Exclusive : Pravhilan , A Taxi Driver’s Son Is Taking Malaysia’s Voice to Paris

 From a B40 family to an international diplomacy forum in Paris, Pravhilan Gunasekaran’s journey is a reminder that where you come from does not have to determine how far you can go.

The National SMC YouthCore Leader has been selected as Malaysia’s sole representative at the Global Youth Diplomacy Forum: Paris Edition 2026, organised by the Youth Diplomatic Academy in Paris. He has also received a partially funded scholarship to attend the forum, which will bring together young leaders from more than 50 countries to discuss diplomacy, international relations, public policy and global governance.

For Pravhilan, the opportunity is especially meaningful because of where his journey began. The eldest of four siblings, he grew up in a B40 household, with his father working as a taxi driver and his mother as a housewife. Financial challenges were part of his childhood, but they never stopped him from pursuing his ambitions.

He went on to achieve 7As in his SPM and a CGPA of 3.85 in Matriculation before receiving a full scholarship from Yayasan Tunku Abdul Rahman to pursue International Relations at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). He graduated with Second Class Upper Honours.

Today, Pravhilan works as a Senior Associate in Licensing & Content Compliance at Astro, where he is involved in regulatory compliance, licensing, governance and policy implementation.

But his journey has never been only about building a career. As a National SMC YouthCore Leader, he has been actively involved in youth development and community initiatives, working with students from more than 40 Tamil schools across Malaysia. His work has included leadership camps, educational outreach programmes, Malay literacy initiatives, scholarship and university preparation workshops, as well as national educational seminars that reached around 700 students.

He has also taken part in the MyDiplomacy National Youth Roundtable Discussions, contributing to conversations about youth participation, governance and nation-building. Now, his journey is taking him beyond Malaysia.

At the Paris forum, Pravhilan will have the opportunity to engage with diplomats, ambassadors, policymakers and international affairs experts through diplomatic simulations, leadership workshops and policy discussions. More importantly, he hopes to bring the knowledge and international connections he gains back to Malaysia and use them to strengthen youth leadership and educational empowerment initiatives, particularly through SMC YouthCore.

For him, reaching Paris is more than a personal achievement. Thank you for putting Malaysia in world map and we couldn’t be prouder of your achievements. 

And perhaps the most inspiring part of Pravhilan’s journey is that he is not only carrying his own dreams to Paris, but also the hopes and voices of the young Malaysians he has spent years empowering along the way.