This year's Star Golden Hearts Award (SGHA) continues to pay tribute to Malaysians for their social contribution and good deeds but competition stiffens for judges to handpick the best among the 731 nominations.
Nine judges for the award said they have scored the nominees based on various areas including sustainability, originality and impact of their initiatives.
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Nine judges for the award said they have scored the nominees based on various areas including sustainability, originality and impact of their initiatives.
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Returning for the ninth year, the Star Golden Hearts Award
00:06 SGHA continues to pay tribute to Malaysians
00:10 for their social contribution and good deeds.
00:14 However, competition stiffens for the panel
00:17 of esteemed judges to handpick the best
00:20 among the 731 nominations.
00:24 The judges say they have scored the nominees
00:26 based on various areas, including sustainability,
00:30 originality, and impact of their initiatives.
00:34 Alliance for a Safe Community Chairman, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thai,
00:38 has been the chief judge for nine consecutive years.
00:42 I keep looking at their contributions.
00:44 I think each one of them, I think, has its own strength.
00:48 And I must say that it is very, very competitive indeed.
00:52 They have achieved whatever they're
00:54 able to do, bring immense benefit,
00:56 not to those who benefit from their project,
00:59 but to Malaysia as a whole.
01:01 And I would say that this is really
01:04 what I would call the people who should
01:07 be given due recognition.
01:09 And that's the reason why I feel very proud that I'm
01:14 able every night, every year, to do my part to identify them
01:19 and to really, I think, award them as the true unsung
01:24 heroes in Malaysia.
01:26 Star Media Group Chief Content Officer Esther Ng
01:29 says the nominees' quality of work
01:32 has improved over the years.
01:34 And the task to shortlist the 10 winners is not easy.
01:38 This is my fifth year of judging.
01:41 And as the years go by, I find that the nominees
01:46 are getting better, actually.
01:48 It's more difficult to choose the best among everybody
01:51 because everybody is so good.
01:53 This is something that the star is very proud of.
01:55 It's something that we are proud of to be part of
01:58 because we have always been very big on people's stories.
02:02 The nominees have proven to be very capable.
02:06 I'm most impressed by their willingness
02:09 to offer their services and to put other people's first.
02:13 There are a lot of do-gooders out there.
02:15 It's our job to recognize them and to give
02:17 some acknowledgement and encouragement to these people.
02:21 For Yayasan Gamuda Head TS Lim Hui Yan,
02:24 being a judge has been an eye-opener for her
02:27 to learn that creating an impact to either society, community
02:31 or the environment transcends monetary value.
02:34 I get inspired through all the stories.
02:36 And you know that you can actually do more
02:38 and kindless go beyond boundaries.
02:41 There's a lot of things that we can do.
02:43 It's not necessary in the form of money.
02:45 You do not need to donate a lot of money
02:46 to create a great impact to either society,
02:49 community or even environment.
02:51 There are a lot of ways, creative ways.
02:53 And you start thinking from all the nominations you see,
02:56 what else we as a corporate can do for the society?
03:00 We look at the most, or I personally look at the most,
03:02 is sustainability of that effort.
03:04 We need the unsung hero to find that magic recipe
03:07 that make it work and long-lasting
03:09 and create greater impact
03:10 and possibly ripple effect of kindness and change.
03:13 Meanwhile, Gamuda Berhardt, Group Chief,
03:15 Sustainability Officer, Ong Jie Lian,
03:18 says the impact of the initiatives is also important
03:22 in determining the winners.
03:24 It's basically the end beneficiaries and the impact.
03:28 Whether it really makes a difference to the person's life.
03:31 Very basic.
03:32 Do they get a job?
03:33 Do they get an appointment?
03:34 Do they get an education?
03:35 Because it's not so much about giving them the fish,
03:37 but teaching them how to fish.
03:39 So I think it's to see how sustainable
03:41 and for the organisation or for the individual,
03:43 whether they have a good blueprint, a roadmap,
03:46 to ensure that they have a proper plan
03:48 to push this through again.
03:50 Prominent social activist, Saik Azmi Ah Hap Shi,
03:54 says the nominees continue to inspire him
03:56 on how they contribute to other people's lives.
04:00 I always learn doing these things
04:01 and I think that they teach me so much more
04:04 and we cannot wait for the star and the awards
04:07 to share their visions
04:08 and what they can teach all of us after this.
04:11 He also provides some insights into the judging process.
04:14 So in the judging room,
04:16 everybody thinks that they will just be shrieking
04:18 and "hentak-hentak me je".
04:19 No, it doesn't happen that way.
04:20 We're very civilised.
04:21 But we pinpoint the things that we see based on the deck
04:25 and we bring out the best that we see from each nominee.
04:29 That is how it happens.
04:31 At the end of the day,
04:33 we wanted to see how it's not just one person
04:38 or one organisation can do,
04:39 but how others can also emulate and bring it up further.
04:43 And we do actually hope that one of them actually
04:45 manage to change policies in the government as well.
04:48 Child Protection Consultant
04:50 and former Social Welfare Department Assistant Director,
04:53 Wijaya Kumari Pilei,
04:55 says the impact and sustainability of the nominees' efforts
04:59 are pertinent for the judges to select this year's winners,
05:02 among other criteria.
05:04 Impactful for me is very important.
05:07 So maybe you impact on 100 lives or 200.
05:11 It's so important for that person because they will continue.
05:15 And there's always sustainability, which is very important.
05:18 There are many things that, which I'm a social worker,
05:21 which I, many years, thought I want to do this one,
05:25 but we never had funding, never no support.
05:27 I mean, there are people who get awards in other areas,
05:30 maybe from government, other agencies,
05:33 but these are really unsung heroes.
05:36 Nobody has celebrated them.
05:39 It's not about the amount of money they're getting.
05:41 To be recognised when they didn't expect it,
05:45 is really a good thing.
05:46 I think it just needs a bit more publicity.
05:50 Perak State Parks Corporation Director,
05:52 Shah Reza Husain,
05:54 is judging the SGHA for the first time.
05:57 The keen conservationist says
05:59 he had a wonderful time scoring the nominees,
06:02 as many had strong contributions.
06:05 The motivation for me to be the judge
06:08 is actually to showcase to Malaysians
06:11 what other Malaysians are doing
06:14 in terms of contributing to the nation and society.
06:19 And this is an opportunity that we reward them,
06:23 irregardless of the size of the reward.
06:24 It's something to acknowledge their work
06:27 and to reward them for their effort.
06:30 And hopefully this will be a catalyst
06:33 for other people to step forward
06:35 and showcase their work.
06:37 I'm sure there's so many other individuals
06:40 and organisations doing good work,
06:42 but having awards like this
06:45 will bring them out from the woodwork
06:47 and introduce themselves.
06:50 Another first-time judge
06:52 is Mohd Hafizul Khair Mohd Yusof,
06:55 who has vast experience in Malaysia's
06:57 social entrepreneurship scene.
07:00 He says SGHA stands out from other awards
07:04 as it genuinely aims to express appreciation
07:08 and recognises the altruistic dedication
07:11 by unsung heroes.
07:13 There are so many awards out there,
07:16 for many reasons.
07:17 But this award stands out not because of the money,
07:22 or not even because of the prizes,
07:25 but because it really appreciates the unsung heroes.
07:29 And it gives value to the work
07:32 that's being done by these people,
07:34 and gives the credits and credentials to them,
07:38 and to help them to pursue their social cause.
07:41 I like to see their pure intentions.
07:45 They don't do it for the money,
07:47 they don't do it for the fame,
07:49 they just want to help people.
07:51 SGHA is a joint effort by the star and Yayasan Gamuda
07:55 to celebrate Malaysians who make a positive impact
07:58 on society while promoting unity among the people.
08:02 This year's nominations are a good mix of individuals
08:06 and organisations championing various causes
08:10 such as community empowerment, education,
08:13 environment and wildlife, and social welfare.
08:17 The winners will be announced in November.
08:19 (upbeat music)
08:22 (upbeat music)
08:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]