Sufiah's Family Shuns Wedding
fairplay
Haliza Hashim-Doyle
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THE bride was wearing a long, cream-coloured dress, a cream-coloured
cardigan, a sequinned baby-blue scarf and brown sandals whilst clutching
a small bouquet of red roses. She was laughing and smiling to the small
crowd outside the registry office, as they threw confetti at her and her
newly-wed husband.
The bride was Sufiah Yusof, the child prodigy who went to Oxford
University at the age of 12. She was married to a former fellow Oxford
student, Jonathan Marshall, 24, on July 10 in Oxford.
However, Sufiah’s parents, Halimahton Yusof from Johor and Farooq Yusof
from Pakistan, were not present to witness the event. Sufiah’s four
siblings were also absent.
Married at the tender age of 19, Sufiah looked content and happily posed
for the camera on the steps of the registry office. She said her family
was invited but they didn’t come.
Sufiah made headlines both in Britain and Malaysia back in 2000 when she
disappeared from St Hilda’s College, Oxford University, at the age of
15, after her third-year exams. The British police conducted a
nationwide hunt while her family made emotional appeals for her return.
Her disappearance erupted into a major controversy when she was later
found by the police in Bournemouth, south England, but refused to return
to her parents, claiming that her father had been controlling her life
with over-intensive academic tutoring and emotional abuse.
She was then placed with a foster family. In October 2002, Sufiah
returned to Oxford University to complete the final year of her Masters
in Maths.
But unlike her first three years at Oxford when she spent most of her
time studying, Sufiah began to enjoy her student life on campus. She met
her husband at a Law Society function more than a year ago.
Sufiah, however, did not complete the course and did not get a degree.
Instead, she found love and happiness with Jonathan. She said they plan
to move to London and have many children.
For the past year, she has been working as an administrative assistant
for a construction company, while her trainee lawyer fiance completed a
legal practice course.
Jonathan converted to Islam in April last year. They are living together
in Oxford after marrying in a Muslim ceremony earlier this month.
Sufiah told a British newspaper, The Times : “Meeting Jonathan was the
best thing that happened to me while I was at Oxford University,” adding
that her experience over the years had been “interesting”.
The Times also quoted her as saying: “If you are surrounded by people
your own age it certainly is different from being surrounded by people
who are five years older than you. I can’t quantify why exactly that
is... It’s just different.”
She, however, refused to repeat her earlier criticisms of her father’s
decision to push her into academia at such a young age. “I suppose, in
retrospect, you can say if they (were) good decisions or bad decisions.
But now, it’s just something that happened to me,” she told The Times.
“As a Muslim, you just believe that everything happens. It’s hard to
look back and be judgmental about my parents and my parents’ motives (in
sending me) to university quite early.”
When contacted by Sunday Mail , Sufiah’s family refused to make any
comments. Sufiah’s older sister, Noraisha, said the family would like to
keep the marriage as a “private” matter and that her parents do not wish
to discuss about it with anyone.
It is understood that while living under foster care, Sufiah saw little
of her family except for her mother and sister. Relations with her
father worsened a year later when she gave an interview to the British
current affairs programme, Tonight with Trevor McDonald , saying that
she never wanted to see her “controlling” father again.
Despite their runaway sister’s complaints about being “hot-housed”, the
accelerated learning techniques used by Farooq, director of an education
management company and Halimahton, a freelance researcher, have resulted
in astonishing academic success for Sufiah’s siblings who were also
home-schooled.
Their eldest child, Isaac, 23, is working with Farooq in Information
Technology. Noraisha, 21, who received second-class honours for her
Masters degree in Maths, is doing postgraduate research in education and
Iskander, 17, who obtained a first-class Masters degree, is doing
further research work in Mathematics while their youngest genius,
Zuleika, age 10, is completing her A-Levels in Maths and Science subjects.
IRHANS Consulting
"fairplay" <fair...@hiwaay.net> wrote in message
news:10fm9eq...@corp.supernews.com...
> Sufiah's Family Shuns Wedding
Nice to know that her husband converted. All's well that ends well.
jay
oh there you go, that should ensure a marital bliss, right?
>
IRHANS Consulting
"jay" <j...@lake.com> wrote in message
news:oprnf050p8q5jroga...@4ax.com...
> oh there you go, that should ensure a marital bliss, right?
No, but it helps alleviates some complications, both here and hereafter.
jay
what complications? and where is your hereafter? and your here is
england not some mullah run country, ok.
intruder
Better than eating dog meat after torture.
You got eat cat too wana?
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jay
if you say so, pervert.
>You got eat cat too wana?
no i don't want to eat cat with you. go ahead and knock youself out.
lmao.
adchin
so much too, when I told him about it. "She did not get her degree" was
what he said.
Farah Yusof
> Oh, ha ha ha, this is funny. Malaysia Boleh gone awry. My dad was laughing
> so much too, when I told him about it. "She did not get her degree" was
> what he said.
Well, she gets her BSc (Maths) degree but not for MSc degree. She
graduated in 2000 with second class honour (2:1). She didn't complete
the course for another one year that makes her eligible to get her
masters degree if she does well.
Farah Yusof
> so much too, when I told him about it. "She did not get her degree" was
> what he said.
Well, she gets her BSc (Maths) degree but not for MSc degree. She