Thu, 2010-01-14 17:26 — admin

Co-founder of Youth Entrepreneurs Malaysia and Rockefeller Foundation's Exclusive Asia Leaders21 Group nominee Michael Teoh was an average student in school and low on the popularity ladder. Life took a swing for the better when he joined INTI International College Penang (IICP), where the opportunity to excel, strongly supported by faculty, is ever present in an environment that sustains enterprise, innovation and creativity.

At IICP, Teoh was elected President of INTIMA, the student body and Chief Executive of the IICP Chamber of Commerce Business Society. Since then, he has never looked back and continues to inspire youngsters through his enterprising efforts at youth development and social entrepreneurship.

The leadership qualities of students such as Teoh are nurtured early at IICP. The academic team takes on the responsibility not only to teach but also mentor and encourage students to be analytical and creative in thinking, and bold in taking on new challenges and responsibilities.

The Adliers Tournament is an example of the College's initiative to raise the spirit of entrepreneurship and learning among students. Jointly organised by IICP and Jackson Teoh, one of its enterprising students, The Adliers had participants conceptualising and creating their own commercials to promote Apple iPhones. They also had to conduct surveys among shoppers at a leading hypermarket and present their video clips of this activity to a panel of judges.

IICP has also reached out to secondary schools students and included them in many motivational and uplifting activities. Taking advantage of Penang's beautiful sandy beaches, IICP has organised the Inter-School Sandcastle Building Competition with the objectives of stimulating creative thinking, developing interpersonal skills, promoting team spirit and nurturing leadership qualities among the eager participants.

For students who find sandcastle building a tad slow, paintball is likely to provide the adrenalin rush. To those who question the value of the Inter-School Paintball Competition organised by IICP, Edmund Tan, the College's Youth Trainer had this to say: "Paintball is as much a mental game as a physical one. A player does not have to outshoot his opponent; he can outwit him in more ways than one." 

Those with an aversion to shooting of any sort will be pleased to learn that IICP has organised other non-contact and fast-paced activities to stimulate young bodies and minds. These include the Inter-School Ultimate (Frisbee) Competition where maintaining a high level of sportsmanship and respect for one's opponents is the ideal.

"There is no referee in Ultimate," explained Tan. "This means that players are responsible to call their own fouls. We at INTI strongly support this sport as we believe it promotes the development of personal character and qualities such as honesty and chivalry."