Many people assume that a defining moment of my career was receiving the QS Reimagine Education Awards – Overall Education Winner 2023.
But the truth is… the defining moment came after the applause faded.
Standing on that stage, holding the award, I felt proud — but I also felt something deeper:
A quiet but unmistakable conviction.
If purpose-led education could transform thousands of students within a university, what might it do for a whole generation?
For years, as a university leader, I witnessed two realities at the same time:
1️⃣ Students are achieving academically, yet feeling disconnected, anxious, or unsure of their direction.
2️⃣ Students coming alive when they found purpose — stepping into communities, solving real problems, and discovering who they could become.
Those moments changed me.
They taught me that students are not waiting to be pushed…
They are waiting to be awakened.
And that awakening happens not through lectures alone, but through purpose, empathy, courage, and meaningful engagement with the real world.
So, after many late-night reflections — and yes, a good amount of fear — I made a decision that surprised many:
I stepped away from a stable leadership position to build something new: Impact Catalysts.
Not because it was the easier path.
But because it was the truer one.
Impact Catalysts is my commitment to Malaysia’s young people — to create an ecosystem where they can say:
“We will solve this.”
It is a leap of purpose.
A leap of hope.
A leap of belief in the next generation.
As I begin this next chapter, I carry deep gratitude for every colleague, mentor, student, CSO partner, and parent who shaped my journey.
Leaving a university leadership role was not an ending — it was the beginning of a mission that feels larger than myself.
And I have never been more certain:
Malaysia is ready for a movement of young changemakers.
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