Poor vision and autism no barrier for students
JOHOR BARU: Visual impairment is no barrier for SMK Sultan Ismail student Debbie Lim Huey Chih who achieved straight As in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations.
Due to a genetic disorder, she lost 90% of her sight when she was just eight but it did not deter her from giving her best and scoring 7A+ and 2As.
The 18-year-old said attending classes was a challenge but her teachers were very understanding while her classmates read out loud to her while she jotted down her notes.
“At home, I study with the help of a magnifying device and during exams, I was allowed to bring the device into the examination hall,” she said at the award ceremony for SPM students at the state Education Department here yesterday.
Lim, the eldest of two siblings, manages her stress by playing the piano and singing.
Daughter to a remisier and a housewife, she hopes to undergo visual corrective surgery soon and aspires to be a gynaecologist.
In PENANG, autistic student George Lee Kean Yan was elated after obtaining 2As, saying he had never allowed his disability to stop him from doing his best.
A student of SMK Jelutong, he scored As in English and Mathematics, 4B+ in Bahasa Malaysia, Pendidikan Moral, History and Chemistry.
He also scored 3bs for additional Mathematics, Physics and Biology.
Kean Yan, who aspires to be either a designer or a dentist, loves drawing comics during his free time.
“My friends were very helpful. We seldom compete but instead, we always help out each other,” he said, adding that he only studied for an hour daily but did a lot of past year questions.
“I studied to understand my lessons and not to memorise. I did not expect anything. I just did my best.
“It can be very pressuring when we set a target, especially in examinations,” he said yesterday.