Agnes’ story
When Agnes speaks, there’s a stillness that fills the room. Her voice is measured, clear, warm, assured. She carries the poise of someone who’s travelled many paths and made each one her own. Behind her every word is a life rich in heritage, shaped by merit, and driven by a quiet, unshakeable strength.
Agnes is the Immediate Past Master of the Worshipful Livery Company of Wales, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Gwent, and a Justice of the Peace in Merthyr Tydfil. But to truly understand who she is, you have to look beyond the titles. Her story is one of earned belonging, of leadership rooted in service, and of breaking barriers without ever needing to shout.
“If you're good at what you do, it’s very difficult for anyone to question your place,” she says. “That’s been my motto all my life.”
She was born in Malaysia, a third-generation Malaysian Indian with a Catholic Tamil background. The youngest of six children in a family that deeply valued education, she was raised to be curious and confident. Her mother was a school teacher. Her father, a Civil Servant and her greatest mentor. “He pushed me to be an all-rounder. He’d say, ‘Try it first. Only then will you know if you truly dislike it.’”
She grew up speaking English, excelling in both books and sports, and quietly developing her own unique personality. “Asian households, have aspirations for their children to be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or dentist,” she laughs. For a while, law was the plan, but she had other ideas. She was offered a role as a Locum teacher which continued beyond the initial three months to almost two years.
She was further influenced by her friends who had gone to London to nurse sending her postcards from glamorous European cities which appealed to her desire to travel and explore different cultures. Inspired, Agnes left Malaysia to pursue nursing in London, a good base for travelling. “What was meant to be short term turned into six years and became a registered nurse, midwife, a ward sister, a tutor, a nursing officer after a meteoric rise!”
But she hadn’t forgotten her dream of law. That calling eventually led her to Cardiff University to read law and return to London to specialise in maritime law.
Crossing into Wales felt like crossing into the unknown “I was a city girl from London, Wales felt different with all my friends in London, everything felt unfamiliar.” But she chose not to feel like an outsider. “I never introduced myself as ‘an Indian woman’ or ‘from Malaysia’. I’m just Agnes.”
That self-assurance, rooted not in arrogance but in authenticity, helped her quietly build a life of impact. Being brought up as an Indian Catholic and English-speaking —meant not an orthodox Indian upbringing and integration came more easily.
Today, she doesn’t just live in Wales—she shapes it.
As a community leader, magistrate, and mentor, she brings her whole self to every table she sits at. She’s an example of someone who can make Wales a place where others—especially women, migrants, and people of all nationalities —can belong without shedding who they are.
Agnes is refreshingly candid about the realities of leadership and identity. “I’m not lucky,” she says. “I am what I am because of the choices I made in life .I worked hard and excelled and It’s merit that got me here.” She believes in leading by example, not exception.
When she accepted a lifetime achievement award for ethnic minority Asians, it was with purpose. “I accepted it because I was being judged within a context I understand. Otherwise, I don’t want to be a token. I want to be valued for what I bring and achieved”
For her, inclusion is not a one-way street. “It’s a two-way process. Institutions must reach out—but communities must also step forward. You can’t be included if you don’t show an interest.”
Her presence in Welsh public life is not accidental. It’s the product of work, courage, and unwavering self-respect. “I bring a diverse skill set to the table. I’m not just filling a seat. I’m adding value.”
And that table matters.
“Having a seat at the table is important,” she says. “Because it means you can shape the conversation. Influence outcomes. Represent perspectives that might otherwise be missing.”
Fluent in English, good in Malay, some Tamil, some Chinese, but perhaps most fluently, she speaks the language of belonging. Of choosing to be part of a place while holding onto her identity.
Her advice to others trying to find their footing in a new land is honest and powerful. “Come with an open mind. Don’t bring preconceived ideas. Get involved. Learn the culture here, it’s beautiful.”
She laughs recalling how, in the early days, she rushed back to London every weekend. “I didn’t give Cardiff a chance, comparing it with London. But then it grew on me, the people, the pace, the warmth. I met and married a Welsh man and found belonging here.”
And in many ways, she is a blueprint for what belonging can look like. Not assimilation. Not tokenism. But full participation, rooted in identity and empowered by ability.
She believes deeply in the power of multiculturalism, not as a buzzword, but as a way of life. “Let’s stop focusing on what divides us. Let’s celebrate what we each bring, our languages, our food, our stories, our ways of seeing the world.”
Her message to all young women of all nationalities is bold: “Don’t wait to be invited. Step forward. Be present. Show what you’re capable of.”
Her story is not one of extraordinary exception. It’s what happens when institutions open doors and when individuals walk through them with confidence and purpose.
She isn’t just sitting at the table.
She’s driving the conversation.
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