Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Creating a sustainable pool of talent for Malaysia
Speech by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara
Malaysia), at the Kijang Emas Scholarship Award Ceremony, Kuala Lumpur, 30 April 2015.
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In preparing for the future, a future that is going to be fundamentally different from the current
environment, talent development has become more important than ever before. The
environment before us is rapidly changing and is continuously becoming more
interconnected, more complex and certainly more competitive. It is also becoming more
uncertain and unstable. Malaysia has, however over several decades, demonstrated time
and again our ability to face the challenges arising from these transformative changes,
supported by our resilience and strong foundations. Human capital makes up a critical
component of these foundations. Developing the talent that we have and making greater
investments in our talent pipeline will contribute to generating the development of our future
leaders that will be able to effectively operate in this new environment. Education and
capacity building to generate the new talent with the right skills, mindsets and values, as well
as effective talent development strategies and their implementation, have now become key
priorities of the nation.
The Kijang Emas Scholarship Award is an eminent scholarship award that is part of the
Bank's commitment to creating a sustainable talent pool for the nation. The Kijang Emas
Scholarship is distinct from the Kijang Scholarship in that the recipients are given the
freedom to pursue any field of study at top universities in any country of their choice. The
Bank also does not impose any bond on the recipients except that they return, contribute and
partake in the development of our nation.
To date, 44 high potential talent have been awarded the Kijang Emas Scholarship. The
recipients have graduated or are currently pursuing their studies in diverse fields of study
including Medicine, Engineering, Law, Economics, Dietetics, Actuarial Science, Accounting,
Dentistry, Biochemistry, Genetics, Architecture, Psychology and Geophysics in top
universities around the world such as MIT, University of Pennsylvania and the University of
Cambridge. Thus far, 11 Kijang Emas scholars have completed their undergraduate studies
and have returned to serve the nation, while another seven scholars are expected to
complete their studies in the next six months.
For the 2015 Kijang Emas Scholarship, we received a total of 212 applications from top SPM
students scoring straight A+ for their 2014 SPM. From this, the Bank shortlisted the top
24 students based on their SPM results and also on their level of involvement in co-curricular
and sports activities. The students then underwent a rigorous evaluation process under the
Bank's "Kijang Academy" which assessed their technical and leadership competencies, as
well as their values.
We are pleased to award four outstanding students the Kijang Emas Scholarship this year.
Having just completed their SPM, they will be enrolled into the respective pre-university
programmes. Following their pre-university programmes, Imran aspires to be a Mechanical
Engineer, Hajar is keen to read Chemistry while both Ying Xin and Nur Shazlin aspire to be
Doctors. I am confident that all of you will do your best and will contribute for the future of the
nation.
In addition to the Kijang Emas Scholarship award, every year the Bank also awards
scholarships to 50 high achieving SPM students for them to pursue their undergraduate
studies abroad with the objective of them being part of the Bank's future talent pool. The
Bank has put in place a structured, holistic and collaborative Scholar's Development
Programme to support all of our scholars throughout their studies. The programme aims to
develop high-quality and well-rounded scholars with leadership qualities as the next
generation of young talent who will be the leaders of tomorrow for the Bank and our nation.