A NEW RECORD FOR ISDEV - DEICY NATALIA EXCELS HER VIVA

Great day for Deicy Natalis Karamoy (seated-2nd from right) who was all smiles after her viva. A photo taken with her panel of examiners.

After four years struggling as a postgraduate student simultaneously carrying out the responsibilities of a wife as well as a mother to her children, Deicy Natalia Karamoy could finally exhale a sigh of relief when her dreams of attaining the title "Dr" finally managed to become a reality. 

Part of the 30-strong ISDEV members who were there to give their support.

On 26 September 2014, on a blessed Friday morning, Deicy Natalia had to face her viva voce.  30 ISDEV members were also there to give her their support as well as witness her demeanour in answering the questions from her examiners.

The External Examiner, Prof. Dr. Abdullah @ Alwi, asking her some of  the Arabic terms she used in her PhD Thesis.
 

A fully poised and alert Deicy answering a question posed by the examiner.

Her viva's Board of Examiners consisted of Professor Dr. Abdullah @ Alwi Hj.Hassan of Asia e University (AeU), as the External Examiner, Dr. Mohd Zaini Abu Bakar and Dr. Zakaria Bahari as the Internal Examiners while Dr. Noreha Hj. Hashim represented the Dean of Social Sciences, Deicy Natalia who defend her research on “Pengelolaan Dana Masjid di Manado Menurut Undang-undang Indonesia" (Administration of Masjid Fund in Manado according to the Laws of Indonesia) had answered all the questions well with an excellent display of self composure. The chairperson for her viva was Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anton Abdulbasah Kamil, from the School of Distant Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia. 

A joyous day for Deicy's supervisors, Dr Zahri (left) and Dr Fadzila Azni (right).

Dr. Zahri Hamat and Dr. Fadzila Azni Ahmad, her main and her co-supervisor respectively, were also present during her viva. Both of them also displayed an air of poised composure towards Deicy’s presentation.

Assoc Prof Dr Anton (2nd from right), agrees with  Dr Noreha (2nd from left) on a point
while Dr Zaini (right) and Prof Dr. Abdullah @Alwi (left) look on.

After one and a half hour of defending her thesis, finally the Chairperson, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anton announced that Deicy Natalia aced her viva with Grade “1”. She also received the nominations for the "Best PhD Thesis" award at least at the university's level. She is the 12th RISDEV (ISDEV Postgraduate by Research) student in 2014 to have been awarded with an excellent result for viva by the examiners.

Dr Norehan (2nd from left) requesting Deicy to clarify whether there is the equivalence
of the Shariah Judiciary Department in Manado, Indonesia.

With the success of Deicy on her viva it has proven that ISDEV is not only able to produce successful Muslim students, but also proves that non-Muslim students can also thrive in their postgraduate studies at ISDEV. This is very much in line with ISDEV aim to uphold Islam, regardless of race, ethnicity and religion.

This success is also expected to be an example and acts as an encouragement to other non-Muslims to explore the field of studies on Islam. This also proves that indeed Islam is so universal that it can be explored by everyone. 

Flanked by her two supervisors. (From right to left) Dr Fadzila Azni, Deicy and Dr Zahri.

  

Deicy's success created a new record for ISDEV. Deicy Natalia is the first non-Muslim RISDEV student to have completed her PhD with ISDEV. She had successfully embarked on a research in the Islamic field and had successfully achieved her dream to have the title "Dr" added to her name.

Congratulations Deicy!