By Najmi Mamat
GOMBAK, 28 November 2019: It must have been be a joyful day for parents to see their children went up on stage, but for Ibrahim Mahmud, 60, it turned out to be a different experience after receiving the scroll on behalf of his late son, Mohd Aqmal, 24, who passed away in October due to stage four lymphoma.
Mohd Aqmal was the recipient of the posthumous degree at the fifth session of the 35th IIUM Convocation Ceremony on Monday (25 November).
He finished his undergraduate studies in the Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences (KENMS) before starting his internship with Proton Holdings, a few months ago in Shah Alam.
Receiving the scroll from Her Excellency Dr. Merve Safa Kavakci, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, Ibrahim said he never missed a day to pay a visit to his youngest son’s grave. He described Mohd Aqmal as one who refused to be burdensome to his parents.
“Whenever he plans to travel to hometown, he definitely will use his own money he raised to buy the flight ticket,” he said, adding that “Aqmal was rarely admitting that he had enough pocket money while in fact, he was broke.”
“Mom, dad, I have no chance to pay your deeds and kindness.” There were the last words uttered by Mohd Aqmal before he was pronounced dead at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Hospital Umum Sarawak on 7 October, according to Ibrahim.
Asked on his character, the sister, Aaina Aqilah Ibrahim, 31, said, during his lifetime, Mohd Aqmal was known as someone who was cheerful and he never put co-curriculum participation as his excuse to not give his best commitment to studies.
“His dancing club members did mention that despite all his busy schedule with dance training, he never missed to bring along his assignments or books to the dancing studio,” Aaina told IIUMToday.
She said Aqmal had planned to continue working with Proton Holdings as he was offered a permanent position there after he went back to Kuching in September and complained about his back pain and headache to the family. At first the family thought it was a normal illness.
According to Aaina, the family was informed about the stage four status after Mohd Aqmal passed away.
Mohd Aqmal, who was graduating from Business Administration, was an active campus dancer from IIUM Nafastari Club, under the supervision of the Centre for International Islamic Culture (CiTRA). ***
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