Scholarship me timbers!

Sarawak Timber Association (STA), through its subsidiary STA Mutual Sdn Bhd (STAM) has signed an agreement to provide financial assistance in education through cooperations with Institut Latihan Perindustrian Kota Samarahan (ILPKS) and Institut Kemahiran Mara (IKM).For the first time, the association will provide financial assistance to students who are studying in technical institutions in Sarawak to encourage more skilled labor.STA, in collaboration with ILPKS, will provide assistance to students from nine institutions involved, to attend professional certificate courses ranging from emergency preparedness, action plans, incident reports, and analytical techniques for oil and gas safety.STA will contribute to a fee of up to RM2,500 for each student for the duration of their studies.STA chairman Datuk Wong Kie Yik said the association hope that these courses will add value to the students' career.The association will provide financial assistance of up to RM1,800 each to six outstanding students in IKM undergoing a course certificate programme in electrical, automotive, marine and engineering welding.STA has also rewarded 452 SPM students and 169 STPM students who achieved excellent results last year. The SPM graduates received RM550 each while the STPM students received RM650 each. There will be another upcoming round for cash awards this year.STA scholarships were awarded to four applicants pursuing Bachelor of Forestry and Wood Industry Trading at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Sarawak and Swinburne University of Technology Curtin University of Technology Sarawak.Since 2005, 19 STA Scholarship recipients have graduated from the universities above.Through STA, Daiken Corp Bhd has also been rewarding university scholarships to three students.This cooperation with institutions of higher learning saw the association allocating RM400,000 to Unimas for a research project to produce high quality planting materials for forest plantations. STA also provided RM582,420 for Swinburne University in their bio-fertilizer research projects."STAM has also allocated RM126,000 to help rural schools in the area of ??timber concessions who are in need. In addition, additional assistance is provided for the repair and maintenance of furniture and major facilities in some rural schools nominated by member companies."A total of RM360,000 has been allocated for these projects."The Association hopes to be able to create an environment and better facilities for students in selected rural schools," Wong said in a speech read by STA treasurer, Philip Choo Kwong Hui.