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UUM ONLINE: The experience of witnessing the persistence of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) entrepreneurs to continue to survive the country's war against the Covid-19 pandemic, encouraged second-year student Mr. Muhammad Ariff Haidar to take part in the competition called Awesome Student: Strategy and Policy for the Government Competition (Mahasiswa Ohsem: Pertandingan Dasar dan Polisi Kepada Kerajaan).

The Bachelor of Accounting (Information Systems) student sent in his working paper entitled, Boosting the Economy & Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Post-Covid-19 that enabled him to clinch the first place and take home a cash prize of MYR1000.

Mr. Muhammad Ariff said that the thought of winning the first prize never occurred to him. His triumph in the competition edged out the other contestants from the various universities that participated in the competition.

"I chose this title after witnessing the sheer determination shown by the mothers of my friends who continued to maintain and do what was best for their businesses during the implementation of the Movement Control Order (CPP) beginning 18 March following the Covid-19 outbreak," he said.

Mr. Muhammad Ariff said the pandemic had indirectly affected the business of the SMEs entrepreneurs involved as many tried to continue conducting their business as usual since the government implemented the directive.

As a result, it dawned on him to share his views and suggestions through the competition in hopes of shedding new light on how to assist SMEs entrepreneurs in the country until Covid-19 ceased.

He said the policy was aimed at three key objectives namely enhancing the competitiveness and resilience of the SMEs post-Covid-19, safeguarding the well-being of the people and creating an environment of economic empowerment as well as personal health care.

“The objectives of the policy are outlined in six strategies along with nine major outputs.

"I hope this sharing of ideas will inspire people to continue to work hard for our beloved country," said the student from the Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz School of Accountancy (TISSA).

In the competition, each participant including Mr. Muhammad Ariff was required to prepare a working paper and a video recording related to the title.

Commenting on the preparations for the competition, the student who hails from Pendang said it took him two weeks to complete the working paper.

He added that the first time he entered such a competition, it was clear that various preparations had to be done, including searching for information on the internet pertaining to similar titles as well as references from books.

"Praise be to Allah, I am grateful for the generous support of my family, in fact they also helped me by providing ideas on how to complete the paper, and assisted me with the promotion of my video on social media.