KUALA LUMPUR: There is a need to empower youths so that they can overcome the many obstacles to ensure a more sustainable future, says Perak Ruler Sultan Nazrin Muizuddin Shah.
The Royal Patron and Chairman of the Merdeka Award Trust said issues such as social inclusion and environmental conservation are pressing problems that the nation faces, which need new solutions.
Sultan Nazrin said this at the 2023 Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment announcement and presentation ceremony at the PETRONAS Twin Towers here yesterday.
(The Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment offers Malaysians between the ages of 22 and 35 an opportunity to engage in short-term collaborative projects with international institutions in various disciplines.)
The Ruler further stated that assisting youths who are eager to make a change for the betterment of the nation and country is vital with efforts such as the Merdeka Award grants, which enable recipients to venture out into the world to further their ambitions.
“What I find most fulfilling about presenting the grant is being part of this bold and enterprising journey of our Malaysian youths.
“Applicants have expressed a strong desire to be change-makers in their chosen fields, and to thereby change the trajectory both for their own communities and, more broadly, for the future of our shared planet.
“This again is highly encouraging, as we must all strive together to build a sustainable future,” said Sultan Nazrin.
The recipients for the grant this year are Masni Mat Dong, Syaza Soraya Sauli, Amaziasizamoria Jumail, Dr Kong Xin Ying and Dr Ng Chuck Chuan.
Masni is the first Orang Asli woman to receive the grant while Amaziasizamoria is the first Sabahan woman to receive the grant.
A lecturer from Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology, Masni will be using the grant to work on Orang Asli’s multi-dimensional poverty and spatial justice.
Masni said she is extremely grateful that the grant will enable her to upgrade the living conditions of Orang Asli who are largely in poverty.
Syaza Soraya, who is doing her PhD at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, will be using the grant to look at how she can instil love for the environment in preschoolers through hands-on learning modules.
She will be doing her attachment in Minnesota, the US.
The mother of two said the grant will enable her to widen her scope to work on creating learning modules that will literally be “green time vs screen time” among preschoolers.
Amaziasizamoria, who is a research officer at the Danau Girang Field Centre, will be looking at issues on tropical forest restoration and will be doing her attachment in Mexico.
Kong, a postdoctoral fellow at Nanyang Technological University, plans to use the grant to further work on “photocatalytic upcycling plastics as a sustainable energy alternative”.
Ng, who is an assistant professor at Xiamen University Malaysia, will be working on “phytoremediation” – a method using plants to solve the issue of soil pollution.
At the same event, president and CEO of PETRONAS and Merdeka Award Trust Board of Trustee Tan Sri Tengku Muhammad Taufik Tengku Aziz said past recipients of the grant have now gone on to push the boundaries in various fields.
“The experiences and insights of the grant recipients will have the potential to effect positive change in our communities and propel Malaysia towards greater heights,” said Tengku Muhammad Taufik.
The Merdeka Award Trust was established by PETRONAS and Shell in 2007 to recognise and reward excellent individuals and organisations.
