YPNM Kuching Leads Consumer Rights & Awareness Seminar for Students

July 30, 2025 – Yayasan Pengguna Negara Malaysia (YPNM), Kuching Branch had successfully held the “Consumer Rights & Awareness Seminar” in a joint effort with Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Kos Sara Hidup (KPDN) Sarawak and St. Joseph’s International School (SJIS) to create awareness among young consumers. This seminar took place on 29 July 2025 (Tuesday) at St. Joseph’s International School from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM. It was a great step in educating the students about their rights as consumers and what channels are available to complain in the event their rights are being infringed.

This seminar, organized with valuable support from the Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Kos Sara Hidup (KPDN) Sarawak, was attended by 40 students who are members of the school’s Consumer Club. The program aimed to increase awareness about the rights of consumers when they are faced with various circumstances, including online shopping and scams and highlight the processes and channels where they can approach and seek assistance.

The St. Joseph’s International School Consumer Club is led by the Principal, Brother Robert Teoh, Teacher-In-Charge is Ms Gloria Geramong and Club President is Ms Dionne Pei Jia Hui (贝佳慧).

Attendees heard from two respected speakers:

Mr. Pei Wee Shiung (贝伟雄), the Organising Chairperson & Vice Chairman of

Yayasan Pengguna Negara Malaysia (YPNM) Kuching Branch, who shared the roles of YPNM Sarawak and how it can be the link to the various government agencies and statutory bodies in protecting their rights as consumers. He also shared the YPNM Counselor program who plays the role of assisting the Local Government Agencies, Penghulu or Kapitan to protect consumer rights in Sarawak, as well as YPNM Connext, a digital platform to connect consumers with government agencies. He explained that today’s program is part of YPNM EduQ, which is YPNM Sarawak Education & Training Program where they connect with Government Agencies, such as KPDN, PDRM, MPHLG, DOSH, KKM, HRDCorp, MITI & etc. to organize seminars with Corporate, SME/SMI & Micro SME/SMI as well as education institutions like St. Joseph’s International School.

Tuan Maruni Anak Langga, Pegawai Penguatkuasa from Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Kos Sara Hidup (KPDN) Sarawak.Tuan Maruni began his sharing by educating the students about the eight areas of consumer rights and explaining in detail what they cover. He also highlighted the real case scenarios that he had personally encountered and handled. Thereafter he highlighted the various potential areas in our daily life where all consumers are facing in our daily life and how we can be at risk of being cheated and scammed by merchants. His sharing of the real-life examples had aroused the students’ interests and they had responded by asking questions to Tuan Maruni. Thereafter, Tuan Maruni also went on to explain the processes and channels to complain in the event the consumer is faced with circumstances where their rights are being compromised. He informed the students that when they trade via online platforms, they have to be careful to ensure that those platforms are registered with KPDN so that they can be protected in the event of fraud or scam cases.

Mr. Jimmy Ling (林以群) (Chairman of YPNM Kuching) said that the “Consumer Rights & Awareness Seminar” is a good and important step towards reaching out to students in creating awareness among them as young consumers. YPNM Sarawak remains committed to continuing its efforts to educate consumers and protect consumer rights and improve the lives of communities across Sarawak.