Two social enterprises bag Gamuda Inspiration Award

PETALING JAYA: With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing the people to embrace the new normal, Star Golden Hearts Award (SGHA) 2020 is also seeing a departure from the norm. Following the enforcement of the conditional movement control order, there will be no official ceremony to give away the awards to the top 10 winners.

This year will also see not one but two out of the pool of 10 winners chosen to receive the coveted Gamuda Inspiration Award (GIA), which comes with an additional RM50,000 in the form of a grant.

GIA is a special accolade in recognition of the winners’ sustained and unwavering commitment in community-building efforts.

Two social enterprises – PWD Smart FarmAbility and Seven Tea One – bagged the award and RM50,000 each as a contribution to further their causes.

Yayasan Gamuda head Ts. Sharifah Alauyah Wan Othman said the Covid-19 pandemic was not a hindrance to do-gooders who continued to find ways to create a positive impact in the community.

“In the wake of the pandemic, we are seeing a fusion of minds and hearts that is setting new norms. We are seeing innovative minds breaking down cultural assumptions, archaic business models and regulatory barriers.”

Sharifah Alauyah said the GIA was reflective of Yayasan Gamuda’s goal in empowering community-building efforts that sustainably and continuously leave a positive impact on the lives of others through socio-economic development.

“With the increasing number of communities affected by socio-economic crises, social innovators and entrepreneurs have been responding and collaborating in different ways to build and innovate more sustainable approaches to drive collective movements in improving the lives of others.

“As we highlight heroes in the community through SGHA and GIA, we hope it will encourage more unimagined and sustained solutions that would ensure continuous progress in the communities,” she said.

The selection of the GIA winners, she added, was led by a panel of assessors from Gamuda.

“They are guided by four judging pillars – authenticity of social causes, sustainable use of innovative-driven solutions, societal impact and scalability of future collaborations,” she said.

Sharifah Alauyah further noted that the number of nominations received for SGHA increased every year, reflecting a growing humanitarian ecosystem in Malaysia.

She said the nominations cut across a range of social causes, including education, environment, employment, digital literacy and community welfare.

“The growing number of SGHA nominations is a true reflection that the award not only supports the recognition of communal responsibility but it also allows Yayasan Gamuda to mobilise our collective resources and support the nominees’ projects and strengthen the sustainability of their efforts,” she said.