The primary aim of the foundation is to recognise and encourage the development of youths who show excellence in both academic and extra-curricular pursuits through the provision of scholarships for higher education.
As a result, the federal government of Malaysia decided to formally establish a national foundation and open the fund to Malaysian applicants regardless of their ethnicity or creed.
Applications for the scholarship is open to academically outstanding Malaysian undergraduates below 25 years of age who meet specific criteria set by the foundation.
The current holder is Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Hj Shad Saleem Faruqi who was appointed in February 2017.
This was a cash prize of RM 500 awarded to the best first year undergraduate student of the Faculty of Human Ecology a Universiti Putra Malaysia.