5 honoured for bettering lives
MERDEKA AWARD: Surgeon who did country’s first heart transplant among recipients
KUALA LUMPUR: TAN Sri Dr Yahya Awang, who performed the first heart transplant in Malaysia, is among five recipients of the Merdeka Award 2013 announced by Regent of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah here yesterday.
The other recipients are education pioneer Tan Sri Arshad Ayub, Tan Sri Raja Muhammad Alias, who helmed Felda for more than three decades, pioneer zoologist Dr Lim Boo Liat and researcher Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Lam Sai Kit.
“Collectively, these individuals have positively impacted lives, not just in Malaysia but also in the region and around the world, and made a significant difference to our understanding and appreciation of the world we live in today,” said Raja Nazrin.
Raja Nazrin, who is chairman of the Merdeka Award board of trustees, said Dr Yahya was picked as the recipient in the Health, Science and Technology category for his outstanding contributions to pioneering the development of clinical research and cardiac surgery.
He played a role in the establishment of the National Heart Institute.
Arshad was picked in the Education and Community category for his outstanding contributions to shaping Malaysia’s education landscape, which had resulted in education becoming more accessible.
He laid the foundation for Institut Teknologi Mara (now Universiti Teknologi Mara), which had grown to become the country’s largest higher-learning institution, offering 480 academic programmes.
Raja Muhammad was named the joint recipient in the same category for his outstanding contributions to rural development and reforms through organising land settlement projects in Malaysia.
“He crystallised the vision of then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein to ‘provide land to the landless, and jobs for the jobless’,” said Raja Nazrin.
Dr Lim was named the recipient in the Enviromental category for his outstanding contributions to the conservation of Malaysia’s biological diversity through six decades of research and environmental advocacy.
Dr Lam shone in the Outstanding Scholastic Achievement category for his research in medical virology and infectious diseases, including dengue.
He was a member of a Universiti Malaya team that had identified Nipah virus as a cause of encephalitis in pig farms in the country and helped to contain the outbreak.
Recipients will receive a trophy, the Merdeka Award work of art by artist Latiff Mohidin and RM500,000. Bernama
Chairman of the Merdeka Award board of trustees Raja Dr Nazrin Shah (second from right) arriving at the Petronas Twin Towers to announce the award winners in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Pic by Effendy Rashid