EIGHTY-SIX YEAR-OLD LAWYER GETS USM DOCTORATE AFTER 50-YEAR CAREER

GEORGE TOWN, Dec 2 (Bernama) -- Age has not been an obstacle for Datuk Dr G.Rethinasamy, 86, to secure his doctorate, even after a legal career spanning half a century.

The lawyer, who runs his own law firm in Butterworth, near here that continues to receive clients and provides assistance to the local community, especially those in the lower income group, received his doctorate at Universiti Sains Malaysia’s (USM) 63rd convocation ceremony today.

Rethinasamy shared that he had an open door policy in welcoming clients without prior appointments and did not impose payments for initial consultation sessions, a work principle that he has held on for decades, especially when faced with clients facing challenges in life.

"If I’m confident in helping solve their problems, then I will open a file. Many of them are people in need, so I settle the work first before considering taking a token payment,” he said after receiving his scroll at USM here today.

He recollected how he had to end his Form Six studies early after seven months when his father lost his job, forcing him to try to support his family by entering the nursing field in 1959 and serving at several hospitals before furthering his studies at Lincoln’s Inn, the United Kingdom as he had a deep interest in law.

He set up his own legal firm in 1975 upon his return to the country and steadily carved out a legal career spanning half a century serving the public.

Besides being a lawyer, Rethinasamy is also involved in community building, being an early developer of a low-cost housing project in Penang, including building 265 units of low-cost apartments in Tasek Gelugar from 1989 to 1990 at the sale price of under RM50,000 per unit.

The father of four examined the relationship between planning authorities and housing developers as well as the planning processes that influence the cost of constructing affordable housing for his doctorate.

He also shared his secret to being active at 86 years, singling out daily exercise as well as tending to stray cats around his residence daily.

A total of 9,347 graduates - 865 PhD graduates, 3,501 Masters graduates, 4,934 Bachelor’s degree graduates, 47 nursing diploma graduates and an honorary degree recipient - received their scrolls at USM’s 63rd convocation ceremony, from Nov 25 to today.

-- BERNAMA