Chinese woman earns Maulidur Rasul award for raising adopted daughter as Muslim

Focus

By HAJAR UMIRA MD ZAKI

09 Oct 2022 04:08pm

Twenty years ago, Chee Hoi Lan took the proverbial road less travelled. She adopted an abandoned Muslim baby girl -- whom she named Rohana Abdullah -- and decided to raise her as a Muslim.

SHAH ALAM -- Raising an adopted child alone is never easy, even more so when one needs to cautiously skirt around the fine lines of race and religion.

For most, raising such a child in accordance to their tradition, culture and religion -- regardless of the child's innate ethnicity -- is a no-brainer.

But Chee Hoi Lan -- an 83-years-old retired kindergarten teacher -- did not do so.

Twenty years ago, she took the proverbial road less travelled.

She adopted an abandoned Muslim baby girl -- whom she named Rohana Abdullah -- and decided to raise her as a Muslim.

And it was a path that, today, led to her earning Malaysia's Perdana Maulidur Rasul Award -- an award usually given to Malaysian Muslims for their contribution to the country.

"I am so happy to receive this award," the wheelchair-bound Chee spoke with utmost gratefulness after recieving the award at the National Maulidur Rasul Celebration from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah at the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Center, today.

She was also given the title the 'True Mother of the Malaysian Family Icon.'

Besides Chee, The Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) Chairman, Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir was also awarded the Perdana Maulidur Rasul Grand this year.

He said the award eventually motivated him to carry out his challenging tasks better.

"I really like practicing corporate preaching and with this award, my other corporate friends and I will use the existing platform to do good in the company and the surrounding community," said the Kota Bharu-born.

The other five recipients of the Perdana Maulidur Rasul Award were Universiti Malaya Civilization Dialogue Center Director Datuk Dr Azizan Baharudin, TV3 and TV9 Executive Producer (Islamic Content) Ahmad Noor Sulaiman and ZIKAY Foundation Chairman Mohd Khay Ibrahim.

Other recipients were humanitarian activist and motivational speaker Shazrina Azman or better known as Mizz Nina and registered counselor Hushim Salleh.