Dr Soo, beauty queen with a PhD

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(From left) Soo, Winson, Daniel and Brian.

KUCHING: Dr Soo Wincci, who last October became the first beauty queen in Malaysia to obtain a PhD, has motivated three other artistes to further their studies at Malaysia’s largest open and distance education provider, Open University Malaysia (OUM).

Artistes Daniel Lee (Malaysian Idol 2 winner), Winson Voon (deejay) and Brian Chen (chef/TV host) are taking up the #OUMBeyondArtistesChallenge, which is a joint initiative by OUM and Dr Soo to encourage local artistes to pursue higher education.

The trio were given scholarships to study at OUM on condition they complete their studies within a stipulated time frame, or they had to pay back the entire tuition fees.

They will share their progress via social media and, after graduating, get to nominate another three artistes to take up the challenge.

Dr Soo graduated with a PhD in Business Administration at OUM’s Convocation last October after spending six years completing her studies and PhD dissertation.

OUM strives to make higher education available and accessible to all people especially working adults, regardless of age and socio-economic background.

The university employs a pedagogy that combines face-to-face tutorials with online learning.

It has 34 Learning Centres throughout Malaysia, out of which seven are in Sabah and four in Sarawak.

The learning centres in Sabah are in Kota Kinabalu, Keningau, Kota Marudu, Labuan, Sandakan, Tawau and Lahad Datu while learning centres in Sarawak are in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu.

The University’s Flexible Entry System allows the admission of learners based on their previous learning experience. Work and life experiences are evaluated and matched against the anticipated learning outcome of a course.

From just four academic programmes when it first opened its doors to learners in 2001, the university now offers almost 40 programmes in the fields of Business and Management, Allied Sciences, Education and Social Sciences.

It has a cumulative intake of close to 150,000 learners from diverse backgrounds – teachers, nurses, uniformed personnel, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, prisoners and celebrities.

So far, the university has produced more than 73,000 graduates.