ideas to different types of people.”

Gayatri and Badrul from Arus were chosen to take part to present
their intelligence Steering Wheel idea - a device designed to
ensure that drivers keep both hands on the steering wheel as a
safety measure. Gayatri explained that Arus has given them the
opportunity to enter competitions by encouraging them to think
critically about problems they want to solve and then to use their

Beat the Odd

skills to prototype solutions, testing their ideas with their target
audience and also refining their prototypes. She was also excited
that she got to meet engineers and designers from Google and
Tesla. Likewise, Arus helped to improve their English which is of
great importance in the tech world, as well as their presentational
You may be familiar with “Shark Tank,” the American reality TV skills which they can also apply in school.
show on which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to a
panel of investors - but have you ever heard of “Dolphin Tank”? In
December 2016, 7 students from high-need schools taught by
Teach for Malaysia alumni were among 10 selected to present
their innovations to representatives from U.S’s leading technology
hub at Silicon Valley, California.

The students’ journey to Silicon Valley began as participants in

two after school programs launched by Teach For Malaysia
Alumni: (1) Chumbaka Cyberjaya, co-founded by Alumni Nigel Sim
and Chong Zhi Xiong and (2) Arus Academy, co-founded by
Alumni David Chak, Alina Amir and Felicia Yoon and Daniel Russel.

While Arus Academy was created to encourage students from

high-need schools and communities to use their knowledge and
critical thinking skills to create their own innovative projects,
Chumbaka Cyberjaya was guided by the vision that all kids can
and should be thinkers, problem solvers and investors

Leaders of Tomorrow
A leader is someone who demonstrates what is possible. That’s
what teachers do every day: wee keep telling our students that
they can do so much with their lives and it is possible for them to
achieve what they want. Despite the challenges in the classroom,
teachers always look for thousands of ways to help their students
grow and most importantly, to grow themselves as leaders.
Earlier this year, I decided to choose a student from one of the
weaker classes to be the squad commander for school sports day
competition because I felt that the opportunity to lead was always
given to students from the top classes. When I chose him, he was
shocked and reluctant to take the lead, but he finally decided to
give it a try.
During training, I could see how he struggled to improve himself to
command the squad and how determined he was to memorise all
the commands - including the one in English.
Sports day came: he and the squad did their best and won the
marching competition - it was the first time that the Green House
had ever won in school history!
I asked him, “Best tak dah menang ni?”
(It is good to win the competition?)
He said to me. “Mestilah best. First time ni
saya menang.”
(Of course it felt good, this is my first time
winning a competition)
To some of us, winning a school marching competition is nothing,
but when I heard what he said, I felt touched and realised that this
13-year-old might have never felt success like this in his life before
- It really meant something to him. I hope that after experiencing
this, he and his friends will be motivated to achieve greater things
in their lives.
Muhammad Anas bin Mohd Zain is a 2017 Teach For Malaysia
Fellow and he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the
University of Queensland.
 Raee Yeoh

Raee works in Talent Acquisition with Teach For Malaysia where he

believes the power of empowering talents for systemic change.

As an alumnus of Teach For Malaysia Fellowship 2015 cohort, he

continues his impact in recruiting talents to be part of the
movement in ending education inequity.

Raee is also a content creator for Classroom Adventures , an

organisation dedicated to using experiential learning to create
social change. With his classroom experience, Raee and his team
designed a tabletop board game - The Cikgu Life, showcasing
meaningful conversations between educators and the public.

Raee has a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from Universiti

Utara Malaysia, as well as Bachelor of Economics from Universiti
Malaya.
 Yeong Ru
Yeong Ru is the Leadership Development Manager at Teach for
Malaysia.
As an alumna of Teach For Malaysia Fellowship 2013 cohort, she
taught English in public school. Since then she has taught and
conducted workshops locally and abroad. Her experiences
includes working with students, parents and education
department officers to ensure learning takes place in all levels.
She is passionate about coaching and people development and
has been involved in the training and development of Teach for
Malaysia Fellows for the past 5 years.
Yeong Ru holds a Bachelors of Education (TESL) (Hons) from the
University of Malaya and a Masters in Science Psychological
Studies from the University of Glasgow.
Priscilla Lim
Priscilla has been an English teacher at the British Council for the
past five years, teaching both adults and children at a variety of
levels, from Elementary to Upper-Intermediate, as well as exam
preparation courses.
As part of the pioneering cohort of Teach For Malaysia back in
2012, she taught in Pulau Ketam, a fishing village off the coast of
Port Klang. Being the Head of the English panel, she shared lesson
resources, coordinated peer observations and organised
professional development. She enjoys using games and role plays
in the classroom to make learning fun, while encouraging
authentic use of language.
Priscilla holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychological Sciences, a
Postgraduate Diploma in Education and a Certificate for English
Language Teaching for Adults (CELTA).
 Shafinaz
Shafinaz is an alumnus of Teach For Malaysia Fellowship 2018
cohort where she taught Bahasa Melayu and Science to lower
secondary school children. After the fellowship, Shafinaz
continued to stay on as a teacher in a local public school.
She has been active as an advisor for Sepak Takraw (also known
as kick volleyball) and her team has been to multiple state
competitions. As she has an interest in leadership development,
she has founded TRUNBULL Project where students work
together in managing projects and activities to reduce the amount
truancy in her school.
Shafinaz has obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Bahasa Melayu and a BS (Hons)
Industrial Biology from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Fasha
Fasha is an alumnus of Teach For Malaysia Fellowship 2018 cohort
where she taught Bahasa Melayu and Geografi to lower secondary
school children. She is planning to continue her teaching
profession in local public school after her fellowship ended.
Involved actively in the discipline unit in her school, she had
introduced an improvised system on the merit-demerit system
which is directly promoting less-paper work in her school. She was
also an active teachers’ committee of Red Crescent Malaysia unit
in Gombak District under Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah Gombak, and
was appointed as a team lead for the Emergency Unit during
Majlis Sukan-Sukan Daerah (MSSD) Gombak.
Fasha holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Major Bahasa
Melayu) from Institut Perguruan Malaysia Kampus Bahasa Melayu,
and a Bachelor of Science (Human Resource Development) from
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
 Ooi
Ooi is an alumnus of Teach For Malaysia Fellowship 2018 cohort
where he taught Science, Physics and Reka Bentuk Teknologi
(RBT) to lower secondary school children. After the fellowship, Ooi
continued to stay on as a teacher in a local public school for a
year.
With a passion for performing arts, Ooi founded 24 Seasons Drum
Society in his university. He founded and coached a choir team
during his second year of Teach For Malaysia Fellowship
programme, promoting multicultural education as different
instruments from different ethnics are implemented in the choir
team. In the same year, the team had reached itself to National
Level performance.
Ooi has obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Pendidikan Teknik, Master in
Engineering (Safety, Health and Environment) and a BEng (Hons)
Chemical Engineering from University of Malaya.
Hisyam
Hisyam is an alumnus of Teach For Malaysia from the 2018 cohort
where he taught Sejarah, Geografi and Bahasa Melayu to lower
secondary students in SMK Seri Kembangan. After the fellowship,
Hisyam has decided to stay on as teaching alumni.
With a passion in debate & public speaking, Hisyam founded
Toastmaster Club in his school, where he successfully coached his
school debate team to participate at district level debate
competition after 10 years of idleness. For this, he worked with the
Oxford-Cambridge Debate Society to provide a platform for
debate exposure and training for his students. Besides, he initiated
a peer-learning project called “Rakan Sejarah” to improve the
Sejarah learning experiences and develop the basic soft skills for
the underperforming students.
Hisyam has obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from
Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Bahasa Melayu, Master of Law
and a Bachelor of Legal Studies from Universiti Teknologi Mara
(UiTM).
 Bong
Bong is an alumnus of Teach For Malaysia 2018. In 2019, he
worked as a contract teacher in SMK Taman Maluri while studying
Diploma in Education at the Institute of Teacher Education. (Malay
Language Campus). He has obtained degree in Forestry in
University of Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
During his service in SMK Taman Maluri in Kuala Lumpur, he
taught English, History and Mathematics to Remove, Form 1 & 2
students. He was also appointed as the class teacher, disciplinary
teacher, advisory teacher for Scouts at school.
He is currently waiting for placement as a teacher in government
school after completing diploma in education.
Charissa
Charissa has been working as a Intern under Talent Acquisition in
Teach For Malaysia for about four months. She enjoys empowering
people and has an interest to cultural change in community.
She is currently doing her postgraduate diploma in Bar
Professional Training Course (BPTC) and holds a Bachelors Degree
in Law from University of Leeds.
She hopes to continue serving the underprivileged community, as
well as, assisting initiatives to create social impact.