As a Mentor and current Education Coordinator for Chumbaka Kota Kinabalu, Jonathan Heng’s journey to contributing to the Sabah STEM community wasn’t always a path he knew he would take. Previously employed as a caretaker or ‘parent-tutor’ at Caring For Future Malaysia, Jon’s passion for education and shaping the youth has since led him to become an integral part of the Chumbaka KK team.
Jon and his team have since made Chumbaka KK a major driving force in Sabah’s education landscape. But even with his busy schedule, Jon still makes times to connect back with local schools and communities. A memorable endeavour, would be the classes held by Chumbaka KK at a local tuition centre for special needs children.
‘Seeing the students learning and gaining skills – of course it makes me happy’ he states proudly. The aim of running these classes is to equip special needs children with the necessary skills such as computer literacy and to then empower them with the knowledge that there are other paths in life for them to take.
Jon and his team don’t just solely work with students but like other Chumbaka partners across Malaysia, they play a pivotal role in the capacity building of teachers as seen with the Train-The-Trainers workshops for competitions like Young Innovators Challenge and Junior Innovate.
‘I’m glad what I’m doing can have an impact on students and teachers.’
Jon’s passion for facilitating the skill development of students and teachers didn’t just manifest itself but it stems from a secret desire, to make a change in Malaysia’s education system. With all the effort he’s made over the years, Jon hopes positive impact on students and teachers for years to come.
