SERI ISKANDAR: His movements may be limited, but Mohamad Firdaus Abdul Hamid has never let his handicap stand in the way of his dream of graduating.
Mohamad Firdaus, 26, who suffered a stroke and became paralysed on the left side of his body in 2015, never gave up hope of holding the precious scroll in his hands.
“In January 2015, I suffered a stroke while waiting for the bus at the Amanjaya Terminal in Ipoh, and I was in my third year of studies,” Mohamad Firdaus, who is from Segamat, Johor, told reporters here yesterday.
As a result of that, he had to postpone his studies for three years, and only resumed them in January this year.
Yesterday, Mohamad Firdaus, his parents’ only child and a Petronas scholar, made them proud when he received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the 18th Universiti Teknologi Petronas convocation ceremony here.
His coursemate, Mohammad Aiman Haikal Roslan, 23, also received his bachelor’s degree in the same field, despite being paralysed from the waist down after he was involved in a road accident here in September 2014.
The eldest of five siblings, Mohammad Aiman said he never saw his handicap as an excuse to be less capable than other students.
“My parents always encouraged me to continue my studies while my friends helped me, such as by actually carrying me up the stairs,” Mohammad Aiman who is from Alor Setar, Kedah, said.
The convocation ceremony also saw another student Ahmad Farhan Ahmad Azhar, 23, being conferred a posthumous bachelor’s degree in the same field.
Ahmad Farhan died on Sept 15 this year from arteriovenous malformation. His brother Ahmad Redzuan, 24, accepted his scroll on his behalf.
