Cover RYTHM Foundation chairperson Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran touches on community partnerships, women’s potential and redefining impact in Malaysia’s underserved communities (Photo: Courtesy of RYTHM Foundation)
RYTHM Foundation chairperson Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran touches on community partnerships, women’s potential and redefining impact in Malaysia’s underserved communities (Photo: Courtesy of RYTHM Foundation)
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The RYTHM Foundation chairperson touches on community partnerships, women’s potential and redefining impact in Malaysia’s underserved communities
Working with underserved communities, Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran is careful about where she stands—literally and figuratively. As chairperson of RYTHM Foundation (the social impact arm of QI Group) her instinct is not to arrive with ready-made solutions, but to step back, listen, and walk alongside these communities.
It is an approach shaped as much by lived experience as it is by years on the ground across Malaysia.
“We should treat people as how we want others to treat us,” says the Sri Lanka-born philanthropist. “If we ourselves can’t be human beings with compassion, kindness and understanding for another human being, who are we to try to help others?”
RYTHM’s evolution mirrors this philosophy. What began as cheque-writing philanthropy has shifted into long-term, community-based partnerships anchored around education, economic empowerment and the environment.
Today, every project runs for a minimum of three years. “This is not a handout,” Umayal stresses. “This is a partnership.” The aim is independence—communities becoming “the change makers” themselves.
Read more: Datin Sri Umayal Eswaran on Unleashing the Potential of Underserved Communities Through Education
Above Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran is the chairperson of RYTHM Foundation
Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran is the chairperson of RYTHM Foundation
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That belief has guided RYTHM’s work with Orang Asli and B40 communities, where Umayal is quick to dismantle assumptions.
“They actually have the knowledge and they are resilient,” she says, pointing to indigenous communities’ deep understanding of the land, its produce and sustainable living. What is often missing is access—how to package, position and sell that knowledge in the wider marketplace.
In Sabah and Johor, this has translated into women-led social enterprises, eco-tourism initiatives and heritage-based livelihoods. “We don’t have to ‘empower’ them,” she adds. “They go into the jungle for days on end and find their way back without a path or guide. They're survivors. They are resilient. This is what they are good at. We simply work with them so that they can also contribute to their region’s eco-tourism and earn a living by generating income.”
Education, too, is never viewed in isolation.
Early programmes revealed a hard truth: when families are in survival mode, school feels irrelevant. “What point is there in these kids going to school when their families can’t even survive?” Umayal says, first recognising these support system gaps after RYTHM Foundation’s efforts to provide school transportation to Orang Asli children in Pahang. They soon realised that these children were needed back home by their families to find food and earn a living for survival.
Tactics then changed. Education was important, but the next crucial step was to co-create income-generating models alongside learning support—linking education with dignity and economic security.
Some of the most powerful shifts, Umayal notes, are subtle. Success is not measured by “big numbers” alone, but by behaviour and mindset. “Whether there is a shift from what they were and who they have become,” she explains. A child recognising a single letter, a young person showing up with enthusiasm for class or football training early in the morning, or a quiet girl becoming a school prefect, counts as real impact.
Above Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran with a student from Taarana School, one of RYTHM Foundation’s many educational initiatives
Datin Seri Umayal Eswaran with a student from Taarana School, one of RYTHM Foundation’s many educational initiatives
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The Maharani programme captures this ethos. From 20 girls in a home, it has grown to include the Maharani Learning Lab, offering academics, digital literacy and life skills. “Education is not just about books,” Umayal says. “It’s about life lessons.” Confidence, leadership and self-belief are as important as grades.
“These girls come in having no confidence and go from not even looking us in the eye or talking to saying things like ‘I know my rights in the digital era. I can read, I know what is good for me and I can make a change.’ They make that switch themselves, and it’s so encouraging to see.”
Her sensitivity to gender expectations is deeply personal. Growing up, Umayal saw how girls were “already boxed” by culture—called to serve, given curfews, told what they could not do. Yet she was also supported to pursue education and independence. That duality informs her definition of success today: “If that person’s economic background changes to what they are today—even when all that surrounds them is negativity.”
See also: From rage to radical empathy: activist and astronaut Amanda Nguyen’s lessons on fighting for change
Above Umayal has met and worked with many leaders in various Orang Asli communities in Malaysia
Umayal has met and worked with many leaders in various Orang Asli communities in Malaysia
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Grounded, pragmatic and empathetic, Umayal resists saviour narratives. Trust, she insists, takes time. “You can’t go in there and say, ‘I’m giving you funding, so you listen to me.’ That doesn’t work.”
Instead, her work is guided by a simple philosophy: “Treat everyone how you want others to treat you.” In that quiet consistency, change begins.
Previously contributing to Esquire Malaysia, Expat Lifestyle and Newsweek, Tania oversees digital stories across Tatler’s key content pillars, also leading the Front & Female platform exploring issues and topics affecting women today.
