Social Impact Project Wins Top Honours At TalentCorp-MITI’s Inaugural MyASEAN Youth Award 2017

Award promotes youth volunteerism among ASEAN youths.

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 June 2017 - Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp) and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) yesterday awarded MyASEAN Internship alumni Nur Farhana Nadirah Hassan the inaugural MyASEAN Youth Award (MAYA) 2017.

Nur Farhana, 24, emerged the top winner with her presentation of the Tohor Revolution project. Tohor Revolution is a long-term social impact project, focused to improve the health and hygiene levels, access to education and socioeconomic status of the aborigines in Kampung Tohor, a village located between Pahang and Negeri Sembilan. The project also forms the fundamental of an adaptable social impact framework that can be implemented in other rural or post-disaster areas in ASEAN countries. 

She was among three shortlisted candidates, who presented their project proposals to a panel of judges consisting secretary-general of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Jayasiri Jayasena; CEO of Leaderonomics Roshan Thiran; and CEO of TalentCorp Shareen Shariza Dato’ Abdul Ghani. 

“The MyASEAN Youth Award is a platform for ASEAN’s change-makers. As ASEAN celebrates our 50th anniversary as a regional economic bloc, we need to consider the trail that we have left behind in the past 50 years and also reflect on the ASEAN journey that we would like to chart in the next 50 years. I am confident that our ASEAN youth will build a region that is more closely integrated and transform ASEAN into one of the most important regional economic blocs,” said Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed in his opening address.

Nur Farhana will receive a RM10,000 grant to further develop the Tohor Revolution project, in addition to a pair of return flight tickets to any ASEAN destination.

“We are very happy to witness three very high-quality presentations tonight, which made the judging process very tough for us. We hope that more MyASEAN Intership alumni will participate in the Award next year,” Shareen said. 

MyASEAN Youth Award Promotes Youth Volunteerism within ASEAN

The MyASEAN Youth Award (MAYA) was organised in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of ASEAN’s formation. It aims to strengthen youth involvement and participation in building the ASEAN community and promote the spirit of youth volunteerism among ASEAN youth. It also serves to recognise ASEAN youths who have created outstanding social impact or innovations in their home countries or MyASEAN Internship host countries. 

The competition invited alumni of TalentCorp’s MyASEAN Internship programme to pitch their social impact projects and achievements through video submissions. Shortlisted candidates were then invited to a seven-minute pitch before the judging panel. The assessment criteria that helped determined the winner included:

• Level of social impact
• Level of innovation
• Proposed use of the RM10,000 grant
• Project sustainability 
• Pitch and video quality
• Applicant’s performance in the MyASEAN Internship and workshop

“I am very honoured and grateful to be given the opportunity to share Tohor Revolution with a wider audience. With the help of this grant, I am hopeful that the project now will be able enter its third phase, where we focus on developing a stable source of income for the people of Tohor,” said Nur Farhana. 

The MyASEAN Youth Award 2017 was also attended by close to 40 undergraduates who will be undergoing their MyASEAN Internships this year. These participants also attended TalentCorp's ASEAN Youth Leadership camp over the weekend, facilitated by Leaderonomics, to prepare for their upcoming internship stints.