Is Maryam Muzammir's Award A Scam? iCAN Organizers Clarifies

The bright 11-year-old Malaysian student inventor Maryam Muzammir made headlines recently after she bagged three awards at the International Invention Innovation Competition (iCAN) held in Toronto, Canada for converting shrimp and sea snail shells into livestock feed.

She is also the youngest winner in the competition, edging out 600 other contestants from 70 countries at the 6th iCAN tournament. Her achievement not only received congratulatory remarks from our own Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob but her success was also highlighted on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” in the U.S.

11-year-old Maryam Muzamir found a use for seafood shells by creating a sustainable livestock feed. Go, Maryam, go! #ClimateNight pic.twitter.com/93cUAX5f61
— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) September 23, 2021

However, Maryam’s success was allegedly claimed to be ‘suspicious and sketchy’ by a Twitter user. In fact, the user claimed that he was unaware of the competition’s existence even though he resides in Toronto. He went on to assert that the Toronto International Society of Innovation & Advanced Skills (TISIAS), which hosted the competition, seems shady and could be a possible scam.

“Not to be a party pooper or ruin anyone’s day, but this “Toronto” organization looks sketchy and very suspicious… And seems like a MLM or some money laundering thing going on. It suspiciously does not exist in Toronto? (I live in Toronto),” he wrote in a post. He further lists out the reasons of his suspicion in a series of tweets.

Not to be a party popper or ruin anyone's day, but this "Toronto" organization T I S I A S giving the award looks sketchy and very suspicious….. And seems like a MLM or some money laundering thing going on.
It *Suspiciously Does not exist in Toronto?* (I live in Toronto) pic.twitter.com/wxjKMGOHk9
— Nika Moe (@BentaraNikA) September 26, 2021

The organiser came forward to respond to allegations made by the user and clarified the issue. TISIAS, as the organiser of the event, said that the tweets posted by the individual were misleading and were written without clear knowledge of how TISIAS and iCAN were conducted.

“We can totally understand how many people can talk negatively about us or even think that we are some sort of scam. We created our brand from the beginning and it’s a structure in which TISIAS is a private organization that has nothing to do with the Canadian government, but we build up our reputation through collaborating with numerous associations, groups, universities, schools, research centers, and enterprises across the globe,” TISIAS wrote in an email sent to Maryam.

TISIAS also pointed out that iCAN is a legit competition that is recognised by the two largest world organisations. They wrote, “Just know that iCAN is a legit competition recognized by two largest world organizations, 1) International Federation of Investors’ Association (IFIA) and 2) World Invention Intellectual Property Associations (WIIPA). This ultimately means that iCAN is a recognized and verified event by almost all national inventors association around the world.”

Here's the response from @official_tisias
Images shared with consent from Prof Madya Ts Muzamir himself.@BentaraNikA has blocked them on Twitter, to what end I don't know.
TISIAS just made Twitter account to refute his allegations. Previously, they were active only on FB pic.twitter.com/Ces3LWLX7L
— Rejaie Arbee 🇲🇾 #LAWAN (@rejaie) September 27, 2021

And this is the support letter given to Maryam pic.twitter.com/7LRx5VJOzJ
— Rejaie Arbee 🇲🇾 #LAWAN (@rejaie) September 27, 2021

TISIAS also clarified that their business name has been registered via Service Ontario and they acquire a Master Business License. The organiser also acknowledged that the office address listed on their Google search is a home address or more accurately a condominium. “We use that as an office space to prepare for the event, we don’t know what’s wrong with that,” they remarked.

Apart from the lengthy clarification email, TISIAS also left a letter of support to Maryam while congratulating her. It is understood that the man who claimed that the event was a scam has since blocked TISIAS official account on Twitter.

Source: The Vocket