Mentors
Dr Sarena Che Omar
Dr Sarena Che Omar is currently a Deputy Director of Research at Khazanah Research Institute. There, she conducts data-driven policy research on matters related to agriculture and food security. She holds a Doctorate from the University of Oxford specializing in plant disease genetics. Her areas of interests blend perfectly with the mission and vision of Abundant Ventures Sdn Bhd and she looks forward to help make our society greener and more abundant.
Ngan Teng Ye
Ngan Teng Ye is a passionate photographer, specialising in portraiture and nature. The many beautiful photos on the Abundant Ventures Sdn Bhd social media and website come from Teng Ye, who serves as a volunteer whilst managing his family palm oil business for over 2 decades. A keen environmentalist, Teng Ye initiated and commercialised the palm oil biomass composting business since 2007. He had also championed two biogas methane avoidance projects under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and had successfully generated carbon credits.
On the community side, Ngan Teng Ye is currently the Chairman for Nan Hwa High School Board, Vice President for Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) and Vice President for Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).
Lee Jia Ping
Jia Ping is passionate about people and places. Over the years she has been able to incorporate her varied experiences in theatre, the arts and brand strategy to rejuvenate urban spaces, as well as create corporate cultures that attract and retain talent.
Her work in the urban sphere began when in 2008. She was tasked to create the brand strategy for George Town, Penang under the rejuvenation master plan known as the George Town Transformation Programme which subsequently led to the formation of Think City (a Khazanah Berhad subsidiary and urban rejuvenation ‘think and do’ tank). In 2014 she was tasked to create a brand strategy for Think City ahead of their national expansion, which led to her appointment as Programme Director heading the KL office. There she drove the rejuvenation of the heritage core of Kuala Lumpur managing a multi-million dollar grant and partnership programme. She also introduced an entrepreneur matching grant to the Think City Grants Programme for KL which was adopted in 3 cities in Malaysia, to increase the opportunity of creating economic vibrancy of the city.
Jia Ping was also responsible for fostering and enabling Kebun Kebun Bangsar (KKB)- a community farm and garden under a stretch of electricity pylons. KKB was a joint project in collaboration with Ng Seksan, KL City Hall and Think City. After three years, the farm is sustainable, self-funding and not only provides a green refuge for the community but also provides fresh produce to homeless kitchens and orphanages.
Azimah Mohd Pilus, MBBS, MPH, MBA
Dr Azimah is a medical doctor focusing on preventive medicine, public health, and palliative care. She is an MBBS graduate of Universiti Malaya. Upon the completion of her housemanship at GHKL, she moved to Boston, USA to join her new family. She earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from Harvard University and completed medical residency training at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York. During her tenure in New York, she held administrative and clinical leadership positions in government agencies by working for New York State Department of Health and Federal Government Funded Health Centers in poor neighbourhood. Her involvement in the private sector was with health insurance companies.
In addition to her current position as the Chief Medical Officer for United Cerebral Palsy of NY State, she serves as a mentor to Columbia University Graduate School of Business (CGSB) students for their summer fellowship in Social Enterprise. She guided students in analyzing data on the return on investments (ROI) on grant funded projects and the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on the finances and services for people with disabilities. The ROI in 2019 to NY State for a US$1M grant for Telemedicine services in the 100 homes of persons with disability was so positive, that it was expanded to cover more than 1000 homes with a grant of US$13M for the next 5 years.
Dr. Azimah graduated with Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University and finds the projects at Abundant Ventures well aligned with the missions of the Social Enterprise program at CGSB. She plans to introduce CGSB to Abundant Ventures soon.
Dr. Sheh May Tam PhD
Dr Sheh May Tam is a senior plant scientist with proven local and international track record in research, academia and project management. Dr Tam obtained her PhD in Plant Sciences from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 2002 and has worked at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA, France), San Francisco State University and University of California Davis (USA) before returning to Malaysia as an academic in Monash- and Taylor’s University Malaysia. Her research expertise centres on plant biodiversity, molecular genetics & genomics, plant breeding and biotechnology. Dr Tam is currently focusing on the improvement of Solanaceae crops in a local R&D seed company.
Dr Tam looks forward to contributing her expertise towards the social mission at Abundant Ventures Sdn Bhd.
Chief of Research, Design and Social Media
Hui Lin Lim
Hui Lin is our Chief of Thinking ++ at Abundant Ventures. She is a published writer and illustrator who not only researches and writes about topics that she is passionate about, but produces the beautiful illustrations and infographics on our website, whilst managing so many aspects of our thriving social enterprise hence the “++” to her title! She also has many different interests ranging from TV shows to art and science. She has a passion for plants and insects and has previously interned in 2019 at USM (University Science Malaysia) on Fig plant tissue cultivation under Dr Chew Bee Lynn. Recently she completed a 3-month internship on Black Soldier Flies under Dr Sarena Che Omar where she studied and cultivated them. These insects have the potential to increase food security and decrease food waste and from this experience, she has learnt many different things concerning the Black Soldier Fly and has an increased appreciation for them! She has written an article on the Black Soldier Fly with Dr Sarena Che Omar, which has been published on the Star newspaper.
Hui Lin has a strong passion for illustration and the arts and has worked on commissions digitally illustrating illustrations, and book covers. She has also drawn 3 maps for Millennials Meet Mary, a book comprising of different views by Millennials on the many artworks depicting Mary. Currently, she is working on illustrating a children's book. Hui Lin has also used her art skills and initiated the fundraising of money for Lang Tengah Turtle Watch to purchase satellite trackers to track turtles by selling hand-drawn turtle notebooks. In her free time, she loves sketching her surroundings when visiting new places and combining her biological and artistic backgrounds together. She also loves to talk about TV shows and movies with her friends. She is a recent biology graduate from the University of Bristol and is going to be working at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Hui Wen Lim
Chief of Logistics and Social Media
Hui Wen is our Chief of Logistics and Social Media who not only manages the critical people aspect of our social enterprise but also runs the digital side of Abundant Ventures Sdn Bhd. Hui Wen has been intimately involved in all aspects of our recent campaign “Farm to Table for the B40s”. As a result of COVID 19, all barriers came down so, no matter where she is in the world, whether she is back in Malaysia with her family or in the UK pursuing her final year in Anthropology at University College London (UCL), she always finds time to develop and execute Abundant Venture projects. In 2019, she volunteered at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center for a month in Sandakan, Sabah, learning about sun bears as well as their role in the rainforest ecosystem and wrote an insightful article about her time there.
In 2020, she completed a fulfilling month-long communications internship at Cancer Research Malaysia which made her more informed of the need for cancer awareness, especially among low-income earners. On top of that, she is the social media administrator for Sinological Development Charitable Foundation based in Hong Kong and assisted in running their 2020 online summer program. If she is not studying or working, you can find her cooking, baking, or travelling among other things. She is a recent anthropology graduate from University College London and is going to work at Atheneum.