Visually impaired mum with seven children finally earns her PhD

SHAH ALAM: Being visually impaired with her right eye severely myopic and the vision in her left eye deteriorating, has not dampened Norhayati Sambak's spirit to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in accounting.

Norhayati, 52, a mother of seven, said despite taking six years, she was grateful to be able to complete her studies in accounting at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

As a lecturer at UiTM Kelantan, she said her children and husband were the ones who pushed her in the pursuit for a PhD.

"I would be lying if the thought of giving up never crossed my mind. I even felt like selling my land to repay the scholarship I received.

"It even reached a point where I felt like there was no direction because there were no results. Thankfully, I had supervisors who were very supportive," Norhayati told reporters after the university's 93rd convocation ceremony held at Dewan Agung Tuanku Canselor UiTM, here, today.

Norhayati said the hurdles, however, did not diminish her dream of getting a PhD.

Due to her eyesight problem, she was forced to use reading lenses to get through her daily life when her left eye suffered from retinal detachment.

"Last year, after completing my PhD, I had to undergo two surgeries on my left eye. I lost the function of my right eye 10 years ago, so I was dependent on my left eye.

"Perhaps I was too dependent on the left eye that it was badly affected," said Norhayati who has written two books related to finance.

Meanwhile, police officer, ASP Abang Faisal Yaman, 54, who is the Basic/Advanced Training branch head at the Kota Kinabalu Pulapol in Sabah, said he was grateful to finally receive his PhD in corporate management after seven years.

Besides support from his friends, Abang Faisal's strong desire to don the Tudor bonnet was what drove him to pursue his doctorate.

"If you want to pursue a PhD, you need to be good at managing your time and to find a 'turning point' to stay motivated.

"I would ensure that each day, two hours be allocated for studying. If assigned to go outstation, I would bring along my laptop as this gadget was my life. I couldn't afford to leave home without it," he said.

The father of two said he hoped his determination in pursuing his PhD would motivate his friends and children to continue studying to the highest level.

Earlier, Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin presented the Doctor of Philosophy, master and bachelor's degrees to 1,124 UiTM graduates on the second day of the convocation.

-- BERNAMA