00:00When I see my surroundings, you know, it's like, because my taman, my place, I grew up, there are a
00:06lot of drug addicts.
00:07So a lot of drug addicts. My school friends end up with certain things higher than they went to universities.
00:12They're involved in drug, gangsterism, they drop out of schools. So this is what's happening.
00:17So when you grow up there, I say the only tool that you have now is your education.
00:23Dr. Movendran Ramakrishnan heads the neurosurgery unit at Tengku Ampuan Rahima Hospital in Klang.
00:30But long before the scrubs and operating theaters, he was a boy in hardship who believed only education could change
00:37his future.
00:38His father worked as a lorry driver while his mother took on multiple jobs as a hospital cleaner, domestic helper
00:45and dishwasher to make ends meet.
00:48As a teenager, he worked various part-time jobs, including as a dishwasher and scrap metal laborer.
00:55Even then, he stayed focused on his studies.
00:58When his family could not afford their electricity bill, he studied beneath a streetlight.
01:03It's not I want to be rich.
01:05I say I want to change my social status and I want my next generation not to grow in the
01:11same circle, same social status.
01:14So that's what pushed me, actually.
01:16He excelled academically, gaining acceptance into a medical program.
01:20When financial struggles threatened to derail his dream of becoming a doctor, kind-hearted strangers stepped in to help.
01:28Today, he does what he can to help students facing financial hardship, just as others once helped him when he
01:35was a young man in need.
01:36That's the reason I stayed with the government service.
01:39I feel very grateful.
01:41When I look back, I can't believe, well, I made it.
01:45Until today, sometimes when I go on the stage, I can't believe it.
01:51Because I can see a small boy sitting on the roadside streetlight, studying.
01:59For the full story on Dr. Mavindran Ramakrishnan and more, visit FMT and follow our socials.
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