HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad held the third and final round of the HSBC Young IT Entrepreneur Awards 2003 in Kuala Lumpur recently, which saw five finalist teams vying for the Gold Award. HSBC Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Zarir J. Cama later handed over the prizes at a dinner to mark the culmination of the Awards.

Above: Gold Award winners, Team Epsilon of MMU.

The competition focused on the development of entrepreneurial skills and aimed at encouraging the teams to generate IT-driven and innovative business ideas. Cama commented: ‘To compete in an increasingly IT dominant world, the Malaysian youth must be equipped with the necessary skills and mindset. This competition provides the participants with insights to the workings of the business environment and how successful entrepreneurs stay ahead of their competitors.’

Above: Silver Award winners, Team Just Startup from MMU & UPM.

The competition was divided into three rounds that were designed to ensure that the participants gained invaluable learning and self-development experiences as well as networking opportunities. Round 1 involved the idea generation process and Round 2 involved the implementation of the business idea. Participants were also given the opportunity to enrich and enhance their knowledge through workshops on business plan writing and presentation skills. Finally, the third and final round was where the finalist teams ‘sold’ their business ideas via a dynamic business plan presentation. 

Above: The Bronze Award winners, Team PartTime.com from MMU.

According to Cama, the whole process was intended to prepare the participants not only for the final round, but more importantly, for them to compete in the real business world.

The Gold Award went to the all-girl Team Epsilon of the Multimedia University (MMU) which comprised Edah Chong, Eileen Tey and Soh Lin Che. They received a trophy each, RM15,000 cash and a six-day educational tour to Seattle, the USA. Their business plan, titled the ‘Kara Channel’, sought to provide a 24-hour karaoke satellite broadcasting channel as an alternative to the current home and karaoke lounges.

Above: Winners of the Judges's Award, Team Palmaris of UM and Team La Demande of MMU.

Team Just Startup whose members are from the MMU and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) walked away with the Silver Award and RM10,000 cash. The Bronze Award winners, Team PartTime.com, also of the MMU, received RM5,000 cash. The other two teams, Palmaris of Universiti Malaya (UM) and La Demande of MMU received the Judges’ Awards and RM 3,000 cash each.

The 2003 Awards was the second organised by HSBC Malaysia after the successful culmination of the inaugural Awards in 2002. A total of 330 submissions were received for the Awards, which was open to Malaysian students pursuing diploma and degree courses at local higher institutions of learning. It was an increase of more than 200 per cent from 100 entries received in the 2002 Awards.

Source: Engineering Courses NOW! Issue 3, Page 62.