Yeoh's Dreams Of Changing Education Through Technology

By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar PAOLO ALTO (California), June 30 (Bernama) -- Cheryl Yeoh, the former founding Chief Executive Officer of MaGIC or Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre wants to reduce the global cost of education through education technology. Yeoh, who had successfuly turned Malaysia into a startup hub in ASEAN, believed that there were other ways to create affordable education whether online or in-person. "I don't want to announce my next project yet but it will be on education technology (EdTech). I believe not every profession calls for four-year degrees, maybe only for medical and legal studies because the students need to do case studies. "Those like entreprenuers, engineers and designers, they don't need to go for a four-year colleage degree as it is expensive to go to colleges especially in the US. "So, there are other ways to create affordable education. Technology can help bring a lot of opportunities," said Yeoh who was operating two startups in the US before joining MaGIC. She created 'CityPockets.com', a website that allows one to compile their favourite deals from the various daily deals site to better keep track of their deals. She also found 'Reclip.It', a personalised shopping list application which was acquired by Walmart Labs in 2013. SILICON VALLEY HELPS TO SCALE GLOBALLY Speaking to Bernama at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2016, here, Yeoh said Silicon Valley ecosystem helped her to realise her ambition of creating a global product to impact social change. "We still need innovation from here to support entrepreneurs from Malaysia," she said. At the summit, she joined 700 entrepreneurs from around the world along with investors, speakers, and leaders in the entrepreneurship space. The three-day summit that ended on June 24 is the 7th installment in a series previously hosted by the US and Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Malaysia and Kenya. STARTUP SOLVES THE PROBLEM Yeoh chose to be involved in the startup scene as it allowed her to do many things that she wanted to do rather than just working with corporations that strive for profit. She is confidant that everyone has the power to change the world, depending on what one is passionate about. "It could be social enterprise in the community, in rural area or at global scale," she said. Social enterprise refers to a company whose core mission is to benefit and improve society via the community or environment. For Yeoh, the 12 years in the US has provided her with the ability to make a positive impact on the world. "However, not everyone has the ability to do that. Everything has its unique challenges. The important thing is they solve the problem and I choose technology because it can help innovate new business models," she said. THE TWO-YEAR OLD MaGIC Yeoh left MaGIC on Jan 14 this year and was succeeded by Ashran Ghazi. She graduated from Cornell University, US with a degree and later obtained a Masters degree in Engineering. MaGIC was launched by the US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Najib Razak on April 27, 2014. During the launch, MaGIC inked memorandum of understanding with Stanford University and UP Global to foster and develop a vibrant startup ecosystem in Malaysia and beyond. Under Yeoh's tenure, MaGIC launched the MaGIC Accelerator Program which accelerated 75 early-stage companies from all over ASEAN in a four-month program, twice a year. ASEAN IS CRITICAL TO THE FUTURE OF THE 21ST CENTURY The US Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, Richard Stengel pointed out that ASEAN's large and young population is the engine of global economic growth in the 21st century. "We see ASEAN as critical to the future of the 21st century with 65 percent of the people under 25 years of age. "I see Malaysia and Vietnam as fantastic models of entrepreneurship to excel value of individual and society, being able to start business such as bringing healthcare to communities. We want to encourage that." -- BERNAMA