PETALING JAYA: Social activist and recipient of the 2017 Queen’s Young Leaders Award, Heidy Quah, 24, seeks equal education opportunities for some 40,000 child refugees in the country.
The founder of non-governmental organisation (NGO) fighting for refugee and humanitarian issues, Refugees For The Refugees (RFTR), said this could be achieved through appropriate policies and laws.
“It has been my dream to see equal education opportunities for the refugee children since setting up RFTR when I was 18 and I see that politics is the platform that could assist us in achieving it.
“The youths must come forward in expressing their views. Generally, older people are more inclined to join the politics. However, it is not an excuse for us to be ignorant of the current political affairs in the country,” she said at a press conference to announce her decision to join DAP today.
The finance graduate from INTI International University & Colleges (INTI) said she hoped that her achievement and career background would encourage young people to join politics.
She said her involvement with politics began after reading an inspirational book by DAP leader Hannah Yeoh, a few months before receiving the award from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, London, in June last year.
As a DAP member, Quah said she would promote the party through social media.
“I hope to play a role as a voice of the youth. It is time for young Malaysians, who may be dissatisfied with how things are, to express their views and at the same time make efforts to find solutions to the social issues in the country,” she said.
Quah was last year’s sole Malaysian recipient of the prestigious award that recognises individuals aged between 18 and 29 from Commonwealth countries for their high commitment in improving the society’s quality of life.
Her efforts had enabled RFTR to support the establishment of 35 schools, of which 10 of them are located in the Klang Valley and Penang, and the remaining are built in Myanmar.
About 2,000 child refugees would benefit from the schools which offer internationally-recognised syllabus.
Yeoh, who was also present said Quah would be able to contribute in issues relating to human trafficking and refugees.
“As a start, she would be invited to a briefing session with DAP members of parliament. There may be ideas that could be developed to improve services by the ministries or the government in general,” said the Segambut member of parliament.
Also present was DAP adviser, Lim Kit Siang.
Get the latest World Cup 2018 scores, highlights and updates from our dedicated news page. Click here