PETALING JAYA, April 22 — Capital Dynamics managing director Tan Teng Boo recently saw a newspaper vendor in Kuala Lumpur begging a customer to buy his newspaper for RM3.

The vendor was in dire need of money to buy some food for lunch.

That incident stuck in Tan’s mind together with stories he had read of ordinary Malaysians who had been suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent floods.

As such, he decided to host a global script writing and video content creation competition to get Malaysians to tell inspiring stories of their friends or family who have hurdled through their Covid-19 obstacles.

Speaking to Malay Mail, Tan said that as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility project, he wants to give away a total of RM67,500 to six lucky winners for both categories in the competition.

"The country has gone through a lot these past two years with many losing their jobs and thus losing their life savings for their retirement.

"Fortunate ones were able to switch to other jobs and venture into the food and beverage industry, while others made face masks to survive.

"It also shocked me that many have less than RM10,000 in their EPF (employee provident fund) and I wonder how they will get through retirement.”

He decided that as part of his company’s corporate social responsibility project, he will offer the winners not cash prizes but investment units.

While the top three winners for the script writing competition get RM10,000 each, the three video winners will get RM12,500 each.

"These investments units in the i Capital Asia-Pacific ex-Japan Fund (ICAPBF) is aimed at helping winners grow their money which will benefit them in the long run.”

"The main theme is to tell a story of how one braced an obstacle during the pandemic to inspire others,” he said.

Both competitions are open for anyone across the globe who are aged 18 above who wants to tell a story — in the Malaysian context.

ICAPBF is a newly-setup fund and has generated a return of 6.71 per cent since its inception from January 31 till April 8 this year.

It is a regular income unit trust fund that invests in dividend paying securities and fixed income bonds across the Asia Pacific ex-Japan region.

Capital Dynamics is a global investment house with offices in Sydney, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Shanghai that was established in 1988.

Tan hoped that the winners who get these investment units will be able to save up for their future till their retirement and to help rebuild their savings.

The competition ends on April 30 and those interested can surf here.