Champion Team of Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge Takes Home USD40,000 Cash

-- After 168 hours of exceptional grit and tenacity in the 7-day International Grand Finals, <Team Star Wars> is crowned Champions of MGAC 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Team Star Wars comprising of finalists from Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh and the Philippines won the USD40,000 Grand Prize of the Maybank GO Ahead Challenge (MGAC) 2014 held recently. Meanwhile, Richard Agabus Ocampo from Adamson University, Philippines took the Ultimate GO Ahead. Challenger 2014 crown, winning a cash prize of USD1,000, plus an all-expenses-paid trip to New York and an exciting two week internship opportunity at the Maybank New York office. This year, the added reward for both the Champion Team and the Ultimate GO Ahead. Challenger is an exclusive participation in Maybank's Global Leadership Development Programme at Shanghai, PRC, with the Bank's most influential top 50 leaders, to exchange ideas, engage in intellectual discourse and share their thoughts.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140902/141795

Maybank Chairman, Tan Sri Dato' Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor, Group President & CEO, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias and Nora Abd Manaf, Group Chief Human Capital Officer presented the prizes to winners at a Gala Dinner marking the end of this year's challenge. Also present at the prize presentation were Maybank's Group EXCO, Johan Mahmood Merican, Chief Executive Officer of Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad and Loh Wei Yuen, Head of ICAEW Malaysia as well as University representatives from the region and student leaders.

Team Dark Knight comprising members from Malaysia, Indonesia, China and the United Kingdom won the first runner-up award of USD20,000 while Team Avengers with members from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines won the second runner up place winning USD10,000.

Speaking at the event, Tan Sri Dato' Megat Zaharuddin said, "We take pride as the first financial institution in Malaysia and among the few regional organisations in these countries to promote a business case challenge specifically for university students to draw bright talents in the region to contribute to the dynamic growth of our organisation and Asia. The Challenge is investing in our future today with these bright talents by giving them first-hand experience of the business we are in and spotting the right talents to lead the future growth of the Group."

Datuk Farid added on by saying, "With this challenge, we are also contributing to the national and ASEAN objective of bringing people together. We have created a platform to promote cross-border exposure and fertilization of ideas amongst young and aspiring talents. This also strongly supports the ability of Asia to respond to global expectations from each country's perspectives. The finalists are of excellent calibre and talent. This challenge will give them the platform to be visible beyond their network of friends, family and varsity. Through the Challenge, they have already caught the eyes of people in the region as well as their respective countries."

Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2014, an exciting international business case competition, offers the brightest young minds from Malaysia, ASEAN and across the globe the opportunity to exhibit their potential in a multi-discipline and multi-national initiative with world-class experience, specially designed and organised by a truly regional financial services provider, Maybank.

The challenge in its 3rd season is more complex as finalists were greatly tested on their resilience and endurance to discover their true hidden potential. The tag line "expect the unexpected" also saw the finalists demonstrate their ability to adapt as an individual and as a team that comprises different cultures and dynamics.

Nora highlighted, "This is the first student competition in the region we know of that tests participants in multiple disciplines, unlike others which focus on areas like marketing, or stock-broking, or finance. The Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge combines multi-disciplines reflecting how we do business, bringing the whole Bank to the customer."

"The ultimate pride of the Challenge is that 85% of the graduated finalists from previous MGACs have joined us, demonstrating Maybank's attractiveness as the employer of choice amongst top graduates from across the globe. Currently, we have finalists from Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Thailand in our GMAP," added Nora.

One of the primary value propositions of the Challenge is the emphasis on diversity and inclusion that is strongly aligned to Maybank's philosophy. Maybank has attracted participants from Kyrgyzstan to India, from Pakistan to Mongolia, from Tanzania to Bangladesh. The participants also hail from the entire ASEAN community, mainland China and Hong Kong. This year, they have drawn interests and received applications from Algeria, Russia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Maldives and Italy, which reflects the geographical reach and appeal of the Challenge in the international arena.

This Challenge is fully home grown, being designed and conceptualised in its entirety by Maybank. The Challenge is fully developed in-house by the Global Maybank Apprentices for future Global Maybank Apprentices. The judges/assessors too are drawn from the Group's operations, including the Group PCEO and Group EXCO members as well other seasoned bankers from across the Group.

This year, the introduction of the Campus Level stage across 13 campuses in the region, a new feature in the 2014 edition of the Challenge, introduced greater excitement. The participants were challenged further in the national levels held across 11 countries in ASEAN countries as well as Hong Kong, mainland China, United States and United Kingdom before converging at the Grand Finals in August 2014.

The finalists were split into 10 teams of 6 Challengers, with each team assigned a series of challenges in multiple disciplines, encompassing fields of finance, stock broking, sales and even culinary and music. The dynamic Competition tested the participants intellectually, physically, and psychologically.

A unique differentiator of the Challenge is the Corporate Responsibility element which is weaved into one of the activities where the finalists engaged in a CR initiative to experience Maybank's humanising mission which includes being at the heart of the community by building homes for the indigenous Orang Asli at Ulu Yam Selangor. They also prepared, packed and distributed food to the city's homeless in the evening.

On the impact of the Challenge, the finalists agreed that their attraction to the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge was beyond the prize purse. Their ultimate goal was to test their own abilities and gain new insights into what they are made of that will fit into Maybank's search for its future leaders. The challenge has touched and changed their lives making them feeling stronger to overcome future challenges with confidence.

"I had a more authentic expression of myself because the Challenge made us feel we were one even though we are from different backgrounds, nationalities and cultures. This speaks volumes to me about Maybank's culture and advocacy that finance is just but a tool for the people," said Richard Agabus Ocampo.

"Our winning edge was team spirit, something that I learnt is strong in Maybank to achieve success. MGAC has taught me to be fearless to push me out of my comfort zone and embrace every challenge without fear," said Sim Wei Mun, a member of the Champion team reading Business & Finance studies in KDU University College.

About the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge (MGAC)

The Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge is a multi-disciplinary business talent competition open to recent graduates and final-year university students. The Challenge is part of Maybank's aspiration to create a talent pool of world-class future business leaders and competent financial experts for the region.

Since its inauguration in 2012, the Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge has increased substantially in scale, with the rate of applications doubling in each subsequent year. This year, more than 10,000 applications were received.

The Maybank GO Ahead. Challenge 2014 was open to recent graduates and final-year students in 14 countries worldwide in which Maybank has a substantial presence. This is an increase from 10 countries in 2013, with the addition of Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, and the USA.

At stake is a total prize fund of $72,000 USD, and the chance to join the prestigious Global Maybank Apprentice Programme.

About the Global Maybank Apprentice Programme (GMAP)

The Global Maybank Apprentice Programme is an award-winning, exclusive bespoke two-year mentorship and development scheme designed to nurture and train the organisation's future leaders.

The Global Maybank Apprentice Programme is tailored to an individual's strengths and talents and includes:

• A holistic learning experience with customized on-the-job rotations.
• Enhancing leadership skills among others, via involvement in group-wide special projects.
• International Assignments to immerse Global Maybank Apprentices in global network operations.
• Experiential learning through Corporate Responsibility initiatives, project management and presentation to top management.
• Face-to-face development interventions where a dedicated coach and mentor is assigned to guide Global Maybank Apprentices throughout their journey.
• The Global Maybank Apprentice Programme has been awarded GOLD in the Graduate Development Category of the Regional HR Excellence Award 2014.