Malaysian girl joins UN-backed space programme

By Kirat Kaur | MALAYSIA |

Brelveenraj Kaur Rajwant Singh has always been a curious admirer of the wonders of space, but little did she know that she would one day represent the country as the National Point of Contact (NPoC) to the United Nations-backed Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC)!

The 25-year-old, who was born in Kuantan, is one of the 13 young volunteers appointed to the council in May, which is in support of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications.

SGAC is a global non-governmental, non-profit organisation headquartered in Vienna, Austria, with over 15, 000 members representing more than 150 countries across the globe.

Brel – as she’s known by friends and family – will be part of the prestigious global network of university students and young space professionals represented to the United Nations, space agencies, industry, and academia.

As Malaysia’s NPoC, she will be communicating with other NPoCs across Asia Pacific on future space activities in our region, which include events, national newsletters, national scholarships, policy discussions and contributions to national space policy activities.

She will also be in touch with local space agencies and space enthusiasts and work closely with them with regards to the space activities in Malaysia.

Naturally, Brel is thrilled by the appointment, telling us that she came across the programme while attending the Young Professionals in Space Conference (YPinSpace) in Dubai last year. There, she met dozens of SGAC representatives from across the world and was inspired by their achievements.

“I wanted to take the challenge of a new responsibility – as long as I can inspire more people to join space-based events for the betterment of Malaysia’s space exploration in the future,” she said.

See full story, Malaysian Girl Among 13 Selected Globally To Represent Country In UN-Backed Space Programme (The Rakyat Post, 29 May 2020), here.