KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 9): Retired Chinese kindergarten teacher Chee Hoi Lan on Sunday (Oct 9) received the 2022 National Maulidur Rasul Award for her sacrifices in bringing up her Muslim adoptive daughter according to the Islamic faith.
The 83-year-old earned the Ibu Sejati-Keluarga Malaysia icon award.
She had single-handedly raised Rohana Abdullah, 20, since she was two months old, garnering the public and government's attention and praise as she had brought up and cared for the girl although they belong to different religions.
Rohana is the daughter of an Indonesian woman who worked at Chee’s kindergarten and was left behind in Malaysia when her mother was forced to return to her country.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah presented the awards at this year’s National Maulidur Rasul celebration held at the World Trade Centre, here, in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's birthday.
When met by reporters after the event, the wheelchair-bound Chee replied briefly: “I am ecstatic to receive the award.”
The Perdana Maulidur Rasul Award 1444H/2022 M went to corporate figure Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Mohd Tahir, who is also a board member of the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIIWP) and chairman of its Education Committee.
Syed Zainal Abidin, 59, said the award gave him further motivation to carry out his challenging daily tasks.
"I like preaching corporate sermons and with this award, my other corporate friends and I will use the existing platform to do good in the company and the surrounding community," said the Kota Bharu-born man.
The others who received the Maulidul Rasul Award this time included Universiti Malaya Centre for Civilisation Dialogue director Professor Datuk Dr Azizan Baharudin, executive producer for Islamic content on TV3 and TV9 Ahmad Noor Sulaiman, and Yayasan ZIKAY chairman Mohd Khay Ibrahim.
The others were humanitarian activist and motivational speaker Shazrina Azman, better known as Mizz Nina, and registered counsellor Hushim Salleh.