IN line with its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative to raise standards of education in Malaysian schools, especially in the proficiency of English, the Sunway Group is calling all secondary school students to submit essays on smoking issues.
This is the inaugural Sunway-Oxbridge Essay Competition jointly organised by Sunway Group, The Oxford & Cambridge Society Malaysia, Jeffrey Cheah Foundation, Sunway University and Monash University Malaysia.
This competition is also endorsed by the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
The Sunway-Oxbridge Essay Competition is open to all students using the Malaysian education syllabus.
There are two categories to the competition -- Category A for students from Form 1 to Form 3 (aged 13 to 15) and Category B for students in Form 4 and Form 5 (aged 16 to 17 years old).
Under Category A, participants are required to write a 350-word or less essay on the importance of staying away from cigarettes; while participants in Category B are required to write 650 words or less on why they believe a smoke-free environment is good for everyone.
Sunway Education Group and Sunway University senior executive director Elizabeth Lee said it would be interesting to tap into the minds of young Malaysians on their views towards smoking and how they could influence their peers in their argument about cigarette smoking and its impact.
"Sunway advocates a smoke-free environment in its Sunway-owned buildings in Bandar Sunway and the township aims to be smoke-free by 2018.
"This year, Sunway Group will start to progressively roll out a comprehensive smoking cessation plan and smoke-free policy to educate its employees of the benefits of a smoke-free environment," said Lee on the theme of the essay competition.
She added that with this year's theme, participants will be exposed to current issues and made more aware of health concerns which are often overlooked by teenagers.
As education is one of Sunway's CSR key pillars to assure a brighter and healthier future for the communities, this competition is also in line with the beliefs of the Sunway Group founder and chairman Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah that a good education enhances creative thinking which ultimately improves society and the nation.
Deputy Education Minister Kamalanathan Panchanathan commended Sunway's effort to encourage English proficiency among school students through the essay-writing competition as English is the language of knowledge.
This competition is in partnership with Oh My English!, a popular television series on Astro TV IQ.
Participants are required to submit their essays online via www.sunway.edu.my/essay.
The top 100 finalists will be required to participate in a sit-down essay writing competition which will be held on Sept 6 nationwide at locations, which may include Penang, Selangor, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak.
Prizes totalling RM28,000 in cash and RM190,000 in Sunway bursaries are up for grabs.
The first prize winner of both categories stand a chance to win RM5,000 and a Sunway bursary worth RM20,000 each.
The second prize winner of both categories will each take home RM3,000 and a Sunway bursary valued at RM15,000.
The third prize winner of both categories will each take home RM1,000 and a RM10,000 Sunway bursary.
Each category will have 10 consolation prizes, comprising a cash prize of RM500 and Sunway bursary of RM5,000.
All winners will also receive certificates and the winners of the top three prizes will receive a trophy.
To encourage participation in the competition, Sunway will recognise the school with the most submissions with a special prize.
As an additional incentive, Sunway Pals will award 10,000 Sunway Pals points to either one of the parents or the legal guardian of the winners.
Launched in February this year, Sunway Pals is a loyalty programme that offers rebates and savings from various Sunway businesses including Sunway Hotels and Sunway Medical Centre.
Last day for submission of entries is Aug 8. For more information, visit www.sunway.edu.my/essay.