He is one of the stars in the Lions XII, but his football career hasn't always been so stellar.

Hariss Harun remembers an incident when he was playing for the national youth team.

"I was only 15 and I remember playing one particular match where I didn't perform very well.

"My coach sent me home, which really affected me.

"The moment I got home, I told my mother what happened and I was so upset, I started crying," Hariss recalled.

He then looked up and realised that his mum, Madam Nisha Mohamed Yusoff, 40, also had tears in her eyes.

He said: "I will never forget what she said to me. She told me not to ever let anything get the in way of my dreams, and to use it as motivation and just keep persevering."

Today, Hariss is a national midfielder.

Said Hariss: "My mother and I are very close and I share a lot of things with her, especially my personal life.

"When I was younger, my father was very strict, so I used to be afraid to ask him for anything that I shouldn't be asking for, like extra pocket money, so I'd run to my mother."

The 22-year-old said that with all the extensive training for the national team, he doesn't see his mum much because by the time he gets home, she is already asleep.

He did not even manage to tell his mum that he had proposed to his 21-year-old girlfriend, Miss Syahirah Mohamad.

He popped the question two months ago after the couple had dated for just over a year.

Said Hariss: "I had already made sure that my mum was in favour of me getting engaged to my girlfriend, but she only found out (about the proposal) when she read it in an article in Berita Harian."

Surprised but happy, his mum had only one thing to say to him when she found out.

Said Hariss: "She told me 'No matter how old you are, you'll always be my baby boy'.

"The moment I heard that, I was very touched and I don't think I will ever forget that."

- Catherine Robert

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