When Liyana Zainodin, now eight, was born, she could fit comfortably into her father's palm.

'She was 27 weeks when she was born and she was absolutely tiny. She weighed only 490g,' said her mother, Madam Sumani Surana, 43.

Liyana wasn't her first child, but Madam Sumani was 35 then. That she was an older mother, coupled with the fact that she suffers from high blood pressure, presented two risks that could result in premature births.

'It was after a short holiday in 1999 that I went for my regular antenatal check-up. My doctor told me that the baby was in distress and we had to get her out,' she said.

Liyana was warded at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) for the first four months of her life - first in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Nicu) and then in the baby care ward.

'After her birth, I only saw her for a moment before she was rushed to Nicu,' Madam Sumani said.

'I wanted to go see her after a couple of hours, but it was too soon after her birth and my blood pressure was still very high, so the doctor advised against it,' she added, tears welling up in her eyes from the memory.

'But Liyana was a tough little thing. She was a fighter then, and she still is now,' Mr Zainodin Mohamad, 44, said of his youngest daughter.

The couple have two sons, now 18 and 14, and they had always wanted a daughter.

Mr Zainodin remembered the first time he visited his tiny daughter.

'There were these tubes coming out of her, yet I could see her struggling hard, trying to survive. She hardly squeaked when she cried then, yet she fought hard. I felt proud then,' he said.

Although she was in confinement, and traditionally was not to leave the house, Madam Sumani insisted on visiting her daughter every day so that she could take her expressed breast milk.

'At first I didn't know what to do with such a tiny baby. I didn't dare touch her, but the nurses encouraged me to. They said that this would help us bond and that it would help my baby develop. They also encouraged me to talk to her,' she said.

When Liyana finally went home, Madam Sumani was still not confident about handling such a tiny baby, 'despite the fact that I was already a mother of two'.

Her sister helped her take care of Liyana during the day, but Madam Sumani and her husband took over at night.

'We had to learn CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) before Liyana could come home,' said Mr Zainodin. 'We knew then that anything could happen at any time.

'So when Liyana slept, her mother and I watched closely. Sometimes we'd even shake her gently to make sure she was breathing.'

He feels that Liyana was lucky.

'The doctor told us that a preemie as tiny as Liyana was likely to suffer all sorts of complications. But fortunately she only had a small problem with her bladder which was corrected through surgery.'

Although Liyana is petite compared with her classmates at Opera Estate Primary School, she is still as active as any of those eight-year-olds.

'We always tell her that good things come in small packages. And she has the love and protection of her two elder brothers,' Madam Sumani said, as Liyana peeked out from behind her.