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Malaysia’s top businesswomen celebrated with honorary awards

Monday 14 November 2011

Malaysia's top businesswomen celebrated with honorary awards

Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Aziz, CEO of Hong Leong Islamic Bank, and Nellie Tan-Wong, founder of the Malaysian Women’s Institute of Management, were conferred with honorary doctorates of law and business respectively at the University of East London’s Royal Docks Business School graduation ceremony today.

Both women were praised for their determined attitude in achieving such a high level of success in their chosen career, success and for being instrumental in steering a cultural shift towards women being more welcomed into the business world, particularly in their native Malaysia.

Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul Aziz is a former law student at UEL and enjoyed a 12 year career in investment banking before making the transition into Islamic banking, a banking system based on justness, equity and the trading of tangible assets rather than derivatives, and of which she is now a fervent supporter.

Nellie Tan-Wong founded the Women’s Institute of Management with her friend Tan Sri Dato’ Napsiah Omar in 1993, the institute receives no government funding and survives entirely on fundraising.

Despite their successes, both women have spoken openly of the many issues they have faced in making a career in such a male-dominated world. They serve as an inspiration to businesswomen everywhere.

Raja Teh who has three young daughters, said: “Women can have more empathy and understanding as to how family life should fit into working life to make for a more sustainable environment. I think that’s very important, because if you can’t give your all to your domestic life then you can’t bring the best to work.”

She also said that UEL, which recently launched a Centre for Islamic Banking and Finance, was making the right connections with Islamic finance and that, although she felt honoured and emotional at the award, this meant more to her than anything else.

Nellie Tan-Wong said: “I applaud the University of East London’s vision because women’s entrepreneurship is one of the answers that the world wants. Small businesses are the engine of growth for any country and women who are in small businesses will be the agents of change to bring about changes in the quality of life, not only for themselves but also for their families.”

UEL aims to be recognised as the number one university in Europe for women’s entrepreneurship by the end of the decade; its Centre of Excellence for Women Entrepreneurs holds its largest event yet later this week.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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