PIDM awards scholarships to 10 Malaysian undergraduates
Kuala Lumpur, 16 October 2012: Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM) has awarded scholarships to 10 students under its 2012 Undergraduate Scholarship Programme, as part of its ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The scholarship award is aimed at contributing to the potential talent pool in Malaysia and is part of nation building.
The scholars, who were selected based on their academic and extracurricular achievements, communication skills, maturity and potential leadership qualities, as well as access to financial support, will pursue degree programmes relevant to PIDM’s business.
For Noraidah Mohd Salleh, 21, getting the scholarship was a dream come true and she hopes to help her fellow villagers in her hometown of Tawau, Sabah. The daughter of a fisherman, Noraidah is the eldest of four children.
“To start with, I want to give a talk to the school children at my old school so they too are aware that they can seek financial assistance to further their studies. Most of them are not aware as we lack many communication tools,” said this Bajau lass.
“I feel so proud and excited that I am the only Sabahan to receive this award this year and the first time that I set foot in Peninsular Malaysia was when I came to Kuala Lumpur for the scholarship interview,” said Noraidah who will pursue her Bachelor of Accounting at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM).
Meanwhile, for Yeoh Sze Jinn, 19, his father is the driving force who inspires him to further his studies in Business Administration, majoring in Entrepreneurship at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur. “My father runs a business selling software and I hope to expand our family business. This scholarship will be of great help to us,” said this young man from Ipoh, Perak.
The scholarship comes without bonding and provides for funding of tuition fees and living expenses as well as books and equipment. A key feature of the PIDM scholarship is a mentoring programme where a mentor, selected from among PIDM’s employees, is assigned to each scholar enabling him or her to leverage on the mentor’s wide experience as well as to obtain advice and support throughout the study period.
“I feel the mentoring programme will be very useful for us to navigate our study path and will certainly help in planning our careers,” said Siti Nurlaila Kamaruddin, 22, from Kelantan, who is pursuing a degree in Accountancy at UiTM Shah Alam.
“I believe this scholarship will give me a strong platform to launch my future career and I am very happy to be given this honour from an organisation such as PIDM,” chipped in Hairish Kumar A/L Ganesan, 19, from Selangor, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Actuarial Science at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
PIDM Chairman Tan Sri Datuk Dr. Abdul Samad Haji Alias said the scholarship programme is designed holistically with the aim of producing scholars equipped for the challenges of the job market and the world.
“At the end of their courses, successful scholars may also opt to undergo an internship at PIDM. We hope this will teach them how to be part of a team and to apply themselves to real problems and issues,” he said at the scholarship award ceremony recently.
PIDM Chief Executive Officer J.P. Sabourin said with the 10 new scholars, this brings the total number of scholars to 25 under the PIDM Scholarship Programme that was introduced in 2010.
“We believe that in order to succeed, you don’t need to have a privileged background and even if you start the race at the back of the line, you can still catch up. The scholarship award is our way to give a helping hand to those students in need,” he said.
For more information about this press release, kindly contact :
Sarina Ariffin, Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs Division (Tel: 03-2173 7457; Emel: sarina@pidm.gov.my)
Juli Murshidah, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs Division (Tel: 03-2173 7465; Emel: juli@pidm.gov.my)
Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM) administers the statutory Deposit Insurance System and the Takaful and Insurance Benefits Protection System (TIPS) in Malaysia.