Investment in education is among the most worthwhile investments, according to Petronas Group chief audit executive Asril Rahman Abdul Hadi.
Asril said history has shown that knowledge is the key to the development of a civilisation. To achieve success, focus should centre on human capital development.
He added that investment in education usually takes a long time to yield results. However, it is always worth the wait.
Speaking from his own experience, Asril said: “Petronas invested in me 30 years ago, and I am where I am today because of this investment.”
“Given the financial constraints that my family faced at the time, I was worried that I would have had to forgo the opportunity. Studying overseas requires a lot of money, and my parents also needed to support my siblings, who were still in school. It seemed nearly impossible for me to go to the UK,” Asril reminisced.
However, Asril’s fears proved to be unfounded when he received a scholarship from Petronas to sponsor his tertiary studies from A-Levels to up to degree level, for five years.
According to the small-town boy who hails from Kampung Losong Atap Zink, Kuala Terengganu, the scholarship offer was a wonderful surprise.
“My family and I are grateful for the opportunity that was given to me by Petronas,” he said.
Asril said that the PESP has triggered a shift that led to his current success.
“I’ve always been interested in accounting, so I made it a point to excel in my studies until I finally became a chartered accountant,” he added.
Upon returning home, Asril began his career in Petronas, which had taken him to several operating locations within and outside Malaysia.
“I am privileged to be able to meet various inspiring corporate leaders from other countries as well as the senior management of top global companies through my current role.
“I believe the experience I gained from studying overseas has added value to my interactions with them,” he said.
Petronas’ Group Human Resource Management senior vice-president Datuk Raiha Azni Abd Rahman said: “Asril is one of more than 36,800 students nationwide sponsored by Petronas. Since 1975, Petronas has spent more than RM3.3bil to sponsor selected students in their studies at Universiti Teknologi Petronas and leading universities abroad.”
According to Raiha, PESP was introduced to build human capital for the development of the nation.
Since its implementation 44 years ago, the programme has proven to be successful in producing many internationally recognised talents.
Each year, Petronas allocates more than RM100mil for the sponsorship programme.
For 2019, a total of RM156mil has been allocated to sponsor 400 students who excelled in the SPM examination.
They are offered opportunities to pursue studies in chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, mechanical engineering, geophysics, finance and other related fields in the oil and gas industry, at UTP as well as at leading universities in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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