Mah Sing Foundation is launching the Young Nation Builders Challenge, a bold new school programme in 2019 to encourage kids to re-imagine living spaces in their communities.
The Young Nation Builders Challenge is a first of its kind competition to engage high school children to improve their communities, with the aim of cultivating the next generation of nation builders from our schools’ classrooms.
The competition programme has been designed so that kids can learn to observe and empathise with challenges around their community, then come up with solutions and test their prototypes. This is built round the design thinking framework and their ideas will be guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Schools teams are invited to submit their ideas online and successful teams will be invited to a four-day bootcamp, where they will be exposed to the world’s best practices and mentored by industry experts, to enhance their proposed solutions. Mah Sing Foundation will award winning teams with cash prizes and a chance to see their solutions incorporated into future development projects.
The programme will offer valuable experience for high school kids as they begin to explore their role in society, interests and future careers. Participants can expect to work intensely with their teams, but will also have the unique opportunity to showcase their grit and creativity in front of real professionals in the industry.
“The future of our country rests in our country’s youths,” says Dato’ Indera Syed Norulzaman bin Syed Kamarulzaman, Chairman of Mah Sing Foundation, “as a developer, we want to bring young people along our journey to build this nation of ours in a meaningful and sustainable way.”
Some of the initiatives the competition would like see the kids attempt are, for example, better access for the disabled, and programmes to improve environmental waste management. Other design challenges include protecting cultural heritage, easing transportation, and helping residents feel safer in case of disaster. “If these can be solved while encouraging greater community participation and sustainability, it would be a huge plus!” says Dato’ Indera Syed Norulzaman.
The competition has set up 5 “Design Challenges” for school participants to tackle:
1. Accessibility – how can we help the old or disabled to move around?
2. Natural Disaster – how can we help residents of disaster-prone areas feel safer?
3. Cultural & Heritage Protection – how can we help protect the culture and heritage of an area/community?
4. Environmental Conservation – how can our cities be friendlier to the environment?
5. Transportation & Connectivity – how can we connect people within and around our community better?
Are you up to the challenge? Entry to the competition has opened and will close on February 24th. Please visit www.ynbc.my to learn more.
