KUALA LUMPUR: Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah stressed on the importance of financial literacy for youths in order to make the right financial decisions and prevent bankruptcy at a young age.
He said this during a sharing session with 100 final year students from Economics and Management Faculty at CIMB Foundation’s financial literacy programme, Be$MART, held at Universiti Putra Malaysia yesterday.
Also at the event were CIMB Group Holdings Bhd group chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, CIMB Foundation chief executive officer Datuk Hamidah Naziadin and UPM vice chancellor Professor Datin Paduka Dr. Aini Ideris.
During the one hour session, Tengku Amir Shah and Tengku Zafrul shared not only on youth development and financial literacy but also among others, their life experiences.
"Youth development is a subject matter that is very close to my heart, and it encompasses shaping their understanding to enable them to practice good financial habits.
"I commend CIMB Foundation for conceptualising the Be$MART programme to ensure our youths are properly guided and fully empowered to take control of their financial future,” said Tengku Amir Shah.
Tengku Zafrul added that CIMB Foundation is deeply honoured to have Raja Muda Selangor at its Be$MART workshop to help inculcate in youths the importance of good financial management.
"Leveraging on CIMB’s financial expertise, the foundation is championing a much needed educational programme that I’m sure will reap dividends for many years to come, not only for Be$MART beneficiaries by making them future-ready for the adult world, but also for the nation.” said Tengku Zafrul.
Be$MART is the foundation’s comprehensive financial literacy programme specifically tailored for college and undergraduate students nationwide, to equip them with the right knowledge on managing their finances for every stage of their lives.
Fully-financed by the foundation, the programme is a two-day session that utilises a mixture of lectures, simulations and games meant to deliver an end-to-end view of financial management in a fun and interactive way.
"I laud CIMB Foundation’s efforts on Be$MART, which complements the concept of ensuring a holistic education for students to help prepare them for their working life and all the financial obligations that come with it," said Aini.
A Bachelor of Business Administration student Fadilah Mohd Nizam, 26, said she learned so many things from the programme especially how to manage her finances in the proper way. "I didn't have much knowledge about investment so I think this programme is really food because it covers a lot of modules and is very practical."
Her course mate Loo Wei Siang, 24, agreed that his knowledge on finance was very lacking but after attending the two-day workshop he learned the correct way to start his saving and investing right after this. "I think this programme should be continued so that people especially youths will wake up and not fall into debt."
The Be$MART programme was officially launched in December last year and the first phase will run nationwide for two years.
To date, 34 session have been conducted, out of a total 0f 80 sessions for the rest of this year.
Modules of the programme cover a wide range of money management lessons such as Financial IQ, Risk Assessment & Profiling, Property Investment, Debt Management, Unit Trust Investments and Budgeting & Tracking.
