Maxis Launches Undergraduate Scholarship for Customers

First Malaysian operator to offer education assistance to postpaid subscribers and their children

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, 24 September 2008 – Malaysia’s leading mobile operator Maxis Communications Berhad (“Maxis”) launched the Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Undergraduate Programme exclusively for its postpaid subscriber base at a special event held at the Maxis Academy, the company’s education and training centre at Plaza Sentral, Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

The scholarship is open to Malaysians who have been Maxis postpaid customers continuously for a minimum of 12 months, and to the children of these customers. The scholarship is merit-based and covers undergraduate studies at institutes of higher learning in Malaysia and abroad. Maxis will offer a total of 40 scholarships per year under this programme.

“In launching this programme, Maxis hopes to reach out to our customers and include them in our collective efforts to help the nation build a progressive and strong generation of future leaders,” said Maxis Chief Executive Officer Mr. Sandip Das. “In these uncertain economic times, it becomes more essential that a deeply Malaysian company like Maxis is responsive to the hopes and dreams of our subscribers for their children and their futures.”

This special scholarship programme is an extension of the prestigious Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Postgraduate programme, which was launched by Maxis in 2005 to support high-achieving Malaysian graduates wishing to pursue their postgraduate studies and research at top universities abroad.

Since its launch, the Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Postgraduate programme has awarded full-ride scholarships to 12 bright young Malaysians, including four recipients for the current 2008 intake. The four are:

· Ms. Jasmin Nanitha Johnson, who has begun a Master of Public Policy programme at the John Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, United States;
· Ms. Siti Sarah Affendi, who will begin her Master of Science programme in Molecular Biology and Pathology of Viruses at Imperial College, London;
· Mr. Chin Shin Liang, who will pursue a PhD programme in Computational Electromagnetic studies at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; and
· Ms. Rachel Gong Hui Ngee, who has just begun a PhD programme in Sociology at Stanford University, United States.

Receiving their scholarships at the event today were Siti Sarah Affendi and Chin Shin Liang. Also present were past recipients of the Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Postgraduate awards, including:

· Mr. Joshua Chu, who was awarded the scholarship in 2007 and has completed his Master of Public Policy at Cambridge University;
· En. Abdul Aziz Abu Bakar, who received a Maxis Scholarship in 2006 to complete his MBA at Harvard University, and now works with CIMB; and,
· Mr. Boo Kian Seng, who was awarded a scholarship in 2006 to pursue a Master of Science degree at Oxford University, and now works with the Maxis corporate responsibility department.

Recipients for the Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Postgraduate programme are chosen after going through a rigorous selection process that culminates with interviews with a final panel whose members are leading academic figures. Joining the 2008 panel was Professor Tan Sri Dr. Khoo Kay Kim, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Malaya, who attended the ceremony today and presented the awards to this year’s postgraduate scholarship recipients.
“Since we launched the Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Postgraduate Programme in 2005, it has come to manifest all the best of our contributions to education in Malaysia,” said Das.

“Education is the foundation of all our corporate responsibility undertakings, whether it is for Maxis Cyberkids, our flagship CSR programme or our world-class employee training and development programmes here at the Maxis Academy. Today’s launch marks a significant milestone in Maxis’ commitment to education excellence in Malaysia.”

The Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Undergraduate programme for Maxis postpaid customers and their children will offer different scholarship awards based on the location of applicants’ universities of choice. For those who are applying for scholarships to pursue undergraduate degrees at Malaysian institutes of higher learning, the amount awarded per person is RM10,000 per year. For studies in non-Malaysian universities, the award is up to RM150,000 per year.
Those who receive scholarships to study abroad will be expected to join Maxis as an employee once they have successfully completed their undergraduate degrees. However, those who receive scholarships for local undergraduate programmes will not be obliged to serve with Maxis.

The Maxis Scholarship for Excellence Undergraduate Programme is open to Malaysian citizens who have been Maxis postpaid customers for a minimum of one year (or the Malaysian children of these customers), age 23 years and below and who fulfill the necessary academic criteria to be eligible for consideration.

Malaysian postpaid customers of Maxis may visit www.maxis.com.my/scholarship to get more information about this programme and to apply online.