Compiled by KHOO JIAN TENG, C.ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
FOR most five-year-olds, a trip to the top of Alor Setar Tower may be a simple family outing, but for Mohammad Ammar Iffat Mohd Nizam, it has become the dream that keeps him going through nine-hour dialysis sessions every night.
Mohammad Ammar first told his mother, Fatin Nur Atiqah Zaidan, about his wish after spotting the illuminated tower from the window of Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah during a prolonged stay last October.
“He would pull a chair to the window, stand on it and stare at the lights. He kept telling me, ‘When I leave the hospital, let’s go up the tower,’” Fatin said, Kosmo! reported.
The second of three siblings, he was diagnosed with bilateral Wilms tumour, a rare cancer affecting both kidneys, when he was just 11 months old. He underwent surgery to remove two tumours, followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and was eventually declared cancer-free.
However, the treatment left one kidney completely non-functional while the other operated at only about half its capacity.
> When Norfatiha Toilah first saw a woman driving a Rapid KL bus four years ago, she knew she had found her calling, according to Berita Harian.
Today, the 38-year-old mother of two is proudly behind the wheel as a Rapid KL bus captain, proving that heavy vehicle driving is no longer a profession reserved just for men.
Norfatiha admitted the greatest sacrifice has been spending time away from her children, aged five and one.
As her work begins as early as 3.30am, her children stay with their grandmother in Sabak Bernam, and she only gets to see them once a week.
“I want women to know they should not be afraid to pursue this career. With proper training, anyone can become a capable and responsible bus captain,” she said.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
