SERDANG: In a heartfelt tribute to his teacher, Dr Maszlee Malik today revealed his 30-year-old ambition to become a minister.
Pausing repeatedly as he was overcome with emotion, Maszlee spoke about how he was inspired by Ustaz Sakijan Muri and the challenges that he had faced in realising his dream.
“To a teacher who ignited a 15-year-old’s hope to become a minister, who himself had never passed an exam,” Maszlee said at Education Mandate 2019 at Universiti Putra Malaysia, here, today.
“He would only start school at the age of 18 and took Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia and Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia until he completed his studies at Universiti Malaya, then became a teacher.”
Maszlee said Sakijan had encouraged his students to question everything, including religion.
“Ustaz was the first person to teach me how to apply High Order Thinking Skills before it was introduced in the syllabus.
“Thank you for everything Ustaz,” he said smiling to Sakijan who was seated in the front row with his wife.