WHEN 18-year-old Jen Ting stood among her peers at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre recently, her thoughts were miles away in Sitiawan, Perak.
The only child of an ageing hawker father and a homemaker mother, Jen watched her father work long hours at a food court stall despite losing vision in his left eye following an unsuccessful surgery.
When she learned she had been selected for the PETRONAS Powering Knowledge education sponsorship programme, her parents were overcome with emotion.
“It lifts a massive financial burden off my parents’ shoulders,” says Jen, who is currently undertaking foundation studies at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) before progressing to a degree in chemical engineering.
“When they found out, it felt as though every sacrifice they ever made for me was truly worth it.”
Fascinated by process optimisation and renewable energy, Jen’s technical ambitions are driven by a deep personal motivation.
“My mother always told me that your future depends on what you do today,” she says.
“My dream is to become a chemical engineer, contribute to our country’s energy transition and eventually enable my parents to retire comfortably.”
Unlocking future doors
Jen is one of more than 600 high-achieving Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2025 leavers selected from thousands of applicants nationwide under this year’s education sponsorship initiative. Supported by an investment of RM230mil this year, the flagship programme forms part of a cumulative RM4bil commitment that has empowered over 40,000 Malaysians since 1975.
Addressing the scholars, PETRONAS senior vice president and group chief human resources officer Ruslan Islahudin drew a deliberate line back to a metaphor he shared on the same stage a year prior. Previously, he asked scholars to picture themselves holding a key, one that unlocks doors for families, communities and the nation, yet remains useless if left unturned.
Returning to that analogy, he challenged the new cohort to look past the initial euphoria of an offer letter and recognise the journey ahead.
“Your degree will open the first door,” he told the hall. “What carries you through every door after that is your ability to adapt, to learn and to keep going.”
He noted that as PETRONAS reshapes itself into a leaner, faster organisation balancing core operations with its energy trasition strategy, the programme has expanded its academic pathways accordingly.
Alongside traditional pathways like chemical engineering, economics and law, this year’s sponsorship introduced specialised disciplines in architecture, civil engineering and real estate management to support talent requirements across the KLCC Group ecosystem, as well as marine, naval and maritime engineering to fortify the pipeline for PETRONAS’ maritime logistics subsidiary, MISC Group.
Scholars will pursue undergraduate degrees at local institutions like UTP and other leading universities across Malaysia, alongside top universities across the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, South Korea and Japan.
Emphasising that the true test of this opportunity will not be recorded on academic transcripts alone, Ruslan added: “Machines are only going to get faster. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is only going to get smarter. But trust stays human. Characters can’t be downloaded.
“The world you graduate into five years from now will not be the world we know today. Every generation that has faced great uncertainty has also had the opportunity to shape what comes next. Build more than a good transcript. Build sound judgement, resilience, curiosity and humility.”
Driven by grit and purpose
The human stories behind this year’s cohort showcase remarkable personal resilience.
For Batrisyia Syahindah Md. Rosli, 18, from Dungun, Terengganu, the sponsorship represents a turning point.
The third of four daughters of a security guard and a homemaker, Batrisyia’s road to higher education demanded intense discipline within a crowded boarding school dorm at SM Imtiaz Yayasan Terengganu Dungun.
Navigating her secondary studies meant making daily sacrifices. “Our boarding schedule was very packed,” she shares. “I often had to sacrifice sleep just to find quiet time to revise on my own.”
Now pursuing actuarial science at Heriot-Watt University Malaysia, she views her degree as a pathway to stability and purpose.
“My dream is to become a practising actuary, achieve financial independence to support my family and bring my parents to perform umrah, to thank them for their sacrifices.”
Overcoming physical hurdles
While Jen and Batrisyia navigated financial hurdles, others faced physical battles.
Yeshvikta Sithambaram, 18, from Kulim, Kedah, was raised alongside two siblings by a single mother in the technology sector.
From age 12, Yeshvikta lived with chronic, severe head pain that frequently required emergency hospital visits during her years at Akademi Sains Pendang.
Rather than surrendering to the condition, she channelled her determination into competitive sport as a former state badminton player while nurturing her passion for analytics.
“During our assessment, we were told that a baton was being passed to us to carry forward a legacy,” says Yeshvikta, now studying Mathematics, Statistics and Economics at Taylor’s College in preparation to pursue her studies in the United Kingdom or Canada.
“I want to give back to my mother for everything she sacrificed, while making the younger version of myself proud.”
Pioneering maritime frontiers
For Ahmed Asif Rozani Affendy, 18, from Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, this programme offers a way to step directly into PETRONAS’ expanded maritime portfolio while continuing a family legacy.
An alumnus of Maktab Rendah Sains Mara Kota Putra Ulul Albab, Ahmed Asif faced severe hardship when his father, a former marine engineer, suffered a stroke that left his mother as the family’s sole provider and primary caregiver.
“It was a constant worry about how I could help ease that financial strain,” Ahmed Asif shares. “When the email from PETRONAS arrived, it felt like my concerns were finally answered.”
Now pursuing A-Levels at INTEC Shah Alam before pursuing naval engineering in the United Kingdom, Ahmed Asif draws inspiration from Kelantan’s traditional boat-building heritage.
“My father was a marine engineer and this felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to continue his legacy,” he says.
“Growing up around the traditional craft and Kolek Diraja boats in Kelantan sparked my love for design. With Malaysia situated along the Straits of Malacca, my mission is to design ships right here – vessels truly made in Malaysia.”
Ahmed Asif also managed personal learning challenges in school, often standing at his desk to maintain focus. He grounds himself with a personal mantra, ‘Ork Smeta’ or to ‘hold on for a moment,’ and a quote from physicist Richard Feynman.
“Feynman said he wasn’t extraordinary, just an ordinary person who worked hard,” Ahmed Asif notes. “That reminds me that consistency matters most.”
During his selection process, he was equally moved by the company’s community ethos.
“I learned that PETRONAS maintains stations in remote rural areas simply because it’s their responsibility to serve those communities,” he says. “That showed me their impact is genuine.”
The journeys of Jen, Batrisyia, Yeshvikta and Asif are united by a common drive to honour their families and the passion to build a better future.
Rather than a simple academic recognition, the sponsorship represents a responsibility now entrusted to them.
The true measure of their success will be reflected in how they use their knowledge, skills and opportunities to uplift their communities and shape the nation’s path forward.
For more information, visit https://www.petronas.com/social-impact-management/ powering-knowledge
