Photo caption: Tan Sri Datuk Oh Siew Nam with Puan Shri Datin Margaret Lois Oh.
Tan Sri Datuk Oh Siew Nam P.S.M., P.J.N., who graduated from New Zealand’s Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) with a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Electrical Engineering in 1962, will be recognised at UC’s Spring Engineering graduation celebration on Tuesday 25 August.
The honorary doctorate recognises Tan Sri Oh’s outstanding contribution to business, finance, public service and philanthropy, as well as his enduring connection to UC and support for Malaysian students.
Tan Sri Oh came to Aotearoa New Zealand from Malaysia in 1958 through the Colombo Plan, a Commonwealth scholarship scheme that supported students from newly independent countries to train in areas such as engineering and teaching.
For him, the scholarship was life changing.
“If I hadn’t got the Colombo Plan scholarship, I would not have been able to continue university,” he says.
Tan Sri Oh had begun studying science at the University of Malaya in Singapore, expecting to be supported by a government bursary and later become a teacher. But in 1957, the year of Malaysia’s independence, policy changes meant he was no longer able to receive that financial support.
Unable to cover his university fees and hostel costs, he stretched his savings by walking to university to save bus fare and cutting hair for other students.
“I wrote a note in the hostel and said, ‘I’m in a bit of a mess here, so I’m going to give haircuts. Please help me.’
“I charged them 90 cents a haircut, but they took pity on me and gave me $1 and said keep the change.”
Receiving the Colombo Plan scholarship brought him to New Zealand, where he studied electrical engineering at UC during a period of change for the University, with some of his studies taking place in the city before Engineering moved to the Ilam campus.
Christchurch was a very different environment from Malaysia. Tan Sri Oh remembers the kindness of the St Albans family he first lived with, the energy of Rolleston House, and the challenge of adjusting to New Zealand food.
To make meals feel more like home, Malaysian students cooked curry and rice in their rooms. When other students followed the smell, they were invited to try it.
“Of course, we being Asian, Asian hospitality says that when somebody comes to your place when you’re about to have lunch, you say, ‘Come join us, try some curry and rice.’”
After graduating, Tan Sri Oh married Puan Sri Datin Margaret Lois Oh, a Christchurch nurse, before returning to Malaysia.
He went on to build a distinguished career in telecommunications, business and finance. He worked as Assistant Controller of Telecom Malaysia before joining Federal Flour Mills Berhad Group in 1968, later serving as Managing Director and Executive Chairman. He also served as Chairman of PPB Group Berhad and was a Board member of Bank Negara Malaysia from 1989 to 2015.
In 1999, Tan Sri Oh received the Malaysian federal honour of Panglima Jasa Negara, which carries the title Datuk. In 2015, he was further honoured with the Panglima Setia Mahkota, which carries the title Tan Sri.
While his career took him into business and finance, Tan Sri Oh says his UC education gave him more than technical knowledge.
“University is more or less the training of your mind. Whatever you graduate in, you usually only use a small percentage of what you’ve learned, but your brain has learned to solve problems and be creative.”
That perspective has shaped his ongoing connection with UC. Together with Puan Sri Datin Margaret Lois Oh, he established a scholarship for Malaysian students at UC, inspired by his own experience of financial hardship and the opportunity the Colombo Plan gave him.
The scholarship was established in memory of his mother, Madam Tan Tang Mooi, whose sacrifices helped create a better future for her son.
“Receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Canterbury is a deeply humbling honour.
“The opportunity to study at Canterbury through the Colombo Plan changed the direction of my life, and I remain profoundly grateful to the University and to New Zealand for the education, friendship and opportunities I received.
“Establishing the scholarship for Malaysian students was our way of giving back and helping others receive the same life-changing opportunity that was given to me,” Tan Sri Oh says.
Through the scholarship, that legacy continues, supporting Malaysian students to complete their studies and build futures of their own.
