{"id":2640,"date":"2026-01-20T17:46:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/wptest\/2026\/01\/20\/hong-leong-invites-hackers-to-hack-at-the-hackathon-for-rm15000\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T17:55:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:55:02","slug":"hong-leong-invites-hackers-to-hack-at-the-hackathon-for-rm15000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/2026\/01\/20\/hong-leong-invites-hackers-to-hack-at-the-hackathon-for-rm15000\/","title":{"rendered":"Hong Leong Invites Hackers to Hack at the Hackathon for RM15,000"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can You Hack It, a 24-hour hackathon by Hong Leong Bank Berhad (HLB) is back for the second time following its debut success last year. <\/span><\/p>\n

To be held on April 27 and 28 at Menara Hong Leong in Damansara City, Can You Hack It is a unique initiative by HLB under its digital innovation push, offering prizes of RM15,000 in cash, potential employment opportunities and even further funding and support for incubator or accelerator programmes for promising projects that are presented.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s Can You Hack It, participant Aaron Chuah, 20, from Inti International College Subang<\/span><\/p>\n

has joined HLB as an intern at its IT Centre of Excellence in January. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe highlight of my experience at the hackathon was watching the top 10 group presentations as I learned that applications not only need to be functional but must also have creative features to increase usage. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited at the chance of being hired as a full-time employee at the Bank after I graduate because Hong Leong Bank is one of the more technologically savvy banks in Malaysia. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe working environment here is very conducive for tech innovation, which gives people like me the opportunity to learn more and enhance my IT skillset,\u201d said Aaron.<\/span><\/p>\n

For others, like IT graduate Tan Chun Keat, 27, who was hired as a full-time employee of Hong Leong Bank in February after his participation in last year\u2019s hackathon, it was his experience as a first-timer at Can You Hack It that changed his perception of technology in the industry. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur idea was to create a web app to make it easier for SMEs to apply for loans, using automation. It was such an educational experience. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a developer in Group Operations & Technology now, but it was during the hackathon that I was truly exposed to how ideas can influence the way that banking works, to make things better,\u201d said Chun Keat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is the step by step of how to impress the judges, and potentially take home the prize money or even a job with one of Malaysia\u2019s leading financial brands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A hackathon, especially at a financial institution, is not a place to wander in unprepared, take the time to read the hackathon\u2019s website, understand what judges will be looking for and be clear about what can be brought to the table<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. The idea matters, focus on the idea that has been building, why that matters to a company, a bank, and its customers and then find the right technology for it.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Test every idea as hackathons are a great place to build ideas, test them there and if it works, great. If not, a valuable lesson was learn as well. <\/span><\/li>\n
  4. More importantly, mentors are accessible and they can give invaluable feedback; be willing to build fast, test often, learn and adapt. <\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Most importantly, ask for help as hackathons are a great place to learn, make friends, gain knowledge and grow.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. The need for a team, hackathons can help to draw people into a more cohesive fighting unit, and making sure that everyone, not just the techies, have a role to play in making the dream come true.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Present oneself, great ideas don\u2019t work if people don\u2019t understand them, be sure to think about how to share information on that new function, feature, or product with the judges even before building it, simple language and great images are one way to go.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    A collaboration with JomHack Malaysia, Google\u00a0Cloud\u00a0and Rakuten RapidAPI,\u00a0Can You Hack It\u00a0is one of the Bank\u2019s\u00a0initiatives\u00a0in solving the challenge of hiring fit-for-future talent while immediately rewarding individuals and teams who demonstrate innovation and great ideas for better banking. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Can You Hack It is designed to allow participants to propose their ideas or solve problem statements provided by the Bank, for a better digital banking experience or new financial services, products, coding and validating them, and then demonstrating a working prototype to a panel of HLB\u2019s key executives and observers from the local digital industry and VC scene. <\/span><\/p>\n

    With over 150 FinTech developers and designers in one place, it will explore the limits of their imagination in the field of financial products, banking experiences, and in the discovery of new uses for existing technologies.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Can You Hack It, a 24-hour hackathon by Hong Leong Bank Berhad (HLB) is back for the second time following its debut success last year. To be held on April 27 and 28 at Menara Hong Leong in Damansara City, Can You Hack It is a unique initiative by HLB under its digital innovation push, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4011,"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions\/4011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/malaysian-business.com\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}