By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : A Malaysian Indian youth who visited 11 Indian universities is to resume next week his global education project that was cut short by a mugging incident in Tehran.
V. Vighneswaran embarks on his 12-month tour of 93 universities in 69 countries Sunday next, The Star said Wednesday.
He was robbed of US$500 cash and his passport April, forcing him to return home.
“I was mugged by three youths after visiting a university in Teheran. I had no choice but to return to Malaysia to get a replacement passport,” he said, adding that he would continue with his mission June 1.
Vighneswaran had already visited 23 universities – 11 in India, two in Nepal, two in the United Arab Emirates and eight in Iran – when he was mugged.
While in Goa, India, Vighneswaran met Goa Institute of Management dean P. Mirchandani.
Among the universities he visited were Anna University, Madras Medical College and Manipal Medical College in India; University of Management in Kathmandu, Nepal; Dubai School of Government and American University of Sharjah in UAE; and Iran University of Science and Technology, Sharif University of Technology, University of Tehran, Shahid Behesti University and Shiraz University in Iran.
The project is sponsored by Putera (youth wing) Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the party that has traditionally spoken for Malaysia’s estimated 2.6 million Indian community.
Vighneswaran, who is pursuing a doctorate in economics at Universiti Malaya, said he had received encouraging response from the universities he had visited.
The Malaysian Global Ambassador Project, which was launched January by Putera MIC, is aimed at creating a world-class higher education system in Malaysia.
On the completion of the project, a working paper on the world’s top ranked universities will be presented to the Higher Education Ministry, Vighneswaran said.