Star Golden Hearts Award celebrates unsung heroes with a bigger boost

The challenges of the world can be daunting, but small acts of kindness can collectively make the world a better place.

In Malaysia, we have no shortage of unsung heroes, and Star Golden Hearts Award (SGHA) has been a testament to that for almost a decade. Returning for the ninth year, the annual award is a joint effort by The Star and Yayasan Gamuda to celebrate everyday Malaysians who positively impact the people and planet while promoting unity amongst Malaysians.

Members of the public can now show their appreciation and give a leg up to these everyday heroes by nominating them for the award.

This year, award winners are set to receive a bigger boost with enhanced award prizes. From the pool of nominations, ten winners will be selected, and each receive a cash award of RM15,000, on top of exclusive media publicity across Star Media Group’s various platforms to amplify their selfless efforts. The ten winners will also be in the running for the coveted Gamuda Inspiration Award (GIA) with an additional grant of RM50,000.

Star Media Group (SMG) chief content officer Esther Ng reaffirmed SGHA’s commitment to continue honouring and supporting local changemakers who have made meaningful contributions to society.

“We believe in the important role that these changemakers play in shaping the nation through kindness and generosity. Hence, as a media organisation, we’re most happy to provide them with the publicity and wider awareness they deserve to help them further their good cause,” she shared.

Drawing examples from previous years’ SGHA winners, Ng praised Malaysian do-gooders as creative and innovative when it comes to delivering impact-driven and sustainable solutions for existing problems within the community.

“We know there are many more such heroes out there waiting to be discovered, which is why we call upon the public to help nominate them for the award,” she said.

Ng believes that The Star comes in as an enabler to help others achieve their goals for the common good.

“It is often rewarding to know how our past winners have gained increased attention and tangible support from the public after winning the award and through media exposure.

“In doing so, we also hope to inspire and empower even more Malaysians to take small steps towards big impacts and create a brighter future together.

“This is one of our ways of fulfilling our responsibility as a media organisation. Together with our longstanding partner Yayasan Gamuda, we hope to inspire even more Malaysians to make a difference in their own ways,” she added.

With Yayasan Gamuda being part of the award for the eighth consecutive year, the foundation’s head Ts. Lim Hui Yan said the long-term partnership with SMG has empowered social enterprises to facilitate community building for the betterment of our people and planet.

“As a regional player, we are committed to creating positive impacts, and to date, we are proud to have supported over 70 exceptional changemakers to amplify their transformative societal and environmental efforts further”, said Lim.

Through the years, Yayasan Gamuda has seen remarkable efforts from Gamuda Inspiration Award winners, such as Iskul Sama diLaut Omadal in 2022, which pushed the boundaries in striving for a more inclusive society. Each winner’s remarkable contribution is a blueprint for a fairer and more progressive world where no individual or cause is left behind. As such, this year’s SGHA’s judging panel is expanded to environmental, wildlife, and social entrepreneurship experts. This improved holistic approach will enable SGHA to build a more robust network of changemakers dedicated to driving progressive social change.

In 2016, when Gamuda first embarked on the SGHA journey with The Star, the GIA grant amounted to RM50,000. However, considering the widening socio-economic disparities and the pressing need for climate action, Gamuda made a significant stride last year by increasing the GIA grant to RM120,000.

The public can nominate changemakers who meet the selection criteria outlined on www.sgha.com.my until July 31. Nominees can be nominated for various causes such as community empowerment, education, environment and wildlife, social welfare and more.

SGHA is supported by Star Foundation, the charitable arm of Star Media Group, aimed at delivering meaningful initiatives with lasting outcomes to a diverse group of beneficiaries.