Tan Sri Dr. Lim Wee Chai and Universiti Malaya Join Hands to Transform Faculty of Medicine’s Medical Museum
Founder and Executive Chairman of Top Glove Corporation Bhd gives back to his alma mater through personal donation of RM2 million to upgrade Malaysia’s First Medical Museum
Kuala Lumpur, Friday, 13 October 2023 - Tan Sri Dr. Lim Wee Chai, the Founder and Executive Chairman of Top Glove Corporation Bhd, today signed an agreement with Universiti Malaya (UM), formalising a collaboration to bring together existing resources and transform the space into a state-of-the-art interactive educational resource, with a strong central narrative at UM’s Faculty of Medicine (FOM), creating the ‘Muzium Perubatan Tan Sri Dr. Lim Wee Chai’. This partnership signifies a significant advancement in medical education, research, and community engagement.
Tan Sri Lim’s generous donation of RM2 million to FOM will rejuvenate existing resources, particularly the Anatomy Resource Centre and the Pathology Museum. Renovation work, initiated in July 2023, is expected to conclude by January 2024, transforming the museum’s hall into a more contemporary and engaging space.
The “Muzium Perubatan Tan Sri Dr. Lim Wee Chai” aspires to become a beacon of enlightenment and collaboration, transcending traditional medical education boundaries by engaging the community, enhancing medical education, and facilitating research initiatives.
Top Glove Founder and Executive Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Lim Wee Chai said: “I am deeply honoured to contribute RM 2 million to renovate the Medical Museum at my alma mater, Universiti Malaya, where I graduated with a degree in Physics in 1982. I hold this institution close to my heart, and I consider it my duty to give back. My passion for lifelong learning, promoting healthy living, and advancing healthcare drives me to support this cause. I hope this donation will enhance the museum’s facilities, benefiting students and researchers and shaping the future of healthcare.”
“I would like to thank UM for the opportunity to contribute towards advancing healthcare education, an area which I consider to be very important. It is an especially meaningful gesture to have the Medical Museum named after me. I count it an honour to be associated with an institution as esteemed as Universiti Malaya and am excited to see the positive impact the museum will have on the future generations of students,” Tan Sri Dr. Lim added.
Universiti Malaya Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor said: “We are grateful to Tan Sri Dr. Lim for this generous contribution to our Faculty of Medicine, which will support us in our endeavours to educate Malaysia’s current and future generations. Through the museum, we aim to engage the community, particularly the youth, and foster a heightened interest in healthcare. In addition, we also seek to enhance medical education and facilitate related research initiatives.”
“We hope the medical museum will be the leading institution for promotion and dissemination of medical knowledge and history in the country,” added Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mohd Hamdi.
The Dean of Faculty of Medicine, Professor Dr April Camilla Roslani said: “The medical museum is one of the Faculty of Medicine’s initiatives to innovate teaching and learning in the medical school. Through the museum, the faculty hopes to share with the public the science and humanistic aspects of medicine. We firmly believe that the medical museum’s distinctive blend of medicine, culture, art and history will be the change catalyst in how healthcare education and research are conducted.”
The Agreement between Tan Sri Dr. Lim and Universiti Malaya was signed by Tan Sri Dr. Lim and Universiti Malaya Vice Chancellor Professor Dato’ Ir. Dr. Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor. Also present at the event were representatives from the university and Top Glove. They include UM’s Faculty of Medicine Dean Professor April Camilla Roslani; as well as Top Glove Managing Director Mr. Lim Cheong Guan and Top Glove Global Doctors’ Medical and Managing Director Dr. Navindra Nageswaran.
The Anatomy Museum was first established in 1964 right after the establishment of the Anatomy Department & Faculty of Medicine in Petaling Jaya in 1962. Over the years, it has undergone multiple upgrades over the years until it was eventually transformed into the Anatomy Resource Centre in 2000. The Pathology Museum, founded in 1968 as a learning and teaching centre for students in the field of medicine, showcases various diseases in medicine, boasting the largest collection of its kind in Malaysia.
The current upgrade will merge both museums into a unified Medical Museum, creating a hub for knowledge, inspiration, and innovation that will benefit generations to come.
