BANGI: Dr Mohammad Zufar Shahren, the eldest son of late educationist Prof Dr Shahren Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, was overwhelmed with emotion as he recalled memories of him, not just as an academic but an upstanding man and a loving father.
Zufar fondly recalled how his father, the son of former Sarawak Governor Tun Dr Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, led a modest life despite his privileged background, tearing up at the memory.
"People assume that, because his father was Tun Dr Ahmad Zaidi Adruce, we are aristocrats and wealthy, but we are not.
"My father built our family home with his own money, his children's contributions, and even his own hands," he said during the mock cheque-giving ceremony where the former vice-chancellor of i-CATS University College posthumously donated an endowment of RM30,000 to the Sheikh Othman Sarawak Chair at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
The endowment is dedicated to supporting Wakaf Ilmu scholarships for students from Sarawak's B40 community.
Representing Shahren, his wife Noorazah Reduan, Zufar, and his family presented the endowment, which consisted of his accumulated salary as a Sheikh Othman Sarawak Chair board member.
Zufar revealed that his father had never received the remuneration, but instead, he chose to contribute it back in his will.
"I know his intention is to give back to education, which he spent 30 years of his life contributing to.
"To my father, education is the priority of any society.
"Even in death, he is still contributing.
"I hope this moment is just one part of my father's legacy that will continue in the form of the students.
"I hope his vision for the future of Sarawak education comes to fruition."
Zufar shared his father's impactful contributions to education in Sarawak.
As former director of the Institute of Borneo Studies at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Shahren researched the digital divide in remote communities in his home state and published 16 books on the subject, among others.
When he became vice-chancellor of i-CATS University, Zufar recalled his father building a surau using his funds and transforming a parking space into a sports centre with futsal and basketball courts.
"He believed in the adage 'education for the mind, sports for the body, religion for the soul.' He lived and breathed that," Zufar said.
The endowment was received by Faculty of Islamic Studies dean Prof Ahmad Sunawari Long and Sheikh Othman Sarawak Chair manager Dr Farid Mat Zain.
Ahmad said the RM30,000 would be split equally between the Faculty of Islamic Studies and the Faculty of Medicine.
"The recipients will B40 students from Sarawak.
"It will be given as scholarships to UKM students to pay for their studies and livelihood throughout their time here.
"At the Faculty of Islamic Studies, there are about 20 of these Sarawakian students, while there are almost the same number at the Faculty of Medicine.
"We will choose the ones who qualify," said Ahmad.
He said the Faculty of Islamic Studies was selected because Prof Shahren was a devout man deeply committed to religious education, while the Faculty of Medicine was chosen in the hope of seeing doctors emerge beyond his own family.