PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - As a gesture of appreciation to the country, tycoon Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah has locked shares worth RM700 million (S$295 million) from the education arm of his business into the newly-launched Jeffrey Cheah Foundation.

It is meant to enhance the quality of education and provide a helpline to deserving students from underprivileged background.

The foundation is modelled after the Harvard Foundation. It is the first of its kind among Malaysian private colleges.

"The establishment of the foundation is my legacy for the future," said the Sunway Group founder and chairman in his speech at the launch of the foundation.

"It is the essence of my commitment towards corporate social responsibility, my debt of gratitude to my country, Malaysia," he added.

The four educational institutions under the Sunway Education Group have been transferred into the foundation.

They are Sunway University College, Sunway International School, Monash University Sunway Campus and the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine.

The shares have been transferred for perpetuity into the foundation. These can never be sold.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak launched the foundation on Thursday night, witnessed by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the royal patron of the foundation.

The foundation will be managed by a board of seven trustees who will reinvest surpluses from the Group back into the institutions as well as disburse scholarships and research grants to deserving students.