And the certificate he received might as well have been shared with her, too. For three years, Madam Tay Et had a full-time 'job' accompanying her son to all his classes.

Mr Lee, 20, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a disease characterised by the rapid wasting of the muscles and limited mobility.

The graduation yesterday was an achievement for both mother and son, as his diploma in Internet and multimedia development was a culmination of their hard work.

When Mr Lee was diagnosed with DMD and became wheelchair-bound at 10, his mother quit her $1,000-a-month job at a manufacturing plant to become his full-time caregiver.

He could mostly manage on his own in primary and secondary school, with classmates helping him up the stairs. But his condition deteriorated after he entered the polytechnic, so Madam Tay decided to attend school with him.

Mr Lee gradually lost the ability to write and draw, and his speech became increasingly slurred. He began typing all his assignments on a computer. For exams, he would read out his answers to his teachers. By the end of 2007, he needed a portable ventilator to help him breathe.

Every day, his mother, a 52-year-old housewife, would wake up at 6.30am to get him ready for school. She would clear the phlegm from his throat, brush his teeth, feed him breakfast, bathe and clothe him, then take him from their Pasir Ris flat to Tampines in a London cab.

Madam Tay would also go with him to all his classes. There, she would prop him up against a table, ensuring he had a bolster for a cushion. She would help him to the toilet, collect notes on his behalf, and feed him when he was hungry.

'She was like our classmate,' said Mr Lee's classmate Nur Ashikin. 'She was always there for him, and the rest of us were really touched to see that.'

The one thing the Mandarin-speaking housewife could not do was help him with his lessons.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times