Students are often pushed to decide between arts and science. Why not enjoy the best of both worlds, like Toh Jian Heng? He wears two hats – a hard hat for work, and a tanjak (traditional Malay headgear) for dance.
This chemical engineering graduate was an active dancer and president of the UTP Performing Arts Group (UPAG). Under his leadership, the team won a silver award for the International Street Dance Parade Competition, and bronze award for the International Folk Dance Competition at the Cheonan World Dance Festival 2018 in South Korea. The team has also been awarded with Anugerah Penghargaan Khas Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan Tinggi in Anugerah Tokoh Siswa 2021 organized by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education.
Character and Leadership Development
Dancing was more than a co-curricular activity for Jian Heng. “It helped me to be a better student in the way I approached my challenges, and how I presented myself,” he shares. In fact, UPAG was one of the main factors that attracted him to apply to study at University Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP).
Jian Heng explains, “Even though UTP was relatively new compared to other universities, I felt it was the best fit for my personal growth. Besides technical competencies and efficient academic delivery, UTP also focuses on student development through other aspects such as arts and culture, sports, and event management.”
The Cheonan World Dance Festival was an especially proud moment for him. The competition exposed him to hands-on experiences such as getting sponsorship, arranging for the airport pre-departure and post-arrival clearance, ensuring that the costumes, accessories and props for the competition were completed on time, polishing the choreography details, communicating with the live musicians, and promoting the team’s festival participation on TV.
“Being a huge K-pop fan who loves Korean culture, South Korea has always been the top country that I wanted to visit, and UPAG literally granted me the opportunity to do so! We gave our very best to fight for our country in competing against other professional dancer teams from the world. As the President of the group, this was a huge personal achievement for me to prove my leadership ability in coaching and building the team to achieve our vision in an international platform.”
Academic Achievements
Jian Heng is a high achiever off stage too. With his 11As in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, he got into UTP under the PETRONAS Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP). He was selected as the ambassador of the programme where his story was featured in the national video campaign - PETRONAS Bridging Passion for Success. One of his highest accolades is his selection by the Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) to receive the IEM Gold Medal Award 2021, which is given to the best final year engineering student in a local institution of higher learning.
Overcoming Challenges
There’s no doubt that Jian Heng is a high achiever who can accomplish whatever he sets his mind on. But it wasn’t always a bed of roses for him. Recalling a particularly trying time, he shares, “One of my biggest challenges was keeping up with the large volume of workload. My course was packed with assignments, projects, tests and quizzes.”
“On top of that, I had dance training every night from 9.00 pm up to even 1.00 am sometimes. I became even busier when I was appointed as UPAG’s president. I had to lead the daily training, oversee each dancer’s progress, and raise the group’s already well-established standard even higher. Besides studying and dancing, I was also in various organising committees, and emceed at events in and outside UTP.”
Jian Heng soon became overwhelmed and almost gave up. “I lost my motivation, cried from the stress, and lost my appetite,” he confesses. After talking to his parents, close friends, university roommate, and counsellor, he managed to get myself back together. From the experience, he learned the importance of a support system: “The people who care about you would keep you going whenever you feel like giving up. I am forever grateful to them.”
Time Management
How does he pack so much in a day?
Jian Heng is a meticulous planner. “Every night before I sleep, I would create a to-do list for the next day, and structure the list by level of importance so I could focus on the most critical and urgent tasks first. I managed project deadlines by splitting large projects into smaller, more manageable tasks. I also reached out to my lecturers for consultation to better understood my subjects and ensure that I would not be left behind.”
Stressing on the importance of good time management, he says, “This was crucial as it impacted my productivity and ability to complete my tasks on time. With strategic planning, problem-solving and personal initiatives, I managed to overcome my challenges and graduated with a final CGPA of 3.91/4.00.”
Inspired by a Mentor
His co-curricular activities in UTP led him to someone who would inspire to greater heights: the advisor and choreographer of his dance group, Mr. Nordin Abdolatip. “I am thankful to him for trusting my ability to manage and lead the dance group, and the life lessons he shared. He also gave me the confidence to compete for awards and supported my growth as a dancer. He opened up a lot of opportunities for me to be a well-trained performer, despite my engineering background.”
“Mr. Nordin inspired me to think about life from a different perspective (engineering and arts students may think differently). He also taught me to be more optimistic and believe that when God closes one door, another door opens.”
Entering the Workforce
After graduating, Jian Heng immediately began serving his five-year bond with PETRONAS, based in Pengerang, Johor, under the PETRONAS Refinery and Petrochemical Corporation. “I am in the Department of Integrated Production Optimization, which helps to ensure efficient manufacturing by matching the required level of production to existing resources under the least costly option. My job is to optimize the overall production of the refinery, cracker complex and petrochemicals complex.”
He shares excitedly, “In this job, I consider the material/feedstock availability, the plant’s operational status, and knowledge of future demands of the relevant products. This gives me the platform to not just focus on the technical or engineering aspect of the plant/complex, but also the commercial side of the business. I need to understand how market conditions could impact the price and economics of products. This gives me a bird’s-eye view of how the integrated complex will be operating in the upcoming period. Essentially, my team acts like the brain of the whole complex.“
What’s next for Jian Heng? He reveals, “I want to teach the Chinese language class online, especially to non-Chinese children to promote racial harmony and diversity. I hope this effort will bring Malaysians closer and help to eliminate the language barrier between different races and religions. Most importantly, I want to encourage Malaysians to learn and master an additional language.”
Our world is indeed richer and better when we make the effort to learn about other cultures. We wish Jian Heng all the best in achieving his goals.
