NATIONAL ENTREPRENEUR AWARD 2006

Colin Pereira, J.P, the Deputy Chairman of Olympia College was awarded the National Entrepreneur Award 2006 by Malaysian Indian Business Association (MIBA) at the 3 rd National Entrepreneur Award Ceremony and Dinner on 11 September 2007 at the Petaling Jaya Civic Centre under the patronage of the Guest of Honour, YB Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, the Minister for Entrepreneurs and Cooperatives.

The occasion commemorates the successful award of the Best Entrepreneurs at National and State level in Malaysia. Among other awards bestowed were Lifetime Achievement Award, Young Emerging Entrepreneur Award and the Women Entrepreneur Award. The recipients received the award from Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at the ceremony.

MIBA celebrates this annual occasion to identify, nominate, award and create role models amidst the Malaysian Indian community to complement the efforts of INSKEN, the National Institute for Entrepreneurs, a centre of excellence for the government, to create thousands of proactive entrepreneurs in the 9 th Malaysia plan.

Colin Pereira, a LLB (Hons) graduate, aged 41, married with two children, is the youngest sibling of six brothers and three sisters including the late eldest brother, Winston Pereira (the late founder of Olympia College).

In 1998, upon the sudden demise of the late founder (Winston Pereira), Colin Pereira while practicing law successfully at the age of 32, faced one of the biggest challenges of his life, to spearhead the Raffles Education Group. He took on the new daunting challenge and through trials and tough tribulations, persevered and succeeded.

The Raffles Education Group has since expanded with Olympia College ( Malaysia), Raffles Academy ( Singapore and India), Knowledge Universe ( Malaysia) and WEC-Nottingham Trent University learning centres in Korea and Indonesia.

Olympia College has six campuses in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Penang, Johor, Ipoh and Kuantan. Knowledge Universe has 18 learning centres nationwide.

Olympia College started with a class of fourteen students but over the years it has grown and produces over 3,000 graduates annually. Raffles Education Group has graduated over 200,000 students from the ‘halls of excellence’.

In 2005, Olympia College became the recipient of Educational Excellence 2005 Award for the Best Large Private Education Institutions in Malaysia by NAPEI (National Association of Private Educational Institution).

For his contribution to the education industry, Colin was conferred ‘Justice of Peace’ (JP) by the state of Malacca in October 2000 and in May 2002 he was awarded the District Governor’s Significant Achievement Award by the Rotary International District 3300 and in the same year was also awarded the Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. He is currently the President of The Kuala Lumpur Home Nursing Service Association.

Besides his business achievements, Colin Pereira has contributed in millions by giving scholarships to the needy from different walks of life, making this humanitarian service through education as his gifted vocation in life.

Colin Pereira proved himself to be one of the best charismatic leaders with sound business acumen, innovative entrepreneurial skills and visionary leadership and a committed educationist in the competitive educational sector.