08-28-2021, 11:39 AM
![[Image: Tong-Jing-Yen-email-28082021.jpg]](https://s3media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Tong-Jing-Yen-email-28082021.jpg)
PETALING JAYA: Tong Jing Yen is not your average 17-year-old.
While many others his age would be more occupied with playing sports, immersing themselves in video games or scrolling through social media feeds, the Form 6 student at SMJK Katholik (Catholic High School) here has been busy creating mobile applications.
He developed his knack for creating apps after he picked up programming at the age of 12.
Although he has created three apps, the teenager’s latest one may be his most useful yet.
He spent two months coming up with Bersamamu, a free app launched earlier this month, which allows Malaysians to give and receive donations such as food, clothes and books.
The app also allows users to conveniently filter searches by location and category to find items listed for donation or that which is requested by the community.
Speaking to FMT, Tong said the idea for the app came to him in June after reading numerous reports about the hardships that many Malaysians are facing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Some of them had bad luck and lost their jobs because of the MCO (movement control order). I remember one story about a viral video of a man looking for food in a garbage bin,” he said.
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