(4 October 2015, Sunday) Ms Rohaishah Hamid’s heart was moved when she found out that one of her students had lost interest in school and refused to sit in examination after her mother passed away recently. The student’s father had also been missing for some time. The student’s experience resonated with Ms Rohaishah, 24, because she had experienced a similar bitterness that nearly made her quit school. When she was still in school, her father left home while her mother was ill with diabetes and hypertension. A day before PSLE, she lost her dearest sister to childbirth and it crushed her heart.
Due to financial difficulties, Ms Rohaishah had also skipped examination while studying under the Diploma in Art Teaching course in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. She had to repeat a year of study while holding several jobs to fund her education.
Ms Rohaishah wrote a post on Facebook, sharing about the plight she had to endure when the four room flat she lived in with her mother at Sengkang was confiscated and she had to be separated from her mother without a roof atop her head. She also shared how she overcame the difficulties with the help of her jamming friends, her favourite teacher Ms Delphine Ng, and the strength that God gave her. Her Facebook post went viral overnight, with more than 2,000 likes and almost 300 users who encouraged her to keep being an inspiration for her students and the younger generation. Recently, she was also chosen by the students at Peirce Secondary School as the Most Charming Teacher in conjunction with Teacher’s Day. For almost two years now, Ms Rohaishah and her mother, Madam Rokimah Watimin, 60, or better known as Suzana amongst friends, live together in a rented flat near Sin Ming.
In pursuing a life full of thorns, Ms Rohaishah was only guided by the hope of not disappointing her mother. Her hope now is that she could get an exception from HDB to purchase a flat even though she is still single and under 35.
Media: Berita Minggu, Page 12
Full article here:
http://www.nafa.edu.sg/media/2015/BeritaMinggu04Oct15.pdf
