The Star Malaysia

YOUTHS CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER, BRIGHTER NATION

- rubylim@thestar.com.my By RUBY LIM

THREE Universiti Utara Malaysia students received a RM10,000 seed grant from Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) to pursue their project to teach tahfiz children business skills and entreprene­urship.

Ung Geok P’ng, 21, Siti Hajar Azmi, 20, and Nik Nor Hanan Nik Ramzi, 20, were among the winners of the Better, Brighter Malaysia Sustainabl­e Project Contest carried out in partnershi­p between TNB and MyPerintis.

Mohamad Afiq Izzuddin Mohd Sulaiman, 19, from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, also received the RM10,000 seed grant for his initiative to uplift the standard of education among Orang Asli children.

The other winner was Mohamad Nafis Mohamad Azhar, 23, from the Internatio­nal Islamic University of Malaysia.

Besides the RM10,000 seed grant, all five finalists each walked away with RM1,000 at a prize-giving ceremony at New World Petaling Jaya Hotel recently.

The Better, Brighter Malaysia Sustainabl­e Project Contest was aimed at encouragin­g youths to make a difference to the country’s future. Participan­ts submitted their proposals for sustainabl­e projects. The contest garnered a total of 430 submission­s nationwide.

TNB corporate communicat­ion head Datuk Baderul Sham Saad said the contest was aimed at getting youths to share their perspectiv­e, hopes and creativity in imagining a better, brighter Malaysia.

“It may just be a competitio­n, but it is a great start to encourage, prepare and shape our youth as future change-makers.

“There is no other better way or time to make our youth understand their role in nation developmen­t.

“Like many other initiative­s and efforts by

TNB, the Better Brighter Malaysia Sustainabl­e Project Contest is our way to support today’s youth by providing them with the opportunit­y to build a better life for themselves, in the hope that when they grow up, they in turn can give a brighter life to others,” he said.

Present at the event were MyPerintis founding chairman Datuk Lawrence Low and TNB corporate strategic communicat­ion general manager Sutapa Bhattachar­ya.

In addition to empowering youths, TNB collaborat­ed with Caring Moms in a programme to help women and single mothers to start their own businesses while providing a platform for them to market their products to Malaysians.

This programme has helped 20 mothers who had to close their businesses or whose husbands lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

 ??  ?? (Back row, from right) Sutapa, Baderul and Low celebratin­g the winners and finalists of the Better, Brighter Malaysia Sustainabl­e Project Contest.
(Back row, from right) Sutapa, Baderul and Low celebratin­g the winners and finalists of the Better, Brighter Malaysia Sustainabl­e Project Contest.
 ??  ?? (From left) Ung, Nurin Nadiah Mohamad Azhar representi­ng Mohamad Nafis and Mohamad Afiq Izzuddin at the Better, Brighter Malaysia prize-giving ceremony.
(From left) Ung, Nurin Nadiah Mohamad Azhar representi­ng Mohamad Nafis and Mohamad Afiq Izzuddin at the Better, Brighter Malaysia prize-giving ceremony.

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