KK & Sabah News-Flash

UUM Student Graduates Despite Disability

Harziah Khalid Yunus graduated from the main campus of the University Utara Malaysia (UUM) in Sintok, Saturday.  Despite her disability (being visually-impaired), she graduated with First Class Honors with a degree of Bachelor of Business Administration one year ahead of schedule.  During her years as a student, she was a Dean’s Lister for five consecutive semesters, obtaining a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 3.70.

Haziah’s family is from Putatan, a suburb in Kota Kinabalu.  The second of five children, she had to stop attending regular primary school (Year One) because her teachers were not trained to teach blind students.  However, when she was 10 years old, her mother, Norziba Majid, was encouraged by a friend to enroll her disabled child at the Sekolah Rendah Pendidikan Khas Pekan Tuaran and that restarted Harziah’s academic journey.  Her excellent results in Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) was the reason why she was accepted at UUM.

In university, Harziah was active in her studies and co-curricular activities.  She was one of the representatives of UUM at the National Young Entrepreneurs Summit in 2015 and was a volunteer of the National Council for the Blind Malaysia.  During Saturday’s ceremony, she was awarded the UUM Vice-Chancellor Gold Award, given by the new chancellor of the university, the Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Sallehuddin Sultan Badlishah.

There are many people that Harziah is grateful to.  First on the list is her mother, who singlehandedly raised Harziah and her four other siblings while operating a small store in Putatan.

Harziah is currently working on a temporary basis at the Kota Kinabalu City Council but is hopeful that she will attain her dream job someday as some employers are still not keen to hire people with her kind of condition.

UMS Graduate Reaches Dream Amidst Tragedies

Rohany Gabi was one of the 1,876 students who graduated from the 19^th Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) convocation Sunday.  When she walked on stage on crutches and with a splint on her leg to receive her scroll from vice-chancellor Datuk Prof Dr D Kamaruddin D Mudin, the auditorium was filled with applause and cheers.

When she was 12 years old, Rohany was diagnosed with bone cancer.  One of her femur (thighbones) had to be removed that’s why she is on crutches.  She started her treatment, including chemotherapy, but cancer cells were detected on her lungs.  She refused to give up and in 2013, was declared cancer-free.

Rohany is the youngest of six children and is from the poor and remote village of Kampung Samalang in Keningau.  She lost both her father and brother in two separate accidents while she was still struggling with her health condition but this made her even more determined to be successful.  She wanted to finish college in honor of her late father and brother.

Marching on stage to receive her scroll, graduating with honors with a degree in Bachelor of Social Science (History) was a dream come true.  There were many people that she was grateful to, including the UMS for the financial assistance while she was still studying and her family and lecturers for pushing her on.  She is all set to start working on her ambition to become a motivator.