Father receives posthumous award on behalf of son

Translation by: DR. ROZAIMI ABU SAMAH,  FACULTY OF CHEMICAL AND PROCESS 
 ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY  

Roslan Jodin, 56, the father of Mohamad Hakim Roslan never expected to receive a posthumous degree award of Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Electrical) with Honours on behalf of his son during the first session of the UMP’s 14th Convocation Ceremony in a room at the UMP Sports Complex Gambang Campus on 16 November 2019. 
To make it even more memorable, the award was bestowed by His Majesty The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah, the Chancellor of UMP. 
Also in attendance were the Pro-Chancellor of UMP, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Abi Musa Asa'ari Mohamed Nor, the Chairman of UMP’s Board of Directors, Dato’ Sri Ibrahim Ahmad and the Vice-Chancellor of UMP, Professor Ir. Dr. Wan Azhar Wan Yusoff.
The late Mohamad Hakim was the eldest in the family and passed away on 25 June 2019 during his final year due to colon cancer since 2017.
According to Roslan Jodin, his son missed most of his classes during treatment.
“However, we are amazed at the supports given by his friends and lecturers. We still remember his friends gathered to teach him at the transit house on campus with our family,” he said, who was accompanied by his wife, Siti Zanariah Mohd. Ripin, 46 and his three children.
The fighting spirit of the late Mohamad Hakim was also shared by his lecturer, Dr. Abdul Nasir Abd. Ghafar from the Faculty of Electrical & Electronic Engineering Technology.
Dr. Abdul Nasir said that the spirit of the late Mohamad Hakim should be emulated by other students.
“As a lecturer and the advisor of the Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2018 electrical car competition, he was approached by the late Mohamad Hakim who was interested in joining the team.
“He volunteered to do fabrication tasks and told about his experience in boat repairing with his father, a skill that no other team members had.
“However, about two weeks after the first team meeting, I received a phone message from him to withdraw from the team due to health issue and was unable to go to the workshop to finish the tasks with his team members,” said Dr. Abdul Nasir.
Also, a fellow lecturer said the late Mohamad Hakim was unable to attend his final year project presentation because he was hospitalised.
At the same time, he handled the electrical and electronic tasks.
The late Mohamad Hakim answered the questions from the panel online from the hospital.
Several lecturers verified that he managed to complete all his coursework and only had problems in terms of class attendance due to his treatment in the hospital.
In the meantime, his mother told that the passing of her son is a great loss to the family, but they accept the fate and hope the award will inspire the other children.
“We are grateful to UMP for inviting us to the 14th Convocation Ceremony,” she said.