13 December 2014 –New Straits Times
ABU DHABI: Smart Reader Worldwide Sdn Bhd, the child enrichment centre franchise, spreads its wings to United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the opening of Alnuballa Smart Reader Kids Nursery in Mohammed bin Zayed City here.
Smart Reader chief executive officer, Datuk Sri Dr Richard Ong, said the nursery with a 1,200-sq metre indoor and 1,000-sq metre outdoor space, can accommodate 100 children aged from four months to four years.
“We always welcome entrepreneurs worldwide to enter the education industry for pre-school children.
“I am confident that the future looks bright for effective and systematic pre-school education service,” he told Bernama recently.
Crown Prince of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra Jamalullail, opened the centre on December 4.
Ong said Smart Reader will continue to further expand its franchise in the Asia.
“We have established our franchises in China, Thailand, Philippines, Brunei and Jordan and early next year we will be going to Indonesia as we see potential in Banda Acheh.
“Indonesia and Malaysia have a lot of similarities and its economy is growing,” he said.
On its Smart Tadris programme, Ong said, the Muslim community need not worry as they have selected religious experts to be on the panel for the programme.
“We have the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia’s support to carry out the Smart Tadris programme. We have also appointed Datuk Abu Hassan Din Al Hafiz, the former Imam of the National Mosque, to be the senior advisor for the programme,” he said.
Smart Reader has 300 branches in Malaysia and 150 worldwide since 1999.– Bernama
