Sunway Psychology Alumni have been steadily getting into very competitive Master of Clinical Psychology Programmes in Malaysia

Recently, two graduates of the BSc (Hons) Psychology Programme have been accepted into the very competitive Master of Clinical Psychology Programme at Universiti Kebangaan Malaysia (UKM). These are Melissa Nuah (graduated October 2014) and Vivian Wong Min Ni (graduated January 2019), both coincidentally from Sarawak. Melissa and Vivian will be starting their programme in September 2019. The Master of Clinical Psychology programme at UKM is a 2-year full time professional master degree programme that qualifies its graduates as clinical psychologists upon completion. They are eligible to be members of the Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology (MSCP), which was founded by our current Head of Department of Psychology, Associate Professor Dr Alvin Ng Lai Oon.

Vivian Wong Min Ni, BSc (Hons) in Psychology, January 2019.

Melissa Nuah is currently a lecturer in psychology for the Sunway Foundation Programme at Sunway College, Bandar Sunway, and Vivian Wong is working as a therapist for children with autism at Early Autism Project (EAP) Malaysia. Both were interviewed among 50 other candidates and were successful in being offered a place each in the professional clinical psychology training programme.

Vivian Wong graduated with First Class honours in January 2019, conducted her final year project under Associate Professor Dr Alvin Ng Lai Oon, on cognitive distortions in Chinese speaking communities in Malaysia and linking them to likelihood of psychological distress. She is currently working on publishing her research paper in a journal together with Dr Ng, who presented her research findings at the 2019 World Congress on Behaviour and Cognitive Therapies in Berlin, Germany in mid-July 2019.

Melissa Nuah, BSc (Hons) in Psychology, October 2014

Vivian shared that her vision is to contribute to her hometown of Sibu, as the citizens have little knowledge and awareness about mental health issues. Her dream is to help people with mental illness attain social equality as well as to reduce stigma and discrimination towards them. She hopes to educate people about mental illnesses and how to help their loved ones who may be afflicted with them.

Vivian also expressed her joy in getting into the UKM clinical psychology programme as it had very limited positions each year. She is thankful to be blessed with supportive family and friends.  She is also thankful to Sunway University, supported by a scholarship from Sin Chew Daily for providing her with a sound undergraduate education as a stepping stone to her postgraduate pursuits. Vivian has this to say, “I am very glad to be the recipient of Sin Chew Daily Education Fund 2015 which granted me a great opportunity to study at Sunway University. Throughout the 3 years of studies, lecturers and friends influenced my interest in clinical psychology. I would like to express my gratitude towards my supervisor for guiding me in completing my research.”

Melissa Nuah enrolled in the BSc (Hons) Psychology Programme in August 2011 and graduated with a First Class Honours in October 2014. Her final year research project was on “Malaysian children’s categorisation of own and other race faces” supervised by Ms Woo Pei Jun who is also the coordinator of the Sunway Baby Lab (https://university.sunway.edu.my/sci-tech/facilities/sunway-baby-lab).  

Melissa was headhunted for a job even before she graduated, and started working in November 2014 with a subsidiary of YTL Corporation Berhad as a consultant for their government-endorsed education project. While working, she volunteered with a non-government organization (NGO) called Asian Youth Ambassador (AYA) to teach Maths and English tuition classes to students in an urban poor community in Subang Jaya. It was then that she discovered that she truly enjoyed teaching. When a job opportunity to teach Psychology in the Sunway Foundation Programme (SFP) opened up in 2016, she applied and was eventually offered the job – in which she stayed on until now.

Melissa described her degree years at Sunway University had been an amazing learning experience for her. She said, “the lessons were impactful and the teachers, on top of being knowledgeable, were supportive. One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in class was the very revelation that Psychology is more about the people than about the struggles itself. The theories mean nothing if it does not add value to individual lives.”

Melissa with some of her graduating students from the Foundation in Arts Programme at Sunway College

Melissa had always been interested in clinical psychology. She said her experience as a lecturer had helped her tremendously in building her foundational knowledge of psychology and to strengthen her people skills as she also gave pastoral care to her students. Melissa said this of her experience: “In my opinion, one of the greatest skills that I picked up along my teaching career is to break down complex theories into simpler, bite-sized information so that my students can relate psychology to real-life applications. As I provided pastoral care to my students, I began to observe a great need in the field of clinical psychology, especially for our current generations. Believing that it is a good time to now pursue a career in clinical psychology, I am excited to start my Master’s journey with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). I really look forward to the theories that I will explore more in class and the application opportunity that I will experience through the practicum placements.”

Melissa and Vivian join the string of other psychology graduates from Sunway University who have successfully entered local and international clinical psychology programmes, since the beginning of the Department of Psychology in 2006. We at the Department of Psychology are very proud of them and wish them all the best in their training to be future clinical psychologists.