Dutch Lady #DanaRM1JutaHarapan campaign awards 10-year-old Nur Afia Qistina Zamzuri with Skim Simpanan Pendidikan National (SSPN-i) education fund worth RM25,000 to pursue her dream job in sustainable fashion industry.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and for a young girl in the small town of Kuala Pilah in Negeri Sembilan, the beauty of the natural world was simply irresistible.
The daughter of an art teacher, Nur Afia Qistina grew up spending evenings in the garden with her beloved grandfather, mixing colours to create new shades of green so she could recreate the plants and trees using her own customised palette.
From thereon, determined to share her love of painting with everyone, this passionate 10-year-old made her mark by creating murals on school walls for her teachers and fellow students to enjoy. Naturally, she’s also a regular helper with art teachers, helping to prepare materials for classes, and volunteering to facilitate art classes within her own community.
With such drive, it’s no surprise that she has won several art competitions and earned numerous student awards including the Anugerah Ikon Murid, Tuanku Bainun Young Changemakers Award 2020 and the state-level Pertandingan Pingat Hang Tuah 2020 in recognition of her aptitude for art and positive attitude.
However, this young talent has even more to offer. It wasn’t long before she turned to sewing, creating pretty yet practical pillow and pencil cases, purses and pouches, which she would sell for pocket money and to buy more supplies.
However, she would also gift them to friends who needed them, and her compassionate nature compelled her to do her part in the COVID-19 fight by sewing personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical frontliners serving in the local clinics and hospitals.
Now, this young painter, seamstress and philanthropist can add another notch in her belt – as a recipient of a Skim Simpanan Pendidikan National (SSPN-i) education fund worth RM25,000.
Made possible by the recently-concluded Dutch Lady #DanaRM1JutaHarapan campaign, the allocation of RM1,000,000 will be disbursed to a total of 40 children, with Nur Afia Qistina being one of them.
“We at Dutch Lady believe in building strong foundations for children to grow and develop well. This is in line with our purpose of Nourishing Malaysians with quality dairy nutrition to help them move forward in life. We are thrilled to be able to support the education of 40 children via the #DanaRM1JutaHarapan campaign and 160 more who will be receiving smart devices to facilitate their on-going learning and development throughout this pandemic. We received entries from hundreds of promising young children from all over Malaysia and while it was hard to make the final selections, we hope that all the winners will continue to strive towards their dreams and know that Dutch Lady will always be here to support them nutritionally,” said Ramjeet Kaur Virik, Managing Director of Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad.
For promising young students like Nur Afia Qistina, who demonstrates talent and admirable qualities such as drive, ambition and civic pride, this education fund could make all the difference in her future, allowing her to pursue her dreams of becoming a fashion designer, with a focus on sustainable fashion.
With her win, Afia can now inspire other like-minded children to follow their big dreams, with a big heart.