Organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry of Malaysia, the Perdana Fellow Programme serves as a platform that allows Malaysian youths to participate and contribute fresh new ideas to the Malaysian government. This programme has been conducted annually for the past eight years and one of its notable alumni was our former Youth and Sports Minister, Syed Saddiq.
University of Nottingham Malaysia student Am Muammar Abdul Aziz, a third-year student from the School of Economics, was offered a position in this year’s programme. Am will be stationed as a direct apprentice or “fellow” to Malaysia’s Finance Minister and former CEO of CIMB Bank, YB Dato’ Senator Dato’ Sri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
For the next six months, Am will be stationed at the Ministry of Finance in Putrajaya. His new role will require him to assess existing government policies and contribute new ideas to various teams within the ministry.
To be eligible for acceptance to the programme, a candidate has to go through several screening processes. Part of the preliminary screening this year required candidates to write an essay on how the youth can better prepare themselves for Industrial Revolution 4.0.
Once a candidate has advanced from that stage, he or she will be subjected to an online interview conducted by several high-ranking government officials. Knowledge and insight on global events, current government initiatives as well as the existing political climate were vital to a successful interview. This is a highly competitive programme and out of the thousands that applied this year, only 82 candidates were selected.
In one of his press statements, Am had mentioned that UNM had played a major factor in his development and preparation for such a monumental responsibility. He had thanked lecturers within Nottingham’s School of Economics, the university staff members and students alike for their guidance, teachings and overall experience with the university. Summation of all these components had truly moulded him to prepare for such a role.
CEO and Provost of UNM, Professor Graham Kendall said, “We are proud of Am Muammar who has been accepted to the Perdana Fellow Programme. His hard work and tenacity in going through the strict screening process has greatly paid off and as he graduates from UNM, we wish him all the best in his new career at the Ministry of Finance.”
(Image credits: Ministry of Finance Malaysia)
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For media enquiries please contact: Josephine Dionisappu, PR and Communications Manager University of Nottingham Malaysia at josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham is a research-intensive university with a proud heritage, consistently ranked among the world's top 100. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our 44,000 students - Nottingham was named both Sports and International University of the Year in the 2019 Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, was awarded gold in the TEF 2017 and features in the top 20 of all three major UK rankings. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement. We are ranked eighth for research power in the UK according to REF 2014. We have six beacons of research excellence helping to transform lives and change the world; we are also a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally.
Posted on 20th July 2020