KUCHING, Sept 28: Petronas has recently awarded sponsorships to 108 outstanding Sarawakians who had scored excellent results in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysian (SPM) 2021 examinations.
They are among 600 successful candidates from over 9,000 applicants across Malaysia, to pursue tertiary education through the Petronas Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP) at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) as well as in other leading local and overseas universities in Australia, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Among the many PESP recipients was 18-year-old Muhammad Arif Mohd Merzan from Kuching, who will be pursuing an A-level programme at Kolej Yayasan UEM before continuing onward to obtaining a degree at Imperial College London.
“My ambition is to become a software engineer due to my passion for computer systems, programming, coding and Information Technology (IT).
“I hope through this sponsorship, I will be able to realise my dream and graduate with flying colors because I want to contribute back to my country,” he said.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Alif Harriz Jeffery from Bintulu was awarded the scholarship to pursue a degree in Computer Science at Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus.
“I chose PESP because it can cover all my tuition fees and allowances, as my father’s salary is not enough to cover my education expenses. He works at a shipping company while my mother is a housewife. I have a sister who is currently still studying in primary school at SJK Chung Hua, Bintulu.
“This sponsorship will help ease my parents’ financial burden, and at the same time, further motivate me to focus and do well in my studies,” he said in a statement today.
This year, Petronas said it is investing more than RM340 million to fund successful applicants like Muhammad Arif and Alif Harriz who will pursue tertiary studies in various fields including chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, mechanical engineering, geoscience, economics, law, and other industry-related courses.
The sponsorship has been expanded to include disciplines such as computer science, software engineering, and information technology in preparing talents for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) landscape.
Under PESP, Petronas supports students from their foundation studies up to the first bachelor’s degree, while also providing book and study equipment as well as onboarding allowances.
Since 1975, more than 37,000 outstanding Malaysian students, including 1,720 currently in the programme, have benefitted from the sponsorships valued at over RM3.5 billion. — DayakDaily
