KUCHING: Dayangku Aishah Awang Taha was born blind and never had a sight of this colourful world. Such disability, however, was never a stumbling for Aishah from pursuing her dreams to become a teacher or counsellor.
And she is few steps closer in achieving her dreams when she scored 3As and 1Bs for her Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examination result.
Her humble achievement had also been delightful news for her school, SMK Batu Lintang here, on Monday.
"I always believed education is for everybody. I also believed that my disability should not become the hindrance for me do well in my studies and from pursuing my dreams.
"What I am lacking has become the motivation for me to work harder than others,” said Aishah.
Aishah said she is the youngest among six siblings and the only children with disability in her family.
"My parents and siblings have always been caring and loving. They have given numerous encouragement in whatever I wanted to do which make me feel like that I am not different from others,” she told the New Straits Times.
Aishah, who was currently in Kuala Lumpur, said she did not expect to obtain such a result and said that her family was overwhelmed by it.
"Although I can't collect the result slip from the school, I am forever indebted to my teachers and friends for their endless supports," adding that her family was given the good news by the schools' principle.
Asked on her future plan, Aishah said she has decided to study in the country to stay close with her family. Among her top choices are Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) where they have better facilities for those with disability.
"My father has retired and my mother is a housewife. Therefore, I hoped I can get some scholarship and study in the local university, which will not burden my parents.
"I really wanted to further my studies in counselling or teaching in Pendidikan Khas.
"I wanted to inspire those with disabilities to not give up and soldier on. We can be same as others if we want to," she stressed.
Meanwhile, school principle Saftuyah Adenan said Aishah realised she needed to be more hardworking than others due to her disability and that she was very eager to learn about new things.
"Although her SPM result two years ago was average, she was doing and improving very well in Form Six. We are confident with her and she didn't disappoint us. Her (STPM) result surpassed our expectation.
"She makes SMK Batu Lintang proud and we feel the same for her achievement," she added.
History teacher Christina Chai described Aishah as a determined and motivated student, which impressed most of the teachers.
"She is very clear with what she wants and what she should do in order to reach her targets, which impressed us as her teachers. She is very discipline and planned things earlier," said Chai.