It was an eventful week for participants of “Empower Yourself Virtual Week”, jointly organised by the Department of Arts and Social Science and Department of Management and Accountancy of Centre for Foundation Studies Kampar, from 5 to 10 July 2021 via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. The webinar is made possible by sponsors  FBM Crowdtech Sdn. Bhd., Love & Love Weddings and Events, Evos Marketing, Switchel, and Silver Owls Production Sdn. Bhd.

“This event is meant to benefit our students from UTAR, primary and secondary schools around Kampar and Ipoh, pre-university students from the northern regions, as well as the public. We aim to inspire and empower the participants to tap into their potentials and to challenge, discover, and nurture their inner selves in learning new knowledge. With this event, we also hope that the participants will be exposed to various forms of skills pertaining to different fields, which will beneficial to them in the future, especially when they enter a specific desired profession,” explained Event Coordinator Soon Cai En.

Present to officiate the virtual event was UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, who said, “As a university “by the people, for the people”, UTAR has always believed in community engagement and enriching activities not only for the students in the university but also the public community. With this current pandemic and the challenges for the country and global economic outlook, many youths and graduates may face greater employment challenges and increased financial obligations. Therefore, this project is most relevant for students and youths who need to brace themselves for greater challenges ahead especially lifestyle changes and greater reliance on digital and information communications technology as the way forward.”

He added, “I hope that participants especially the students of higher learning institutions will learn to build greater resilience to overcome challenges and participate in this virtual event in a positive direction and use this platform for meaningful discussions. There are many activities planned for you ranging from business idea presentations, competitions, and poster challenges, to debates, story-telling, and digital drawing. Please enjoy yourself in these events and take a break from the stress of your studies and work. I wish everyone the best in the competitions.” Also present was CFS Director Ts Tan Lee Siew.

The virtual event provided a platform for all participants to learn more about social studies, business practices, arts, psychology, and languages through various talks, workshops, and competitions organised. The “Roadmap to Your Financial Success” talk by UTAR academic Ir Abdul Majid bin Mohd Gani saw participants learning to set their financial goals for retirement, purchasing house, vacation, education, and wealth accumulation. To achieve the financial goals, the speaker explained that investment through equities, unit trust, property, precious metal, and event business are good investment tools.

Yoon Seck Hoe, the speaker of “From Indecision to Smart Choices” talk, advised participants to adhere to these three rules; be positive, participate, and take action. When it comes to making financial planning and decision, Yoon, a certified financial literacy trainer and currently a general manager of Finport Masterclass Sdn Bhd, advised, “Always check if your lifestyle matches your income, save before you spend, find out your financial leakage, set up an emergency fund of three to six months’ expenses, and increase your income’s source.”

He listed six steps for participants to achieve their financial goals, which are goal setting, resources clarity, understanding of what can be done, development of a plan, execution of the plan, and reviewing and readjustment of the plan.

Meanwhile, the talk “My Journey – From Educator to Health Consultant” by speaker Lisa Kwan, enlightened participants of her experience in changing her teaching career to now a weight management and health consultant. She explained that she too was struggling with her postpartum weight, which was the time when she discovered weight management products from Nu Skin. Having successfully transformed herself into a healthier individual, Kwan’s success story inspired many and she began committing her time and effort with Nu Skin, which eventually became her current career. She went on to explain the difference between multi-level marketing (MLM) and pyramid schemes, which others had misunderstood in the past. She also taught participants how an actual and approved MLM business can help people earn money and eventually grow that income.

On helping participants to enhance their memory, the talk “Master Your Memory” by speaker Teo Kim Foo, who is also the founder of Brilliance Brain Enterprise and chairman of Malaysia Memory Sports Organisation (MMSO) explained that an individual’s memory is considered good when one can remember nine items and above at the same time. He taught participants that using memory technique, compared to saying repeatedly, enables one to memorise easily, recall easily, and answer reversely. He also conducted a few memory-testing sessions with the participants before proceeding to an interactive Q&A session.

At the Chinese talk “与春上村树相关”, the speaker Yap Yuet Ngor, enlightened participants about Haruki Murakami. Yap translated three novels written by Haruki Murakami, namely Norwegian Wood; A Wild Sheep Chase; and Dance Dance Dance when she lived in Hong Kong in the 90s. In the talk, Yap introduced Haruki Murakami and summarised his writing styles. Yap also provided insights into the spread and acceptance of Haruki Murakami’s novels in Malaysia, as well as his influence on the Chinese authors. Yap discussed the ways to comprehend and interpret Haruki Murakami’s novels and shared the pictures she took while travelling in Japan, following the map in the author’s novel.

The “Money@Work” talk by Jazlynn Koay educated participants on financial planning. Koay, who is a certified financial planner, shared three secrets with participants in relation to financial planning. The first secret she shared was about compounding interest, where she taught participants to start small; plan for the long term; go for higher rates; have mixed rates, risks and terms; stay ahead of the competition; be a millionaire when in retirement; repeat these steps every five years for different goals.

The second secret was about guarantorship account. She explained that guarantors are necessary because uncertainties are unavoidable. “So start securing guarantors now, and secure them for all the finances. It is also done long term, and we learnt that guarantors give, while the investors receive and eventually become rich,” said Koay. The final secret was about financial integration. She advised participants to seek a financial integrator (FI) to work and monitor closely the various secrets. “Investors should also express all their impossible goals to allow the FI to make plans accordingly. It is wise to inform your FI of any changes to your income or goals, in order to leverage or adjust the plans. Keep your plans and secrets well so you don’t end up ruining them. Work closely with your FI to make sure your plans are realised, and eventually, you can achieve financial freedom,” explained Koay.

Participants also benefited from the “10 Important Tips for Young Entrepreneurs” talk, conducted by speaker Nicky Chang. He currently runs multiple food outlets. The ten important tips that he listed were, firstly, the 3S – to survive, sustain and succeed; trending which meant for entrepreneurs to understand the current and latest happenings in the industry and to always stay ahead in the game; and to understand the industry’s forces, which meant for entrepreneurs to learn the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, and to learn about the threats of new entrants and substitutes. “As entrepreneurs, you also need to learn the competitive advantage through the value chain, implement the right strategy, trade-off, and plan for the long term. The long term plans are meant to give your investment a minimum of five years and make sure your goals are aligned with your current business direction. You are also to think if your business can operate even without you, which leads us to the final tip, which is to do a proper labour management capital,” advised Chang.

Participants also had the opportunity to learn about the bridal industry from the “Stepping into the World of Wedding Planning” talk by wedding planner-cum-speaker Joey Ling. She is also the founder of Love & Love Wedding and Events. She advised, “A wedding planner must be well organised and flexible at the same time. It is also important to have good social skills so you can convey important information effectively and communicate effectively with your clients to avoid creating any misunderstandings. So in wedding planning, we first need to understand the vision of the wedding, from the theme, budget, guests management to the food. The next stage will involve organising the whole wedding planning process by guiding the clients from vendor selection to vendor booking processes. Once these things are finalised, you will do a rundown of developments with your clients, including rehearsal. You need to coordinate well with all related parties to ensure the actual events runs smoothly. So basically, you need to plan well, manage well and execute well.”

On the other hand, the “Money, Can you Manage Them?” workshop, conducted by speaker Peter Yong, saw participants learning about financial management through the seven steps of financial literacy taught by the speaker. The seven steps included saving RM1,000, paying off expensive debts, saving three to six months of emergency fund, investing 10% of your income monthly for retirement, setting aside 10-20% for investment, creating multiple income streams and building wealth.

The “Mapping Yourself” workshop, conducted by speaker-cum-CFS academic Bhargkavi Pari, taught participants about self-empowering. She advised, “Unleashing your true potential is like finding a hidden treasure. It is not buried deeply as you think because, often, it is hidden only beneath the surface, so you just need to rediscover it. We are our own worst critics, but a healthy dose of self-doubt helps monitor ourselves. We often let our disempowering inner monologue take over, and deep down many of us believe that we are not good enough. The truth is, what you think of yourself is more important than what others think of you.”

Marking the end of the insightful event was a closing speech by Ts Tan who said, “Through this virtual week CFS Kampar hopes to offer participants the opportunity to gather virtually to explore various fields, including arts, finance, and social science. We want to encourage creativity among participants and inculcate a sense of pride in their talents. It is our joy to see participants taking the initiative to join our virtual event. There were also a lot of inspiring works that were submitted in the competition, so congratulations to the winners.”

She added, “With the ever-changing environment around us, it is essential for us to continuously learn and adapt so we can evolve. I hope the lesson you learnt from this event will ignite your passion and inspire you to be a better person.”

The results of the competitions are as below:

Digital Drawing Competition
Champion (Cash Prize RM100) – Leong Shi Yun
2nd Place (Cash Prize RM80) – Teh Xiao Wei
3rd Place (Cash Prize RM50) – Leong Wan Yi

Chinese Prose Writing Competition
Champion (Cash Prize RM200) – Tan Tze Yi
2nd Place (Cash Prize RM150) – Chen Han Bing
3rd (Cash Prize RM100) – Low Kah Yue

Poetry Writing Contest
Champion (Cash Prize RM100) – Eddie Ooi
2nd Place (Cash Prize RM80) – Foong Kok Khei
3rd Place (Cash Prize RM50) – Chew Xin Ru

Short Story Writing Contest
Champion (Cash Prize RM100) – Ler Mei Xuan
2nd Place (Cash Prize RM80) – Chin Hooi Mann

Business Idea and Poster Challenge
Champion (Cash Prize RM300) – Ee Yung Jian (Quest International University)
2nd Place (Cash Prize RM200) – Jessie Low Zhi Ying (Quest International University)
3rd Place (Cash Prize RM100) – Wong Rork Xuan (Quest International University)
Viewers’ Choice Award (Mystery gift) – Lai Kah Wei (UTAR)