BUKIT MERTAJAM – Community colleges are paving the way for more people to join the field of entrepreneurship in addition to producing graduates who can fill gaps in the job market by offering programmes that meet the demands of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era.
Twenty-two-year-old Mohamad Adib Syaz Wan Mohamad lseroki, the recipient of the Entrepreneurship Award at the 2022 Penang Community College convocation, feels that he made the right decision to register for the Certificate in Pastry course at the Tasek Gelugor Community College in 2018 after sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination to explore his interests and hone his talent in the field of pastry.
He had cultivated an interest in this field since high school and, thanks to the support of his family and determination to succeed, he is now actively managing his own cafe, Adibs Kitchen, which has been operating for almost two years with a total income of RM2,000 to RM4,000 per month.
“Currently, I am running my business in front of my house in Baling, Kedah and, in the near future, I plan to add another branch,” he told reporters at the convocation today.
He said his parent’s encouragement and support were the reasons for his success, adding that his father, who died in 2019, had boosted his spirit by gifting him an oven when he succeeded in gaining entrance to the Tasek Gelugor Community College.
Forty-year-old Mohd Fazli Sahak, the recipient of the Director-General’s Award, has described the challenges he faced to obtain a culinary certificate at the Nibong Tebal Community College as being worthwhile after winning the award.
“I live in Taiping, Perak, where I work as an administrative assistant at the Taiping Prison. All this time, I have been commuting by motorbike as early as 6 am in addition to having to divide my time between work and family.
“The hard work has been worth it because I am interested in the culinary field. While studying, I tried my luck in business by selling ‘Peria Crispy’ and now I am in the process of opening my own cafe in Taiping with my wife,” he said.
Penang has a total of six community colleges, namely in Tasek Gelugor, Nibong Tebal, Seberang Jaya, Kepala Batas, Bukit Mertajam and Bayan Baru.
Meanwhile, Polytechnic and Community College Education Department director-general Zainab Ahmad said in her speech that community colleges in Penang had shown an encouraging performance when they successfully produced 60 entrepreneurs among their graduates from 2020 till now.
She added that graduates of community colleges nationwide had a high marketability rate of 94.8 per cent for 2021 while the marketability rate of Penang community college graduates was 97.11 per cent.
“This proves that community college graduates have a place in the job market and are the choice of both employers and the industry,” she said.
