FLIGHT MH17 - Mother of late MH17 chief stewardess attends convocation on her behalf

Published: Wednesday November 26, 2014 MYT 11:15:00 PM
Updated: Wednesday November 26, 2014 MYT 11:23:47 PM

Mother of late MH17 chief stewardess attends convocation on her behalf

Habibah looking at her late daughter's graduation certificate. - Bernama

SHAH ALAM: The mother of MH17 chief stewardess Azrina Yakob could not stop her tears from flowing as she stepped onto stage to accepting her late daughter's Bachelor of Communication (Public Relations) degree Wednesday.

Habibah Ismail, 65, accompanied by three other children, had insisted on travelling all the way to Alor Setar, Kedah to attend the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)'s convocation ceremony.

There, she received the posthumous award from UiTM pro chancellor Tan Sri Dr Abdul Rahman Arshad.

The late Azrina Yakob.

Habibah said her grief was immense as she waited in line with other recipients. When the master of ceremonies announced Azrina's name, her emotion simply overwhelmed her.

"I could not contain my grief when the MC talked about MH17 before asking everyone in the hall to offer an Al-Fatihah (prayers) for victims of the tragedy," she told reporters when met.

Azrina, 41, continued her education through long distance learning at UiTM's faculty of communication and media studies while working with Malaysia Airlines, and managed to complete her course before the tragedy.

MH17 was carrying 298 passengers and crew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17.

Forty-three Malaysians were aboard the Boeing 777-200ER plane. - Bernama

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/11/26/MH17-mom-attends-late-daughters-convo/