A mother was excited and happy when her daughter, who was born at 3.08am, became among the earliest babies to receive the Malaysian Children's Trust Fund 2050 (Adam50) certificate promised by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak when tabling the Budget 2018 in Parliament.

Nur Syuhada Mohd Zizi, 32, of Kampung Simpang Tiga Tok Akil, Ketereh here, said she did not expect her fifth child to be born on Jan 1.

"Earlier, the doctor had predicted that I would be delivering on Jan 9, but I did not expect her to be born early today.

“I am excited to have two good news, first, that my baby was born on Jan 1, and that she became among the first ones to receive Adam50," she said when met by reporters at the maternity ward of Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II (HRPZII) in Kota Bahru today.

The certificate was presented by Permodalan Nasional Berhad deputy president (strategic investment) Kartini Manaf, in the presence of HRPZII director Dr Selasawati Ghazali.

A total of 10 babies were born at the hospital from midnight till 10am.

Nur Syuhada said she had known about Adam50 through the live broadcast of the Budget 2018 on television, as well as through the news.

Another mother, Nur Farhana Rodsi, 28, from Kampung Merbau in Ketereh, said she was grateful her new baby girl, the first female of five siblings who was born at 3am received the Adam50 certificate.

"At least this newborn baby already has early savings which can be used for her education in the future," she said.

Adam50 is a new programme introduced by the government in collaboration with PNB for all Malaysian babies born between Jan 1, 2018, and Dec 31, 2022.

The main objective of Adam50 is to promote early savings and a culture of investment among Malaysians since their childhood, whereby the government would give 200 free incentive units as initial capital to be credited into the Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) account for Bumiputera babies, or Amanah Saham 1Malaysia (AS1M) for non-bumiputera babies, when they register at Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB) branches or appointed agents.

- Bernama