After graduating from the University of Malaya in 1961, I worked with Radio/TV Malaysia for a few years before moving to London to join my husband, Samad, who was with the Malay Service of the BBC Far Eastern Services. I got a job with the Malaysian Students Department. My first son, Amir, was born in London in 1966.

In the early 1970s, we went to the US, where I obtained a Master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling from Ohio University and then a Master’s in Communications from Michigan State University (MSU). Samad earned his MBA degree there.

The Director of the MARA Institute of Technology (MIT), Arshad Ayub, where I worked upon returning from London, had visions of establishing a School of Mass Communications at MIT. It was he who sent me to study Communications at MSU so I could help set up such a school. I had a most rewarding time working with several professors from Ohio University, MSU, and Boston University to establish the School—the first School of Communications in Malaysia.

I’m immensely proud of my former students, who now excel as journalists, public relations practitioners, communicators, and broadcasters. One of them, however, decided to play it differently. He gave up communications in favor of raising cows. Happily, his cow farm is a highly successful venture.

I ended my career as Communications Manager at ESSO Malaysia Berhad in 1996, after a period of 23 years.

I now spend my time giving whatever little comfort I can to my bedridden husband. I read to him, help him listen to music, and recall our travel adventures.

Amir and Tina’s four children visit me on weekends, and we lunch together. They always have funny stories to tell me, and we all laugh and have a good time.

I also enjoy keeping in close touch with the activities of my daughter Aida, her husband Brad, and their two teenage girls who live in the US. Their elder daughter is a student at Purdue University in Indiana. Her sister has been appointed President of the National Honor Society and can look forward to giving a speech at her high school graduation in 2025.

Aris, my younger son, and his wife Sarah have two little girls. Sarah, who is half-German, has enrolled them in a German school. It’s a delight to hear them attempt to converse in German with their mother. They are both my pride and joy.