THE Penang Future Foundation (PFF), an initiative by the state government, plays an integral role for the deserving and outstanding students to pursue their tertiary education in public and private universities.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said PFF was established to provide eligible scholars with opportunities to pursue their studies, and to connect these future leaders with the state’s progress.
“As the chairman of the PFF Selection Committee, it is my utmost pleasure to note that PFF is now in its 8th year and continues to make a difference in the lives of its scholars.
“I am pleased to note that we have amongst us today, two PFF scholars who have graduated from Universiti Malaya last year and are now part of Penang’s industrial sector.
“Let us welcome them back to Penang!” said Chow in his speech during the presentation of contributions to PFF and Chinese New Year (CNY) Hi-Tea session at the Eastern and Oriental (E&O) Hotel today.
Chow stressed the importance of human talent in the state, especially for the future.
“We want the youths to take this opportunity to pursue their studies and to have the chance to serve Penang, be it in public or the private sectors after they graduate.
“We remain hopeful that the key industry players will step forward with their generosity and contribute to PFF.
“I am extremely delighted to be part of today’s event, whereby eight industry captains have taken their initiative to support PFF,” he said.
Chow said that a total of 655 students had received the scholarship awards in diverse range of fields since the establishment of PFF.
These fields include Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Accountancy and Finance.
He added that 14 students have been chosen for the Mutiara Scholar award while 56 students were selected for the Penang Scholar award last year.
“These two scholarship awards are to provide assistance to those with poor financial background, and to encourage the academic high-flyers to maintain a strong academic performance,” he said.
Two scholars, who had received their PFF scholarships, expressed their gratitude to the state government at the event.
The graduates, Ooi Tze P’ng and Loh Jing En, studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering in University Malaya. Both are from Penang.
Ooi, in his speech, thanked the state for the opportunity given to him.
“I greatly appreciate the state government as well as the sponsors for the financial support given. I hope that more companies can support this programme to help retain local talents in the state,” said the Research and Development (RnD) Digital Firmware Design Engineer in Aemulus Penang.
Loh also concurred with Ooi, saying that PFF was a great initiative by the state to realise the students’ dreams.
“Thanks to PFF for helping to reduce my family’s financial burden. It helped me to concentrate in my studies.
“I hope that other students can benefit from this programme as well,” said the Structural Design Engineer in Intel Corporation.
Eight donors have each contributed RM60,000 to PFF at the event, making it a total of RM480,000.
They are OCBC Bank, Ideal Healthcare, Sky Resources, YBS Berhad, Solarvest Holdings Berhad, Hotayi Electronic, Vitrox Technologies and Menara Kerjaya Fasteners.
Among those present were Chow’s wife Tan Lean Kee, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Penang branch former chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ooi Eng Hock, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Berhad chief executive officer Datuk Ong Eng Bin, ViTrox Group chief executive officer Chu Jenn Weng and representatives from the industry.
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad