GEORGE TOWN: A mother’s love and sacrifice for her partially blind daughter was handsomely rewarded when the student scored 2As and 2A- in her STPM.
Chew Sui Teng, 21, thanked her mother for her sacrifices which helped her to obtain the remarkable result. She got A for Economy and History, and A- for General Studies and Business Studies.
She was named the state’s Best Student with Special Need (Braille) by the state Education Department.
Her mother Ching Siew Yeang, 53, said she only wanted the best for her daughter, who was born partially blind, and did not pressure her to study.
“My husband and I sent her to a normal primary school in Weld Quay from Year One to Year Four. She found difficulty in coping with her studies and we decided to send her to a special school in Alma, Bukit Mertajam.
“There, she retook her Year Three and continued her studies until Year Six in the special school,” said the housewife.
Ching added that she and Sui Teng would wake up at 5.30am and be dropped off by her lorry driver husband at the ferry terminal where they would board a ferry to the mainland before taking two buses to reach the special school which was about 30km away from their home in Chew Jetty, Weld Quay.
“I would then wait for her to finish school and accompany her back home.
“We normally reached home around 5pm,” she said, adding the sacrifice was worth it.
Sui Teng said she was grateful to everyone who helped her along the way especially her family, teachers and friends as without them, she would not have succeeded.
“Being partially blind is definitely a challenge but I tell myself not to let that be a stumbling block.
“I would always do my best, pay attention in class and work hard. Most importantly is not to give up,” she said when met at the St George’s Girls School in Macalister Road yesterday.
Sui Teng’s ambition is to be a teacher so that she could help those who are also visually impaired.
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