CELEBRATING its 25th anniversary this year, Yayasan Telekom Malaysia (TM) has disbursed more than RM528 million since 1994 to provide 15,000 deserving students and employees with scholarships and education assistance.
“TM focuses on developing talented young leaders who excel in both academia and co-curricular activities,” said TM chief operating officer, Imri Mohktar, at a media briefing in conjunction with the foundation’s 25th anniversary.
“The company sees itself as more than a strategic enabler to the telecommunications sector in the country by taking up the role in developing human capital and future leaders through Yayasan TM,” added Imri, who is a former Yayasan TM scholar himself.
Yayasan TM director Abd Hamid Hashim said about 30 per cent of TM’s top management were recipients of Yayasan TM scholarships, including chief human capital officer Farid Basir, who was also present at the briefing.
“We are proud of this because we can grow our own leaders from within,” Imri told reporters.
Hamid said the foundation currently had 1,150 active scholars: 571 under YTM’s future leaders programme, 502 under YTM’s young leaders programme and 77 under its TM EduAssist programme.
He said at present, TM offered scholarships to students to pursue courses both locally and internationally in IT & Digital, Creative Multimedia, Engineering, Management and Law.
“We are proud that some of our scholars are excelling in their fields of study by winning awards both locally and internationally.”
Some outstanding achievements include Sunway College ACCA student Nur Auda Sabriena Ramli who was first in Malaysia and 10th in the World for the Taxation paper awarded on April 13 this year; Multimedia University Bachelor in Accounting student Diva Manimaran who was selected to join the Perdana Fellowship 2019 and given the opportunity to serve at the Youth & Sports Ministry; University of Malaya Bachelor in Electrical Engineering student Koay Hong Vin who was the grand prize winner in the AGTECH Hackathon 2019, as well as Aviatar 2019 (hackathon competition) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Bachelor of Electronic Engineering student Athirah Mohd Ridzuan who won the Gold Prize for the Engineering Solution Contest at Chonbuk National University, Republic of Korea.
Besides developing human capital for the nation, Hamid said that in keeping with its dedication to heritage and cultural preservation, another milestone achieved by the foundation was the launch of the Telegraph Museum last year in Taiping, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.
“It’s the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, but our second museum after our Telekom Museum/Muzium Telekomunikasi Negara in Kuala Lumpur in 1994. The museum’s exhibits highlight Malaysia’s telecommunication heritage and will enlighten visitors on the history of the telegraph and benefits it brought to the nation, until the telegram service was terminated in 2012,” said Hamid.
“Among the interesting exhibits showcased at the Telegraph Museum is the 1870’s submarine cable, which was the earliest cable in the world that used insulation materials from the Gutta Percha tree extract.”
He said the 135-year-old museum building itself was of historical significance. Built in 1883, it housed the first Post Office & Telegraph Office in Malaya and eventually became Telekom Malaysia’s first office.
The two-storey building has
also been used as Jabatan Telekom's Club Office and Telekom Malaysia Technical Operations Office prior to conservation.