What I want for the students of Malaysia

“I want my voice to be heard. I want other people to listen to what I am going to say as a student. I want them to believe that the younger generation has the ability to change our fate, change our lives, and make it better. We are students, and never underestimate us.”

What do I want for the students of Malaysia?

I met students from other schools at the Student Vision Roundtable recently, and I found out that their stories and my story are almost the same. We don’t get the opportunity, the chance to voice out our thoughts and our opinions.

At the student roundtable however, we got the chance to voice our opinions. We got the chance to speak about our challenges. We got the chance to share our ideas on how to create a better education system in Malaysia and what we want for the students of Malaysia.

When asked what I want for students in Malaysia, all I ever thought about is equity. Give students what we need, not what society wants for us.

What do I want to be when I grow up?
What is my dream?
What is my vision for education in Malaysia?
What is my hope for students in Malaysia?

First, I want to be a forensic investigator. It is my childhood dream, it is my passion.

Second, my dream is to join Teach For Malaysia when I grow up, because I want to make a change in our education system. I’ve seen and met lot of Teach For Malaysia Fellows and staff, and they have the biggest dreams ever. They dare to stand up for what they believe in even though they know there are lots of obstacles awaiting them. They made changes in lots of students’ lives, and that is the most beautiful thing for me. They inspire me with their passion and spirit, and they made me realise that there is no harm in being different, because that means you are special.

Third, I hope Malaysia will have a better education system, better than before, better than now. I hope all the children in Malaysia will have the chance to attain an excellent education. I hope all the students in Malaysia will have the ability to think more creatively, explore more things in their life. I hope they will stop having self-pity on themselves. I hope they will stop believing that they are stupid, that they are going to realise that they are more than what they believe they are.

I dream big, and maybe some of you think that these things are impossible. Sorry, but there are no such word as impossible in my dictionary. My last hope and dream is, I am going to achieve every single thing I’ve mentioned before and no one is going to stop me from achieving these dreams.

Written by Irdina, 16. Irdina was on the student panel at the Student Vision Roundtable recently, where students shared their ideas for their schools, their communities and our nation. She attends a school in Kedah and is a student of our 2013 Alumna, Cheryl Ann Fernando.