BRIGHT STUDENT: Raj receiving a token from Perdana Leadership Foundation chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Azman Hashim after coming in fourth in an essay writing contest themed, ‘Nurturing the minds of future leaders’ organised by the Perdana Leadership Foundation. — Gopiraj Jegathisan

They say IT can open up a whole new world and this proves true for Gopiraj Jegathisan, a small town boy who is now ­working his way to get a degree in ­economics at one of the ­prestigious Ivy League ­colleges

By JO TIMBUONG

NEW discoveries are always exciting especially when that discovery leads to bigger and better things.

For eighteen-year-old Gopiraj Jegathisan, who went to school in the town of Dengkil, a town not far from the MSC Malaysia hub, things changed when he took part in the Global School Network (GSN) programme.

GSN was a programme initiated by MDeC (Multimedia Development Corp) and the Education Ministry which connected teachers and students from around the globe through videoconferencing via the Internet.

GSN was held from 1998 to 2000 under the MDeC schools adoption programme, which aimed to upgrade rural schools to be ICT savvy, in line with the MSC Malaysia Smart School vision.

Of course as a child of 10 then, he did not understand the extent of the whole programme or where it would lead him to. To him, it was just another cool activity.

“In fact, he didn’t take it seriously at a ­practice run and we and the teachers wanted it to be perfect so we had to tell him to behave,” said his mother, Saroja Ponniah, 47.

Gopiraj, or better known to his friends as Raj, said participating in the programme opened his eyes to the world and eventually to bigger things.

Opening up

The GSN programme introduced Raj to students around the world via ­videoconferencing and he learnt a thing or two about them and their countries.

It also deepened Raj’s knowledge in ICT just as he was starting to settle in the borderless online world and meddling with things that he had only heard of before.

By his own admission, Raj does not ­consider himself as someone who eats, lives and breathes technology but a simple and friendly introduction to ICT gave him the confidence to get over his initial scepticism and use it as a learning tool.

“I was just getting to know personal computers so I was overwhelmed to see ­interactive boards and other cool stuff in the computer lab. They were all beyond my comprehension but I wanted to further explore them,” said the University Tenaga Nasional student.

Though the programme taught him how to access and disseminate information, the biggest benefit the initiative brought was that it allowed Raj to have a learning experience beyond the walls of his classroom and encouraged his sense of discovery and ­exploration.

“After that experience, I wanted to be involved in the world from a larger ­perspective,” he said.

Biz world

Bigger opportunities presented themselves about six years after Raj’s participation in the GSN.

In 2006, he took part in a young entrepreneur programme jointly organised by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) and MDeC.

This competition piqued his interest in the business world and surprisingly, it was not because of the beckoning of big bucks.

“I got interested in business because of the challenges in it. Most of the time, it’s not about making money but getting your ­associates to work with you,” Raj said.

He knows this only too well because he had to cajole his teammates to come to meetings and discuss on product improvements.

To add to his challenges, Raj and his team also had to meet with competitors that came from high performing schools.

“Our team felt quite intimidated at first but we all got along very well after that,” he said.

During the young entrepreneur programme, Raj was appointed the managing director of a mock company called Smartech Corp but he was quite apprehensive to be part of the programme at first.

“My seniors who went through it said it was very difficult and as a fourth-former at that time, I was kind of looking forward to a carefree year before facing my SPM,” he said.

But because he saw an opportunity in it and was working with MDeC again, he ­decided to take up the challenge and he didn’t regret it.

He had his mother help him with his time management while MDeC helped with his entrepreneurial skills.

“He had a hard time balancing between the programme and his studies but I helped him and encouraged him because I knew it was important for his future,” Saroja said.

MDeC then helped Raj through this programme and his team bagged the best achiever award.

HIGH ACHIEVERS: Raj (centre) with his team mates, teachers and mentor, MDec’s Lisa Lee (third from right) at the Amcham showcase. — Gopiraj Jegathisan

Ever grateful

It is obvious that Raj is grateful that MDeC selected his school to be part of the GSN programme.

“If it wasn’t for that, I think I’ll be stuck in this small town,” he quipped.

He said the people of Dengkil did not have the same access to information and the same opportunities offered to them before the emergence of MDeC and MSC Malaysia.

“If an opportunity presents itself, you must grab it,” he said.

He considers MDeC to be his silent teachers and said a lot of people overlooked MDeC’s nurturing side and tend to associate it with high-tech projects like e-government and telemedicine.

“When I think about MDeC, I don’t immediately think IT, but as an organisation that invests in human potential,” he said.

From the beginning, he said MDeC has nurtured him and also helped him decide on his life career, even if it didn’t involve gadgets and software.

Even while being the managing director of Smartech under the Amcham programme, Raj said MDeC really pushed him to be the best and would criticise his product until he got it right.

“They would ask me really difficult questions and criticise my creation which I spent the whole night perfecting but I believe it was all worth it,” he said.

Saroja is also thankful that MDeC gave her son a chance to develop his talents.

According to her, before the emergence of Cyberjaya, Dengkil was just an under-developed town with acres and acres of palm oil estates.

The level of English was also much to be desired.

“It was not an important language for them and they didn’t take it very seriously,” she said.

When Raj’s school was picked to be part of the GSN, Saroja was elated as she believed that it could help open students’ minds to a larger world.

Many parents from the area approved of the programme too. “When this programme came about, many parents saw it as a means for their children to expand their minds and realise their potential.

“I don’t think he would get this chance if his school was not involved in the GSN,” Saroja said.

After his stint in Uniten, Raj plans to further his studies at an Ivy League university in the United states and hopes to be an investment banker.

If all goes well, this small town boy will be leaving for one of the prestigious institutions in September.