A TEACHER'S DAY GIFT: A WELL WRITTEN AND EXCELLENTLY DEFENDED THESIS

Raziah Md. Tahir just moments before she was called in for her viva voce

Struggling for more than three years to juggle her responsibilities as a wife, a mother to her three children and a lecturer at Universiti Utara Malaysia as well as carrying out her duties as a RISDEV (Postgraduate Research Mode) student to complete her PhD thesis within the time frame given was well worth it. Finally on 16 May 2014, Raziah Md. Tahir can finally feel totally relieved as she had passed her viva-voce superbly.

Raziah's supporters and well wishers silently pray for her success while witnessing the examinations in session

Raziah who did her research on “Mekanisme Operasi Kredit Mikro Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia: Satu Analisis Daripada Perspektif Islam” (Operational Mechanism of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia: An Analysis from the Islamic Perspective) had proven that all these trials and tribulations were well paid off when her board of examiners unanimously agreed to award her with a score of "1" simultaneously nominating her thesis to be eligible for the USM Excellent Thesis Award. 

Part of the panel of examiners. (From right to left), Dr Zaini, Prof Dr. Julaihi (Chairman), Dr Fadzila Azni,
Prof. Dr Abdullah @ Alwi and Encik Zaki.

The external examiner of the board of examiners was Professor Dr. Abdullah @ Alwi Hj.Hassan of Open University Malaysia. He asked various questions to Raziah but she managed to answer all the questions posed with such clarity and an air of humbled confidence. 

Raziah referring to her written thesis while answering the question posed by one of the examiners

The viva was chaired by Professor Dr. Julaihi Wahid from Architecture Department of the School of Housing, Building and Planning, USM. Dr. Fadzila Azni Ahmad represented the Dean of School of Social Sciences while Dr. Zahri Hamat and Dr. Zaini Abu Bakar were the internal examiners of the day. Also present were Professor Muhammad Syukri Salleh as Raziah’s main supervisor and Dr. Zakaria Bahari, her co supervisor. 

A very tense atmosphere while the viva voce was in session

After the result was announced, Raziah shared her recipe of success with tears of joy that perseverance and holding on tightly to Allah SWT with a never-lose-hope attitude is a motto that she held dearly throughout her PhD candidacy. She also added that success will not be generated if there is no guidance from the best teachers, that is, ISDEV lecturers. 

Her two beloved guru  (front), Prof. Syukri Salleh (left) and Dr Zakaria Bahari (right)

She also expressed her utmost gratitude to her main supervisor and co-supervisor, Prof. Muhammad Syukri Salleh and Dr. Zakaria Bahari respectively and hoped that her excellent result can be presented as a teacher's day gift dedicated to both of them specifically and other ISDEV lecturers generally. Her viva was on May 16 which coincides with Teachers’s Day celebrations in Malaysia. A befitting gift indeed to all ISDEV lecturers in conjunction with Teacher's day.

Congratulations to Raziah and Happy Teacher's Day to all ISDEV lecturers!