KUALA LUMPUR: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah have congratulated Dr Abdul Rahim Ramli on achieving his dream of becoming a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the age of 70.

In a post on Istana Negara's official Facebook page today, the king and queen described the success of Abdul Rahim in earning the degree from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UTM) as one of the best examples of the adage that age was no barrier for a person to achieve excellence.

"Their Majesties wish Dr Abdul Rahim all the best and pray that he continues to achieve more success," read the post which was accompanied with a picture of Abdul Rahim holding his PhD degree.

According to the post, Abdul Rahim, who has three children and 10 grandchildren, received his PhD degree in Town and Regional Planning at the UTM's 64th convocation ceremony yesterday.

Meanwhile, UTM's news portal said that Abdul Rahim, who was the eldest graduate at its convocation this time, received his degree from the Permaisuri of Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, who is also the Chancellor of UTM.

Abdul Rahim, who is a government pensioner, began his doctorate in 2013 and graduated in 2019.

He was scheduled to attend the convocation in 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

-- BERNAMA