Meet Teacher Raj

Teacher Raj is a successful social entrepreneur, an educational revolutionist and a social activist. For over 23 years working for the underprivileged Teacher Raj is now leading the NGO and Social Enterprises of SOLS.

He began his career at 17 years old, co-founding an NGO in Cambodia to provide free education and personal development to Cambodian youth.

He is currently running the top Green Energy startup in Malaysia invested by Petronas & Silicon Valley 500 startups.

TR is a multi-award-winning humanitarian. Through SOLS Foundation, he has designed and implemented education and community development programs for entire communities. He has tapped into his innate entrepreneurial strengths to pioneer the concept of blending the worlds of social service (NGO) and entrepreneurship.

In 2010, he set up SOLS Impact organisations, from a start-up stage to a multi-million Ringgit organisation within nine months. SOLS Impact Organizations focuses on four sectors, Education, Technology, Mental Health and Renewable Energy, all of which play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of life of people transcending race, gender, culture and age.

Most recently he was appointed as Advisor and Council member to the Prime Minister of Malaysia on Digital Economy and 4IR (2023), he has won the prestigious Best Sustainability Leader award (2018) by EUmcci.

He was the first and only Malaysian awarded the Ford Fellows (2015), with an International fellowship program at Colombia University & YALE, New York as well as being elected Deputy Lab Leader for the Ministry of Defence Malaysia National Service Programme 2.0 (PLKN) (2015).

His life’s mission is to create a platform for all those who want to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. He firmly believes that serving and educating others can be made into a way of life that anyone can and should assume. This belief manifests in his propensity to share knowledge and actively engage in his personality as a Teacher-Leader and mentor.

SOLS 24/7 & SOLS Foundation represents his vision for this belief. It is a focusing lens, that collects the talent, hard work and raw passion of hundreds of individuals, refines them in  the forge of his leadership then directs this remarkable energy at underprivileged communities.

Notable Work Experiences

  • More than 23 years experience of setting up and running grassroot NGO, tax exempted foundation and impact organization (startup) activities.
  • Founded SOLS 24/7 Timor Leste in November 2006 and SOLS 24/7 Malaysia in November 2007.
  • Currently serving as Founder & CEO of SOLS Foundation and SOLS Impact Organizations.
  • SOLS Foundation is a tax-exempt foundation with programmes nationwide.
  • SOLS Impact Organizations runs businesses that address renewable energy, technology and education. Uses social enterprise model applying commercial business strategies to maximise improvements in human and environmental well-being.
  • Founder and CEO of SOLS Energy. and Charge Singh. SOLS Energy is a Green Technology startup and renewable energy specialist operating in Malaysia. We are the No.1 Home Solar company in Malaysia. We have been invested by Petronas and silicon valley: 500 Startups. Over 1400+ Customers and deployed over 10MV, helping Malaysians save over RM 7+ million annually on their TNB Bills
  • Founder and CEO of SOLS SMART, the corporate arm of SOLS 24/7 Malaysia. SOLS SMART provides scholarship implementation and management to corporations and foundations as well as corporate training to corporations and government agencies.
  • Founder and CEO of SOLS Edu and SOLS Tech. The technology arm of SOLS 24/7. “Technology and solutions for the poor”, enabling thousands of underserved individuals access to online learning and ownership of computers and technology.
  • Founder of ngohub.asia and SOLS Health. Pioneering Mental Health in Malaysia and ‘The NGO Hub’ A first of its kind online NGO platform in Asia. ngohub.asia.

Early Life & Achievements

One of the most successful social entrepreneurs in Malaysia, educational revolutionist and social activist, Teacher Raj Ridvan Singh began his career amid the social and financial poverty of Cambodia in the late 90’s. As a 14-year old, Teacher Raj experienced sacrifice, selling his material possessions as he co-founded an NGO, SOLS 24/7 Cambodia, to provide free education and personal development to Cambodian youth. By the age of 17 and becoming the youngest Microsoft Computer System Engineer in ASEAN, Teacher Raj once again faced the choice of continuing his successful career in Malaysia or sacrificing financial comfort for the life of a social worker.

With spirituality and a strong social activist background governing his decision, Teacher Raj left the comforts of Malaysia and returned to Cambodia, before heading to Timor Leste during a time of civil war to found and run SOLS 24/7 Timor Leste. His innate business skills and continuous activism guided him through the challenges of setting up and running an education based NGO, helping it grow to become the largest non-formal education provider in the country.

After returning to Malaysia, and now with more than 20 years in the social service sector, Teacher Raj started tax-exempted, humanitarian organization, SOLS 24/7 Malaysia and began tapping into his entrepreneurial strengths to pioneer the concept of blending the worlds of social service (NGO) and entrepreneurship. 300,000+ individuals have benefitted from SOLS 24/7’s programmes and projects and it has grown into one of the leading and most innovative NGOs in Malaysia.

In 2010, he set up SOLS Social Enterprises, from start-up stage to a multi-million Ringgit organization within nine months. SOLS Social Enterprises focuses on four sectors, Education, Technology, Mental Health and Renewable Energy, all which play a crucial role enhancing the quality of life of people transcending race, gender, culture and age.

Year 2018 till 2023
  • Advisor and council member to the Prime Minister of Malaysia on Digital Economy and 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution) (2023)
  • In December 2018 Teacher Raj was chosen by AUGUSTMAN for Men of the Year 2018: Education.
  • At the Europa Awards for Sustainability 2018 Teacher Ras was awarded Best Sustainability Leader.
  • Winner – Community Champions of the Astro Uruthunai Award (2018).
  • Father of two children, whom he adores.
Years 2010 till 2017
  • Social Entrepreneur of the Year, SME & Entrepreneurship Business Awards 2017.
  • Speaker at the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovations for Development (APEID) – 2016
  • First Malaysian to be selected for the International Ford Motor Company Fellowship, Columbia University, New York. (2015)
  • Awarded Golden Globe Tigers Summit NGO Leader Award – 2015.
  • Finalist Commonwealth Youth Worker Award- 2014
Years 2000 till 2010
  • In 2009, he setup two state-of-the-art ICT Labs for the National University of Timor Leste, fully funded by USAID.
  • Received a letter of praise and support from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and President of Timor Leste, Dr Jose Ramos Horta for SOLS 24/7′s efforts in Timor Leste in July 2009.
  • Winner of the KLue Blue Chilli Award Malaysia 2008.
  • Presented the Youth Social Enterprise Fellowship by YSEI in 2006.
  • The Youth & ICT Award-2005 by Global Knowledge Partnership.
  • Awarded the YouthActionNet Award-2004 by International Youth Foundation.
  • Certified Microsoft Systems Engineer at the age of 17, youngest in ASEAN.
  • Represented ASEAN, Malaysia and Cambodia in several distinguished international conferences in Malaysia, Tunisia, Argentina, Sri Lanka, USA, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia. Plenary speaker at several of these conferences presenting on youth related issues and sharing his work experience in implementing sustainable socio-economic development programs for poor urban and rural communities.