Alfred Lim Wai Yen
A supreme honour
Bachelor of Science (Medical Bioscience) (Honours) 2009
When you study hard, you’re often unprepared when success follows. That’s how molecular biologist Alfred Lim Wai Yen felt when he received one of Malaysia’s top scholarships from the country’s distinguished head of state.
Alfred won the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Scholarship in 2009, allowing him to undertake research at Cambridge University.
The scholarship is named after the title of the supreme ruler of Malaysia, a constitutional monarchy, and presented annually to a handful of the country’s brightest students to fund postgraduate studies at the world’s best universities.
Alfred received his award from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin at a ceremony at the Istana Negara, Malaysia’s national palace.
"The Yang Di-Pertuan Agong was really friendly and this calmed my anxiety a little,” he says. “Definitely the most memorable scholarship award I’ve ever received."
Alfred received many awards as a student, including Overall Best Graduate during his honours year. His 2009 win allowed him to complete his PhD at Cambridge and ease the financial burden on his parents.
He is a molecular biologist who hopes to help society by eventually creating new antibodies and novel technologies for studying mutations.
"All good discoveries start small and take time for fine-tuning and final translation from the lab to society,” he says.
Alfred is particularly thankful for the education and opportunities he enjoyed at Monash Sunway.
"I learned so much during my years at Monash. They have a strong learning and teaching system there that sharpens your abilities in so many ways," he says.
He doubts he would have achieved his academic success without the "dedicated, inspiring and encouraging team of lecturers at Monash, all of whom have been great role models.”
He’s also grateful to his peers “without whom university life wouldn’t have been so enjoyable”.