| Universiti Putra Malaysia

Golden age is no barrier to completing PhD

By: Nur Syamila Kamarul Arefin
Photo By: Creative Media Section and Corporate Visibility

 

SERDANG, March 23 – Reaching a golden age is not a barrier for Dr. Shaikh Mansoor Shaikh Ahmad, 68, to graduate with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Human Resource Development at the 45th Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Convocation Ceremony today.

Blessed with nine children and nine grandchildren, he expressed gratitude that his noble efforts were not stopped and received full support from his wife and children.

“Throughout the journey of obtaining my PhD, I have received strong support from my family, supervisor as well as members of the supervisory committee. Despite changing supervisors twice due to retirement factors, I received encouragement from my PhD peers abroad, such as from Syria, Nigeria, Tanzania, Iran, Yemen and even Bangladesh.

“While doing my PhD, I also faced heart complications and underwent heart bypass surgery at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in 2017 after collecting data,” he said.

Dr. Shaikh had experience working in a chemical science laboratory at a local university in 1972. He then went on to study at the undergraduate level in the field of instrumentation in Bristol, United Kingdom.

Upon his return from the United Kingdom, Dr. Shaikh worked in a Government-Linked Company (GLC) in the field of human resource management and development for ten years.

He is also self-employed as a budget and executive taxi driver in the Klang Valley, and his taxi driving experience has taught him to be independent, dealing with customers from all categories and walks of life locally and internationally.

“Knowledge is something you own, and it cannot be taken away from you; a degree is just a scroll, but the knowledge gained can be used for development,” he said. - UPM

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