'Never use disability as an excuse not to achieve success'

'Never use disability as an excuse not to achieve success'

KOTA KINABALU: One must never use his or her disability as an excuse to not achieve success.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Postgraduate Award recipient Jailani Idris, who suffers from an inherited, degenerative eye disease known as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), is a firm believer of this principle.

Jailani, who just received his PhD in Curriculum and Teaching, had suffered the disease since young, leaving him with impaired vision that will eventually result on total vision loss.

"There was a time in my life when I had decided to quit and give up as it was not easy for me to pursue my studies with my condition besides the need to care for my two disabled children," he said, adding that he had to read and type his work in large fonts due to his eyesight problems.

"I did not give up. It was difficult but I did not give up. I wanted to show to my family and children that I was capable of doing it," he said.

Jailani, who had four children, also said two of his children had suffered from a medical condition known as Hydrocephalus or 'water on the brain', which is a build-up of access fluid on the brain.

He was in tears when he told the press that he lost his daughter three weeks ago to the disease, about 20 days before his convocation.

"It was a terrible experience for me because I did not know whether I should be happy going up the stage to receive my scroll. I had tears in my eyes and I'm sure it's definitely not tears of happiness.

"I wanted my late daughter to be on my side as I received my scroll because she was born when I first started with my studies. She had been there throughout my studies, too, and I expected her to be there with me during my graduation," he said.

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'Never use disability as an excuse not to achieve success'