Maryam Muzamir has made Malaysians proud with her three awards at the International Invention Innovation Competition (iCan) in Toronto, Canada.

The Standard Five student at the SK (P) Methodist Kuantan was the youngest awarded recipient beating more than 600 participants from over 70 nations.

She received a gold medal, the Canadian Special Award and the coveted Best Young Inventor Award at iCan 2021.

Malaysians celebrated with joy on social media.

Oon Kian Khong on Facebook wrote, “All our Malaysian research team should learn from this brilliant young girl to produce it commercially and reduce the dependence of livestock feed import.”

He added that the Malaysian government should grant her resources like a study grant and a future job because she deserves it.

Leksluu supportively said that she should continue the good work and produce the product locally and expand globally. He saw there was a need for more sustainable food production to reduce waste and safeguard the environment for future generations.

He quoted Nicolette Hahn Niman, “It’s not the cow, it’s the how.”

Maryam’s inspiration comes from Swedish youth climate activist, Greta Thunberg. She desires to tackle food wastage of 15,000 tonnes within Malaysia.

The great idea lit her mind when she was on a family trip to a seafood restaurant on the coastline.

She witnessed plenty of waste being produced by the restaurants, especially seafood shells. Her research led to a compound called chitin in shells which benefits livestock like chickens, goats, fish and pigs.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE