poobalan.com

KUALA LUMPUR: At 9.35am today, Vighneswaran Vithiatharan will begin a journey that may make him the most travelled Malaysian.

The first Putera MIC Malaysian Global ambassador will go on a 12-month tour that will take him to 93 universities in 69 countries.

This works out to an average of eight universities in six countries a month for the 28-year-old, who is working on a doctorate in economics at University Malaya.

He will also promote Malaysia besides trying to change the global perspective on Malaysian Indian students.

"My objective is to conduct a fact-finding mission to lay the groundwork for education and career development opportunities for Malaysian Indian students," he said after the launching of the Putera MIC Malaysian Global Ambassador programme yesterday.

He will also promote cultural exchange and educational development by initiating talks with student bodies and universities in the Asian, European and American regions.

Vighneswaran has been allocated slots at all the universities to talk about unity and racial integration. "The response has been good from Fortune 500 companies, where I hope to initiate student exchange and apprenticeship programmes for Malaysian students."

Among the universities on his itinerary are Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, University of Teheran in Iran, Kiev University in Ukraine, University of Geneva in Switzerland, Oxford University in England and Harvard University in the United States. His first port of call is Chennai, where he will apply the plans that he has pored over for months.

He has invested RM16,000 in the project, "with the rest coming hopefully from individuals or organisations". Vighneswaran, from Pontian, Johor, expects his travels to cost RM120,000.

Putera MIC national co-ordinator P. Kamalanathan said Vigneswaran would not only create opportunities for Indian youths but also dispel the belief of racial unrest in the nation. For more information on Vighneswaran's mission, visit puteramic.net/duta