Cancer can't stop motivated PhD candidate
DESPITE a long and arduous battle with lymphoma, 38-year-old Chia Chi Kuan is determined to complete his PhD studies in Education at Universiti Malaya, China Press reported.
Chia was diagnosed in 2013, shortly after finishing his Master's degree.
'I found out I had cancer right after I finished my Master's degree, which was why I had yet to get insurance,' he said.
His medical expenses have since been covered by charitable organisations, relatives, friends and Universiti Malaya.
Since his diagnosis, Chia has undergone two bone-marrow transplants and numerous chemotherapy sessions, but he is yet to beat the disease.
The disease also impacts his daily life. He requires 12 hours of sleep a day just to manage eight hours of work on his PhD studies. This has made it impossible for him to take on part-time work to support himself.
'I am relying on a student loan for my studies. My living expenses are paid by my parents and relatives.'
Chia submitted his PhD dissertation in March. He plans to start looking for a job soon, but in the meantime, he is appealing to the public for RM225,600 to complete his cancer treatment.
Chia said fighting cancer has taught him to face life's challenges head on with courage.
'If I hadn't gotten cancer, my life might have taken a different path. I might not have held so firmly to values like integrity and morality – things that many people tend to overlook.'
Those interested in supporting Chia's journey can donate via China Press through the webpage www.chinapress.com.my/charity-form.
> University students in Shandong province, China, are flocking to air-conditioned supermarkets to escape a severe heatwave, the daily also reported.
According to an undergraduate, none of the student hostels are equipped with air-conditioning, making them unbearable during the scorching temperatures.
'It's so hot that we can only go to sleep at 2am. By 6am, we are woken up by the sweltering heat.'
Photos showing rows of students squatting along supermarket aisles were widely shared online.
However, a student said they had to return to their hostels by 9pm due to curfew.
With temperatures in Shandong reaching 40°C last week, several undergraduates at the Yantai Nanshan University reportedly collapsed from heatstroke and were sent to hospital.
When interviewed, a university spokesperson said the hostels had old electricity infrastructure and were not equipped to handle the demands from air-conditioning.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.
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