KOTA KINABALU: A mother held back tears upon hearing her late daughter's name being called at the 23rd Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) convocation ceremony here this morning.
Cheng Lak Mooi, 65, received the scroll on behalf of her daughter Ng Yi Ming, 35, from the Sabah Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.
Ng, a recipient of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) high-level degree in psychology, died from heart related problems last year.
"Before receiving a PhD in psychology at UMS, my daughter received a Bachelor's Degree Honours in Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the same varsity.
"Besides that, she is also the recipient of a Master of Science in Child Developmental Psychology from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)," she said.
Cheng said the family is proud of Ng's high achievement despite her poor health condition.
She said her daughter had undergone valve replacement surgery in September 2014 and after the operation, Ng often suffered from heart palpitations.
"She breathed her last on Feb 21 last year after over 20 years of suffering from 'mitral valve prolapse'," she added.
"She had made her presentation on Jan 21 last year before being given three months to correct the thesis.
"She did it despite having to face poor health", she said.