5 Malaysians You Probably Didn’t Know Made a Name For Themselves Internationally!

We’re sure you’re all aware that we’ll be celebrating our 60th year of independence, so what better way to celebrate our country than by reflecting on how far all of us have come as a nation.

We thought one way to show our appreciation for our country is by celebrating the Malaysians who made names for themselves on the world stage, proving that any one of us are indeed capable of achieving the same level of greatness. Here are just a few of those inspiring Malaysians we’ve decided to highlight. Check them out!

1. Edmund Ooi

Edmund Ooi is a Malaysian-born fashion designer currently based in Belgium. He studied fashion design in Kuala Lumpur, after which he earned a coveted place in the prestigious Royal Academy Of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium.

At the young age of 19, he Was Awarded Two Times As ‘Most Promising Designer’ And ‘Best Avant-Garde Designer’! What were we doing with our lives back then??

Source: baco luxury

Throughout the span of his career, the menswear designer collaborated with big names in fashion such as Vogue Italia and Elite World Model. He even debuted his designs at the 2015 Milan Fashion Week, being the third men’s designer supported by the world-famous designer, Giorgio Armani. That’s insane!

2. Kiki Poh

Source: star2

Meet Kiki Poh, the very first Malaysian to ever work at the world-famous Pixar animation studios!

Kiki, who is originally from Johor Bahru, moved to the US to study for her master degree in Visual Effects. A Pixar recruiter who was on the search for new talent selected her work among the many application they’ve received. She even got the thumbs up from the Supervisor and leads at Pixar as they loved her work!

She then most recently got involved in the upcoming Disney Pixar animated movie, Cars 3, where she mainly worked on animating the character, Doc Hudson. She worked as a shading artist and grooming technical director, which involved working on the textures and colours of the characters in the movie.

So, be sure to keep an eye out for Doc Hudson when you’re watching the movie, because that was mainly animated by one of our very own!

3. Atikah Karim

Atikah recently broke out onto the New York fashion scene after making a name for herself in Malaysia’s fashion industry.

The 23-year-old’s career reached new heights when she won Ford Models Supermodel of the World Malaysia, after which she moved to the Big Apple when she got the chance to work with big names like Ralph Lauren and Banana Republic.

Despite having so much success at such a young age, Atikah remains grounded and humble, as she believes those values are the key to a successful career. Kudos to her!

4. Wan Hazmer

Source: the star

Malaysian Final Fantasy fans, there’s now another reason to love Final Fantasy XV (FFXV)!

Meet Wan Hazmer, one of the lead game designers at Square Enix who helped design the cities and dwellings in FFXV. The most awesome part? He’s Malaysian! (That probably explains the roti canai in the game!)

If you play the game, you may have noticed that one of the towns named Lestallum includes many Malaysian elements – especially our chilled out ‘selamba’ attitude. Hazmer tells The Star that there’s even a hotel that looks similar to those you may find in Taiping, Perak. Some parts of the town also have food carts with display boxes and umbrella stands, which resemble Malaysian roadside stalls.

5. Sabariah Hussein

Source: montreal gazette

This inspiring woman is definitely one of the reasons we’re proud to call ourselves Malaysian! Sabariah binti Hussein has made a name for herself in Montreal, Canada, all because of the goodness of her heart.

Sabariah moved to Canada from Malaysia 30 years ago and began cooking for the needy in mosques, and even began to work with local churches to give her food out to more people in need. She also founded a shelter for homeless women called ‘Our 2nd Home’ and has received numerous awards for all her hard work.

What’s more, the 70-year-old even garnered the attention of Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who wanted to meet her. However, being the dedicated woman that she is, she had to decline his invitation because she was too busy cooking for the needy! What an amazing woman!

So, it looks like we have a lot more reasons to be proud of our country this Merdeka. Hats off to these amazing Malaysians for inspiring so many of us! Malaysia boleh!

Also read: 5 Malaysian Bands and Singers You Need to Check Out Today