By Syafiah Sakirin
KUALA LUMPUR, 12 October 2022: Chee Hoi Lan’s love in raising an adopted daughter as a Muslim led to her receiving a National Maulidur Rasul Award 1444 Hijrah/2022 AD, thus earning the title of “Mother of the Malaysian Family Icon”.
The award was granted by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah at the National Maulidur Rasul Celebration Ceremony 1444 Hijrah/2022 AD at the World Trade Center on Sunday (9 October).
The 83-year-old retired kindergarten teacher who raised Rohana Abdullah, 20, since she was an abandoned two-year-old baby until now has received the attention of the community and the government over of her sincere motherly love in caring for and educating the girl despite their difference in religion and race.
The wheelchair-bound Chee expressed her utmost gratefulness and joyfulness as the award is commonly awarded to Muslims due to their contribution to Malaysia.
“I am extremely delighted to receive this award,” she said at the event.
On January, the issue of Rohana’s citizenship attracted the attention of Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who had contacted her to assist with her documentation.
Rohana was reportedly abandoned when she was two-month-old by her biological mother, an Indonesian citizen, and was cared for by Chee, who was a teacher at a kindergarten where she worked as a cleaner.
She managed to pursue her computer science study at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) with the help of the Minister of Home Affairs of Malaysia, Hamzah Zainudin, who granted her Malaysian citizenship status.***