Nadeera K. Vasu is an alumna of BSc (Hons) Psychology at The University of Nottingham Malaysia and a former recipient of a scholarship from Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) under the Bursary Fund for Students with Special Needs. As a former scholarship recipient herself, she was recently invited to give a speech at the Sime Darby Conventional Centre on her life journey and offer some personal advice to the upcoming scholars.
Addressing the crowd, Nadeera spoke about how grateful she was to YSD for supporting her during her final year of her undergraduate studies. As a strong Disability and Mental Health Advocate, Nadeera also encouraged others to dream big and to never give up despite their physical and mental health challenges and to also always seek professional help when needed.
With the support of the Ministry of Education, the Sime Darby Group (Sime Darby Plantation Limited, Sime Darby Limited and Sime Darby Property Limited) plans to donate RM14 million in bursaries to 420 students of Technical and Vocational Educational Practices this November.
Nadeera was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), otherwise known as ‘brittle bones’, and as a result of this, suffers from respiratory challenges and severe scoliosis, among other things. Despite her condition, she achieved 7As for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination in the year 2010 and was later awarded ‘The Best Student’ under the PwD (People with Disabilities) category, in the state of Johor.
Nadeera first made waves at Malaysia Fashion Week Runway in 2018 when she took the stage as a differently abled model. Following her runway stint, she was interviewed by e-retailer Zalora during which she said she wanted to inspire people with disabilities to be part of the fashion industry.
She is also a participant of the Miss Amazing Malaysia 2020/2021, a beauty pageant for differently abled women, alongside seven other differently abled contestants. The contest consists of seminars and workshops that are part of the core module that the contestants need to complete while competing against each other. The winner will be announced between March and April next year.
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Posted on 19th October 2020