YTL Corporation Bhd has committed £5 million (RM27.2 million) to the London School of Economics and Political Science to fund a scholarship programme for Malaysian students over the next 20 years, according to FMT.
In a statement, YTL said the gift would establish the YTL Malaysian Scholarship Programme and create opportunities for generations of Malaysian students. The commitment was facilitated by YTL executive chairman Tan Sri Francis Yeoh.
The first cohort joined the London school in September: nine undergraduate and postgraduate students drawn from nine departments across the school.
“The future of a nation is nurtured in the minds and hearts of its young people. By investing in capable and passionate students today, we sow the seeds of a Malaysia whose progress is guided by wisdom, whose prosperity is shared, and whose leadership is worthy of the trust of its people,” Yeoh said.
Yeoh said education must cultivate character alongside intellect, conscience alongside ambition and a sense of duty alongside the pursuit of success, at a time when outstanding leaders are increasingly scarce. He hoped the programme would let Malaysian students pursue their ambitions at the school and return with new perspectives, skills and knowledge to serve the country, The Star reported.
LSE president and vice-chancellor Larry Kramer said the gift was an investment in society’s future potential. “Empowering future generations to create, innovate, and lead offers our best path to a better world ahead,” he said. More than 250 Malaysian students were enrolled on undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the school in the 2025/26 session, LSE said, placing Malaysians among the 10 nationalities with the largest representation on campus. Malaysia is now home to more than 2,800 LSE alumni.
The school said the programme’s flexible design and 20-year longevity are meant to build a community of scholars with a shared experience and a lasting connection to LSE and to one another, on top of the places it funds for individual students.
The gift builds on a long record of collaboration with Malaysian partners that spans generations of students, school leaders, alumni and joint projects, the school added. Malaysian alumni funded the school’s Malaysia Auditorium in the Centre Building on its central London campus, which Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim officially opened in January 2025.
YTL said the Yeoh family has supported scholarships for hundreds of Malaysian students at home and abroad over 30 years. Yeoh was made an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2006 and an honorary Knight Commander in 2019.
