*EPF403 09/11/2003
Malaysian 9-11 Victim's Spirit Lives On Through Exchange Program
(Parents fund Fulbright exchange fellowship) (810)

By Nadine Leavitt Siak
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Vijayashanker Paramsothy was, by all accounts, a young man in love: he loved living in New York City; he loved rooting for "his" British soccer team, Manchester United; he loved photography; and he loved making friends from all over the world. But all that love of life was snuffed out when, on September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center while he was at work on the 103rd floor of the South Tower.

According to colleagues who survived the attack, Shanker (as he was known) was able to reach the 56th floor of his building after the first plane exploded. Once the second plane crashed into the North Tower, however, his supervisor became too injured to move. Shanker urged his colleagues to continue their evacuation, but he decided to stay on the 56th floor to assist his supervisor. Both Shanker and his supervisor perished when the Tower collapsed.

Shanker was one month shy of his 24th birthday when he died. He was one of three Malaysians who died in the terrorist attack; altogether, 2,801 people died when the World Trade Center's towers fell down in a torrent of twisted steel and ash.

To his parents, Sivapkiam Paramsothy and Navaratnam Pathmawathy, Shanker was neither one of three, nor one of thousands. He was their only child.

Shanker lives on in the memories of those who knew and loved him, and there are many such people. He had so many friends that he owned three mobile phones -- one for just calling friends in the United States, and one for just calling friends in Europe. Shanker not only connected with people, but through him, people from around the world were connected. This, his parents thought, would perhaps be Shanker's greatest legacy.

The U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Commission in Kuala Lumpur decided to establish a new annual scholarship in Shanker's name that would allow more Malaysians to pursue higher education in the United States. When his parents heard of the plan, they recognized that encouraging cross-cultural understanding was a fitting way to memorialize their son -- and that such understanding should be reciprocal. So Sivapkiam Paramsothy and Navaratnam Pathmawathy pledged a contribution of $529,000 -- $23,000 a year for 23 years -- to establish a reciprocal scholarship to bring additional American Fulbright students to Malaysia each year. The American-recipient side of the Fulbright-Vijayashanker Memorial Exchange Fellowship will begin in 2004.

At a ceremony at the State Department September 9, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Patricia Harrison presided over a ceremony to thank Shanker's parents for their donation establishing the Fulbright-Vijayashanker Memorial Exchange Fellowship.

Shanker "exemplified the spirit of the Fulbright program in his academic ability and ... with his intellectual curiosity and his interest in mutual understanding," Harrison said.

"I know this is forever going to be a very emotional time of the year for you," she continued, "but I hope that through this establishment of the Fulbright scholarship, it will also be one of promise, that fulfils your son's dream, and hope and opportunity in the lives of other people from now and in years to come...."

Paramsothy presented Harrison with a copy of his son's published biography, entitled "The Perfect Son," which she said she would place in the ECA Bureau's library. Harrison also requested, and received, an additional copy of the book to give to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In the book, Paramsothy recalls the kindness New Yorkers showed him and his wife when they came to the city to attend to the myriad details that had to be settled after Shanker's death:

"In that tragedy, my perception of Americans took an about-turn. It debunked the myth that Americans are an uncaring lot, the sort who do not proffer a helping hand. ... America, thank you very much from the bottom of our hearts, for your gestures of kindness, thoughtfulness, warmth, love, understanding an patience for it has made us understand with clarity why Shanker had chosen to broaden his horizons in America."

Among those present at the ceremony was the first Malaysian recipient of the Fulbright-Vijayashanker Memorial Exchange Fellowship, Ananthi al Ramiah, who arrived in the United States in August to begin her Ph.D. studies in economics at Georgetown University.

"I remember when I received the scholarship in Kuala Lumpur, I received it with very mixed feelings because I felt that I had in some way benefited from a very great tragedy," Al Ramiah told the gathering.

"But I have tried to think of it in a more positive light," she continued, "and hope that, through these sorts of exchange programs, we can work towards creating a world in which these tragedies don't happen."

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

Return to Public File Main Page

Return to Public Table of Contents