James Kon
“To progress oneself, we must have the hunger to learn new things. Not only will education benefit personal development and advance your careers, but our society and community also bears the fruits of a highly educated population. Studies have shown that societies with higher levels of education tend to be healthier, have higher rates of economic stability and greater equality,” said imagine Sdn Bhd Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Suzannawati binti Haji Suharju.
She said this during the closing ceremony of the ‘Seeds for the Future 2022’ virtual programme at Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah Institute of Health Sciences (PAPRSB IHS) Extension building open concourse yesterday.
“Learning can only be done if we expose ourselves to different environments, different cultures and experiences. This is the beauty of Huawei’s Seeds for the Future programme. Young people from different countries get to share ideas and thoughts that would ultimately broaden their horizons. There are also employment opportunities outside of the Sultanate,” she added.
She advised students who have this opportunity to “grab it and not to underestimate the learning and exposure that it provides”.
“Not only learning technical skills pertaining to information and communications technology (ICT) industry but also in leadership and soft skills. There are some things that cannot be taught in a classroom and that is life experiences.
“While it may be quite daunting, to leave home, leave the country, do know this, what may seem at the onset a struggle or challenge, if you persevere, keep your eye on the ball, focus on the bigger picture such as the experience, exposure to different working environments, sharing ideas with people from different cultures, you will ultimately grow as a person,” she said.
Fifty-five students from higher education institutions also received certificates for completing the eight-day programme.
Guest of honour, Acting Permanent Secretary (Higher Education) at the Ministry of Education (MoE) Dr Chin Wei Keh with Huawei Technologies in Brunei CEO Kevin Zhang Jianwei presented certificates.
Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) council members, UBD assistant vice-chancellor, and officials were also in attendance.
‘Seeds for the Future’ is Huawei’s flagship global corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme launched in 2008. The programme aimed at developing ICT talent and bridge communication between countries and cultures. By sharing ICT expertise and experiences in the global business environment, young people from different countries can learn about advanced technologies in the digital transformation age.
During the programme, the participants were exposed to Huawei’s cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), building and configuring their own stations as well as cutting edge solutions.
The programme was delivered through technology workshops and networking events at Huawei Headquarter in Shenzhen, China.
Thirty Bruneian students, sponsored by Huawei, have participated in person in Shenzen and Beijing between 2015 and 2019 and a further 132 have participated virtually between 2020 to 2022.
Kevin Zhang Jianwei in his welcoming remarks said, “During the eight-day programme, you were assigned a mentor to work on a project with your team members, given a virtual tour on the Huawei Galileo Exhibition Hall, exchange views about technology with experts, learnt different technologies offered by the programme and compete with students from other countries to pitch your project. I am hopeful to see you build your networks with students in Brunei and also with others around the world and do make full use of the e-learning platform provided by Huawei to learn and exchange ideas.”
He said, “I am proud to say that one of our Brunei teams, Team Honor, won this round of Tech4Good competition with their ‘Our Langkah’ project.’ Brunei believes in you and we look forward to see what you can show us as the future to our ICT industry in the Sultanate,”
he added.
