Scholarships given to 11 deserving university students

ELEVEN Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) students from the Kampar and Sungai Long campuses have received the Choice Foundation Scholarship (CFS) to continue pursuing their studies during an agreement signing ceremony in Kampar.

The recipients would have their full tuition fees covered and get a monthly allowance of RM500.

First year Food Science student Christine Chong Shan Teng said the scholarship would enable her to buy more reference books for her studies.

Chong said she would give her utmost dedication to solely focus on her studies and perform well.

“My parents are financially constrained because we are pursuing our higher education at the same time,” she added.

“The scholarship has helped relieve my parents’ financial burden.”

Another recipient, Foundation student Gan Yee Hong, from Kajang, said he was happy to be selected after going through a stringent selection process.

“I am on cloud nine. I used to work part-time at some cafes and restaurants nearby the Kampar campus to support my daily expenses.

“The scholarship will reduce my financial burden and motivate me to study harder to achieve my goals and contribute to the betterment of our community,” he said.

Established in Utar in 2016, the CFS aims to support high calibre Foundation and Bachelor Honours degree programme students of low-income families, who have also excelled in both their academic studies and extracurricular activities.

Twenty-one students have benefitted from this scholarship.

In his speech, CFS founder and director Datuk William Toh Ah Wah said the Foundation does not seek anything in return and there was no bond for the recipients to fulfil after completing their studies.

He urged the recipients to use the opportunity to excel in their studies and advised them to do their part for needy and deserving students in the future.

“We believe that Utar shares the same values with CFS and upholds the importance of good education,” he said.

“I would like to thank the university for giving us an opportunity to assist the needy students,” he added.

Toh also urged the students to master English as it is an important language of knowledge.

“English is an important language for your career development. It will certainly enhance your competency in many areas,” he said.

Apart from the financial aid, Toh said they also provide coaching for the students.

“We have assigned some coaches to guide the Bachelor Honours degree scholarship recipients to succeed in their studies,” he added.

Also witnessing the signing ceremony was Utar student development and alumni relations vice-president Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, who represented Utar president Datuk Prof Dr Chuah Hean Teik.

Choong said many people and organisations had come forward with donations and contributions.

“The university has reciprocated by giving back to the community through scholarships and loans to students in need of financial assistance.

“To date, RM139.8mil worth of internal scholarships and loans have been disbursed to a total of 14,330 deserving students,” he said.

“Another RM15.9mil in external loans and scholarships were awarded by external sponsors to 611 Utar students.

“With support from organisations and foundations such as CFS, we hope to continue providing financial assistance to students in need so that they may get access to tertiary education and improve the quality of their lives and be able to supplement the income of their family,” he added.

Source: TheStar