Emotional moment mother receives late daughter’s doctorate degree 16 months after she passed

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It was a tearful moment for Cheng Lak Mooi upon hearing her daughter’s name being called during the Universiti Malaysia Sabah’s (UMS) 23rd convocation on last Saturday.

It was supposed to be Ng Yi Ming, 35, to walk onto the stage to receive her PhD but sadly, it was Cheng who took the walk to receive the scroll as her daughter passed away from heart complications in 2021.

Cheng, 65, received her late daughter’s PhD posthumously from Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.

“I am very happy to be able to fulfil the wishes of my daughter to attend and receive the scroll on her behalf. Before receiving a PhD in psychology at UMS, she also received an Honors Bachelor of Industrial and Organizational Psychology at UMS, and a Master of Science in Child Developmental Psychology from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

“She was a diligent and very resilient person. We are very proud because she managed to go very far despite suffering from heart disease for more than 20 years,” said the mother.

Cheng disclosed that Ng had undergone a valve replacement surgery in September 2014.

“After undergoing the major and high-risk surgery, she often suffered from heart palpitations. She breathed her last on February 21, 2021 after more than 20 years suffering from mitral valve prolapse,” she said tearfully.

Ng was one of 77 recipients of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree celebrated at the convocation ceremony.