For a brighter future.

I have depended on scholarships my whole life, but I can't anymore.

I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. In primary school, my allowance was literally RM2/week (USD 0.50), while my friends around me had a minimum of RM10 /week. I was constantly told to study hard, to join competitions, to be a model student so as to attain a scholarship to achieve better opportunities in life.

And so I did.

In 2010, at the mere age of 12, I was one of the selected few in Malaysia who was successfully awarded the ASEAN Scholarship - a 6 year scholarship to study in Singapore for secondary and pre-university. I was elated. I studied hard, I broke down, I crawled back up, they cycle went on and I managed to attain straight As for both my Singapore-GCE O Levels and A Levels. Amidst my struggle to do well academically, I held leadership positions, I did community service, I joined national competitions, I did everything to prove my potential as an outstanding student. My friends looked up to me, my teachers were impressed by my tenacity, my parents were so, so proud of me. I was a leader, a volunteer, a national public speaking champion, an all-rounder.

But life wasn't impressed.

The truth was that I couldn't afford quality university education, as my parents are average workers who are approaching retirement age. Friends around me who were worse off academically and non-academically had the opportunity to further their studies in the UK, US, Australia due to their financial status. Of course, I was happy for them, but some part of me still cannot comprehend why and how I do not have the same opportunity as they do.

I couldn't qualify for most Malaysian scholarships as I studied in Singapore (remember?), and the scholarship providers required a Malaysian certificate. I have tried all means to fund an overseas education for myself. But one by one I was rejected, mainly because of my qualifications.

And so I gave up.
I decided to settle in a private university in Malaysia, in which I fortunately attained a fully funded scholarship to read law.

However, the programme I am in (known as the UK Degree Transfer Programme) provides for a 1 year transfer to a UK university, in which the scholarship committee does not provide for.

Hence, I am here to ask for help in funding my 3rd year of university education in the UK (Cardiff University). Tuition fees alone would cost 18,000 pounds, and I would like to ask for the public's help in achieving half of the desired sum.

An education in the UK, albeit only being 1 year, would mean the world to me - the opportunities I would be exposed to, the things I would learn, the contribution and change I could make for my country, Malaysia.... the list goes on.

I want to be able to fulfill my dreams in attaining quality education, and I pray that you would join me in this fight.