From Ipoh, Perak, the 22-year-old, who has been visually impaired since age 11, aspires to be an educator and chose to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Literature programme in USM after turning down a number of offers from other local universities.

“My mother passed away from cancer when I was five years old, and my father died when I was still a baby,” she said when met at the registration session for the new intake at USM here today.

After being orphaned, her aunt, a factory worker, took care of her.

“At first my aunt was reluctant to allow me to study here because of the distance and my physical condition, but she relented after seeing my ardent interest in literature.

“The university is really OKU-friendly as it provides academic material in braille for students like me,” she said, adding that she also has a laptop with a voice guide application that has come in handy.

Meanwhile, another OKU student, Muhammad Aslam Abdul Aziz, 21, a local here, who also registered for the same programme, concurred that USM was among the universities that were “very OKU-friendly”.

“I also considered the distance factor as my right leg is permanently disabled from an accident four years ago. So USM is the right and best choice for me,” he said.

Earlier, vice-chancellor Prof Dr Asma Ismail delivered a keynote address to welcome the new 2017/2018 intake.