By Muhammad Fikri Abdullah
Pictures by Shahiddan Saidi

BANGI, March 15, 2019 – Prof. Datuk Dr. Rokiah Omar, Professor of Optometry and Vision Science Programme, Faculty of Health Sciences (FSK), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Low-vision Specialist received the Venus International Women Awards (VIWA 2019) for the Distinguished Woman in Health and Medical Sciences (Optometry) in Chennai, India recently.

Her 29 years of research has impacted the reduction of vision impairment among children in Malaysia. The research also has been escalated to a policy of the Ministry of Health since 2011, where the children will receive vision screening at all Health Clinics.

She is also the Director of the University Community Transformation Centre (UCTC), UKM said the award is a bonus because of her focus on coming out with the best work output. “When I do my work, I’m not aiming to gain recognition or awards, but I want to do my best and help the community,” she said.

She said the findings of all fields of research need to be prioritised and developed for the benefit of society. “The research findings that we get, if not translated for the community is useless. In whatever field, contribution to the community is the most important, ” she added.

As a Director of UCTC, she is always with the community including the Orang Asli, where she and her team do free eye screening, especially in the rural area.

At the event (VIWA), Prof. Datuk Dr. Rokiah is also honoured as the guest of honour and keynote speaker in the 4th Annual Women Meet (AWM 2019). She presented her keynote with the title Prevent of Blindness – Empowering Pre-School Teachers Does it Works?

VIWA is an award for professional women who successfully contributed in science and technology, launched in 2016 by the Centre for Advanced Research and Design (CARD), the Venus International Foundation (VIF), held annually in March.