MCA President Dato's Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said the first batch of student intake for Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) will be launched on June 17 at the Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Kuala Lumpur.

He said Prime Minister Dato Seri Mahathir Mohamand would officiate at the launch.

UTAR's nine-member International Advisory Council (is) headed by eminent Southeast Asian scholar Prof Wang Gungwu, Director of East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore.

The other members are :

• Prof Lee Yuan Tseh, President of Academia Sinica, Taiwan and a Professor at the University of California
• Prof Charles K. Kao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Transtech Services ltd, Hong Kong and former Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Prof Tu Weiming, Director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, United States
• Prof Yang Fujia, Chancellor of Nottingham University
• Lord Ernest Ronald Oxburgh, Chairman of the House of Lords, United Kingdom Parliament
• Prof Dr Ghauth Jasmon, President and CEO of the Multimedia University, Malaysia;
• Prof Dr Lam Sai Kit, Professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology, University Malaya
• Tan Sri Prof Dr Augustine Ong, Scientific and Technical Director of the Malaysia Palm Oil Promotion Council