Mon 18 Aug 2008
From TheStar Online:
http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/8/18/north/1822960&sec=north
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Nothing to stop her from fulfilling her dream
By PRISCILLA DIELENBERG
AFTER 15 years as a private art tutor for primary schoolchildren, wheelchair-bound Wong Boon Lian now hopes for a chance to experience working life outside of home.
The 35-year-old from Batu Pahat, Johor, is optimistic that her newly attained degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang would help her secure a job elsewhere.
Wong graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from the School of Humanities at the third session of USM’s 38th convocation ceremony on Friday.
“I enrolled for the distance learning course four years ago because I felt it was time for an upgrade and I wanted to improve my situation,” said Wong, whose spastic condition left both her legs and her right hand weak from birth.
She said her mother accompanied her when she had to be at the campus for three weeks each year, and they put up at the university hostel.
“I had some very helpful course mates. My family and friends were all supportive and the USM environment was friendly for students with disabilities,” she said.
Wong’s parents, lorry driver Wong Pak Yang, 63, and housewife Wan Siew Kee, 55, came with her by bus.
“We are not well educated and are very happy to see our eldest child graduate through her own efforts and determination.
“She had always been the most studious and ambitious of our three children,” said Wan, who has a younger son and daughter, both in their 30s.
Other than the convocation ceremony, the annual expo attracted a large crowd.
Among the young entrepreneurs were Biological Science students Norhayati Abu, 20, and Nurhayati Basharuddin, 19, who operated a stall selling mini muffins, chocolate cupcakes, chocolate fudge cakes and banana cakes.
Norhayati, from Pendang in Kedah, said the cakes were made by her sister Sarimah, 40.
The two girls had set up their stall in the main food area on the first day of the convocation but found that people were less likely to buy their cakes after a full meal.
“We shifted away to the snacks area and business picked up,” said Norhayati.














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