King praises student who worked as cleaner to fly parents to UK for convocation

Muhammad Afiq Ismail with his proud parents at his graduation ceremony at the University of Essex in the UK. (Facebook pic by khairulaimanhamdan)

KUALA LUMPUR: The inspiring story of a Malaysian student who worked as a part-time cleaner in the United Kingdom to have his parents attend his convocation ceremony not only touched the hearts of many Malaysians but has also received praise from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin.

The 23-year-old student, Muhammad Afiq Ismail, from Kuala Krai, Kelantan, was reported by The Malay Mail to have worked part-time up to 20 hours a week and still managed to obtain a first-class honours degree from the University of Essex in the UK.

Touched by his story and moved by his hard work and dedication, Sultan Abdullah, in a statement made available to the media today, extended his heartiest congratulations to Afiq on his fantastic results.

“The king is also very impressed by Afiq’s respect and devotion towards his parents and admires the sacrifices that his parents made to get him to this level of success. The story of Afiq and his parents should be an inspiration to all,” the statement said.

fiq’s story was recently shared on Facebook by his friend and has since made its rounds on social media.

The accounting and finance graduate is now preparing to return home to start his professional career at an audit firm in October. - FMT