These youths are the future of Malaysia and we could not be more proud to have them as national representatives for the greater good!
Out of the 184 recipients who received the reward within the UK and internationally, three young Malaysians have been awarded UK’s 2020 Diana Award for going above and beyond in their daily life to create and sustain positive change. The award was established more than 10 years ago by the British government in honour of Princess Diana’s legacy by establishing a formal way to recognise the efforts of exceptional young people who demonstrate their ability to inspire and serve their communities by creating long-lasting change on a global scale.
Founded in 1999, the Diana Award is awarded to young heroes who do the most for social change in their communities.
Here are how these inspiring youths contributed to social change:
Priyanka Vairavasundaram
Priyanka is a 23-year-old final year Chemical Engineering student from Monash University, Malaysia. SHe spent the past six years investing her time and energy into developing, the ‘SPARK Talk & SPARK Students’ Success Program’.
Priyanka in her element with a room full of students.
Dedicated to helping and motivating underprivileged children from deprived communities in Penang, Priyanka uses her experience to deliver motivational talks and educational enrichment programmes that have influenced the lives of over 3,900 children! The nurturing youngster is highly esteemed by school authorities in Penang and various other NGOs. Among them are the ‘Service Civil International Malaysia’ and Penang State Government’s ‘Hindu Endowment Board’.
Nelson Jia Jun Ng
A boy of humble beginnings, the now, 23-year-old, grew up in a rural fishing village but obtained a scholarship to become the first of his family to attend university. His past shaped the inspiration to help those from such disadvantaged backgrounds by providing equal access to education for all young people, regardless of their socio-economic standing.
Nelson founded a project known as ProjectEd, an NGO spearheaded by students to actively enable deprived students in Malaysia to pursue tertiary education by scholarships, digital mentorships and educational workshops. Under ProjectEd, Nelson managed to establish the ‘Knowledge is Free Scholarship’, which is the first and only student-led scholarship fund in Malaysia.
Nelson spearheaded the first student-led scholarship in Malaysia.
17-year-old Prevena is a firm believer in ensuring all children have access to human rights, no matter what their socio-economic background may be. The inspirational teenager is an advocate and mentor for young women and girls in STEM. She has created a range of innovative programmes to support gender equality in STEM education and is also an avid environmental campaigner. Aside from educating her students on the different ways to protect our planet, she has also developed new products out of plastic bottles.
Prevena is an advocate and mentor for young women in STEM.
Prevena reaches out to young and old communities alike. She has organised visits to old folks homes and volunteered to support students from underprivileged backgrounds to participate in writing competitions.
While many young people who contribute to social and humanitarian efforts often have their works go unnoticed, this award gives them the credit they deserve by empowering the youth of tomorrow to change the world.
Kudos to these three exceptional Malaysians! May their works inspire those, young and old, to pursue social change.
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