PETALING JAYA: Having to grow up in poverty and drop out of school as a teenager made billionaire Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary determined to provide higher education opportunities to others once he had the means to do so.

       To achieve this goal, Syed Mokhtar, who is often regarded as one of the most humble tycoons in Malaysia, founded the Albukhary International University (AIU) to help underprivileged students from all over the world receive free higher education.

       AIU held its inaugural convocation ceremony on Saturday, where the valedictorian and recipient of two prestigious awards from the non-profit private university is also the son of a pisang goreng street hawker from Sandakan, Sabah.

       In his founder’s message at the ceremony, Syed Mokhtar said like many of the students at AIU, he too, had grown up poor and his parents were illiterate.

       “Like most of you, I am the son of illiterate parents. My father was a trader and my mother, a housewife.

       “Unlike you, I never had the opportunity to pursue higher education due to poverty. I began helping my father in business at the tender age of 15.

       “As a result, I was determined to provide opportunities by creating a lifeline and allowing one to redefine his future through education once I had the means to do so,” said Syed Mokhtar.

       He also said the scholarship given to students at the university were not a loan or a bond and that all he wanted was for them to assist others in need once they have the means to do so.

       “I do not differentiate the education provision given to you against that of what I provide for my own children.

       “My earnest hope is that you pay it forward to those who need it most,” he said in the convocation ceremony held at the AIU campus in Alor Setar, Kedah.

       Syed Mokhtar also advised graduates to continue practising the “eight-hour rule”, a concept that he coined where 24 hours is sectioned into three parts, eight hours for the day’s education, eight hours for the night’s sleep and eight hours for helping others in need.

       “Last but not least, I would like to leave you with something that my mother, Sharifah Rokiah, taught me: ‘Nothing is yours until you have given it away with all your heart in the hope that it will make someone’s life easier’,” said Syed Mokhtar.

       The university’s vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Abd Aziz Tajuddin said AIU has some 900 students from over 50 countries, the majority being Malaysians.

       “This is our first convocation and it involved a total of 51 students receiving their bachelors’ degrees, and 95 other students receiving recognition for successfully completing their Foundation Studies,” he said.

       Meanwhile, valedictorian Masrani Awang, who also received the Sharifah Rokiah Special Awards and the Vice Chancellor’s Award, paid a special tribute to his parents for encouraging him in his studies.

       Masrani’s parents Rosmiati Arase and Awang Abdullah make ends meet by selling banana fritters and keropok lekor in Sandakan, Sabah.

       The 26-year-old said the turning point in his life was when his family lost their home in a fire in 2003 and his parents lost their jobs the year after.

       “Adversity is not a hindrance to me but a motivator. I want to prove that whoever strives will definitely succeed.

       “In the future, I want to help more people have a better life,” said Masrani who graduated with a degree in Business Administration (Hons) specialising in marketing.

       He also received a pleasant surprise when his mother Rosmiati decided to attend the convocation ceremony although he thought it was not possible due to the costs of travelling and accommodation.

       “In 2017, I graduated from law school but my parents weren’t there but this year, my mum is here. Alhamdulillah (praise be to God),” said Masrani, who also holds a diploma in law and syariah from Kolej Universiti Islam Melaka.