Elysia Low Pei Chin, a Malaysian student in the Nutrition and Dietetics course at Flinders, has received a Merdeka Award from the Australia-Malaysia Business Council of South Australia (AMBCSA).

The Merdeka Awards were established in 1998 by the AMBCSA to recognize the top final-year Malaysian students studying at South Australia’s three universities. In addition to celebrating Malaysia’s Independence Day, the objectives of the awards include encouraging Malaysian students to excel not only in their academic achievements, but to be all-rounders.

This year, all three awards went to female students.

Ms Low, from Kuching in Sarawak, will graduate from her Bachelor’s degree this year. As well as being the secretary of the Malaysian Students Association in South Australia, she has worked with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in the Australian outback.

The Merdeka Awards Patron and a former Chancellor of Flinders University, Sir Eric Neal AC CVO, congratulated the winners and commended the contribution made by the AMBCSA through the awards to the South Australia-Malaysia relationship.

“These students represent the potential future leaders of the professions, of business and of government in Malaysia, and their already strong ties with South Australia are reinforced by the awards,” Sir Eric said.