00:00National women's double shuttler Tina Muralitharan hopes her achievements inspire young student
00:05athletes to see that, with persistence, they too can earn degrees and shape their futures.
00:11The 26-year-old Olympian officially graduated on Saturday with a Bachelor of Education,
00:16teaching English as a second language, from Open University Malaysia, OUM.
00:21I think it's equally important as a human being that education and also sports is really
00:27important, but if you really enjoy and do it, I think anything is possible.
00:32The main reason I took TESOL is also because I travel a lot for tournaments and stuff,
00:37so I go to many countries, and in some countries, English is their first language, so I feel
00:43that English is really important because that's how I really communicate with players from
00:46other countries and stuff like that, because it's not easy, if you don't know English,
00:51it's not easy to go to other countries and communicate with them.
00:55In recognition of her exceptional performance in sports and her participation in the Olympics,
01:01Tina also received OUM's Special Sports Icon Award during its 28th convocation, which
01:06honours students excelling academically while contributing significantly to sports.
01:12When asked about her future plans, Tina said she intends to take a break, consult with
01:16her family and determine her next steps.
01:19Since young, we knew that education is really important, but they also really supported
01:24me in my sports journey.
01:25Not many parents will support doing both or maybe just ask them to focus in one, but I'm
01:31grateful that my parents, my family members, they really support me in both, and they didn't
01:37care that in the beginning I was just focusing on sports alone, they knew somehow that I
01:42would be able to manage this both, so that confidence that they had in me really helped
01:47me throughout the years and to make me who I am today.
01:53During the same ceremony, social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thai was conferred an Honorary
01:57Doctorate of Philosophy in Education for his contributions to the field.
02:02He expressed gratitude for the award, emphasising that true learning extends beyond grades,
02:07encompassing lifelong achievements.
02:09After completing my secondary school education, while many of my peers pursued university
02:18degrees, I chose a different path, and that is the school of hard knocks.
02:28And through real world experiences, I gained invaluable knowledge after learning life's
02:35most important lessons by confronting adversity and challenges head on.
02:43He hoped the honour would inspire others to engage with society and promote lifelong
02:49learning for the greater good.
02:50Education, ladies and gentlemen, is more than degrees.
02:53It is about a lifelong journey of learning, growing and giving back to society.
03:01I would like all of you to embrace, to embrace the core values of excellence, discipline,
03:09integrity, mutual respect, confidence, openness in communication and, last but not least,
03:18humility, and put them into practice now and in the future, irrespective of what profession
03:25you are in.
03:27OUM's 28th Convocation, held at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur WTCKL from October
03:3426th to 29th, will see a total of 6,476 graduates receiving their scrolls.
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