M’sian students hoist Queen’s Baton for nation’s leg of Commonwealth Games relay 

KUALA LUMPUR – Three Malaysian students made the country proud when they hoisted the Queen’s Baton en route to the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Zara Basyirah Shah, Nicholas Lim Chun Keat and Shahmalarani Chandran, all students of Taylor’s University, felt a sense of pride at being chosen, especially since the baton held the Queen’s message to be read out at the Games.

The specially designed Queen’s Baton made its 1km debut in Malaysia, around the campus of Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya before being returned to the representative from the University of Birmingham, the partner for the Commonwealth Games and the city where the Commonwealth Games will be held in July 2022.

The baton had begun its journey in December 2021, leaving Buckingham Palace and arriving at the Malaysian campus, Taylor’s University, where the ceremony had been held on January 24.

All three students were nominated by staff and lecturers based on their credentials, academia and corporate social responsibility projects, which made a difference to the community.

It was indeed a privilege because it represents a once in a lifetime opportunity. At that moment, I realised how valuable the Queen’s Baton is, as it represents the hopes and dreams of all the participants and the technology behind it,” said Zara. 

Zara, 24, has completed her software engineering undergraduate studies at Taylor’s University, and while waiting for her graduation, clinched a job as a test automation engineer.

Initially a medical student who left her studies to pursue her passion for coding at Taylor’s University, Zara emerged victorious at the prestigious Code4Life Inter-University IT Virtual Hackathon 2020 by Roche.

According to her nomination form, Zara had built Patientive, a platform equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) to provide personalised content and assistance to those needing healthcare services.

New wave of the future: undergrad spreads robotics knowledge

Robotics design and development, the new wave of the future, has always been the focus and interest of Nicholas, 25, who is completing his first year at Taylor’s University’s School of Computer Science and Engineering for his degree in robotics design and development.

Nicholas overcame personal family challenges to teach robotics to children and teenagers since he was 16.

The Queen’s Baton is not an ordinary baton, but contains many technological innovations, for one it contains a heart sensor, which measures the heartbeat of the runner and has a 360-degree camera, with augmented reality, which can record the surroundings in a creative manner. 

“It also contains a compartment that stores the Queen’s message,” said Nicholas, who intends to specialise in artificial intelligence.

“The world is now driven by technology. As a member of the Robotics Club in my university, we are working on an R2-D2 model of the robot used in Star Wars, and the experience will prove invaluable for those who intend to specialise in AI technology,” said Nicholas, adding that it was an honour to be chosen.

His teaching experience included imparting his knowledge to children and teenagers, and, at one instance, students with special needs. 

He had to change his teaching style to reach out to these students, so that they could understand and learn difficult programming and logic.

The special needs students grasped the concepts and eventually went on to build a robotic floor cleaning machine and a robot waiter.

From karate champ to maths whiz

Being a national karate champion in the Sukma Games and Southeast Asian Games, Shahmalarani, 24, has spent hours practising for championships both locally and internationally to add to her resume.

She has just completed her actuarial science undergraduate degree on a full scholarship from Taylor’s and is awaiting her convocation.

Not content with just being a karate champion, Shahmalarani put her mathematics skills to good use by creating a Maths handbook called “Maths Mastery Tools” to help students prepare themselves for the SPM exams.

Shahmalarani also participated in a free mathematics workshop early this year, which had a positive impact on nearly 1,000 students, who only had online learning during the pandemic.

As one of the chosen Queen’s Baton runners, Shahmalarani felt her sacrifices over the years had borne fruit.

As a national athlete, I was beyond words when I heard the news that I had been chosen. It was difficult to allocate my time between sports and my academic career. 

“But I managed it with great sacrifices as my sports career will not last. I need to build stability in the working world,” said Shahmalarani, who intends to pursue a master’s degree in actuarial science.

“When I heard the news that I had been chosen as a baton runner, it was not the best time as my family had been caught in the Sri Muda floods and we had lost everything, but we are slowly rebuilding our family home again, with help,” said Shahmalarani.

Shahmalarani hopes one day karate will be included as one of the sports in the Commonwealth Games.

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, themed as “the Games for Everyone”, recognises that Birmingham is home to people from more than 180 countries reflecting diversity as a Commonwealth and global city.

The 16th Queen’s Baton Relay was held in partnership with Taylor’s University, Birmingham’s partner campus in Malaysia, where it conducts programmes for students.

The University of Birmingham is an official partner for the Commonwealth Games.

British Deputy High Commissioner to Malaysia, David Thomas, received the Queen’s Baton from Zara, Nicholas and Shahmalarani as well as the University of Birmingham staff member Liza Vadivelu, who was the fourth runner.

“The UK and Malaysia share strong and deep relations across all areas, including education. With Birmingham 2022 and the Queen’s Baton Relay, I am pleased to see this connection being strengthened through sports,” said Thomas.

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will be held from July 28 to August 8. The Queen’s Baton Relay is a Games tradition that celebrates, connects, and excites communities from across the Commonwealth nations in the run up to the Games. – The Vibes, February 12, 2022