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On July 3, Vijayaratnam Foundation was privileged to be the premier partner of the National Indian Youth Convention 2010, organised by the Malaysian Indian National Education Development (MIND) Association. Prominent members of the Indian community in Malaysia who have excelled in their field of endeavour, be it business, arts, law or academics, were invited to speak to more than 500 youth gathered at this event, and VF Founder, Dato’ Vijay Eswaran was among the prestigious speakers.
This memorable event which was webcast globally to audiences in six countries provided young people from the Indian community with the opportunity to listen to and interact with successful personalities who have made the Malaysian Indian community proud.
In his speech, Dato’ Vijay Eswaran reminded the audience that India was one of the oldest civilisations in the world and at one time the Indian empire stretched all the way across Malaysia and Thailand to the Philippines. Much to the crowd’s delight, he switched to Tamil and continued to elaborate on his key point; that it is crucial for us to embrace the roots of our origins; that we need to know where we come from, in order to know where we are headed. He also pointed out that in order to learn and grow to be better human beings, we should not be embarrassed at having people laugh at our mistakes. It is better to make a mistake and learn from it, than to never make one at all. Education, he said, is not about a piece of paper. Hence, he pointed out that one must never blame one’s background or lack of education for one’s inability to succeed.
 He illustrated this point by playing a video of a young illiterate street vendor from India who sells a fan made of peacock feathers to tourists in 11 different languages. What made him exceptional was that despite any kind of formal education, the boy drew from his surroundings and used his entrepreneurial skills and abilities to survive in such an environment.
Dato’ Vijay also showed audience a short video that documented a special experiment conducted by NIIT, a computer education firm in India The company stuck a high speed computer through a hole in the wall that separated the company’s headquarters and a slum and within minutes, the curious children from the slum were exploring the basic functions of the computer. Within the day, the kids had already discovered the games on Disney channel and were playing them.
Before concluding his inspiring speech, Dato’ Vijay told the youth that as long as they have faith in themselves and the passion to achieve great things, they can start living their dreams. Quoting his favourite icon and role model, Mahatma Gandhi, he said, “Be the change that you want to see.”
As a foundation that supports community development, VF is honoured to have been part of such an empowering event that included an impressive line-up of wide-ranging specialists in their own rights such as Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam, Executive Chairman of Westport Malaysia; Dato’Sri Edmund Santhara, Group Chief Executive Officer of Masterskill Education Group Berhad; Dato' AK Nathan, Group Managing Director and Chairman of Eversendai Corporation; Malaysian astronaut programme finalist Vanaja Siva; and Dato' Ambiga Sreenevasan, Immediate Past President of the Bar Council Malaysia.
The Foundation is looking forward to the next installment and hopes it will continue to be a source of inspiration and excellence for youths.
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