MOHAMAD RAZIEKH FROM BANK MUAMALAT IS 2025 BNM GOVERNOR'S PUBLIC SPEAKING CHAMPION

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- 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.

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.

“This is my first participation after more than a decade away from the world of public speaking. I am very grateful to my senior, who was the 2023 winner, for guiding me to become the champion,” he told Bernama.

Mohamad Raziekh, an officer in the Financial and Regulatory Reporting Division of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, said the topic he chose was in line with the themes provided: 'Empowering Financial Inclusion: ASEAN Towards Shared Prosperity' and 'Malaysia as a Catalyst for ASEAN Economic and Financial Stability.'

"We were given the theme of ASEAN, so I chose to focus on Malaysia's potential because the country has many innovations and potential," said Mohamad Raziekh who took home 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 named 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.

Nurul Atikah commented that a competition like this is important, especially in 'humanizing' the figures or data to convey financial information in the National Language so that it is more easily accepted and understood by the public.

The prizes were presented by BNM Governor Datuk Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour and witnessed by DBP Director-General Dr Hazami Jahari.

In his speech, Abdul Rasheed said that BNM is consistently committed to upholding the National Language and emphasising its importance in the financial services sector through the Product Transparency and Disclosure Guidelines.

"BNM also requires financial institutions to prioritise the use of the Malay language in disclosing product information to financial consumers and to use language registers that are easily understood by the public," he said.

To further empower the Malay language, he said BNM works closely with DBP and other strategic partners to implement various language initiatives involving institutions under their supervision and within BNM itself.

These initiatives include organising the PPG for the financial sector since 2009 and introducing the Star Rating System in 2016 to conduct language audits on financial institutions.

The BNM Governor's Cup Public Speaking Competition 2025, which began on Nov 15, saw the participation of 43 contestants from 26 financial institutions, with only eight participants from six financial institutions competing in the final round today.

-- BERNAMA