
Grandmother's guiding hand a family's strength
Compiled by BENJAMIN LEE, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
SHE is their grandmother, mother and father all rolled into one.
Despite her financial struggles, 58-year-old Wan Rosidah Wan Ibrahim takes on the role of caring for her 15-year-old granddaughter, Nur Nasrin Nadhirah Mohd Rizal, and her 11-year-old disabled brother, Muhammad Naufal Nafiz.
Harian Metro reported that the resilient grandmother in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, took it upon herself to care for her grandchildren after the deaths of her daughter and son-in-law.
She said her eldest daughter, Norziana Ab Rahim, who was the mother of the siblings, died in May last year due to diabetes and seizures.
Her son-in-law Mohd Rizal Ismail died in 2023 after suffering from chronic kidney disease.
'I am now both the mother and father to them. I provide for their daily needs and ensure they get an education,' she said.
Wan Rosidah acknowledged that caring for Muhammad Naufal has been quite challenging due to the spinal deformity he has had since birth.
'Naufal has no function from the waist down, including both of his legs which are bent, requiring him to wear diapers,' she said.
> Veteran entertainment journalist Fauziah Rauf has died at the age of 81 due to brain haemorrhage, Harian Metro reported.
Her daughter Nilly Wahida Omar said her mother had a bad fall at their home about a week ago, which led to her being warded at Hospital Selayang.
Fauziah, who started the Malaysian Entertainment Writers and Journalists Association (WHAM), was previously honoured with the Entertainment Journalism Icon Award at the Malaysian Film Industry Journalism Awards in 2017.
She leaves behind four children and 13 grandchildren.
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.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
15 hours ago
- The Star
Over 20,000 devotees attend Sri Sivan Temple consecration in Singapore, crowd almost breaks through barricades
Priests holding 'kumbhams' – vessels filled with holy water – as they make their way to the consecration of the Sri Sivan Temple on June 8, 2025. - Photo: ST SINGAPORE: Over 20,000 devotees gathered to witness the consecration of the Sri Sivan Temple on Sunday (June 8). The Geylang East temple, one of the oldest Hindu temples in Singapore, has a history that dates to the 1800s. The event was attended by Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam. Speaking to media on the sidelines of the event, the ceremony's guest of honour said: 'Today's consecration ceremony is very significant. This temple itself has a very special place in the heart of the Hindu community in Singapore.' Shanmugam unveiled a plaque commemorating the consecration ceremony. Devotees began streaming into purpose-built tents outside the temple by 7am, waiting eagerly for the main event – a Maha Kumbhabishegam ('grand consecration' in Sanskrit). It refers to the process of pouring sanctified water from vessels on the roof of the temple. From around 7.30am, chants and traditional music filled the air as a procession of priests holding pots of sacred water, known as kumbhams, headed to the roof of the temple. Thousands of devotees followed the elaborate proceedings via large screens showing a multi-camera live stream of the priests pouring purified water, which cascaded from 22 golden 'kalasams' or pinnacles at the peak of the temple structure. Navamany Gopalkrishnan, 68, was among the faithful who managed to get seats for the grand occasion two weeks ago. 'If I am in the country, I never miss a temple's consecration… and this is the biggest one I've been to,' said the retired caterer. However, the over-eager crowd at times threatened to break through barricades that had been set up to control people entering the temple after the main ceremony ended. Devotees began streaming into purpose-built tents outside the temple by 7am, waiting eagerly for the main event – a Maha Kumbhabishegam ('grand consecration' in Sanskrit). - Photo: ST At around 11.30am, at one of the tents, part of the crowd bulged out of barricades as organisers and volunteers implored in Tamil for people to stop pushing. The crowd, which had been waiting to enter the sanctum to pray, dissipated after the police were called to the site at Geylang East Avenue 2. Two young children were pulled out from the crowd and given seats and water by volunteers, while a medic was seen attending to a man. Among those stuck in the queue was Kumari Muthu, 63, a nurse who had been on site from 5.30am. 'The pushing was terrible… I've never experienced anything like this before,' said Madam Kumari. 'I was so afraid they were going to push all the old people; next time, there should be separate queues for men, and women, elderly and children.' The crowd let up once the police arrived at around noon and dispersed within 45 minutes. The Straits Times has contacted the Hindu Endowments Board, which manages the temple, for comment on the crowd. This was the third such consecration for the temple, which started on a parcel of land in Orchard Road in 1868, then relocated to temporary premises in 1983 before moving to its current location in Geylang East in 1993. Its second consecration ceremony in 2008 drew 15,000 devotees. The third consecration, which was supposed to happen 12 years later, was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In line with the 2025 ceremony, the temple underwent a refurbishment that saw all its sculptural features restored and deity sanctums refurbished. Other upgrades included expanding prayer spaces to cater to the growing congregation and renovating the existing multi-purpose hall, among other areas. Following the consecration, the temple will hold 48 days of prayers, rituals and cultural programmes from June 9 to July 26. - The Straits Times/ANN


The Star
18 hours ago
- The Star
Chinese ship runs aground off Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea
Philippine marines board rubber boats at the Philippine-occupied Thitu island, locally called Pag-asa island in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday June 4, 2025. - Photo: AP PUERTO PRINCESA, (Philippines): A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said Sunday (June 8). When Filipino forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island on Saturday because of bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help but later saw that the ship had been extricated, regional navy spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among the crewmembers or if the ship was damaged, Collado said. Confrontations have spiked between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy ships in the disputed waters in recent years. "The alertness of our troops is always there,' Col. Xerxes Trinidad of the Armed Forces of the Philippines told reporters. But when they saw that a probable accident had happened, "we tried to provide assistance as professionals' in accordance with international law on helping distressed vessels at sea. "We're always following international law,' Trinidad said. Filipino villagers living in a fishing village on Thitu, which they call Pagasa island, immediately informed the Philippine military and coast guard after seeing the Chinese ship lying in the shallows about 1.5 nautical miles (2.7 kilometres) from their village, said MP Albayda, a local Filipino official, told The Associated Press. "They got worried because the Chinese were so close but it was really the strong wind and waves that caused the ship to run aground," said Albayda, adding that other Chinese ships pulled the stricken vessel away. The stricken ship resembled what the Philippine military had repeatedly said were suspected Chinese militia ships, which had backed the Chinese coast guard and navy in blocking and harassing Philippine coast guard and military vessels in the disputed waters, a busy conduit for global trade and commerce. Thitu Island is home to a Philippine fishing village and Filipino forces and is the largest of nine islands and islets occupied by the Philippines. It lies about 26 kilometres (16 miles) from Subi Reef, which China transformed into an island base along with six other barren reefs to reinforce its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also involved in the long-simmering territorial standoffs, an Asian flashpoint that many fear could pit China and the United States in a major conflict. The United States does not lay any claim to the South China Sea but has repeatedly warned that it's obligated to defend the Philippines, it's longtime treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea. - AP


The Star
a day ago
- The Star
High stakes, higher expectations
Hopeful parents accompanied their teenage children to the gates of a busy Beijing test centre, where millions of high school students across China were sitting their first day of the highly competitive university entrance exam. Nationwide, 13.35 million students have registered for the multi-subject 'gaokao' series this year, according to the Education Ministry, down from last year's record-high 13.42 million test takers. Outside the central Beijing secondary school, a proud parent who gave her name as Chen said '12 years of hard work have finally led to this moment' – as she waved a fan in front of her daughter while the student reviewed her notes one last time before the test. 'We know our kids have endured so much hardship,' Chen said, adding that she was not nervous. 'I'm actually quite excited. I think my child is excellent, and I'm sure she will get the best score,' she said. A student holding flowers after the first day of the exam, outside a school in Beijing. — AFP China's gaokao requires students to use all their knowledge acquired to this point, testing them on subjects including Chinese, English, mathematics, science and the humanities. The exam results are critical for gaining admission to university and for determining whether students will attend a prestigious or a more modest institution. While teachers and staff offered students their support, holding up signs of encouragement, some test takers, dressed in school uniforms, appeared panicked, including a girl with tears in her eyes. 'There's no need for us parents to add pressure. 'The children are already under a lot of it,' said a woman named Wang, whose son had just entered the exam hall. Like many mothers, she wore a traditional Chinese qipao in hopes of bringing good luck. 'I hope my son achieves immediate success and gets his name on the (list of high-scoring candidates),' Wang said with a smile. Higher education has expanded rapidly in China in recent decades as an economic boom pushed up living standards – as well as parents' expectations for their children's careers. But the job market for young graduates remains daunting. As of April, 15.8% of people aged 16 to 24 living in urban areas were unemployed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Due to this pressure, many Chinese students prepare for the gaokao from a young age, often with extra lessons after the regular school day. And every year education authorities are on guard against cheating and disruptions during the exam. All the best: School staff members welcoming students as they arrive for the exam in Beijing. — AFP This week, China's Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang called for a 'safe gaokao', stressing the importance of a rigorous campaign against cheating. Areas around exam centres are closely guarded by police, with road lanes closed to traffic and several cities banning motorists from honking their horns so as not to disrupt the concentration of students. In some schools, facial recognition is even used to prevent fraud. While the university admission rate for gaokao test takers has exceeded 80-90% in recent years, many students disappointed with their results choose to repeat the exam. As there is no age limit for the test, some have become notorious for attempting the exam dozens of times, either after failing it or not getting into their top-choice university. One teacher at the Beijing school where parents saw off their children yesterday estimated that only about 10 of the approximately 600 final-year students there would earn a place at one of the capital's top universities. Jiang, a final-year high school student who provided only his first name, expressed his aspiration to attend a university in Beijing and remained calm shortly before his Chinese exam. 'Even though the pressure is intense, it's actually quite fair,' he said. 'I feel like all the preparations that needed to be made have been made, so there's really no point in being nervous now, right? 'Whatever happens, happens. It's truly not something I can completely control.' — AFP