Cover (Photo: KTJ)
(Photo: KTJ)
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Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar Special
Meet the KTJ-ers who strived to make a positive impact in the thick of a global pandemic
With countries getting sent into lockdowns and lives being pulled to a standstill, Covid-19 has forced the world and its communities to hit the reset button and reevaluate life as we know it. While millions have been irrevocably affected by its impact on human lives and livelihoods, for every low, there’s always a high.
Read more: Dato' Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman: Lessons From The Covid-19 Frontline
As life slowed down, three Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar alumni and four current KTJ-ers took it upon themselves to thread a silver lining around a desolate world ridden by an aggressive virus.
Above Azrene Ahmad
embraces fashion with a
purpose (Photo: KTJ)
Azrene Ahmad embraces fashion with a purpose (Photo: KTJ)
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The pandemic struck major industries hard, and the fashion retail and manufacturing fields were not spared. But KTJ alumni (class of 96) and Malaysian Bumiputra Designers Association (MBDA) secretary and fashion designer Azrene Ahmad pivoted to make good of a bad situation. She transformed her fashion label, Three Little Ahmads, into a platform to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) and face masks.
See also: The Founders Of Kolej Tuanku Ja’afar On Educating Tomorrow's Leaders Today
“We collaborated with Malaysian Official Designers’ Association (MODA) and MBDA and used part of our Teraju Superb grant to fund the project. Over 20,000 PPE garments and items were produced within a three-month period. At the same time, we also raised a call for charity to provide care packages for the 15 separate families of seamstresses under our care. Then came the Volvo Face Mask Initiative, through which we were able to provide our seamstresses and our local batik artisans with income to tide them over,” the KTJ alumni explained.
Above Arif Jalal giving back
through Rakan Tutor (Photo: KTJ)
Arif Jalal giving back through Rakan Tutor (Photo: KTJ)
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Halfway across the world is University College London’s (UCL) fourth-year medical student Arif Jalal, who graduated from KTJ in 2018. Arif decided to support a non-profit organisation called Rakan Tutor, which offers free one-on-one tutoring for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students.
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“Having been fortunate enough to receive quality education my whole life, I understand the importance of education for the long-term development of individuals. Rakan Tutor seemed like the perfect opportunity to give back to the community and make an impact on the lives of students who lack resources to support their education. Many in Malaysia have struggled due to the effects of Covid-19, but rather than just reading about it, I was able to actually make a positive contribution,” Arif said.
“We just onboarded our first cohort of over 250 students who are currently receiving online tuition for mathematics. In future, we hope to expand this to include additional subjects!”
Above The KTJ Sixth
Form team spearheading
better access to education (Photo: KTJ)
The KTJ Sixth Form team spearheading better access to education (Photo: KTJ)
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In the same vein, current KTJ Sixth Form student Jolene Lim and fellow students Jeq, Mirza, and Shey saw the importance of access to academics in the battle with the pandemic and developed an app to aid government school students in their studies. Lim and her team identified the gaps that needed to be filled.
“One of the biggest issues is the access to a personal device. As many households only have one or two devices to be shared or do not have a stable connection to the internet, students are often unable to attend classes. Teachers also found it difficult to get their education resources across to their students,” Lim commented.
Read more: 5 Technology Trends That Covid-19 Accelerated Into 2021
Through her friends at other schools, she learned that not all students have developed effective study methods. “Many students are encouraged to work hard but not smart, which pays off in a minority of cases. Some schools have disseminated announcements through platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram, which can lead to missed messages and distractions from work, while platforms designed for education such as Google Classroom have been underused. From this, I knew that dishing out a new platform to assist online learning was not the solution, but rather educating students on the effectiveness of currently available platforms,” she added.
Above Dr Ram
Senasi stays ahead of
the knowledge curve (Photo: KTJ)
Dr Ram Senasi stays ahead of the knowledge curve (Photo: KTJ)
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Leading a task force in ensuring a world saturated with fake news is equipped with the right information is consultant paediatric radiologist and chairman of Imperial Medical Solutions Ltd, Dr Ram Senasi, who graduated from KTJ in 1997.
Having founded the World Federation of Emergency Radiology Covid Task Force, he spoke nationally and internationally on ‘Post Covid Challenges to Imaging’. “It has not been easy for most of us and even more difficult for others who do not have access to technology. As a healthcare professional, I see that this has led to a great disparity in healthcare—vaccine access being one of them. Another vital lesson is how fragile our planet is and ultimately, this is all related to climate change and rising poverty. This reality left a lasting impression on me,” he said.
See also: Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar: Head Of Sixth Form Emma Davidson Talks School, University, And The Future
“The World Federation of Emergency Radiology Covid Task Force was set up to create a repository of information to support anyone involved in the fight against Covid-19. We were set up in three weeks with approximately 30 radiologists from around the globe. There was an avalanche of information and misinformation and we made sure we were ahead of the ‘knowledge curve’. I was also the conference director for ‘Adapting and Innovating: The Future of Healthcare International Summit’ which was held on June 26, 2021. It was an opportunity to bring in various key opinion leaders including the Novovax vice president and two British high commissioners to share their experiences from the pandemic and how we adapted and innovated. What I was immensely proud of was the inclusivity of speakers including an LGBT speaker and a diverse group of attendees like high school students.”
He credits his wife, children, and his years at KTJ for his drive: “KTJ’s philosophies taught me that in times of crises, us KTJ-ers must always put our best foot forward first. I knew I had the skill and attributes to make a difference but consider this: we all have it deep down within us to make a change. The question is if you choose to.”
Lainey was the Digital Director of Tatler Malaysia. When not whiling away the hours watching documentaries, the latest K-drama, or reruns of Friends, she can be found indulging her wanderlust by stalking travel platforms or feeding her obsession with music. She loves animals, running, all things social media, a good conversation over coffee or soju or wine (often rambling on if nobody pulls the brakes on her), and is an avid fan of bursting-at-the-seams laughter.
