Retired kindergarten teacher gets Maulidur Rasul Award for raising Muslim adopted daughter

Retired kindergarten teacher Chee Hoi Lan today received the 2022 National Maulidur Rasul Award for her sacrifices in bringing up her Muslim adoptive daughter according to the Islamic faith.

Chee, 83, was given the Ibu Sejati-Keluarga Malaysia icon award. 

She had single-handedly raised Rohana Abdullah, 20, since the girl was two months old, gaining the attention of the public and government as well as praise for bringing up and caring for the girl despite belonging to a different faith. 

Rohana is the daughter of an Indonesian woman who worked at Chee’s kindergarten. She was left behind in Malaysia when her mother was forced to return to her country.

Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah presented the awards at this year’s National Maulidur Rasul celebration at the World Trade Centre in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's birthday.

When met by reporters after the event, Chee said she was ecstatic to have received the award. 

The Perdana Maulidur Rasul Award 1444H/2022 M went to corporate figure Syed Zainal Abidin Mohd Tahir, who is also a board member of the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council and chairmen of its education committee. 

Syed Zainal Abidin, 59, said the award gave him further motivation to carry out his daily tasks.

"I like preaching corporate sermons and with this award, my other corporate friends and I will use the existing platform to do good in the company and the surrounding community," he said.

Others who received the Maulidul Rasul Award included Universiti Malaya Centre for Civilisation Dialogue director Azizan Baharudin, executive producer for Islamic content on TV3 and TV9 Ahmad Noor Sulaiman, and Yayasan Zikay chairman Mohd Khay Ibrahim.

Humanitarian activist and motivational speaker Shazrina Azman, better known as Mizz Nina, and registered counsellor, Hushim Salleh, also received awards.