Sharbini presents a scholarship to a recipient. — Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Berhad will increase its annual educational allocation from the current RM5 million to RM8 million next year.
Group chief executive officer Sharbini Suhaili said the corporation is committed to developing strategic initiatives that help drive capability development in Sarawak.
“We aim to ease the path to higher education for bright young students from throughout Sarawak. In fact, we believe in this so much that we have increased our allocation to RM8 million next year from our current annual allocation of RM5 million,” he said before presenting 2017 scholarships to 99 recipients yesterday.
Of the total recipients, 85 are undergraduates furthering studies at various tertiary institutions nationwide, while the remaining 14 are employees.
Sharbini said the scholarships for deserving students are to enable them to contribute to the state’s development as “a social investment in education is a guaranteed investment in Sarawak’s future”.
“Internally, the scholarship is open for staff to enhance capabilities and further their education on a part-time basis. This is in line with Sarawak Energy’s key focus area – talent management excellence.”
A total of 49 employees have been offered scholarships since 2014, while 314 students have benefitted from the programme.
Sharbini said Sarawak Energy aimed to be the first to attract talented young Sarawakians through its scholarships, internship and campus ambassador programmes.
He said 70 per cent of the corporation’s scholarships were allocated to attract talent and support Sarawak Energy’s recruitment process.
“The remaining 30 per cent of our scholarships are to support our corporate social responsibility efforts for the community and employee value proposition initiatives for children of our staff,” he added.
He said the state-owned entity and energy development company serves 650,000 customers and a population of 2.6 million across Sarawak.
In the last decade, Sarawak Energy has grown in line with the greater responsibilities given its role as a catalyst and energy provider for the implementation of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE).
“Over that course of time, our staff strength has increased by a few fold. Today, we have a diverse and multi-disciplinary workforce of 5,000 people. We are one of the largest companies in Sarawak.
“To realise our ambition of becoming a regional powerhouse and employer of choice, we need to attract the best talent and develop our workforce into a high performance Sarawak Energy team, who can work together to compete with among the best utility companies in the region,” added Sharbini.