Taylor’s advocates for social capital to spur equal education for all

Taylor’s has released its annual Chinese New Year film for 2023. Carrying on the theme of education yet breaking away from the traditional reunion scripts, Taylor’s new ad titled ‘Torn’ gives audiences an emotional pull in advocating for an equitable opportunity in education for all.

The latest film starts with a story of a single mother of two, Mrs Low, who has become exasperated by her seemingly rebellious and aloof teenage daughter’s behaviour, Yen.

The conflict between mother and daughter peaked when Mrs Low received a phone call from Yen’s school to discuss her behaviour.

Yen’s misbehaviours and nonchalance became evidently clear in the scenes leading up to the twist in the plot.

“Education serves as a catalyst for individuals to thrive in life, which Yen believes in. Even with the challenges she is faced with, Yen makes it a point to ensure that her performance in school remains unimpeachable,” said Ben Foo, Taylor’s Group Chief Marketing Officer.

However, Foo went on to explain that the message of the video intends to explore a deeper social context when it comes to not only accessing education, but also attaining it.

“The importance of education cannot be overstated, and despite it being a fundamental right, the reality is that education largely remains to be a privilege for many communities.

While access to education has significantly improved globally, there are still gaps in opportunities to access quality education especially for the disadvantaged groups such as the lower-income and disabled populations.”

In a flashback scene, it is revealed that Yen has been reading to her visually impaired brother, who had shared his wish for his sister not to further her studies in Kuala Lumpur because then, she can continue reading for him. This triggered Yen to create the Braille-textured book as a farewell gift, so that her brother can continue to learn.

Beyond access to education and learning resources, social capital is integral in ensuring an individual’s access to quality education. Research have shown that social capital in the family and community helps children to compensate for a lack of other resources.

In this context, Yen uses her knowledge and skills to help her brother continue learning by creating the Braille-textured storybook using scraps and materials she finds around her.

“As an education institution, we recognise our role in mobilising resources to educate and illuminate society. Aligned with our mission to be a purpose-driven university that is the best for the world, we want our education and philosophy to spark inspiration for others to take positive and impactful actions.

Through this video, we hope that society will come together to build the social capital that Malaysia needs to ensure all our children are given their natural right to education,” said Foo.

Further to this, Taylor’s University has taken steps to infuse their curriculum with purpose and meaning to empower both lecturers and students to support missions outlined in Sustainable Development Goals and the Environment, Social and Governance agenda.

Being the pioneer institutions in the region to implement compulsory multidisciplinary projects across all its degrees that have real-world impact, five students across three faculties joined forces in a multidisciplinary project developing a 3D Printed Audible BraillePad.

Given that the visually impaired community rely on Braille books to access knowledge, students Shannen Kay Chan and Alantino Raven Daniel from the School of Medicine, Ong Wea Hung and Ng Yong Pong from the School of Engineering, and Tan Zi Qing from Taylor’s Business School believe that modernisation of braille books must be achieved so that all communities are protected in their rights to equal and equitable access to knowledge education.

Braille books are known to be limiting, as it requires individuals accessing it to depend on their teachers to guide them. Additionally, the production of braille books is highly costly and hectic in its process.

The 3D Printed Audible BraillePad is a 3D printed tablet-like Braille book device, conceptualised with the intention to empower the visually impaired with opportunities for self-learning. It features voice-guided learning which is achieved through pre-recorded voice notes in MP3 format uploaded into the Arduino Microcontroller that has a Secure Digital (SD) card embedded, for the visually impaired to conduct learning without the presence of a teacher.

This device is a pioneer of a self-learning system and is feasible to be produced at a much lower cost compared to the conventional Braille books.

At the time of writing, Taylor’s Chinese New Year video has gained 916, 958 views across all its social media platforms.

MARKETING Magazine’s Expert’s Choice Awards, CNY TVCs edition will start accepting submissions soon. With the Year of the Rabbit hopping its way in, we are super excited to see all the new CNY TVC’s to be submitted for this prestigious virtual award event.

More details regarding how to submit and what to expect when you submit your entry, are available at The Expert’s Choice Awards website.

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