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By NG CHENG YEE
KUALA LUMPUR: Being a systems engineer and enjoying a lucrative income at the young age of 17 might be everyone's dream.
Raj Ridvan Singh, who achieved just that, however, did not want to end up being a rich man with an empty soul.So, he decided to quit his job and co-founded Science of Life 24/7 (SOLS24/7) with his father Madenjit Singh and younger brother Dhinu Singh seven years ago.
The organisation provides a comprehensive two-year training and boarding programme on life-skills education for the disadvantaged and at-risk youths from poor communities in Cambodia, Timor Leste and Malaysia.
“It was very difficult for me at the initial stage as no one believed in me and trusted me but I am very thankful that my family and friends supported me from the beginning,” said the 24-year-old Raj. He said the training emphasised character building. “We are training young people to develop the right mentality to make them stand out from the rest in the market place. With the right attitude, you can do any job,” he said.
Raj also believes that one must suffer first to be a successful entrepreneur. For example, he said, one of his students was a divorcee who earned about US$10 a month ( RM33) by selling candy in a Cambodian market. “After she received her training at our centre in Cambodia, she managed to find a job in the US embassy as a supervisor and earn a monthly salary of US$400 (RM1,300),” he said, adding that one should be patient before achieving success.
On Jan 19, Raj will share his story and vision of being a social entrepreneur, a term that refers to a person who uses entrepreneurial principles to address social problems, at the National Youth Entrepreneur Convention.
The event will be held at the Putra World Trade Centre during the three-day MCA's 9-Point Party Platform Exhibition from Jan 18. For more information on the exhibition, call the MCA headquarters at 03-2161 8044 (ext 420) or visit www.mca.org.my
