Launched last year, the award aims to recognise young, talented interior design and architecture students in Malaysia.

The aim of the award was to unearth the exceptional talents in the country. the company’s managing director, Yaw Seng Heng, said at the launch of the awards,

“There is an abundance of talent and great potential in the local interior design and architecture arena.

“There is so much promise among the student fraternity, and we are only too happy to do our part to help nurture them,” he said.

He added that they wanted to inspire students to be more creative and motivate them to a higher degree of professionalism through the award.

“We were encouraged by the number and quality of submissions that we received last year. So for 2009, we decided to raise the bar slightly,” said Yaw.

The theme for this year’s award is “Leading Design With Colour Trends.”

The competition, which comprised two categories — interior and architecture — would evaluate students’ skills in integrating the recently announced Nippon Paint 2009/2010 Colour Trends into their design entry.

Based on the given theme and concept, entrants will be judged on colour innovation, colour coordination, originality of design, aesthetics, environmental friendliness, space planning, compliance to submission requirements and design brief .

The Gold winners of award from the two categories (interior and architecture) will each receive a trophy, RM3,000 scholarship and an Apple Desktop.

The Silver winners from each category will each receive a RM2,000 scholarship each, and the two honorary mentions will each receive RM1,000 in scholarship each.

The top four winners of the award will also receive employment with an Interior Design/Architect firm.

In addition to the Malaysian Society of Interior Designers (MSID), the award also has the support of Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM).

“We are excited about the award. Last year’s entries were very impressive and of high quality.

“So this year we are looking forward to even higher standards,” Yaw said.

The inaugural award (in 2008) received an encouraging response with a total of almost 90 entries submitted for interior and exterior categories.

The award is open to students enrolled in schools of interior design (ID) or architecture in Malaysia, in the final year of their diploma or at least in the third year of their degree programme.

All complete entries must reach the organisers by Sept 30.

Information on the Nippon Paint Young Designer Award 2009 is available at www.nipponpaint.com.my or www.ts-exim.com

Winners will have an internship at Deloitte, and receive a few thousand ringgit in cash prizes.

Universities of winning teams will also receive cash prizes.

Registration will close on July 21 for the team category and July 27 for the individual category.

For details, log on to
www.deloittechallenge.com.

All you have to do is participate in a competition called the HELP Psychology Challenge, which is open to upper secondary students. There are three parts to the competition, and details can be found at
www.help.edu.my.

Deadline for the first round is on July 18. For more details, call Grace Ng at 03-27112000.

A group of people fired by their enthusiasm for community service — namely Charis Loke, Gabrielle Chong Yong Wei, Goh Jing Pei, Kimberley Ho Mei Kay, Tara Thean and Yeoh Chen Chow — plan to compile and publish these stories in a book .

They hope to eventually distribute it to as as many secondary schools as possible.

The stories do not need to be about scholars with stellar results and thick resumes.

They could be of students who go to a local university after finishing Form Six, or youths who have to work in the pasar malam to foot their college fees.

The group believes that every educational background offers its own boons and banes and that there are merits in telling any story.

Partcipants must be Malaysians and below the age of 30 as of 2009.

Send your entries to
whatsafterspm@gmail.com.

And best of all, you can win a trip for two to Dublin, Ireland, to attend the gala ceremony of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2009.

All you need to do is write 800 to 1,200 words of fact or fiction on the topic, The Best Things in Life.

Apart from the grand prize, there are nine merit awards, 10 consolation prizes and a special prize for the winner’s school up for grabs.

The contest is organised by the Irish Embassy, IMPAC, The Star and the National Library of Malaysia, with support from the Education Ministry.

The sponsors are the Irish Universities and Medical Schools Consortium, the St Patrick’s Society of Selangor, Exchange Trade Centre International and the Malaysian Irish Alumni Association.

Entries must be submitted by March 31.

For enquiries, call 03-2095 9513, or e-mail:
write4idla@gmail.com.

Every year, the Commonwealth Essay Competition inspires thousands of young writers from all over the world. Organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Competition has been running for over 100 years and is firmly established as a highly regarded and popular international education project. With young people writing from all Commonwealth countries and territories, the Competition enjoys much esteem and support throughout the Commonwealth. 

The aims of the Competition are: 

• to provide a unique opportunity for schools throughout the Commonwealth to take part in a global education project 
• to raise awareness of the ethical and humanitarian values which lie at the heart of the Commonwealth’s ethos 
• to highlight important local and global issues and encourage their discussion 
• to promote the use of English as a leading world language in a fun and attractive way 
• to enable young people to compete on equal terms with their peers from around the world, whatever their social or scholastic background  
• to encourage young people to aspire to high standards of academic scholarship and creative writing 
• to stimulate young people into good utilisation of modern information technology and communication skills

The Competition is organised in four age bands, which are called Classes. They are: 

• Class A – 16-18 years 
• Class B – 14-15 years 
• Class C – 12-13 years 
• Class D – under 12 years 

 For details, visit www.rcsint.org/essay.The Competition deadline is 1st March 2009

The Champions will receive RM15,000 and the CIMB Wupid challenge trophy, while second to fourth placed teams will receive cash prizes of RM10000, RM7000 and RM3000 respectively.

Prelimenery Rounds, quarterfinals and semi finals

Final

Entrance for spectators is free.

Quoting from their Facebook page
“Must attend if you want to join P&G Business Challenge!

P&G Business Challenge Launch-Test-Interview Event on June 23 (11am to 4pm):
1. Launch P&G Business Challenge 2008 to students
2. Short talk on “Why join P&G and the consumer goods industry?”
3. For interested students to sit for the Problem Solving Test (PST)
3. Screening Interviews to be selected for the Business Challenge 2008 – only those who passed PST and online test.

There will be free food, learn about P&G as the world’s largest consumer goods company and as a prospective employer.

Every year, the Commonwealth Essay Competition inspires thousands of young writers from all over the world. Organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Competition has been running for over 100 years and is firmly established as a highly regarded and popular international education project. With young people writing from all Commonwealth countries and territories, the Competition enjoys much esteem and support throughout the Commonwealth.

The aims of the Competition are:

* to provide a unique opportunity for schools throughout the Commonwealth to take part in a global education project

* to raise awareness of the ethical and humanitarian values which lie at the heart of the Commonwealth’s ethos

* to highlight important local and global issues and encourage their discussion

* to promote the use of English as a leading world language in a fun and attractive way

* to enable young people to compete on equal terms with their peers from around the world, whatever their social or scholastic background

* to encourage young people to aspire to high standards of academic scholarship and creative writing

* to stimulate young people into good utilisation of modern information technology and communication skills

The Competition is organised in four age bands, which are called Classes. They are:

* Class A – 16-18 years

* Class B – 14-15 years

* Class C – 12-13 years

* Class D – under 12 years

THE DEADLINE FOR ESSAYS TO REACH THE ROYAL COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY IS 1 MARCH 2008

For details visit HERE