By Foo Ming Li & Reinal Lauw
Han Chiang University College of Communication (HCUC) Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Development) cum Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Professor Dr Teng Tjoon Tow was recently conferred the prestigious Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (DSPN) by the Penang Governor TYT Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas in conjunction with TYT’s 82nd birthday.
The award which carries the title Dato’ was for his exceptional contributions towards the society and country, in particular his active involvement in the Penang Basketball Association and the Kar Yin Association of Penang, to be the recipient for the Datoship.
Professor Dato’ Dr Teng, 74, a Klang born boy, graduated from Kwang Hua High School in Selangor. The Selangorian went ahead to Singapore Nanyang University to further his studies in Chemical Engineering. Upon finishing his undergraduate studies, he joined the University of Montreal, Canada and received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 1974.
He came to Penang in 1975 to work at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) as a lecturer for the chemical engineering and environmental technology courses. Then, he was promoted to an associate professor in 1988 and subsequently as a professor in 1997. Besides his teaching career, he had also assumed the role of chairman in four environmental technology international conferences he had organised from 2008 to 2015.
“I conducted research projects and published papers in journals with final year undergraduate and postgraduate students in Environmental Technology. A couple of PhD students have recently been promoted to associate professors in the institutions they are working in,” said Professor Dato’ Dr Teng.
Professor Dato’ Dr Teng became an additional asset to HCUC when he joined as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2019.
With a keen interest in research activities, Professor Dato’ Teng, strives to instil the research culture by encouraging academics in HCUC to conduct research activities.
“A university college needs not only to teach; research is also part of a university college’s activities besides consultancy work and community service,” Professor Dato’ Dr Teng who is also the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies said.
The first step, according to Professor Dato’ Dr Teng, towards attaining those new things is the most difficult.
“For the time being, we are on the way to our first step, which is how to shore up the research interest and provide some ways not limited to supervision such as setting up research papers and have them published in indexed journals. From there onwards, how to review manuscripts for journals.
“We will be launching our first postgraduate programme in the discipline of Chinese Studies later this year. That is a good start. The necessary materials for postgraduate studies will be uploaded on the HCUC website soon to enable students to apply for the Masters of Arts in Chinese Studies.
“I will be giving a talk on higher degree research supervision next month to instil the know-how of proper supervision of students,” Professor Dato’ Dr Teng explained when asked about the role he plays in HCUC.
In his congratulatory message, the Vice Chancellor of HCUC, Dr Beh Kok Hooi said that Professor Dato’ Dr Teng has been a member of the Consultative Board since the establishment of Han Chiang College in 1999.
“It makes us proud to have him as our Deputy Vice Chancellor. Professor Dato’ Dr Teng has been in the academic world for more than fifty years and he has published a lot of academic articles, both locally and internationally,” Dr Beh Kok Hooi said.
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