Kuala lumpur: Mohamad Raziekh Md Rizal from Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad emerged as the champion of the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor’s Cup Public Speaking Competition (PPG) 2025 in the final round held here today.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Mohamad Raziekh, 27, successfully captured the attention of the judges by delivering an energetic performance with a speech titled ‘Malaysia: The Torchbearer of ASEAN Hope,’ despite having only a short time to memorize his text. Expressing his gratitude, Raziekh credited his senior, the 2023 winner, for guiding him to victory in his first participation after more than a decade away from public speaking.
Raziekh, an officer in the Financial and Regulatory Reporting Division of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, chose a topic aligned with the provided themes: ‘Empowering Financial Inclusion: ASEAN Towards Shared Prosperity’ and ‘Malaysia as a Catalyst for ASEAN Economic and Financial Stability.’ He highlighted Malaysia’s potential and innovations, earning him RM10,000 cash, the PPG trophy, a challenge trophy, books published by Dewan Bahasa Pustaka (DBP), and a certificate of participation.
The competition also saw Nur Atikah Abd Hamid from Generali Insurance Malaysia Berhad as the first runner-up, while Mohamad Amirul Haziq Anuar from Bank Simpanan Nasional secured third place. They received cash prizes of RM7,000 and RM5,000, respectively, along with challenge trophies, DBP-published books, and certificates of participation. Nur Atikah emphasized the importance of such competitions in ‘humanizing’ financial data to make it more accessible to the public in the National Language.
Prizes were presented by BNM Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, witnessed by DBP Director-General Dr Hazami Jahari. In his speech, Abdul Rasheed reaffirmed BNM’s commitment to upholding the National Language in the financial services sector through the Product Transparency and Disclosure Guidelines. He highlighted BNM’s requirement for financial institutions to prioritize the use of the Malay language in disclosing product information to ensure clarity for financial consumers.
To further empower the Malay language, BNM collaborates with DBP and other strategic partners to implement language initiatives within financial institutions. These include the PPG for the financial sector since 2009 and the Star Rating System in 2016 for language audits.
The 2025 BNM Governor’s Cup Public Speaking Competition, which began on Nov 18, witnessed 43 contestants from 26 financial institutions, with only eight participants from six institutions competing in the final round today.