USM, PENANG, 25 March 2016 – Small opportunities would usually signify the beginning of greater achievements, as highlighted by Kishva Ambigapathy, who used to be a school librarian and now is back at home in Malaysia to meet with the Youth Parliament of Malaysia and the Youth Association of Malaysia. 

Kishva Ambigapathy, 25, had brought honour and glory to Malaysia by becoming the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), which represented the 1.2 billion youth from 53 countries around the world, as well as the first Malaysian to be selected as the Royal Mace Bearer to lead HRH Queen Elizabeth 2 and members of the Royal Family in the procession at the Commonwealth Celebration Day in the UK.

“The active roles I played as a leader had given me the opportunity to be selected by Her Majesty the Queen as the Royal Mace Bearer,” said Kishva during the interview at the Media and Public Relations Centre (MPRC), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

The passion towards leadership started since he was a librarian in secondary school, which he pursued further when he was studying in USM, with his involvement in co-curricular activities such as the Knowledge Transfer Programme and the Student Representatives Council (MPP).

He explained that, USM did not just provide opportunities for him to achieve good academic results, but also acted as a platform in developing a range of skills which prepared him to succeed in the varied roles he had undertaken in his life as a student.

“I grabbed the opportunities, including in academics, as provided by USM, to gain experiences such as in learning that sometimes, the real decision may not always be made in a meeting room, in fact the ‘out-of-meeting-room’ activities in engaging with people is what has given me the exposure,” added Kishva, who had completed his Bachelor’s Engineering degree in Electrical and Electronics from USM in 2013.

Having an ultimate goal to bring impact on people’s lives, Kishva believes that the younger generation should not restrict themselves despite discovering the small opportunities, and he further advised them to pursue what they think would contribute more to society.

As the Chairperson of the CYC, Kishva asserted on one of the more common issues such as unemployment, where they have been sharing the framework in terms of how they could boost entrepreneurship among young people, as part of the efforts to reduce unemployment.

“I want to help these young people; it is all about satisfaction, if I impacted someone’s life and they have been moved from what I have done, then I will reach my ultimate goal, as I hope to create an impact on more people,” said Kishva.

Kishva has become the pride of the nation, after the image of him wearing the Baju Melayu attire carrying the royal mace leading the British monarch and her party at the Commonwealth Day celebration at Westminster Abbey recently being shared through the social media, as the attire was the national identity of Malaysia. 

He had been selected as the Chairperson of the CYC in 2015, after being nominated by the Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin to run for the election campaign of the CYC Chairperson post.

As a Chevening Scholar, he is currently doing his Master’s in Global Politics at Durham University, United Kingdom. 

Text: Elezise Oh Ming Han (USM internship student)