The Harvard Club of Malaysia said the two are Athena Siow from Kuala Lumpur, who plans to major in government (data science track), and Namira Lee Tzu from Kuala Terengganu, who intends to major in environmental science and engineering.

Siow, a Yayasan UEM scholar, completed her SPM at Kolej Yayasan Saad, while Namira, a PNB Global Scholar, sat for the major secondary school examination at SMK Chung Hwa Wei Sin. Both went on to pursue A-Level at Kolej Yayasan UEM.

“Harvard College, which has one of the lowest undergraduate admission rates in the world, continues to seek out talented students globally who demonstrate a commitment to using the available resources around them to contribute towards a better world.

“We are especially proud that the students admitted from Malaysia remain primarily from government schools and, increasingly, from middle-income backgrounds outside the Klang Valley region,” said the club’s president, Wan Nadiah Wan Abdullah Yaakob.

Wan Nadiah said Siow was one of two Malaysian representatives at the Conference of Youth at COP 2023 held in Dubai, and has advocated climate justice in Malaysia by training about 100 girls through Girl Guide programmes.

She also coaches young Melakans in chess for free and volunteers at a refugee school in her neighbourhood.

Namira meanwhile has been actively involved in environmental conservation, which contributed to her selection for the US-sponsored Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Programme held in Illinois and Washington DC.

She then secured grants for two years in a row which were used to kickstart a turtle conservation project with secondary school students and the World Wildlife Fund. This was later expanded to students from a Chinese primary school.

Harvard University, the oldest institute of higher education in the US, is widely regarded as one of the top universities in the world and ranks fourth in the QS World University Rankings 2024.

Malaysia currently has fewer than 15 alumni from Harvard College.