Education during this pandemic has not been made easy despite the online learning method, but when there’s a will, there’s a way.
Recently, a 70-years-old man from Johor Bahru had defied all odds and proved that despite his age, anything can be achieved as long as we work hard for it.
The man, Dr Abdul Rahim Ramli managed to complete his doctorate and obtained a Doctoral Diploma from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Skudai, Johor.
He achieved this success as a patient with hypertension and diabetes.
His plan to study for a doctorate started 6 years back when he was already diagnosed with the illnesses, but with the encouragement of his wife and his children, he decided to accept the challenge and went to class again for his research in urban and community planning, which is his passion.
“It was absolutely challenging as my research had to involve fieldwork, and I had to allocate my time for both my work and my research,” he explained and also revealed that worked as a part-time lecturer in a polytechnic university until 2019, following his retirement in 2006.
His son, Prof. Ir. Dr Sharul Kamal Abdul Rahim, who is also the teaching staff in UTM has always been his moral support during his journey in obtaining the PhD.
Dr Abdul Rahim also said that the motivation started to kick in when he noticed that most of his colleagues are also PhD holders and professors, reported BERNAMA. After 6 years of putting effort into his studies, he received his PhD at the university’s 64th Convocation ceremony on 11 December (Saturday). To date, he is the oldest graduate of UTM.
Words of advice
A father of 3 and a grandfather to 9, Dr Abdul Rahim also shared a piece of advice for the youth to not waste their time and to constantly challenge themselves out of their comfort zones.
“The youth must not miss the opportunity to study. They shouldn’t be too preoccupied with entertainment and earning big salaries to the extent they lose the interest in continue to seek knowledge.”
We would like to extend our congratulations to Dr Abdul Rahim Ramli who, despite his age and condition, for proving to the world that nothing will deter one’s commitment as long as there’s a will.
