Her pillar of strength
IF there is one thing that Dr Sophia Rasheeqa Ismail knows for sure, it is that if not for her mother, Shahriza Abdullah, she would not be the woman she is today.
“When I was in Year One in primary school, I was diagnosed with dyslexia. As there weren’t many resources available (on treating dyslexia) at the time, my mum became my therapist. Without her perseverance and all the effort that she put in, I wouldn’t have made it through school, let alone get to where I am now.
“And, she did it while also working and caring for my late grandfather who was sick at the time,” recalls the 35-year-old medical officer and researcher at the Nutrition, Metabolic and Cardiovascular Research Centre of the Institute for Medical Research.
With her mum’s support, she slowly got better, and when she was in Year Three, she surprised everyone with her examination results.
“Not only was I able to be in the top three in class, I was among the few students who did well enough in my Penilaian Tahap 1 (PTS) exam to jump a grade to Year Five! When my mum got the call (from school), she was so shocked that she couldn’t drive. I know she was very proud. That was definitely one moment when I made my parents proud of me,” she says.
Dr Sophia is currently pursuing her PHD at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She is also a past recipient of the Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment (Magia) for her research entitled, “Lipidomics Profiling and Risk of Early-onset Myocardial Infarction” at Cambridge University in Britain.
“My mother has been my pillar of support my whole life,” says Dr Sophia. “She was there for me throughout my childhood, schooling years and even now guiding me as a mother. I know that she will always be there to support me in any way she possibly can. That is a huge blessing that I am so thankful for.
“You know the saying, ‘Behind every great man is a woman’? Well, I believe that behind every great woman is an even greater woman, and for me, that is my mum,” she declares.
Though Dr Sophia is a strong advocate for celebrating Mothers Day “to honour the influence, sacrifices and bonds of mothers in families and society”, she feels that society needs to honour mums more than just once a year.
“I don’t think that we emphasise this day enough. I believe that mothers should be celebrated and appreciated throughout the year. “All the sweat, tears and sacrifices that they make throughout the year warrants multiple celebrations.
“Although I am not opposed to grand celebrations for Mothers Day, I truly believe that constant, regular gestures of appreciation throughout the year would be much more meaningful,” she says.
All the good stuff
Growing up, it was her mum who made sure that she and her two younger siblings got everything they needed – and that included good, home-cooked meals.
“For mum, home-cooked food was the best. She emphasised three things for the three of us: that we eat our breakfast daily because it’s the most important meal of the day, drink plenty of water and that we eat her food.
“I think to make sure that we ate everything that she cooked, she’d say that her food was cooked with so much love and had ‘all the good stuff’ we needed.
“Even until now, we use the phrase, ‘all the good stuff ‘ to describe the food mummy cooks,” says Dr Sophia with a laugh.
“Growing up, I don’t think many of us fully appreciated the sacrifices made by our mothers. Over the years, especially when I became a mum myself, I truly realised the amount of love, care and affection that a mother has for her child. As a single mother, I needed her even more.
“And there were so many times when she would come to the rescue, like when my daughter fell sick whilst I was doing my Masters in London. She also reminds me to teach certain values to my daughter which I truly appreciate,” says Dr Sophia, who has a seven-yearold girl.
She describes her mum as being “a loving, caring, nurturing and protective superwoman” in her life. This Mothers Day, Dr Sophia hopes that she and her two younger siblings will be able to spend the day with their beloved mum.
“I am not sure what her plans are but it would be great if we could cook for her because it would be so much more meaningful than going out for a meal. And flowers, we will get her flowers because she really loves flowers,” she says.
“I would also love to thank her for all she’s done for me. I know I can be difficult at times and stubborn too. I am so blessed to have her in my life for the past 35 years and in my daughter’s life too. She is the most important person in our lives,” she adds.