24 MARA-sponsored IKM teaching staff graduate

KUANTAN, 19 March 2022 - Four years of commuting from Melaka to Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) Pekan on a journey of almost 482 kilometres each week is not an easy matter.

However, that was what a group of 25 teaching staff from Institut Kemahiran MARA (IKM) faced in order to obtain their degrees.

The bittersweet experiences they had to go through, along with their increasing age, almost made them not finish their studies.

Recalling those moments, one of the staff, Zulkifli Sayuti, 49, said that during the period, he went through three death occasions that broke his heart.

The loss of his beloved father due to stroke almost made him give up, especially when he could not partake in his father’s funeral ritual because he was sitting for an examination at UMP.

“This almost made me give up because I was upset about not being able to accompany Allahyarham during his last moments.

“I only had time to look after him for three years, but such is Allah’s will, when my father breathed his last, I was not by his side.

“Not long after, my father-in-law died of intestinal cancer.

“These two events wrenched my heart, but my best friend, Rosli Khamis, encouraged me to keep going.

“However, who would have thought that he would be taken away from us due to a road accident on his way back to Johor Bahru after attending a class at UMP in our second year of study here,” he lamented.

Zulkifli, who was met while receiving his Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Manufacturing Engineering at the 15th UMP Convocation Ceremony at Dewan Jubli Perak Sultan Ahmad Shah, said yesterday that he and his friend shed tears after every sacrifice they made was finally rewarded when they successfully obtained their degrees.

“We are very grateful to Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) for their willingness to fully sponsor our learning here and their encouragement so that the IKM teaching staff have a degree.

“Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is no longer a third class education because here students with certificates and diplomas can continue their studies at the degree level at the university, in fact TVET students are also more experienced since they have been supplied with hands-on knowledge,” he said.

By: Shalfarina Shahriman, UMP Press

Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology