I would like to express my gratitude towards the Penang State Government for its Penang Future Foundation (PFF). It has been an honour to receive the scholarship award from PFF that is assisting me financially in my academic pursuit. This is especially meaningful as I am the first person in the family to pursue tertiary education.
The scholarship is important to me in many ways. Coming from a single- parent family with financial difficulties, pursuing studies in private university requires a lot of financial assistance, including loan and tuition fee waiver. However, these measures did not provide sufficient monetary aid to cover the remaining tuition fees as my mother, my pillar of strength has reached her retirement in the private sector with no pension received for her sunset years. Living off savings, PFF scholarship has provided me the opportunity to continue my degree study without financial worries by paying off the remaining tuition fees. Furthermore, the scholarship that comes with living allowance has enabled me to take a step back from part-time jobs and fully concentrate on my studies. Moreover, one of the criteria of the scholarship is to maintain good academic results. Therefore, this has become part of my motivation and has significantly made me realize the importance of maintaining strong academic grades.
I have never stopped myself from continuously pursuing goals to achieve my career path. Even though living in financially harsh environment, I have been managing my time and spirit well to work while studying and have achieved great results. Results aside, PFF encourages scholars to contribute their talents and expertise in Penang. I enthusiastically support this objective as Penang is well-known for its expanding industrial zones and home for multiple international companies.
As one of the selected PFF scholars, I feel honoured and proud of receiving this opportunity. Beside the mentioned financial assistance given by PFF, my experience as a PFF scholar so far has been greatly rewarding. I want to give a special shout-out to the PFF secretariat members who are always ready to assist in any matter relating to the scholarship.
Separately, one of the personal achievements that made me proud is my academic achievement in my final year project. Thanks to implementing new technical knowledge that was not academically taught in my course, my supervisor saw the potential of the project and has proposed for me to participate in the Innovate Malaysia 2021 competition. I am currently participating in the competition in a group formed by the lecturer, allowing me to be more exposed and experienced in competitions relating to my technical field. I am also proud in developing my know-hows as a part-time programmer. As the co- founder of the company’s mobile app and involved in the start-up and maintenance of an application that is currently up in Google Play Store, this episode has provided me with opportunities to learn, grow, and gain experience from the projects.
Working in Penang has always been my first and only choice. As a Penangite myself, I look forward to play my part in contributing my knowledge, technical skills, and labour to make Penang better than it already is. For interested students, grab this opportunity and apply for the PFF scholarship! Your future is Penang’s future.
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