2026
28 AprPM Anwar launches UCSI’s campus expansion
KUALA LUMPUR: Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim commended UCSI University for emerging as a premier institution in Malaysia as he officiated the project launch of UCSI’s campus expansion, an endeavour that involves the construction of two 38-storey blocks.
Launched in conjunction with UCSI’s 40th anniversary, the new blocks will increase the operational space at UCSI’s Kuala Lumpur campus by around 1mil ft2 and raise the University’s student capacity by over 3,000 students.
Housing the University’s Chancellery and administrative offices, the new blocks will also provide dedicated space for UCSI’s famed Institute of Music - ranked 24th worldwide in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 for both music and the performing arts.
To empower the next generation of musicians in Malaysia and beyond, UCSI will build a state-of-the-art performing arts complex featuring a 2,500-seat grand hall, a 600-seat recital hall, a 400-seat black box theatre, and over 400 rehearsal and practice rooms.
The Prime Minister also held the latest leg of his popular Temu Anwar youth dialogue programme at UCSI, interacting with students on a wide range of issues.
Eager to engage Anwar, UCSI students sought his views on economic developments, the changing nature of student activism, as well as how he would like to be remembered as a statesman, among others.
Anwar was also feted to a musical performance by UCSI student Rumalki Raveesha who sang Listen by Beyonce. And he liked it so much that he asked for an encore, to which Rumalki performed Never Enough by Loren Allred.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Bandar Tun Razak member of parliament Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as well as Deputy Higher Education Minister Adam Adli Abd Halim.
UCSI founder and university council chairman Dato’ Peter Ng said that having Anwar on campus was extra special as he was the first sitting Prime Minister to visit UCSI.
“Our students have been looking forward to meeting the Prime Minister for days and I’m glad to see them interacting so much with him,” he said after the project launch ceremony, which was held at Le Quadri Kuala Lumpur - a UCSI-owned hotel on campus.
“Anwar’s presence today adds a lot of buzz to our 40th anniversary celebration and it signifies how much UCSI has evolved. Not many know this but UCSI first started as a two-computer training institute on the second floor of a shoplot in SS2.
“Today, UCSI has empowered more than 80,000 graduates from over 120 nations. The University is also ranked in Asia’s top 30 and eighth in Southeast Asia in the QS World University Rankings: Asia 2026.”
He added that the campus expansion would usher in the next phase of the University’s growth, and more exciting developments would be announced during the year.
UCSI president and vice-chancellor Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir said that the University’s 40th anniversary milestone showed how Malaysia’s private higher education sector had matured.
“Today, private providers like UCSI contribute to the national agenda by advancing R&D, empowering changemakers and working hand-in-hand with the industry,” she said.
“In the last month alone, UCSI has formalised a matching grant agreement with Universiti Malaya to provide staff and students with high-impact research opportunities. We also teamed up with ViTrox Corp Bhd to empower engineers in Penang.”
She added that UCSI would continue working with leading companies to ensure its graduates would impact the industry.
Ranked in the world’s top 1% in the QS World University Rankings 2026 by virtue of its 269th ranking, UCSI stands out as one of Malaysia’s leading private universities. It is also the Malaysian university with the most subjects in the world’s top 50, with four subjects ranked in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026.
UCSI has empowered four Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia inductees and three Prestige 40 Under 40 laureates. Other notable alumni include Malaysian pop megastar Aina Abdul and prominent Awani news anchor Cynthia Ng.
