Twenty-five years of Monash Malaysia

Celebrating alumni change makers

Monash Life | Thriving communities | 8 minute read

In 1998, Monash became the first foreign University to establish a campus in Malaysia, welcoming its inaugural cohort of 417 students and setting the stage for a remarkable journey of growth and global impact.

Today, Monash Malaysia has a student body of over 9,000, and is a hub of academic and research excellence in the ASEAN region and the world. As part of the Monash University ecosystem, Monash Malaysia graduates join an international community of over 460,000 alumni, expanding their opportunities and influence.

Students at Monash University Malaysia campus

In celebration of this landmark 25th anniversary, we’re highlighting the achievements of two Monash Malaysia alumni: Sikander Bizenjo, a tireless advocate for social change and Tricia Yeoh, a thought leader in transformative policy.

These exceptional individuals exemplify the power of a Monash education and demonstrate the many paths taken by graduates in making their mark on the world.

Sikander Bizenjo, Bachelor of Business and Commerce (2014)

External Engagements Manager, Engro Corporation and Co-Founder, Balochistan Youth Action Committee
Sikander Bizenjo's work in remote villages of Pakistan has directly supported over 400,000 people, earning him recognition as an ‘unsung hero of the pandemic’.

Read more about Sikander's achievements

Sikander Bizenjo is a dynamic leader in strategically driving growth and fostering inclusive cultures across the private and public sector. His work in remote villages of Pakistan – including his home province of Balochistan – has directly supported over 400,000 people, earning him recognition as an ‘unsung hero of the pandemic’ by Bill Gates. As a passionate advocate for systems change and sustainable development, Sikander sits at the Advisory Council of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community and is part of its prestigious Expert Network. Sikander is a recipient of the UK Alumni Awards 2021 and the Monash University Distinguished Alumni Award.

What were your first impressions of uni life, and how did they evolve over time?

Monash made it easy for me. The buddy system at the university and the fact that people were approachable helped me a lot. My first reaction to university was a “wow factor” on how beautiful the campus is and how advanced everything seemed in Malaysia. From the monorail to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre – everything was a “wow” for me!

How did your experience as a student at Monash Malaysia help shape you into the person you are today?

It made me into an independent and confident individual. Before coming to Monash, I was an extremely shy person who would never stand in front of a classroom to say anything. During my degree, I joined the debating society and was giving presentations in almost all my units.

This overall experience has been the most defining change in my life, if I put it mildly. The confidence and curiosity I developed during my time at Monash has greatly helped me in my career.

What are the greatest challenges and rewards of your current position?

The biggest reward is that we are constantly out in the world learning and networking. This provides my team and I with a global viewpoint so we see things in a much more holistic way.

Tell me about the Balochistan Youth Action Committee – why is it important to empower Pakistani youth in rural and vulnerable areas?

We created Balochistan Youth Action Committee (BYAC) with the aim of working with young people in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. In almost all socio-economic indicators, the province is falling behind.

The idea was to provide a platform to young people where they can help their own respective communities in their villages. It’s empowering youth who are the trustees of the future.

We are playing a mere small part – it’s the local young people who are the agents of change in this moment.

What drives you to work towards creating meaningful change? And what impact do you hope to have in the future?

My own lived experience drives me to work towards creating change in Balochistan. I come from the same masses and from the same life in the village. I was fortunate that I got to Monash – education changed my entire life. Many are not so fortunate in that part of the world, and I want to work towards a world that provides these basic rights to everyone.

I would hope to help and empower enough people that changes become sustainable and it creates a snowball effect that changes the fate of thousands and millions of young people in Balochistan.

Tricia Yeoh, Bachelor of Business and Commerce (2004)

CEO, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS)
A passion for promoting democratic values and economic progress has equipped Tricia Yeoh with the expertise to lead the independent think tank.

Read more about Tricia's achievements

After graduating from Monash Malaysia with a Bachelor of Business and Commerce degree in 2004, Tricia Yeoh pursued a Masters in Research Methods in Psychology at the University of Warwick – a Monash University partner institution – where she graduated with distinction. Tricia honed her skills in policy research and advocacy as a Research Analyst at the Centre for Public Policy Studies under the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, rising to the position of Director. She served as a Research Officer to the Selangor Chief Minister before joining IDEAS as the Chief Operating Officer in 2013. With a passion for promoting democratic values and economic progress, Tricia's decade-long tenure at IDEAS, combined with her recently completed PhD in Political Science from the University of Nottingham, has equipped her with the expertise to lead the independent think tank.

What were your first impressions of uni life as an undergraduate student at Monash Malaysia, and how did they evolve over time?As a young student at Monash Malaysia, I was a little overwhelmed initially. Having fellow course-mates come to my aid in both academic and physical ways helped to ease my transition into university life well. Over time, I got involved in several activities including the Monash Business Club, where I was the Editor of its newsletter (I even ran for President, but lost by one vote!). Some of these friends have stayed with me till today.

What would you count as the most memorable moment from your degree? Did you have a favourite lecturer, or a class that inspired you? A lecturer that remains in my memory is Prof. Mahendhiran Nair, who was inspiring as he was able to connect the relatively dry subject of econometrics and business statistics (which I majored in) with the outside world. And it helped that he had real-life data to experiment with, having worked closely with projects on economics and statistics. I was also employed as his research assistant after I graduated from my degree for a short period of time.

How did your experience as a student at Monash Malaysia help shape you into the person you are today?

Having conversations during lectures or tutorials, especially for interesting subjects like company law and marketing, were important in shaping my mind, while class presentations helped to enhance my public speaking abilities. Class assignments also kept me disciplined; I carry the same discipline with me today in terms of keeping to deadlines while juggling multiple tasks, for example.

What drives your interest in social justice and political interrogation, and your commitment to working towards meaningful change? The passion for justice and equality stems very much from the desire to ensure that every individual is treated fairly - or at the very least, has access to equal opportunities - no matter who they are. In a country like Malaysia where the issues of race and religion tend to conflate issues, this is increasingly challenging. I hope therefore to be able to, together with my team and other colleagues and partners, identify accurately the obstacles to providing meaningful and equitable access to good public policies, and identify which policies, laws and regulations are required to be changed in order to effect change in the country.

However, I also understand that the nation-building process is sometimes long and meandering; it is important to have the patience and long-suffering required to see the changes through, even though it feels like a "one step forward, two steps back" situation.

What impact do you hope to have in the future?
The gold mine at the end of every public policy tunnel is to see that laws, policies and regulations are changed to improve the situation for a particular policy issue, say within healthcare, education, or economics and trade. This is how real impact can be made.

I also believe that impact can take place in incremental and tangential ways, for instance - changing people's minds about a certain issue by being able to provide the public with information and materials (these days, one must be creative through social media), thereby creating upward pressure from the community towards their local, state or national government.

Stimulating critical public discourse is therefore the IDEAS mission, where conversations about challenging or sensitive issues can take place, for example, regarding ethnic-based affirmative action, ICERD, education and healthcare gaps in the system, transparency in public procurement and public financial matters.

Collectively, we hope that ultimately this will create demand for better accountability and transparency, which will produce better policies for better outcomes for society overall.