Loke Wiennie
Senior Manager, International Development & Administration cum Executive Assistant to the VP, Limkokwing University, 2013
Bachelor of Arts (Mass Communication) in collaboration with Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Taking on this job and being part of this university means gaining so much in terms of experience and exposure to the workings of running an institution on the scale of Limkokwing University and its campuses all around the world.
21 March 2013
Unstoppable Wiennie
Written by Catalina Rembuyan
Describing herself as outspoken and loud, Loke Wiennie’s plain-speaking and forthright personality makes her among the most prominent personalities at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology. This no-nonsense, multi-tasking Senior Manager, International Development & Administration cum Executive Assistant to the Vice President is a crucial cog in the creative machinery of Limkokwing University’s International Development team. Catalina Rembuyan has the story.
Frank and forthright in her dealing with others, the cheerful, outspoken, well-loved and constantly optimistic Loke Wiennie is the Senior Manager, International Development & Administration cum Executive Assistant to the Vice President at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology. Although she does not describe her job as something glamorous, there is no denial as to its importance: Wiennie is the central person through which all departments and faculties in the university goes to in order to communicate and with the Vice President in charge of International Development in Limkokwing University as well as the university’s President, Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Limkokwing himself.
“It’s the kind of work that you gain a lot from because almost everything in this university passes through me. You won’t get to have this much insight even if you are working for ten years in ten different jobs respectively,” she said.
Wiennie ensures the smooth running of the university by serving as the synapse between the university’s upper rungs and twenty other departments. “I have to maintain a professional outlook and remain calm even if the tension gets high and others might get emotional under pressure,” she said.
You won’t get to have this much insight even if you are working for ten years in ten different jobs respectively.
This means, for Wiennie, interacting with an average of around a hundred people a day and keeping tabs on the details so that nothing falls out of place. Proving the old adage of the devil being in the details right, she explains that the toughest things that she needs to carry out involve things many others take for granted, like ensuring the smooth travelling of Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Limkokwing whenever he needs to go overseas. Everything needs to be accounted for; making sure that the entourage arrives at the airport on time, that there will be someone to pick them up from the airport, that their accommodations are taken care of, and the list goes on.
“You need to be able to juggle a lot of things at one time, multitasks as well as have the essential ability to look out for details, even if it is a tiny detail. It’s a job not many people can do – but I can.”
You need to be able to juggle a lot of things at one time as well as have an ability to look out for details. It’s a job not many people can do – but I can.
Wiennie joined Limkokwing University to pursue a degree in Mass Communications. At that time, she had been studying in another private institution of learning before deciding to transfer her credits over to Limkokwing University as it offered her better qualifications after completing her studies. “I like the environment in this place and I get along well with all my lecturers and coursemates.” she said, as she explained that she went on to study Film and Television.
Her enthusiasm and liveliness was easily noticed by the university and she was offered a job immediately after completing her final semester, before her graduation. “I remember telling my parents the good news on Boxing Day, which is their anniversary as well – it was like a gift for them,” she said.
Since joining the university, Wiennie has earned the trust of the university’s upper rungs and has quickly been promoted from her initial job as Personal Assistant to the Vice President to her current position today. Now, as the right hand of the Vice President of International Development, Wiennie has a job scope that changes every day; most important is ensuring that the relationship between different departments as well as the partnerships that the university has with other institutions and bodies outside of it are well maintained.
“Taking on this job and being part of this university means gaining so much in terms of experience and exposure to the workings of running an institution on the scale of Limkokwing University and its campuses all around the World. Even if I were to take the plunge in a corporate environment after this, I will have no problems surviving at all.”
Wiennie’s ability to cope in such a high-pressure job is strongly related to her personal definition of success and failure. “What is success to me? If you do only to the level that is expected of you to get by for it to be considered a good job, that’s not success to me at all.”
Success is about the extra mile that you’re willing to take if you want to move from merely to doing a good work to an outstanding work.
“Success is about the extra mile that you’re willing to take if you want to move from merely to doing a good work to an outstanding work. That is why, when it comes to my work, you will never see me stop. I do my work in a very detailed way and I do it efficiently.”
Needless to say, Wiennie’s qualities have been crucial in earning her a part in one of the most prominent, if often understated, roles in Limkokwing University of Creative Technology’s global outreach as it transforms from being a mover of countries to a mover of the World.
