KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor today congratulated Iz Emir for making Malaysian history as the youngest undergraduate at Universiti Malaya (UM) since its inception in 1962.
The 12-year-old Iz, whose full name is Izz Imil Shahrom, has been widely reported to be taking up a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at the university.
“The pride I feel today is as though he is one of my own children,” Rosmah, the convicted wife of convicted former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said in a Facebook post.
The boy was formerly part of the Permata Pintar programme to hone prodigies pioneered by Rosmah in April 2009 in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
“Many years ago, this child enthralled me with his brilliance when I first met him at Permata Pintar.
“Today, my heart swelled with pride again when he became the youngest student to be registered throughout University Malaya's history since its establishment in 1962.
“Iz, and a few others who attended Permata Pintar, were the reason why we set up the centre, carefully crafted to meet individual needs and having seen how centres like these in other parts of the world operate,” Rosmah said.
She added that Iz also received a certificate from the John Hopkins Centre for Talented Youth.
According to Rosmah, Iz was only six years old when he enrolled into Form 1 at the Permata Pintar programme at UKM and completed his O-Levels at age eight, and his A-Levels at 11.
News of the preteen’s enrolment surfaced on the Facebook page of Professor Fatimah Kari from UM’s Department of Economics, which has since been removed for reasons unknown.
Professor Fatimah declined to confirm or debunk Iz’ UM enrolment when contacted today, instead telling Malay Mail to verify with the university’s corporate communications department.
“Please call Corporate Comm , UM to confirm. Check UM website for phone number and email. Thank you,” she said.
