SINTOK: The Tan Sri Fng Ah Seng Muhibah Foundation today donated RM2 million to Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) to fund research and infrastructure development.
Its chairman Tan Sri Dr Fng Ah Seng said the fund would be disbursed in stages over a period of five years, and UUM would receive RM400,000 in funding annually.
Fng said UUM is the first public university in the country to benefit from the foundation's RM10 million education fund.
"Last year, we announced a RM10 million fund for higher education institutions and we decided to make UUM the first university to benefit from the fund as it has the potential to produce high-impact researches.
"We hope that the fund would be a great boost for UUM to continue providing the best services to its students, especially during this tough times due to global economic uncertainty," he said after opening the Tan Sri Fng Ah Seng seminar room at the Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz Accounting School (TISSA-UUM) here today.
Fng said the fund would be utilised to focus on researches that would help spur the country’s economic growth.
The foundation, established in 2012, will consider injecting more funds for UUM in the future depending on needs.
Fng, who is also the chairman of Epic Valley Sdn Bhd, a prominent developer in Kedah, said to date, the foundation has received applications from five public universities nationwide.
"The selection will be based on universities that are able to make significant contributions to the society in future," he said.
Present was the school's dean Professor Dr Ayoib Che Ahmad.
Prior to the event, UUM vice chancellor Professor Datuk Seri Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak had represented the university in signing a memorandum of agreement with the foundation on the RM2 million fund.