Monash Students Win ASEANDSE Malaysian National Finals 2019

Monash University winners Leong Zhuan Kee (second right) and Peh Wei Li (second left) with Monash Malaysia R&D Sdn Bhd CEO Professor Mahendhiran Nair (left) and lecturer Dr Ewilly Liew (right)
Monash University winners Leong Zhuan Kee (second right) and Peh Wei Li (second left) with Monash Malaysia R&D Sdn Bhd CEO Professor Mahendhiran Nair (left) and lecturer Dr Ewilly Liew (right)

Two students from Monash University Malaysia have been crowned national champions at the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEANDSE) Malaysian National Finals 2019 organised by the ASEAN Foundation and SAP held yesterday.

Leong Zhuan Kee and Peh Wei Li will be representing Malaysia in the regional finals to be held in Bangkok, Thailand next month. The duo won the competition for their proposed solution to address food sustainability within Southeast Asia.

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Meanwhile, the competition’s runners-up were Stella Anne Teoh Ming Hui and Wong Yi Ying from Universiti Utara Malaysia, while second runners-up were Johannes Low Jun Wei and Muhammad Aiman Shukran Mohamad Najib from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Winners were chosen for the urgency of their topics, the solutions delivered through their storyboards and the clarity of their presentations.


Judges comprise representatives from ASEAN Foundation, SAP, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), National Council of Women’s Organisation (NCWO) and Impact Hub.

The competition in Malaysia held at Monash University is one of ten ASEANDSE 2019’s National Finals taking place across the region this month. The best ten teams from each member state compete for a spot to represent their country in the Regional Finals.

By harnessing SAP Analytics Cloud software, each team developed data-driven solutions that highlighted six sustainable development goals namely (1) good health and well-being, (2) quality education, (3) gender equality, (4) decent work and economic growth, (5) industry, innovation & infrastructure and (6) sustainable cities and communities that can contribute to solve the region’s most pressing social issues.

This year, more than 271 students nationwide were trained on SAP Analytics Cloud.

“Together with the ASEAN Foundation, we at SAP continue to encourage youths to be creative and develop innovations to support the social and economic issues that our country and others in the region face, especially with providing them with skills that helps them to face the ‘experience economy’ and contribute to Malaysia’s goals for Industry 4.0,” said SAP Southeast Asia president and managing director Claus Andresen.

“ASEAN Foundation is honoured and proud to partner up with SAP for three consecutive years. The role of SAP is strongly significant in this joint initiative as together we are addressing the post-2020 direction of ASEAN youth development that focuses on fostering future-ready ASEAN youth through digital skills development,” said ASEAN Foundation executive director Elaine Tan.

Since its inception in 2017, ASEANDSE has empowered over 9,000 youths from 230 higher education institutions in the region with data analytics skills.