Trainee teacher Nur Yusrina Ya'akob gave Singapore a belated 50th birthday present on Monday morning when she reached the summit of the 8,848m-tall Mount Everest. A 2015 earthquake in Nepal had forced her to abort her climb after passing the 5,500m mark. Early last year, she formed the NTU-NIE Everest Team with Mr Jeremy Tong (centre), 26, and Dr Arjunan Saravana Pillai, 47. Only Ms Yusrina, 30, reached the peak as Mr Tong had to abort the climb due to hypothermia while Dr Saravana was suffering from frostbite. Ms Yusrina achieved her goal of being the first Malay-Muslim woman from Singapore to reach the summit. "The value of perseverance, resilience and resolve to finish what I started meant a lot to me. I hope my success inspires others to work on their own dreams, no matter how big they may be, and never to give up on them," Ms Yusrina told The Straits Times after she returned to Everest Base Camp yesterday.