PETALING JAYA: Academy Award nominee Lin-Manuel Miranda has acknowledged and thanked Malaysian graduate Lisa Nur Marini Mohd Kamal, whose graduation speech went viral worldwide.
In her speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Winter Commencement ceremony, Lisa referenced Hamilton – an award-winning Broadway musical written and composed by Miranda.
"In junior year of college, listening to the Hamilton soundtrack became a coping mechanism that would get me through the day.
"The musical that was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda tells a story of an orphan and immigrant who became one of the founding fathers of America.
"I came here on a scholarship, a long way from my home in Kuala Lumpur. This opportunity to be here at the prestigious University of Wisconsin-Madison did not come easy or cost little for any of us," she said.
Miranda acknowledged Lisa's homage to him in a tweet, to which Lisa replied by posting a photo of her and her friends inside the theatre where Hamilton ws being staged in Chicago.
"Mira, Lisa, No me preocupo por ella, thank you, (Look, Lisa, I'm not worried about this girl)" Miranda tweeted on Wednesday (Dec 18).
His tweet uses a line from the song Breathe, which is from the soundtrack of In the Heights, another hit Broadway production penned by Miranda.
The clip of Lisa's speech has been viewed over 102,700 times since Monday (Dec 16).
On receiving degrees and graduating, Lisa said that; "there's everyday human experiences that give weight and substance to the certificate you are about to receive".
"Every sacrifice, every bit of energy you dragged out of you every morning, even if all you managed to do was scratch the bare minimum, you are here today, you are graduating today and I am proud of you," added Lisa.
Mira, Lisa, no me preocupo por ella... (thank YOU) https://t.co/4gAkoqbVnD — Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) December 18, 2019
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