Compiled by  CHOW HOW BAN, RAGANANTHINI VETHASALAM AND R. ARAVINTHAN

LOVE knows no age limit, a sentiment beautifully embodied by 77-year-old retired civil servant Azizah Alias, who recently married her childhood friend, Prof Datuk Dr Md Sham Kassim, 81.

Their heartwarming story, reported by Sinar Harian, unfolds after a half-century separation.

Azizah and Md Sham reconnec­ted through her nephew who was a former student of the professor.

The couple’s simple wedding ceremony took place on Saturday in Kampung Lada, Rembau.

According to Azizah, accepting Md Sham’s proposal to rekindle their friendship felt natural.

“I got a message from my nephew saying that his lecturer wanted to get to know me. When I saw his name, I realised we had known each other since school days.”

She accepted him as her life partner with confidence, belie­ving he was the best man for her.

“My siblings and nephews also encouraged me to accept him as my husband,” Azizah said.

Despite having other admirers in her youth, Azizah said her heart wasn’t open to a relationship at that time.

Azizah said she never felt pressured living alone and always believed that her soulmate would come at the right time.

Meanwhile, Md Sham, a former paediatrician and lecturer, said they lost contact after he went abroad for further studies.

However, after the passing of his wife six months ago, he thought of reconnecting with Azizah.

Md Sham, who has four child­ren and six grandchildren, said he was drawn to Azizah’s warm and kind-hearted personality.

He admitted that initially, his children were not fully suppor­tive of his decision to remarry.

“But I told my children that at my age, I need a companion.”

> In the glitzy and glamorous entertainment industry, which is often consumed by the complexities of love and romance, actress Shiqin Kamal, 34, has chosen a different path – preferring to dedicate her love to her two horses.

“Right now, my heart belongs to my horses. If you check my Insta­gram, you’ll see plenty of posts about my horse-riding activities,” the star of Martabat: Misi Ber­da­rah told Berita Harian.

Shiqin also admits to having a strong, adventurous side and even harbouring big ambitions.

She said horse-riding was initially a form of therapy, but it has now become a passion as she is planning to compete in the SEA Games before turning 40.

“I made a commitment last year to take horse-riding more seriously. God willing, I’ll be parti­cipating in my first competition in Sendayan, Negri Sembilan,” Shiqin said.

“Through my horse-riding journey, I’ve fallen many times. This experience has taught me that eve­ry time you fall, you need to rise again,” she added.

(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)