“These five individuals represent a generation of youth who are the heartbeat of our nation and the architects of our future progress,” said Sultan Nazrin Shah, the Merdeka Award Trust’s royal patron and chairman.

The grant is awarded to highly qualified and deserving Malaysians to allow them to pursue projects at internationally recognised institutions.

More than 160 had applied for the grant, which was established in 2012 to provide those under the age of 35 with the opportunity to design solutions and drive change to solve the nation’s most pressing concerns.

This year’s recipients are:

Education and Community
Masni Mat Dong, a lecturer at the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology; and Syaza Soraya Sauli, a PhD candidate at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

Environment
Kong Xin Ying, a postdoctoral fellow from Nanyang Technological University, and Amaziasizamoria Jumail, a research officer at the Danau Girang field centre in Kinabatangan, Sabah

Health, Science, and Technology
Ng Chuck Chuan, an assistant professor at Xiamen University Malaysia.

The Sultan of Perak also called for young people to be empowered to embark on their quests to make the world a better place.

He said Malaysia has to address growing concerns about social inclusion and environmental conservation if it is to ensure a more sustainable future.

“If we are to effectively tackle the pressing problems that we collectively face, we must seek new approaches and solutions,” he said.

“One important element is to empower our youth to strengthen their efforts to help the young, the old, and the marginalised to overcome the structural and systemic obstacles they face,” said Sultan Nazrin.

He added that assisting youths who are eager to make a change for the betterment of the nation and country was vital with efforts such as the Merdeka Award grants which enable recipients to venture out into the world to further their ambitions.