Design

The National Emblem of Malaysia consists of a shield guarded by two supporters as rampant tigers. The shield is topped by a crest consisting of a yellow crescent with a 14-pointed "federal star", and includes a motto, depicted as a banner, at the bottom.

Crest or helm (crescent and federal star)

The yellow colour of the crest, a crescent and a 14-pointed federal star, symbolises the country's monarchy. The crescent also represents Islam as the official religion while the federal star represents the thirteen states and the Federal Territories of Malaysia.

Originally, the fourteen-pointed star represented the original fourteen states of Malaysia, which included Singapore. It was not changed when Singapore left the federation, but it has generally been accepted that the 14th point represents the Federal Territories.

Escutcheon (shield)

The escutcheon, represented by a shield, is primarily intended to serve as a representation of states unified under the Malaysian federation, and is subdivided into ten divisions.

The upper portion or chief of the shield contains five krises on a red background, representing the five former Unfederated Malay States, Johor, Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis. The remainder of the shield, which in the coat of arms of Malaya was divided in three per pale (longitudinally) between the former Federated Malay States, Penang and Malacca, is now divided into four sections:

* In the dexter (left from the observer's point of view) section is the Pinang palm along with the Penang Bridge representing Penang
* In the upper middle of the shield, below the row of krises, are the colours of the Federated Malay States (red, black, white and yellow) arranged from left to right. The permutations of the colours red, black, white and yellow make up the colors of these states' flags. Red, black and yellow are for Negeri Sembilan; black and white for Pahang; black, white and yellow for Perak; and red and yellow for Selangor.
* In the lower middle of the shield, there are three sections formerly representing the new (in 1963) states of Sabah, Singapore and Sarawak. Since 1965, Singapore's section has been replaced by a depiction of the national flower, the hibiscus.
* In the sinister (right from the observer's point of view) section is the "Malacca" tree representing Malacca

Supporters (tigers)

The two rampant tigers supporting the shield are traditional Malay symbols. They are retained from the earlier armorial ensign of the Federation of Malaya, and prior to that of the Federated Malay States. They symbolise strength and courage.

Motto (banner)

The motto of the arms, located below the shield, consists of a banner with the phrase "Unity is Strength" (Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu)] written in both romanized Malay and Jawi. The original English words were replaced by romanised Malay some time after independence.

The TechEureka! campaign comprises five themes – Get Skilled, Get Hired, Get Funded, Get Connected and Get Creative, said Star Publications (M) Berhad’s vice-president of New Media Davin Arul.

All activities based on these themes help explain to youths how they can benefit from MSC Malaysia programmes.

At the same time, opportunities exist for youths looking to work in the ICT industry.

All they need to do is approach the Multimedia Development Corp (MDec) representatives during the TechEureka! Career Day to be held in April.

MDec is caretaker of the MSC Malaysia initiative.

The corporation said TechEureka! would certainly spur youths to enrol in ICT-related courses, work in ICT-related industries and start ICT-based or ICT-enabled businesses.

Davin said many of the campaign activities would take place online, culminating in the career day in April.

“The Internet is the best platform to inform our target market – youths – that there are programmes created just for them as students, jobseekers or young entrepreneurs.

“There is a website created specifically for the campaign and we’ll use that as well as social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to engage them,” Davin added.