Without a doubt, for the past year, we have been feeling the topsy-turvy emotional roller coaster amid the pandemic. Despite the challenging year spurred on by the COVID-19 outbreak, Malaysian youths from all walks of life have continued to make the country proud with their unwavering achievements.
Wondering who could be the latest glory?
Well, it’s Thanes Gunasekaran, a second-year student of Resource Biotechnology at University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) who has made Malaysia proud by receiving prestigious awards in three competitions directly organised by the International Global Network.
The International Global Network (IGN) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to youth development programs. IGN was established to bring young students from all over the world together to collaborate in education, business, technical, cultural, and social movements. It is constantly striving to innovate its programs for youths as a strategic platform for them to develop and explore themselves as well as enforce changes to make the world a better place.
Hailing from Telok Panglima Garang,Selangor, Thanes has represented Malaysia by participating at the Asia World Model United Nations Conference (AWMUN 2021) which took place from 26th till 28th March 2021. A total number of 700 delegates from 70 counties from all over the world participated in this prestigious conference. The topic that he had personally chosen was “Strengthening the global cooperation to overcome the third wave of COVID 19 ,” at Madagascar.
Hence, he came up with a position paper on the research topic, providing solutions that needed to be debated during the conference and draft a resolution on the topic. And guess what, he has earned himself the top spot for the best delegate award from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Not many have gone on to achieve what this talented young lad has at such a young age. Moving on with his second participation in the Global Goal Model United Nations Conference, he emerged as one of the 300 delegates from 56 countries who won the Verbal Commendation Award placing him in the third-place. During this conference, the United Kingdom became his research country on the topic of “Inequality of vaccine distributions to develop and non-developed countries.”
“I’ve put in a lot of effort on doing the research; there’s been a lot of sweat and tears throughout the competitions.”
Following that, the 21-year-old participated in Empowered Assembly Model United Nations which was held from 8th May till 10th May 2021. During this conference, a total number of 88 delegates from 40 countries were involved and the country which he was assigned to conduct his research was Russia. Thanes, who has chosen a topic based on, “Waste management and pollution in urban areas,” clinched the best delegate award for United Nations Habitat.
It clearly shows that this has been a rewarding year for him!
“I was ecstatic to receive this prestigious global recognition. As a Malaysian, it was an honour to represent my country at an international level conference and that was something that I never dreamt of.”
Besides excelling in his studies, Thanes is also active in extracurricular activities. These are commendable factors and have contributed towards his winning and receiving the highly esteemed award for the year 2021.
The pandemic has created tremendous challenges, as an undergraduate student Thanes felt the pressure was real especially on balancing his time for online classes, assignments, mid-terms, and involvement in competitions. Thanes has excellently managed his time according to his preference. You deserve a round of applause from us!
Notwithstanding, he also wants to encourage and educate our Indian students to participate in such competitions.
What’s the point of receiving notable achievements but I don’t share my journey with our fellow Malaysians and especially Indians who are doing well education-wise?
As of now, there is the least number of Indians who are considering the field of Science. Education plays a major role and we as Indians should obtain that in order to prove that we are doing better.
He went on to say that most of his UNIMAS lecturers, as well as his peers have also played an important role in his self-development.
“I’m grateful because my parents (Mr Gunasekaran & Mrs Vasugi) have instilled in me a great work ethic. They have been a pillar for me from the day I was born till now, and they have encouraged me to pursue my dreams and accomplish what I want in life,” he stated.
No matter what entails in Thanes’s future, team Varnam extends our heartiest and best wishes to you in your endeavours!
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