The Kalsom Movement began as Projek Kalsom, a student-led motivational camp for Malaysian youths held annually in August in Malaysia by Malaysian university student-leaders since 1994. The Kalsom Movement became a fully registered youth-led organisation in 2012.
Contents
- Background of Organisation
- Current Programmes
- Notable Alumni of The Kalsom Movement formerly Projek Kalsom
- References
Since 2012, as the organiser of Projek Kalsom, the youth-led education charity continues to focus on developing Malaysia’s future leaders by empowering university students to share their knowledge and skills to help younger economically-disadvantaged Malaysian students achieve their ambitions. In turn, these Malaysian university students also benefit from discovering their own leadership potentials and organisational skills as well as becoming more perceptive of issues surrounding education inequality in Malaysia which will hopefully instil a sense of civic awareness towards their local community and towards the country as whole. The Kalsom Movement's education programmes are open to all Malaysian students regardless of ethnicity, gender, religious or political background.
Every year, The Kalsom Movement brings together the brightest, most talented and academically-gifted 16-year-old Malaysian secondary school students from Band 3 and below schools (underperforming schools), as outlined by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia) for Projek Kalsom, a week-long programme of English Language modules, careers and scholarship and personal development workshops as well as other education programmes organised by the movement.
A significant proportion of The Kalsom Movement's facilitators are top Malaysian university student-leaders from Oxford University, University of Cambridge and Russell Group universities as well as Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Cornell and Princeton University.
Background of Organisation
The idea for a Projek Kalsom motivational camp was initially mooted by a group of Malaysian students in London in 1993 upon reading a newspaper cutting of a Mrs Kelthom Abdullah, a single mother living in the rural areas of Kelantan, Malaysia, who could not bear the cost of her children's education. Aside from raising funds for Mrs Kelthom Abdullah, these students decided to organise the first Projek Kalsom motivational camp for underprivileged students in Jerantut, Pahang in 1994. Of note, as the founders of Projek Kalsom were also the founders of the United Kingdom & Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC), it is not surprising that Projek Kalsom has been associated with UKEC in the past.
Subsequent Projek Kalsom motivational camps were rotated between the 11 states and federal territories of West Malaysia as a one-off motivational camp annually. In 2012, under the leadership of Dr Hannah Nazri (2011 Projek Kalsom 17 Director), formerly a medical student of University of Bristol, Projek Kalsom finally became a registered entity known as Kelab Belia Kalsom under the Registrar of Youth Societies (Ministry of Youth & Sports, Malaysia); ensuring its sustainability and continuity. 2012 also saw the Projek Kalsom motivational camp being held for the first time in East Malaysia, in Miri, Sarawak. The following year, saw the first Bristol Commonwealth Cultural Programme involving 10 British university students joining Projek Kalsom motivational camp in Kuantan, Pahang. In 2014, under the leadership of Mohd Zulikhwan Ayub (2014-2015 Kelab Belia Kalsom President), a medical student at University of Aberdeen, Kelab Belia Kalsom underwent a major transformation phase with an expansion plan of partnerships in place, an introduction of a one-year Kalsom Harapan plan, as well as a re-branding exercise where the youth-led charity became widely known as The Kalsom Movement.
Since 2014, The Kalsom Movement remained the only student-led organisation to receive support and endorsement from Bursa Malaysia (formerly Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange). In 2015, The Kalsom Movement was nominated as one of the Top 10 Organisations (Education and Community) for Merdeka Award, a highly prestigious award in Malaysia. Projek Kalsom itself, is endorsed by the Malaysian Book of Records as the longest student run motivational camp in Malaysia.
The 'tour' of all 14 states and federal territories of Malaysia was completed with the organisation of the 2015 Projek Kalsom 21 in Papar, Sabah. In 2015, the movement received 364 applications as facilitators from Malaysian students studying in 15 different countries including the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States of America, Canada, Poland, Spain, Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia for 40 places. 11 international facilitators through the Bristol Commonwealth Cultural Programme (third year running) and American Fulbright Scholars were also selected with a dual aim in mind, to encourage bilateral relationships between the two countries and to encourage English speaking between Projek Kalsom student-participants.
Since the establishment of The Kalsom Movement, many other education programmes were organised.
Current Programmes
Flagship programmes are programmes that are always held annually. As The Kalsom Movement aims to provide a training ground to Malaysian university student-leaders to organise and get involved in projects of their interest, Executive Committees are encouraged to introduce and pursue new education programmes each year that can benefit younger Malaysians.
Flagship programmes that are held annually:
Other programmes:
Notable Alumni of The Kalsom Movement (formerly Projek Kalsom)
Members of The Kalsom Movement alumni consists of both Malaysian university student-leaders (facilitators) and beneficiaries (student-participants) have gone to have very successful careers in their chosen field. A substantial number have started up their own businesses, charities and social enterprises. A non-exhaustive list of The Kalsom Movement alumni members are as below:
Among the alumni members of The Kalsom Movement are also scholarship recipients of the most prestigious academic scholarships in Malaysia such as the Bank Negara Kijang Emas Scholarship (awarded to top four or five best Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia students nationally), Biasiswa Nasional (awarded to top 20 (previously top 50) best Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia students nationally) and Biasiswa Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The King's Scholarship):