The World Youth Foundation (WYF) organised a High-Tea event to honour top achievers in the 2025 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)(Malaysian Certificate of Education). A total of 174 top achievers were awarded certificates of excellence, cash gifts as well as a new lap-top bag each in recognition of their outstanding achievements at the 2025 SPM exams. 12 of those top achievers at their respective schools include straight A exemplar student, Ikhzzah Rahim bt Ibrahim, an orphan, who hails from Melaka (HTJ) but studied at Sekolah Tun Fatimah in Johor.
World Youth Foundation Chairman, Datuk Mohd Ridhwan bin Mohd Ali presented the certificates and the gifts to the top achievers who were accompanied by their respective parents or guardians. The event was held at the WYF Hall in Ayer Keroh, Melaka, on April 7. Recalling his days as a secondary school student in Melaka and Kuala Lumpur, he said that teachers played a special role in ensuring the students’ successful achievements apart from self-motivation within the students themselves.
“Besides my parents, who were also instrumental in guiding me through my years in school, my peers too were helpful in motivating and encouraging me and assisted each other to succeed while we were school students,” he revealed. “You have to choose the right type of friends who share similar positive vibes, respect your boundaries and inspire personal growth, and above all, those who will assist one another to succeed. Avoid the ones who influence you into doing bad things, lead you onto anti-social behavior and laze your time away doing nothing much to achieve anything purposeful in life”.
The teacher who was instrumental in guiding him at the Gurney Secondary School in Kuala Lumpur is now a headmaster at a school in Melaka. I owe my success today – as an electrical and electronics engineer – to their persistent encouragement and guidance. The journey to where I am today has been tough and challenging. There were ups and downs. But you have to remain resilient and not give up half way, he stressed. Being persistent, focused and dedicated to whatever you endeavor are ingredients to success. “Hard work pays. There is not substitute to hard work and short cut to success,” he stressed.
Datuk Mohd Ridhwan reminded students that their achievements today is not the end of their endeavour to seek success in life. It is the beginning of the journey to seek a rewarding career and then to pay back to society as and when you are already established as a career person in your respective workplace. “I believe those of you here would not find it a problem to seek admission at colleges and universities in and outside of the country. Scholarships usually await those who excel in their education. With excellent results, you can choose the career path in tandem with your interest and skills which you have developed when you were at school,” he said in his welcoming remarks to the attendees.
Do seek the advice and guidance of your parents, teachers, your counsellors and your siblings, especially those who have gone through the mill, so that you can make the right choice in life.
The World Youth Foundation is based in Ayer Keroh, Melaka (a UNESCO-proclaimed Heritage city state). WYF is an “NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and the United Nations Department of Public Information”. WYF is dedicated to youth development and empowerment in Malaysia, the ASEAN region as well as on a global basis.
“For the WYF, this is a milestone achievement as it is the first time that the Foundation took the initiative to organise a formal event of this nature to accord due recognition to the SPM 2025 high achievers,” added WYF Secretary General Adjunct Prof. Dato’ Norsabrina bt. Mohd Nor. The event is reflective of the Foundation’s care and concern for the education of youths in the country, she said.
“Education is the hallmark of youth development and empowerment. A strong SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) result is the pathway to their respective career and success in life. In this regard, WYF would like to celebrate the students’ success with their proud parents. We would like to cherish this meaningful moment. As the students carry on with their studies at higher levels, godwilling, they would embark on the journey and career path to success,” stressed Dato Norsabrina.
She urged the students who have received their respective awards and recognition to study hard and be useful citizens who, upon starting work and become wage earners, would be able to pay back to their respective communities for the betterment of society. “Through our Lead at School programmes organised by WYF, we would like to see more students participating and eventually become useful citizens to country and community. It is my earnest and sincere hope that more students will sign up as volunteers with the WYF where they are trained to become good role models and ambassadors of goodwill and caring communities in tandem with the government’s clarion call for a united and harmonious Madani society,” she concluded.
[Dato’ Norsabrina can be reached at ybdsabrina@gmail.com]
B.A.
Snapshots of the April 7th Event
