LABUAN: Rithuan Ismail, 54, a father of four, believes that age is not an obstacle for anyone to pursue higher studies.
He has successfully earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree via distance learning at University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), which held its 26th convocation ceremony recently.
Rithuan had earned his Diploma in Public Administration from Universiti Teknology MARA (UiTM) in 1990 and Degree in Business Administration from Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in 2000, but felt it was not enough and after 18 years, he decided to enrol in the MBA programme in July 2018 at UMS and completed it in December 2020.
Rithuan had to travel back and forth from Labuan to UMS Kota Kinabalu Campus to attend classes, group study, meeting sessions with the lecturers two to three times each semester, except in the middle of 2020 when he had to undergo online classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He worked hard throughout his studies and said that time management skills are a key factor in achieving success for someone who works and studies part-time.
“It was worth it to target a master’s degree in business administration so as to enhance my knowledge of this domain and to meet my professional and personal goals,” he told Bernama.
After working hours, Rithuan, who is a civil servant, would review his courses consistently.
“A master’s degree is not only about getting a specialised education and excelling in academia…it’s also about honing your soft skills and growing in the personal sphere.
“I always advise my children to use time wisely to gain new knowledge and useful skills because I think, if I am able to do it, there is no reason why they can’t ”, said Rithuan.
The deputy chief executive officer of local authority Labuan Corporation (LC) intends to further his studies to the PhD level after this.
