update 31/3/08:
Dangerous Talent, a book review by Sharon Bakar, The Sunday Star
Tragedi Hidup Sufiah, Utusan Malaysia
Math prodigy now a £130 hooker claim, The Star
Original post:Remember Sufiah Yusof, Malaysia's child prodigy in the UK, the girl who gained entry into Oxford at the age of 12? She is now a HOOKER. The following British newspaper article quotes her as claiming that she is studying for a Masters degree in Economics. Perhaps our Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin wants to stop whining and help her (see link after this main story).
SHE was a child maths genius who won a place at Oxford University aged just 13—but now the only sums Sufiah Yusof is interested in are the ones she earns as a HOOKER.
For sad Sufiah the daily equation she has to solve is simply sex equals £130 as she sells her body to punters over the internet.
The gifted girl with the winning smile had the world at her feet ten years ago and should be a rich woman by now—but last week she was busy subtracting her underwear for our undercover reporter in her dingy back street flat.
"Would you like to start your half hour now?" said Sufiah, 23, as she danced on the bed, displaying her body for examination.
Then she listed all the sleazy plus points she would throw in for our man if he took up her offer...Read the entire story HERE.
You can access the original story at the News of the World but it contains pictures that may offend some.Back in Malaysia, our Minister in charge of Higher Education is whining here about some blogs not allowing his ministry's views to be published. Sufiah says she is a student, YB Khaled Nordin, so maybe you are needed there.
so sad ... wonder how can she be helped?
ReplyDeleteWhat has Sufiah's personal life got to do with the Ministry of Education's message?????? I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteDid she get Government scholarship for her studies at Oxford?
If the Ministry feels that their messages are not getting across, blocked by the bloggers, create their own blog, forum site lah.
Everything is an issue these days.
a case of overambitious parents who drive their children to madness.
ReplyDeleteThis is so heartbreaking. When I was studying at Warwick from 1997-2001, her two other siblings Iskander and Noraisha were there too reading Mathematics with Iskander gaining a First Class at the age of 15! Always seen both of them walking around the campus with their Malaysian-born mother and little sister Zuleika, also a child prodigy then. They look perfectly normal and happy go lucky.
ReplyDeleteAt the time when Sufiah went missing from Oxford, I remember vividly we received a phone call from a UK newspaper wanting to know the latest development on her case. You see, in the Coventry phone directory, we were listed under Yusof, my wife's surname. And when we answered "Yes" to the question: Do you have any family members studying at Warwick?, the reporter simply assumed - that's it we finally managed to trace the Yusof family. How weird!
I hope the family will not fall apart and remain strong in facng the challenges ahead.
aMiR
Is this an early April's Fools joke?
ReplyDeleteThat is a really sad story. A young girl exploited early in life by her father for her brains and now exploited by strange men for her body. How can it be possible?
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when foundations are not well laid down, when form is preferred over substance, when value systems are not inculcated over time. It is a story with parallels to Malaysia's national educational system. Its sorry state is a reflection of bad policies and weak administration through the last 30 years.
This surprises you?
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to bet a lot of money that >80% of all these child prodigies end up broken and dysfunctional when they grow up.
The kind of pressure their parents and society puts on them to succeed in crazy.
These kids are basically robbed of their childhood, what else do you expect?
I've been here for nearly a decade and I've met a lot of these malaysian students whenever I go for a meal in the Malaysia hall's cafe. I always notice that there's a sequence of changes. When a new semester starts, I could catch new faces with their innocent fully covered dress (sometime with tudung) from head to toe in the cafe carefully counting british pounds with our malaysian ringgit. Well, most of them after a year or so when I met them again, GOSH! I won't even recognise them! until they introduced themselves. Their dress was absolutely stunning like the celebrity from Emmerdale! With a low cut minis and a make-up with a hairstlye from the vogue mag, all they need to do is to brush up their English and PR skills!
ReplyDeleteSalam Bro Rocky,
ReplyDeleteWe (especially, Malaysia based Islamic NGOs in UK or anybody for that matter) should help her return to the right path by listening to her predicements and not to put all blames on her. Malaysian Counsellors in UK may perhaps make the first move, followed by Islamic NGOS for spiritual help to get her back on the right path. IsyaAllah she may be reformed. Lets pray for her reformation.
Zaib
Damn, bro, it's heart-breaking.
ReplyDeleteCan someone reading this, and who is in a position to do something, DO the right thing!
Maybe you can push our MPs like Wee Choo Keong to champion this issue and 'rescue' Sufiah.
No Malaysian - i mean no Malaysian - should be allowed to waste away.
But Mr Rocky Bru, what Sufiah 's situation got to to with our Education Minister ?
ReplyDeleteLong depression and a child genuis may lead to the self destruction of Sufiah.
You are using a sad story to attack a bystander.
Shame on you !!
I think she needs support and love. There also some report against her family member. Hopefully, she is not in the clutches of a wrong person.
ReplyDeleteThe point of this report being precisely what?
ReplyDeleteI might point out that people do tend to go astray.
After all, Singapore has it's own Annabel Chong (aka Grace Quek) who has the reputation of being a former porn star in the US.
And the high-class escort agency that former US governor Eliot Spitzer used to patronise had several college students on it's books.
People have to make their own decisions what to do with their lives. And as long as they are adults of sound mind, they should know what they are doing.
anon 4:26pm,
ReplyDeletehigher educ minister a bystander? you mean an "innocent bystander", right or not?
i beg to differ, mate. anyone who can help should help, and the ministry should look into this to ensure that no malaysian students abroad get into the same shithole.
miss sufiah's parents were overambitious and overly strict. most malaysian students in the uk - the malay-muslims especially - are equally shackled by their peers with religious and moral overzealousness.
the ministry is a bystander, but a GUILTY bystander simply because it has no right to be bystanding. it should ACT, and ACT NOW!!!
What a shame Rocky, please do something to help her, raise a fund to help her continue her studies or something and get somebody in UK to be a guardian or friend......
ReplyDeleteNot good at all....
Astaghfirullah... this is so sad... I blame the parents. period.
ReplyDeleteHave a deep thought and think deep
ReplyDeleteon the story of Norita's case.
A graduate,well paid 9-5 job but yet a hooker too.
hmmmm...
Sadly ,that's the world's oldest proffession.
We have the problem here!too dig! it.
Rocky, if this is true, it is very sad. The last time I met her was at the surau in SOAS and we constantly meet there for prayers. And I pray she is safe.
ReplyDeleteand Rocky, she is not a malaysian although she did get financial help from the malaysian govt. Her mother is malaysian.
But that does not mean we must not help her.
It is heartrending. One thing I came to realise is that Muslim women who go wayward are forced or choose that road because of family pressure and cruel parents. Even all Muslim feminists, they are pressured by cruel fathers are they choose to become wayward or even start blaming Islam. Even good ones like Z.Anwar of Sisters in Islam told an Australian radio in 2004 where I was listening: "I'm what I'm largely due to my fathers behaviour. He mistreated my mother...." She even refused to marry all her life saying "I don't want to be a slave to man(men)". So it is you men who should take the blame and stop your cruelty. Hurts a lot. Do something pliz.
ReplyDeleteGan said:
ReplyDelete"so sad ... wonder how can she be helped?"
I can help!
rocky, in today's book review in star, sharon bakar - see her blog - reviewed a book called The Gifted - loosely based on Sufiah. I am reading the book now.
ReplyDeleteSad story indeed.
ReplyDeletechild with mental abilities of an adult, she must have been very lonely. Imagine going to Oxford at the age of 12, most 12 year olds would still be enjoying hide and seek with their peers and a little tinge of worry about the UPSR... and thats all.
Child prodigy
ReplyDeleteA world lost to them
When the harsh reality sets in
These gifted children are left empty
Parenting makes it easy
When love and warm flow into it
But it is about fame and money
The reality will damage the children
The solid ground hasn’t started
Living up to a plateau weak on the ground
When knocks of emotional parades
They can’t take it
They go floating aimlessly
Now Sufiah needs help
Plenty of love and warm harness
Bring her home to Malaysia
She will know she needed here
Betraying her true potential
Selling her body thinking of living
It is best to fly her home
A plane ticket and religious council help
Malaysia may gain from her learning
Teaching the young kids about it
The glitter and fame
A short spark then it dies away
Any one even child prodigy
In this world it isn’t lasting forever!
Its definitely true some bloggers are censoring critical comments about themselves.I have posted critical comments in jeffooi blog couple of times before but never got publish.
ReplyDeletegood thing you are allowing anonymous comments but I dont believe too much some of these political bloggers like jeffooi, petra kamarudin and rocky bru. these people are just hipocrites and using public sentiments from the internet for their own benefit.
So becareful what you hear outthere.
It will sound like an obvious cliche' but she's one poor soul lost in the wilderness crying, pleading, begging for help.
ReplyDeleteI suppose there are many of her kind now but surely because of the publicity placed on her in the past, a serious attempt should be made (and resources put in) to help rehabilitate her.
In the UK, she's in the News of the World because she's sensational news - Oxford/Maths prodigy to hooker! I hope I am wrong but it may mean that help from the Brits may not be easily forthcoming.
That is why Rocky's suggestion of our Government doing something although not obliged to ....purely humanitarian and with compassion..... is a good idea!
She could have chosen to teach maths on the side and make an honest living. She could have chosen to wait table or wash dishes and do an honest job and make an honest living.
ReplyDeleteShe chose to go down that road. She prefer to be in that kinda business. She chose to blame people. She ain't a smart kid. Ministry of Education has got nothing to do with this. And you Mr Rocky sir, you just gotta blame someone, don't you? That's all right, old habit die hard.
irrespective of race we as malaysians should do something about this, buat malu lah, my flag my country, my fellow malaysian, there are a lot of such cases here and abroad, they have the gifts, just exploited from young by overambitious parents, until, by the time they are 15-18 already burnout, look here at home 3 yr old going to tuition, this and that , no proper childhood, has our soceity become so jaded with material things?
ReplyDeleteAmazing how a non-Malaysian, just because her mother is Malaysian and a prodigy obtained financial support from Malaysian Government??? What did the Malaysia hope to receive from her in return?? A patriotic feeling of another successful Malaysian (??...heck, she's not Malaysian!!!).
ReplyDeleteAnd here we have locals in our own backyards with excellent results who can't even obtain financial helps from the Government, but their parents have to re-finance their houses, sell their assets to give their children a chance to pursue their dreams.
And why must a call be made for this Sufiah be helped? Did she call out for help?? Let her parents or whoever is close to her in England help her. Is she a minor??
Duh.
Poor child. I hope she gets back on a more positive hopeful track and may this episode in her life not blot her future.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside, is her nationality Malaysian?
As a very average student, I saw many of my "brainy" friends suddebly fell apart, dropped out of school, became local coucil laborers, gone mad.
ReplyDeleteFrom that time onward, I am always wary of super smart people.
They don't normally lead normal life when they grew up. They are self-destructive and they destroy others who get close to them.
Sufiah could be such a person.
MR Average
I'm perplexed. A hooker? She could give private tuition with her smarts. why prostitution?
ReplyDeleteHelp is needed, not condemnation. Something's definitely wrong. Was she abused sexually as a child? Those who are usually end up going to the extreme.
I don't think Rocky is trying to get at the Minister. We can't just claim fame to her Malaysian roots when she is SOMEONE...we must help her when she is down too.
Are you sure this News of the World can be trusted? Isn't it a trash tabloid, Rocky?
Wil sufiah b the first malay 4 pg3 or playboy. She could be an icon, perhaps even b the next putri chief.
ReplyDeleteAnd what exactly have you achieved by advertising this young women's distress that bit more widely? The News of the World is the
ReplyDeletethe news of the world is really gutter press and i feel very sad for sufiah getting coated with their slime. whatever she is or isn't, there is no way she deserves such treatment, particularly as they adopt a higher moral attitude while peddling her naked pictures.
ReplyDeletewherever she is i hope she will come though this and be okay and find her happiness in the end.
btw (and slightly off topic) why is it that malaysian tabloid papers always show the hookers when they do raids and never those who pay for their services and never those who live off their earnings?
This reminds me of another tragedy of a child prodigy who went to Caltech. Parents should not push their children too hard. Let them grow up normally.
ReplyDeleteMonday January 8, 2007
‘Boy genius’ Chiang dies
SEREMBAN: Chiang Ti Ming, the boy genius who was the youngest student ever to be admitted into the prestigious California Institute of Technology (CalTech) almost two decades ago, has passed away on Saturday morning.
“He passed away peacefully,” said a family member yesterday.
The family declined to reveal other details while Chiang’s parents, father Chiang Chick Liam and mother Lee Soo Hoon, were too distraught to talk to the press.
Only his family members were seen entering the house here yesterday afternoon and requested that privacy be given to them.
Press reports in 2002 said that he had been admitted into a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, for depression and withdrawal symptoms. The family also suffered a tragic loss when his sister Eei Wern, drowned at the swimming pool of the Seremban International Golf Club in 1993. Eei Wern was then four.
It was reported 16 years ago that Chiang, who was 15 at the time, was not only the youngest student to be admitted into CalTech but also among the top five percent where his results were concerned.
Chiang had achieved many firsts while at CalTech, including being the youngest ever student to receive the Undergraduate Students Merit Award two years in a row.
He was also an honorary member of the Tau Beta Phi, a national engineering society.
He had been accepted to study for the second year of the four-year Physics degree course at the university in 1989 when he was 13 after sponsorship from several organisations.
The prodigy later pursued and graduated with a doctorate in particle physics at Cornell University in New York.
rocky,
ReplyDeleteit is not that we ought not to help her; at her age now; she is an adult whom is responsible for her own deeds.
if she choses this profession not because of money but because of non-monetary factor, who are we to reform or to help her albeit from a higher moral ground ?
her story is synonymous with many other tragic similarities; a child prodigy being pushed to the limit and has since *abandoned* her family many years ago for reasons known to herself.
it seems that the more *we* try to help, the more it *distance* Sufiah.
So I think it is better that Sufiah thinks for herself as to what she wants to do with her life.
No amount of soothing words can bring her back to where *we* want her to be. It is her life.
It is sad and tragic but who are *we* to condemn her ? has anyone been into her shoes ?
Btw; prostitution in many countries is not illegal but pimping is. And she is in the UK now.
The only connection she has with our country is that her mom is/was a citizen. When she enrolled at Oxford at only 13, the Malaysian gov & media were only too eager to claim some credit from it. We crave global recognition, and will try to attach to the coattails of anyone famous with any little connection to our country. Anyone still remembers the local hoo-haa on Sarah Marbeck, Beckham's alleged lover?
ReplyDeleteThis whole Sufiah Farooq/Yusof affair is a sad archtypical tale of pushing your kids too far. Her dad happens to be in jail right now for sexual assault.
Amir please help since you cakap bolih.
ReplyDeleteShe probably needs counselling.
Amir, can you befriend her to do it.
I disagree strongly with your post. You are humiliating a girl on your site. There are many sad stories out there, they need less humiliation and more help
ReplyDeleteWe don't know the whole story behind this family. There was a report that her father was charged for molesting some students that he was tutoring. Could there be more to what they're hiding in the family closet?? We would never know. If caring society had intervened earlier, when she first ran away from Oxford, who knows how her life could turn out. She's already a grown woman now, not sure what anyone can do. Definitely need expert counsellors.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it is sad. I will not comment much on this except that sometimes we have to respect decisions, even as third party we have other ideas. Perhaps that is what she does not want.. people telling her what to do with her life .. controlling. Sometimes people slump low and then find themselves.
ReplyDeleteAs for blogs, it is ironic that the minister complain when comments are regulated and threatened with lawsuits when it is not. Apa you mahu la?! But still better than The Star. I send 5 emails and many smses but none get published. He should show evidences than cakap kosong. I still have my intended The Star emails and smses. Some more not his ministry ...
Bro Rocky,
ReplyDeleteI am shell shocked by this news.
I wrote about Sufiah some time ago. The article is here and here.
I just can't understand why this had to happen to her. She must be having financial problem.
A'kum bro, mungkin kak wan azizah & abg anwar ibrahim serta puteri kesayangan nurul izzah boleh ikhtiarkan sesuatu. Peribadi keibuan kak wan yang saya amat kagumi serta pengalaman beliau di uk, insyaallah, dapat kita perbetulkan keadaan sufiah. Saya tak harap sangat dgn imam hadari jika telatah beliau dgn michelle yeoh dijadikan contoh. Menantu Oxford beliau n isteri dia pun bukan boleh pakai sangat!
ReplyDeleteMr Rocky, I'm sure you're aware that you've helped her advertise her service by posting a story on her in your blog. She's gonna be pretty busy next couple of weeks now that a lot of potential customers are aware of the kinda thing she can do.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a big mistake on your part. You could have organized a rescue plan with your connections if you're sincere to help her out. You don't have to do this to her. I'm not sure what you're trying to do but I believe it's wrong of you to let the story out. You've helped her become a popular hooker. I don't think I can sleep well with that, sir. Maybe you can.
The trauma she had in her young life turned her into such a character. Can u blame her?
ReplyDeleteAs for Khaled Nordin, u wanted to reply in blogs becos they spun lies? Well, talk abt lies in MSMS, hv u guys ever published our comments when it is critical of the govt?
2 can play at this game dimwit!
Malaysian or not, the poor child (yes, a child) still needs help. People of all IQ can be led astray. Childhood abuse, mental illness, drugs, wrong crowd, ... a host of reasons. Here's a human being in desperate need of help. Hope the article will serve to get others to help her on the healing process, if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteWell this is an old story but when she got the scholarship some people already lambasted the government for it as she wasnt a Malaysian citizen. In fact another Malaysian born of Chinese origin who got accepted into Harvard didnt get any scholarships although repeatedly asking for the government's help. Mind you Harvard is as good as Oxford if not even better. In the end this poor chap's parents sold off their house and car so that their son can go to Harvard. I cant find the article on him but he seems to be doing well there and could have made Malaysia proud but because of some racists in the government he wasnt given a chance.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I feel for the girl but its not our problem to deal with. We have our own girls here in Malaysia with similar or worse problems that arent even highlighted. Let her parents or the British Government deal with her. Heck she is over 18 now and an adult by law so what possibly can anyone do?
This poor girl is like a preasure cooker waiting to explode????
ReplyDeleteIs it our education system or the kiasu expectation of our society???
What a sad story. I've followed this poor girl's saga. I want to cry for her.
ReplyDeleteBut what is the point you are trying to make linking this girl with the msian education minister? Also, she isn't msian.
what a sad ending for a prodigy like her. i guess this is her fate, what happens to her might be a blessing in disguise. she needs to be saved nevertheless.do something you malaysians!
ReplyDeletemany of our local male university students are even worst off. just today one of the malay newspapapers zoom in on their plight. these students
ReplyDeletemoonlight as male prostitutes in some massage parlours servicing men. what about them? i think they need help too.
People,
ReplyDeleteJust leave the girl alone. She chose her own lifestyle. Who are we to meddle with her private life. Who are we to dictate the right path, the right way and the right life to anyone for that matter.
The problem with this country and our inherently sanctimonious culture for the past 50 years is that we have been dictated to once too often. Sex as an extra-curricular school activity is nothing new in this Bolehland country and I am sure some folks must have watched a phone video of the porn show that occurred among our local Malay boys with a willing-partner schoolgirl (still in tudung and baju kurong)in the act. There was no compulsion. It was all voluntary. So what's the big deal with Sufiah in a foreign country - in the privacy of a hotel room with a client or clients of hers. This bring us back to the subject of Dr Chua Soi Lek and his female companion in a hotel room. Who the heck are we to condemn him and her when plenty of other hideous filth and heinous crime are floating around, one being Altantuuya's broken body bits, parts and pieces.
The girl Sufiah is residing in England, so-called land of liberty and freedom of conscience and entity. Who the heck are we to prescribe what is right and what is not right for an individual who chose to unshackle herself of the ugly Malaysian ways.
Just leave her alone. She is still alive and kicking and probably enjoying her sex life to boot!
Whereas poor Altantuuya is dead and gone instead. The perpetrators of her crime unpunished and the mastermind aka The Mongol Slayer still at bay.
She would make a another classic 'Matahari'.
ReplyDeleteWith all the techno spy garget.
Maybe the story is a fake and it isn't her -- the pictures are blurry and the paper is a rag. Don't jump to conclusions.
ReplyDeleteHi Rocky
ReplyDeleteDo not publish too much of these stories. Lets reserve them for tabloids, especially when it concerns young girls.
Now, no form of help will be good as she will be forever known in this way from your blog.
pretty sad to hear about Sufiah situation.
ReplyDeletemaybe, blessing in disguise - Sufiah can help Pak Lah turnaround Malaysian economy sky rocketing if she stationed herself at Pak Lah Castle in PutraJaya.
look at the bright side, the nation need to bloom and if a genie fails, Pak Lah needs a Replacement as in many Proton Replacement Models...
Malaysians! She is old enough to know whats right or wrong, why are we so concern? I just hope she will ensure her clients to wear condom just to be safe, or it will be ever sadder if she catches AIDS. Do not blame her blame her parents, or her father to be specific. He is being jailed if I am not mistaken for molesting his student!
ReplyDeleteI second what Bergen said, and hope that u can remove this post. Please.
ReplyDeleteSad, so sad but I agree with Pasquale she is an adult now and is therefore responsible for what she does.
ReplyDeleteOne thing for sure is that she live all her life in the UK as a westerner does, so we cannot judge her by our Malaysian wordly view its just not the same.
One thing we could do is to pray that she will see the light one day and will live a more happier life with somebody who understands and cares for her InsyaAllah.
Anak Jawa Johor
as much i love pornographics, it was more heart-breaking looking at those nude photos of sufiah than a turn-on.
ReplyDelete150 British pound for half an hour work of displaying her body is alot of money if converted to RM. That's RM900 or more!
ReplyDeleteNo other waiting jobs pay that much, so why not earn more by displaying her body.
Want sex, well you pay some more! At least she is earning and not asking for hand-outs.
She is pass 21, she is free to do what she likes, moreover that's over in United Kingdom... where it was no big deal where a prince married a divorcee... so what is this.
dude,
ReplyDeletesome of our own prostitutes in Malaysia pun sama jugak. Ramai genius while in school and became a drop out in Uni. Later, turn to prostitution. Not because of the pay or anything, its just to get back the old feeling of being alive again. Or to gain some feeling that you are alive. Some of us been there so we know how she feels.
Theres this point where you just dont give a damn no more. Making a living is just to stay survive and nothing more. No more concern for money, branded clothes, family pressure, peer pressure, routine etc.
She'll get over it. I just hope people will give her some space.
From
ex-pros wannabe but failed miserably!
This is really sad.
ReplyDeleteRocky,
ReplyDeleteYour title says "Sufiah: From Genius to Hooker", it should actually read "Sufiah: From Genius to a Genius Hooker"
She is still a genius despite her hooking.
She is not even Malaysian, wonder why she got help from the Malaysian Gomen? (according to Kak Teh) At the same time, there are deserving malaysians being denied help! Is the Malaysian government simply too rich that they can resort to helping a british citizen?
I am a friend of Sufiah's who was at Oxford with her. We have kept in touch intermittently since then but I haven't heard from her recently. Sufiah is a very brave and resourceful woman and I strongly disagree that she is now "destroyed". Recently she has been supporting herself while studying (for a degree she chose for herself this time, not one she was pushed into) and I guess this is what she has been doing to make ends meet and still have time to study. Of course there are alternatives and I don't fully understand her choice, but unfortunately it's not all that unusual for female students in the UK to work in the sex industry. I firmly hope and believe that soon she will be able to put this behind her and move on.
ReplyDeleteToday's News Of The World also has an article about a male contestant in the TV series "The Apprentice" who apparently worked as an escort while at university. In contrast to their characterisation of Sufiah as "sad" he is described as "super-confident" and in it because he loved sex. Double standard anyone?
So very sad! All of that conflict in her head. If not checked I hate to be around to see the final outcome.
ReplyDeletei am willing to be her husband and drive her to right way..hehhe
ReplyDeleteso sad, she was too genius in math and went bad to become a hooker....what a teribble life she had. all problem started with her family
ReplyDeleteShe is old enough to know what's wrong and right. Enough blaming her family, you think every family have a chance to pre-raise a family? everyone thinks or feels thay have done best for the family in his or her own way. Set aside what the father did to the young girls, he should not be blamed for what has happened to sufiah now.
ReplyDeleteShe lives in a country with a different beliefs and mindset as opposed to our country, i am sure deep in her mind she doesnt even care who Malaysia is how they supported her before and all these stuff about patriotic people on this side thinks about her. What she cares now is how she raise the fastest and quickest way to earn money to support her study. How she wants to screw her life is her own problem. Just becos she was a genius before does not mean that we have to protect all the way till adulthood. Our gomen also should stop treating every 'bau bacang linked' people to our country with this and that as if there are no other deserving people purely malaysian born and bred over here who deserve the support.
Why highlight only the bad? What about her siblings-print the following side by side to give a balanced picture of their family situation.Go to: http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,753647,00.html.
ReplyDeleteWhile at it why not print this as well:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=550549&in_page_id=1770
Sufiah's father had just been convicted for molesting 2 teenagers he was tutoring. Probably, there's more to Sufiah's story than ever revealed
ReplyDeletewhat is important, as much as we sympathise with her and feel bad becoz of her malaysian connection (ie: her mother, that's all), we must remember that children need to develop naturally, not by force and not by some crazy accelerated learning techniques. Their brains are fragile, force too much unto them and they are bound to go haywire one day.
there's another Malaysian prodigy, a Penang boy who got accepted into Harvard at an early age. He suffered a mental breakdown and is now in some asylum in the States.
Let them grow up naturally i say.
P/s I never agreed when Najib as the then Education Minister insisted on giving Sufiah the scholarship on account of her Msian mother. She is not Malaysian lah! Tak penah jejak kaki kat KL pun! Aparraaaa
i wouldn't believe everything written in the News of the World. They even lie about sports news. Not a really credible paper.....
ReplyDeleteKesian!So sad..!
ReplyDeleteWow, Utusan and The Star are following you. You're leading them, I see. Kewl.
ReplyDeletelooking back at malaysia, our own social support group for teens with problems are in miserable state...
ReplyDeletetak percaya, try call for guidance or help from Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita dan Keluarga
http://www.kpwkm.gov.my
http://www.kpwkm.gov.my/bm/pgm_jadualaktiviti.asp
we are to be blamed if kids like Sufiah ends up the way she does now.Society has a role to play esp. when you have dysfunctional family rejecting the child when she/he needs them most.Let it be a lesson for all.Don't be a kiasu parent/government.Nanti semua rakyat in mental ward!
ReplyDeletei strongly agreed some of the comments that i believed she must have been sexually abuse by her father!!! that is why she is so self-destructive!!
ReplyDeleteHow much pound does a entry level job makes in England? like customer service, clerk, retail assistant??
ReplyDeleteWith current exchange rate 6.3450. She is making RM856/per call. If full time, RM18832/ month. Annual Income will be RM 225,984.
Do 3 years, minus half for expenses, saving the other half. Come back malaysia to start a small business, maybe can marry - She is quite hot. Smart too.
I knew all along that there's something wrong with the family. And when Sufiah was reported missing, I knew she used her entry into Oxford as her ticket to freedom. While I acknowledge her intelligence, I also know that she and her siblings (and maybe their mom) were terribly surpressed and cut out from the community where they lived in. They learn and play within the family. Yes, family ties is important. But the kids were like under house arrest. They're not allowed to be children. It's ok to nurture the kids but to silo them from the rest of the world is very wrong.
ReplyDeleteI am really not surprised that Sufiah has to resort to prostitution. She wasn't taught by her parents about the reality of life outside their family home. And when she got married, none of her family members were there to support her. So what if the marriage was a mistake. The girl just lack social interaction. And it's the parents to be blamed.
I urge all parents to nurture their children instead of controlling or letting them lose altogether.
if she got financial problems, where the heck is her family?(i mean her mother and siblings..not the father) aren't they supposed to help her or sthg? pity girl. a genius who is also a dumbass..n pleasela..she's not a malaysian. her mother is malaysian, but not her. i'm still wonderin though..where is her mother & siblings?tak dengar anything about them at all..
ReplyDeleteIm not going to do the 'blame game' here.
ReplyDeleteDear sufiah, i believe you're searching for something...I hope that you'll find it one day. Or if this is what you really want, i hope you'll find eternal happiness in it (though i doubt so, but that's my opinion).
Im sure sufiah's parents were motivated by love when they home-school their children. The only flaw is , there's no way to tell how they'll eventually turn out.
farha
Ya Allah, ya tuhanku, Kau tunjukkanlah jalan yang sebenar, jalan yang Kau redhai, terangilah kami dengan nur cahayaMU,
ReplyDeletesemoga kami tergolong dikalangan golongan yang insaf.
Kepada yang terdaya, bantulah dia.
my friend once said,
ReplyDelete"every prostitute has a sad story".
Let the girl be.
We are hookers to our bosses on a daily basis. Our bosses give to us in the arse.
Sufiah Yusof - child genius revealed as prostitute
ReplyDeleteAs celebrated child prodigy Sufiah Yusof is revealed to have become a prostitute, her ex-husband talks exclusively to Neil Tweedie of his shock and sadness
The story of the 'prodigy gone wrong' is always a subject for grim and envious fascination - the obsessed parents, the hothousing, the weird childhood undergraduate career, the dysfunctional later life - but the tale of Sufiah Yusof is bizarre even by the standards of the genre.
A far cry: young Sufiah celebrating taking up her place at Oxford with her sister and father
"Genius on the game," announced a Sunday newspaper. "For sad Sufiah the daily equation she has to solve is simply sex equals £130."
Sunday's News of the World went on to relate how Miss Yusof, admitted to Oxford University at the age of 13, had taken to hiring herself out over the internet as a prostitute - or "Asian escort" as she termed it - at the rate of £130per hour.
Estranged from her family, she had adopted the working name of Shilpa Lee and set up shop in a backstreet flat in Salford, Manchester.
The article illustrated Sufiah's precipitate fall from grace by juxtaposing covertly-taken photographs of her in the nude with one of her as a young, smiling girl - all innocence and optimism in mortar board and gown.
The epose was the final straw for Sufiah's mother, Halimahton, a devout Muslim.
Yesterday, she left the family home in Coventry to arrange her divorce from her husband Farooq. The couple's marriage was already under intolerable strain following his guilty plea last week on charges of indecently assulting two 15-year-old girls while working as a personal tutor.
The Yusof family's humiliation was complete.
"We want nothing to do with my dad," said Sufiah's brother Isaac Abraham, 26, speaking on the doorstep. "He was so abusive to us. That's why Sufiah had to get away."
Ten years before, Farooq Yusof had been lauded as a pioneer in hothousing - the intensive personal tutoring of young children.
The subject of his experiments in education were his five children. Early life for them was a regime of spartan intensity.
The temperature in the family home was always low to ensure their attention, morning prayers were followed by stretching and breathing exercises.
Television, pop music and anything else that might lead to "shallow thinking" was banned. Fresh air, said Yusof, was essential for a fresh mind.
Punching helped as well.
"It depended on whatever mood he was in," said Abraham. "He used to wake us up in the middle of the night by punching our faces. It was awful what he put us through."
Born in Pakistan, and considered a prodigy himself, Farooq basked in the publicity that followed Sufiah's admission to St Hilda's College, Oxford.
There were inevitable comparisons with Ruth Lawrence and other precocious achievers, but Yusof stressed that his children's achievements were the result of his teaching rather than their brains.
Still, Sufiah was the star, the only one to reach Oxbridge. The problem for Farooq was that she had not only a fine mind but one of her own.
Although younger than her contemporaries, Sufiah took part in the campaign against tuition fees and joined a number of university societies, even attending the odd meeting of the Socialist Workers Party.
While her father was promising "more Sufiahs", as if his daughter was some kind of production-line model, she was growing up.
Eventually, in 2000 she rebelled, running away from Oxford. Two weeks later, she was found in Bournemouth but refused to be reunited with her parents. A bitter email to them followed, describing her childhood as a "living hell".
"I've finally had enough of 15 years of physical and emotional abuse," she wrote, claiming that she had twice tried to kill herself at the age of 11.
Her anguish had been met with the nickname Crybaby Soo-Fi. "Maybe the public will have a different view of you as devoted parents. I'm not Crybaby Soo-Fi any more."
The publicity turned ugly. Farooq, it emerged, had a history of dishonesty. Jailed for three years for mortgage fraud in 1992, he had also served time in borstal.
Sufiah returned to Oxford but her early promise was beginning to dissipate. It was then that she met Jonathan Marshall, a law student.
The two fell in love and married in 2004. Jonathan had already converted to Islam. He was 24 and she was 19. The marriage lasted less than two years.
Speaking yesterday from Saudi Arabia, where he works for a leading firm of City solicitors, Mr Marshall explained: "The reason we split was that I became more observant and Sufiah became less so.
"That took her in the wrong direction, away from the direction in which I wanted to go. The teachings of Islam are fundamental to your everyday life, so when paths diverge in that respect it is a major issue.
"She was confused, really. She didn't know quite what she wanted. She wasn't ready to settle down. Basically, she wanted to be a student.
"She wasn't particularly extrovert. She wasn't a difficult person to live with. We simply had different goals, different ideas of where we wanted to be. There were, to my knowledge, no affairs or anything. I never considered such a thing, simply because of the religious basis of our marriage."
Mr Marshall said there was little contact between Sufiah and her family in her final year at Oxford but some bridges were mended when they attended the couple's Islamic wedding ceremony.
He did not gain the impression during the marriage that Sufiah had been subjected to physical abuse by her father as a child. Psychological abuse was another matter.
Sufiah completed her course but failed to take her final exams, ostensibly because of her health. When Mr Marshall secured a job with one of the 'magic circle' law firms the couple moved to London and then, briefly to Singapore.
It was there that they decided to split. On returning to London, Sufiah was admitted to London University's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) to read economics.
Despite their split in August 2005, Mr Marshall supported her for eight months before taking up a job with his firm in Saudi Arabia. He has remarried and has two children.
"We agreed that I would assist her for a specific time. I felt a moral obligation to help her out while she was still at university. She wanted to concentrate on university and I agreed she should."
Speaking of the weekend's disclosures, he said: "I am completely shocked. It's very sad, actually. It's very shocking that someone can use themself in such a way. I can't fathom why she would do it - especially someone in her situation. Despite the problems with her family she had many advantages which other people don't have.
"It's a particular shock - her coming from a Muslim background. To see pictures of somebody doing that - somebody I knew very closely - it makes me think how did she get to that stage. Quite frankly she knows well enough what she should and should not do.
"My view is that people can blame childhood to a certain extent, but there also comes a point where you have to take responsibility for your own actions.
"She had her advantages: she had someone willing to support her while she was at university. One newspaper told me that it had offered a substantial amount for her story. Personally, I'd rather sell my story than sell myself."
Mr Marshall has no way of contacting his former wife now - except through the mobile number posted on the website on which she advertised her services.
"I really do hope she manages to get her life back together," he said. "She was obviously very able and it's sad that she is not able to use that talent."
Yet, if Sufiah Yusof is to be believed, she has not yet abandoned her academic career - she told the News of the World's undercover reporter that she was studying for a master's degree in economics and had her exams coming up. Even now, she still has something to prove. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2008/04/01/ftgenius101.xml
Typhoon Sue - there was another child genius from Seremban, Chiang Ti Ming.
ReplyDeleteI believe he too must have suffered the side effects of being a child genius.
Sadly, he passed away in 2007.
The news of his demise was reported at this link:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/1/8/nation/16504922&sec=nation
this is just sad. Let the kids be a kid. Let them play. simple. The number of kids standing waiting for their mommy daddy outside tuition centre is already a sad view.
ReplyDeletesome with big thick spectacles looks numb and pointless. I dont know who to blame, a demanding society or the 'blinded with materialism' parents.
and we laugh at Michael Jackson when he do funny funny stuff.
maybe she likes her job? ever thought about that? up bringing must have been screwed somewhere along the line
ReplyDeletei rather she just work in a simple job than being like this
ReplyDeleteLook at you guys overreacting. Ebothari has a point - do any of you have any idea how many Oxford students involved themselves into prostitution? Not just Oxford, I think students from many other unis in the UK too. This is nothing new. You all are just over-reacting just because she has Malaysian ties. Let's face it, you're all thinking more about saving your "air muka" just because she's often known as the "Malaysian child prodigy"... Face facts. She is not our problem, she's an adult, it's her choice, let her do whatever she wants. Wrong or right, it's not our business to tell her that. Is it really heart-breaking? If I were in her shoes, I'd probably think the same thing, "Like I don't give a damn."
ReplyDeleteThe taxes I pay should not be used to help a British hooker. Those of you wanting to help Sufiah - pls realise that she is not M'sian. If you persist in helping her for humanitarian reasons, pls do so on your own time and money, not the rakyat's. I can think of a million M'sians more deserving of help from the M'sian govt than Sufiah.
ReplyDeletewhy go far with this suffiah story...
ReplyDeleteOur local product is as good as Oxfords...fresh flesh of college/Univ. students...all type of flavour...check the spa house & hotels.. :)
The rate is cheaper here in Bolehland, from RM150-200 compared to pound sterlings!
Well definitely Amir can help Suffiah F.O.C..hahaha.. Suffiah, let's make one genius baby together, hehehe :P
-anonymouse-
Wot a shame not for us but for her to be a hooker while you gaining popularity not from the 'child prodigy' title that she used to have.
ReplyDeleteMaybe she wanted to be Asian's Britney Spears so bad!
Why a non-malaysian be able to get financial aids to study abroad whereas some smart malaysians dont even manage to get to uni?
ReplyDeleteGenius in Math! but what a bout her faith ? Yup she need love,support,being abused...bla..bla..bla..the list will never end! We have witnessed and read many articles concerning child abuse,poverty and etc...
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe not all of them end up with resume stating GRO/HOOKER/Prostitute in their working experience column!
It's purely a matter of choice! She made her choice!
Should we not suffering from any neurological disorder / any mental illness-choices usually made out of our conscious mind!Where all pros n cons taken into account.
But instead choosing the most best alternative(choice) we,human often tempted to go the other way around.
Be it hooker/call girl or whatever... SHE IS NOT A BAD PERSON! It's a matter of principles! but looking from Islamic point of view,she is absolutely at the wrong side of the road! which could lead her to fatal!
Noticed all the road safety sign along the highway/road side? Telling us what to expect,what's the limit n etc...same goes here,sign from Allah swt, Its Soul Searching time!!!!... (Rrrrinnggg a belll???)
Ones can't succeed without faith!
I'm no angel either...praying this nightmare will soon end ...Wake up Sufiah!!!!
What's wrong with enjoying sex willingly and getting paid. Those who said sad sad sad about her are the people who're actually sad and need to get a life. She is a lot happier now than the people who said sad about her. Btw, this rocky's bru site is good, free ad for Sopiah, well done LOL.
ReplyDeleteSufiah has the right to be a sex worker, especially since
ReplyDeleteBritish law considers sex workers, doctors, lawyers and
accountants as professionals. I see nothing immoral in
being "a hooker" as you call it, as I see it as an honest
way to make a living. Its much better than murder,
robbery, rape, and corruption.
Malaysian government should consider legalising prostitution
and treat this industry the same way doctors and lawyers
are treated. This can create job opportunities for those
unemployed grads.
it's wrong because risks health, lineage, family bonds (what will happen if a man watches his mom in bed videos?). it puts women to be valued simply by her touch-n-go skills. even if she enjoys it, but on overall it's impact creates a societal value that women offering intimacy is a pleasure that can be bought easily as men pleases.
ReplyDeletewhy marry then. why commit. why stay faithful to your with, in sickness & in health till death do us part. there's always escorts to purchase.
Individually, maybe she thinks she's having it all. But on overall to society - it gives men the upper hand. Women less so.
Also, a pampered princess? If she is suddenly ill or impaired, who will care for her? The guys? or will they just run to the next girl. She will grow older & younger prettier girls are maybe ready in line. What will come of her.
Its men who wins. Not women.
God Knows Best. I seek refuge in Him from errors.