By Azman Zakaria dan Nurul Amiraa Mohamed Rafic
SERDANG, Oct 27- Despite not having normal legs and hands and difficulty to be mobile, Suhazli Muhamad, 26, was persistent in his studies and successfully graduated with a Master of Software Engineering at the 42nd Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Convocation Ceremony, today.
Suhazli, 26, from Ketereh, Kelantan, has never thought of his physical disability as a barrier that hinders him from learning and hopes that his success will motivate other disabled people to succeed in education and life.
"My mother carried me around since I was a baby until I entered the elementary school. My teacher told me to enroll in a special school, but I refused as I wanted to be in a regular school.
"To prove that physical disability is not a deterrent for anyone, I was determined to work hard and sacrifice as much time and energy as possible to ensure that I am at par with other normal individuals," he said.
Suhazli, the youngest of eight siblings, said he only started to use a wheelchair when he entered Form One in Ketereh and learned to be independent while he was away from his family when pursuing his studies at Tangkak Matriculation College in Johor.
"I had a big dream that one day I would be wearing a convocation robe, lined with two straps, and it turns out that the dream becomes a reality today.”
"Never give up on anything and proper time management between activities and learning are my principles," he said.
He added that he had faced many challenges especially when he was away from his family.
"There is no doubt that physical disability limits daily life movements, but we must remain strong and challenge ourselves to achieve our ambitions," he said who is currently working as an Information Technology officer at the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), the Prime Minister's Department for the past 10 months.
According to him, throughout his studies at UPM, his friends had helped him a lot at the hostel, and they had also spent their time reviewing lessons with him.
He expressed his appreciation and thanked UPM for the services and good gestures in providing him with a van that had helped him commute easily from the hostel to the faculty daily to attend lectures. - UPM
