Written by Hannah Collins

On October 7^th 2018, 12 out of 110 graduating students were selected as finalists for the Personal Financial Plan and Business Plan competitions after a lengthy judging process. After weeks of preparation and many hours spent with their mentors, the students were both nervous and excited to give their presentations.

Each student was given 5 minutes for their presentation, followed by 3 minutes to answer the judges’ questions.

The esteemed panel of judges comprised of: Mr. Adam Lyle, board member from AustCham, Ms. Clair Deevy, APAC Director of Community Affairs at Facebook, Ms. Hwee Choo Quek, Managing Director at BNY Mellon, Ms. Shou Sen Cheam, COO for Investment Banking at Barclays as well as an Aidha board member, and Mr. Vivek Sharma, Director at Credit Suisse.

Some examples of the presentations include Ms. Maricar Salazar, who was the first to present her personal financial plan. Ms. Salazar shared her struggles as a widow and single parent to her children. Motivated by the desire to provide for her children’s education, she took a caregiver course and plans to start a pastry business in the Philippines which will be run by her family.

Ms Maricar Salazar shares her plan of starting a pastry business in the Philippines

Ms. Daryati from Indonesia, plans to open a café in her hometown by 2020. Having already paid for both her siblings’ university education, Ms. Daryati now wants to invest in opportunities that will allow her to take care of her parents who are ill. Her dream is to eventually open a pre-school education and care centre for the children in her village.

Ms Daryati hopes that her café will allow her to provide for her family

In the Business Plan Competition presentation, Ms. Musatomah presented her plan to open a butchery in her hometown in Indonesia. Noticing a gap in the market for high quality products, packaging and delivery services, she wants to open a butchery with an emphasis on quality and community involvement by working with local suppliers.

Ms Musatomah is passionate about involving her community in her business initiative

All the students gave impressive presentations and the judges praised their confidence and business acumen.  Ms. Cheam said that it was inspiring to see how much effort all the students had put into pursuing their dreams and passions.

After a period of deliberation, the judges announced the winners who would be presenting their plans at graduation. The four winners comprised Ms. Gleia Duenas and Ms. Rara Angriani in the personal finance plan category, and Ms. Mustamah and Ms. Sri Rohanah in the business plan category.

Aidha students, Ms. Maricar Salazar and Ms. Nerrish Corpuz shared that this experience had given them greater confidence as well as further strengthened their determination to achieve their goals. Moreover the competition provided the opportunity to learn not just from mentors but also from alumni and fellow students whom they received invaluable support and encouragement from.

Congratulations to the 12 finalists and a big thank you to our generous donors, volunteers and judges who made this competition possible!