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For many Malaysians studying overseas, food becomes the quickest way to feel close to home. For Ganeisraaj Kathiravan, it became a way to introduce Malaysia to hundreds of people abroad.
At 23, the Sabahan from Tawau is completing his final semester in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Technische Universität Dortmund in Germany.
But behind the degree, startup plans and cheerful plates of Nasi Lemak is a journey shaped by sacrifice, resilience and a promise to keep making his late mother proud.
From Tawau to Germany
Ganeisraaj studied at SM St. Patrick in Tawau until Form 3. His PT3 results, co curricular achievements and experience representing Sabah in badminton later earned him a place at the Royal Military College.
There, he balanced military training with academics before scoring 7A+ and 2As in SPM. He received scholarship offers from Bank Negara Malaysia and Shell, but chose JPA because it allowed him to pursue Machine Learning and AI in Germany.
Yet the achievement came during the most painful period of his life. Ganeisraaj lost his mother on the eve of his SPM and had to sit for an examination paper the following day.
“I had to find the mental strength to sit my papers with barely enough sleep, carrying a grief that no words can describe. I pulled through, and I truly believe it was her blessings that carried me here,” he told WeirdKaya.
His years at the Royal Military College also taught him to lead under pressure. As a Junior Under Officer, he was responsible for his company’s academic and co curricular performance.
The phrase “serve to lead” stayed with him when he later moved thousands of kilometres from Sabah to Germany and had to build a life without his usual support system.
Even during difficult periods, he made himself one promise: finish what he started.
That same determination later followed him into entrepreneurship. While studying, he co founded TAPAUU, a prepaid meal wallet platform that helps students access discounted campus meals while giving participating vendors more predictable demand.
Building TAPAUU from Germany meant coordinating across time zones, paying expenses from his student budget and spending nights researching. Still, Ganeisraaj said the experience taught him to let data guide decisions.
Bringing Malaysia to TU Dortmund
The idea for the Malaysian booth began two months before TU Dortmund’s summer festival. Ganeisraaj gathered Malaysian friends from different backgrounds, planned the menu and prepared to run what he described as the university’s first Malaysian booth.
A week before the event, two team members carried enough groceries for around 200 portions. Cooking began two days earlier, while packaging was sourced online to keep costs manageable.
Finding familiar ingredients in Germany was not easy. Anchovies were costly and did not taste quite like those back home, but the team adjusted what they could without losing the heart of each dish.
On the menu were Nasi Lemak, Aiskrim Malaysia and drinks, including Bandung and Coconut Milk flavours.
“Seeing the queue build up, watching people ask what was inside the nasi lemak and explaining how to eat everything together was incredibly satisfying. The Germans and Colombians kept returning to order again. That said everything,” he said.
He even invited visitors to smell fresh pandan leaves before tasting the food. Reaction pictures showed students from Germany, Colombia and Ghana lighting up, while one Colombian student said she wanted to move to Malaysia for the food.
More than just a food booth
For Ganeisraaj, the booth was more than a successful food stall. It was a chance for a boy from Tawau to carry Sabah and Malaysia into a space where many people had never experienced either.
He believes Malaysians overseas become informal representatives of home through every conversation, plate of food and cultural exchange.
When he returns to Malaysia in October, Nasi Lemak will be his first meal. After that, he hopes to grow TAPAUU across campuses and create more affordable meal options, particularly for students from B40 families.
On the morning of the festival, a junior pulled him aside and said he felt inspired by him. Ganeisraaj never expected those words, but they showed him the kind of legacy he wanted to leave.
His message to young Malaysians from small towns is simple: dream boldly, keep going and never let where you begin decide how far you can go.
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