His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam (L) presents the Youth Leader Award for Distinguished Service to Mohd Zefri Ariff Mohd Zain Ariff during the 9th National Youth Day in Berakas. BT/Md Asdeny Yakub
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam (L) presents the Youth Service Award to Mohamad Anwar Mohammad during the 9th National Youth Day 2014 in Berakas. BT/Md Asdeny Yakub
AMANDA YAP AND NADZRI ZAILANI
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Thursday, September 4, 2014
THREE individuals and a youth association were honoured with the annual youth awards during the Ninth National Youth Day celebrations yesterday.
This year’s awards included the “Youth Leader Award for Distinguished Service”, “Youth Service Award”, “Excellent Youth Award” and the “Youth Association Award”.
The “Youth Leader Award for Distinguished Service” was bagged by Mohd Zefri Ariff Mohd Zain Ariff.
The award is annually given to a candidate, contributing significantly to youth progress, and development. It is also awarded in recognition of efforts in shaping Bruneian youth to become competent, visionary and ethical.
According to his award citation, Md Zefri is actively involved in youth movements and has held senior positions with various associations in the country since 1996, including the post of Secretary-General of the Brunei Youth Council and group head of the Putra Seni Group (KPS).
He has also held positions outside the country, such as the Vice-President of the Asian Youth Council, and Treasurer of the Committee for ASEAN Youth Cooperation (CAYC).
Md Zefri’s involvement in youth movements focuses mainly on arts, particularly in the field of theatre and drama, including writing scripts which see the participation of many youth.
This year’s “Youth Service Award” went to Anwar Mohammad, founder and chairman of the Society for Community Outreach and Training (SCOT), a non-government organisation.
SCOT was first established in 2011, and while relatively new, the association has actively progressed through Anwar’s leadership, who has shown persistence, responsibility and commitment in promoting youth efforts in the country up to the international level. Based on his award citation, Anwar is also actively involved in the operation of community-based programmes which intend to create environmental awareness, and excels academically, having received numerous awards while studying at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD).
Speaking to The Brunei Times, the SCOT Chairman thanked the government of His Majesty for recognising the organisation’s contributions throughout these years.
“InsyaAllah, we will continue to contribute towards the nation-building, especially towards youth, through our projects at SCOT.
“Through our projects, we will help the underprivileged – any vulnerable groups within t
he community – so they can get out of the cycle of poverty,” Anwar said.The “Excellent Youth Award” went to national athlete Lee Ying Shi, well-known for being part of the wushu team, which brought home the country’s first gold medal for wushu at the 27th Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar last year.
This award is given to an active youth, contributing outstanding service as well as bringing honour to the country. It also recognises those who excel and put in hard work with determination.
Lee said that receiving the award was not a surprise to her. She said that she was a bit nervous and felt honoured while receiving the award from His Majesty, and intends to keep contributing to the country via wushu.
All the three recipients of the awards received plaques, certificates, woven fabric (kain tenunan) and $3,000 in cash.
Meanwhile, the “Youth Association Award” was given to the Putra Seni Group (KPS). KPS additionally received a plaque, a certificate and $5,000 in cash.
The association actively collaborates with government agencies in organising activities.
The Brunei Times
Source: Brunei Times
Author: Amanda Yap and Nadzri Zailani
Published Date: Thursday, September 15th, 2014