The world of Tzu Chi January 2020 (Vol.118)

TZU CHI 118 13 I’ll continue volunteering into the future,” she shared with a smile. Ho Leh had overcome the odds to become a qualified TCM physician in her own right and now exudes confidence in every move. She has come a long way since pursuing her studies with financial assistance from Tzu Chi, which enabled her to achieve her ambition and forge her own path in life. Unwavering ambition Ho Leh’s parents had received only minimal education and live with disabilities. Her father is a polio patient and crafts rattan furniture for a living, while her mother’s mobility had been affected by a fall in childhood, limiting her employment options to simple housekeeping jobs. The family had been relying on a meagre household income and welfare handouts from the government for their livelihood. Since young, Ho Leh excelled in her studies and seized every opportunity to apply for scholarships from various organizations to fund her education. During her first year in secondary school, she submitted an application for the Tzu Chi Study Grant at her teacher’s encouragement. Volunteers assessed her family’s living conditions and discovered that her parents’ income varied from month to month within the range of several hundred ringgit, which was barely enough to keep Ho Leh and her sister in school after spending on the family’s living expenditure. Therefore, Tzu Chi decided to provide Ho Leh with RM150 yearly throughout her five years of secondary education to defray her back-to-school expenses. Ho Leh was determined not to let her underprivileged background stand in the way of her aspirations. “When I was 14, I suffered from hormonal imbalance, probably due to academic pressure. I sought treatment from numerous doctors, but the symptoms persisted. I finally found the remedy in TCM and was nursed back to health. Since then, I’ve developed an interest in TCM,” she revealed. Her decision to pursue a medical career was also partly motivated by her experience of loss. She was devastated by the untimely demise of a close friend who collapsed and succumbed to acute renal failure. It grieved her to realize that if only she were equipped with medical knowledge, she could have been able to save her friend. Her resolve to carve a career in TCM was strengthened by sympathy for her ageing parents, who have been experiencing constant bouts of aches and pains. In 2012, Ho Leh was over the moon upon receiving an acceptance letter from UTAR, but her joy was short-lived. Her heart sank upon learning that she had to fork out approximately RM7,000 in tuition fees for her freshman year. She dreaded the thought of burdening her parents, who were already in dire financial straits to begin with. Her mother persuaded her to change her mind, well aware that the total tuition fees for the five-year TCM course would amount to an unmanageable sum for the family. Moreover, the well-meaning mother could not bear the thought of Ho Leh scrimping and saving to support herself through university. Opening Doors to a Brighter Future