FOR all who knew her as well as a citizenry galvanised by her example, it is indeed tragic that a beacon of hope as bright as Arfa Karim Randhawa has been extinguished. The child prodigy became at the age of nine the world's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional. In Pakistan, she was presented the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of science and technology and the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award; she was the youngest person ever to be awarded the President's Award for Pride of Performance. A source of inspiration for thousands, young Arfa's ascendant star was cut short by cardiac arrest in December, leading to her death in Lahore on Saturday night. How far she touched the lives of strangers can be gauged from the fact that her funeral procession in her ancestral village of Ramdewali, near Faisalabad was attended by a large number of peo-ple who had never met her.

The Sindh government has announced that the IT Media City in Karachi will be renamed in the 16-yearold's honour. Yet it would be disrespectful to her memory if we were to go no further than that. Arfa's talent is a testament to the unexplored, unrecognised abilities that lie within millions of Pakistan's young people potential that needs to be tapped. When young people are mentioned in the news, it is often in the context of crime or terrorism, the lack of job opportunities or frustrated hope. This needs to change so that exemplary stories such as Arfa's can come to light, and young people are given the space and opportunity to develop their abilities. Annual talent hunts in various fields of endeavour would provide an obvious route. We must not forget that this is a country in dire need of role models with whom young people can identify.