Noor Hisham Abdullah

Noor Hisham bin Abdullah (born Yew Ming Seong; 21 April 1963) is a Malaysian civil servant and endocrine surgeon who has served as the Director-General of Health since March 2013. He served as the Deputy Director-General of Health (Medical) from February 2008 to his promotion to the Director-General in March 2013. In his role, he has been prominent in leading Malaysia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yew.
In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Abdullah is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Noor Hisham.
Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato' Seri Dr.

Noor Hisham Abdullah

PSM SPMS SSAP SSNS PJN SPMP DMPN DPMP KMN
Director-General of Health
Assumed office
1 March 2013
MonarchAbdul Halim
(2013–2016)
Muhammad V
(2016–2019)
Abdullah
(since 2019)
Prime MinisterNajib Razak
(2013–2018)
Mahathir Mohamad
(2018–2020)
Muhyiddin Yassin
(since 2020)
MinisterLiow Tiong Lai
(2013)
Subramaniam Sathasivam
(2013–2018)
Dzulkefly Ahmad
(2018–2020)
Adham Baba
(since 2020)
Preceded byHasan Abdul Rahman
Deputy Director-General of Health (Medical)
In office
1 February 2008 – 1 March 2013
MonarchMizan Zainal Abidin
(2008–2011)
Abdul Halim
(2011–2013)
Prime MinisterAbdullah Ahmad Badawi
(2008–2009)
Najib Razak
(2009–2013)
MinisterOng Ka Ting
(Acting) (2008)
Liow Tiong Lai
(2008–2013)
Director-GeneralHasan Abdul Rahman
Personal details
Born
Yew Ming Seong[1]

(1963-04-21) 21 April 1963
Sepang, Selangor, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)[2]
CitizenshipMalaysian
NationalityMalaysian
Spouse(s)Nik Suwaida Nik Mohammad Mohyideen
Children6
EducationMethodist Boys' School
Kolej Islam Klang
Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah
Alma materNational University of Malaysia
ProfessionEndocrine surgeon
Known forLeading the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia

Early life and education

Born as Yew Ming Seong on 21 April 1963 in Sepang, Selangor to a poor Chinese family of Foochowese descent,[1][5] he spent his childhood in a kampung at Sungai Pelek.[5] He was raised by his single mother and had lived in the San Peng flats, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur where he acquired his early education at the Methodist Boys' School (MBS). As a young school boy, he would walk to the school in Jalan Davidson with his younger brother.

Forced by his family poor condition, Yew was then adopted by an Ustaz (someone who is called to teach the religion of Islam) and principal at Kolej Islam Klang (KIK) where he continued his upper secondary studies before continuing his pre-university education at Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (SAS), Cheras.[6] Later on in life, he married his adoptive father's biological daughter; at about that time, he changed his name to Noor Hisham Abdullah.[1]

Yew also had obtained a medical doctorate degree in 1988 and a Master in Surgery in 1994, both from National University of Malaysia (UKM).[3] He went on to specialise in endocrine surgery and did his training in various universities in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia.[7]

Career

Medical practice (since 1988)

Dr. Noor Hisham started his medical doctor career as a houseman at the Kuala Lumpur University Hospital in 1988, and later specialising in the Accident and Emergency Department in 1989.

After he had gotten his Master in Surgery, he became a general surgeon in Hospital Terengganu in 1994. After 3 years as a general surgeon, Dr. Noor Hisham received an endocrinology fellowship training at various institutes in Australia.

After completing his fellowship training, Dr. Noor Hisham was appointed as the Head of the Breast and Endocrine Surgery Unit at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in 1999. 3 years later in 2002, he took on the role of Head and Senior Consultant of Breast and Endocrine Surgery at Hospital Putrajaya, a position that he has held until today.

Director-General of Health (since 2013)

Noor Hisham served as the Deputy Director-General of Health (Medical) from February 2008 to his promotion in March 2013 for 5 years. He has later served as the Director-General of Health since his promotion in March 2013. [8]

Controversial political tweets and posts

In 2018, Noor Hisham was criticised for his political inclined retweets which were viewed as pro-Barisan Nasional (BN), the then-ruling coalition, during the 2018 general election campaign. His retweet was a message by former Prime Minister Najib Razak's original tweet that showed a photo announcing the groundbreaking ceremony of the Hospital Kajang women and children's complex in which it contained a verse of his hopes for BN's return to the state power of Selangor. Prior to that, he had also retweeted another message from Najib that showed a picture of Najib on a visit to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital with mothers and their new babies, in which Noor Hisham also said that BN would implement more for mothers and children if it continues to be given the mandate.[9]

Noor Farida Ariffin, a spokesperson for G25 (a group of eminent ex-civil servants of Malaysia), said that Dr Noor Hisham was abusing his position, as public servants were not supposed to campaign for any political party. A founding member of G25 and former Treasury secretary-general, Mohd Sheriff Kassim said the Ministry of Health should lodge a complaint against Dr Noor Hisham to the Election Commission (EC).[9]

The electoral reform group, Bersih 2.0 also criticised Dr Noor Hisham by saying that he was in breach of public service regulations. He was named in Bersih's 'Hall Of Shame' together with Najib. Bersih also said that they were appalled that the Ministry of Health allows its Facebook page to promote Barisan Nasional's manifesto during GE14 campaign.[10]

Role during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia

Dr. Noor Hisham is the director-general in charge during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Following the 2020 Malaysian political crisis, Noor Hisham took over from press briefings after new Health Minister Adham Baba gave a widely criticized first briefing where he falsely claimed that warm water can protect from COVID-19.[4] Noor Hisham's briefings were praised for their calm and clarity during the crisis.

In April 2020, he joined an international coalition dedicated to clinical research involving COVID-19.[11] The China Global TV Network (CGTN), had recognised Dr Noor Hisham as among the “top doctors” of the world for his approach in handling the pandemic.[7][12] On 4 July, Noor Hisham was awarded the "2019 Most Notable Alumni" by his alma mater UKM's Medical Faculty.[13] On 17 July 2020, he received the BrandLaureate Award by the World Brand Foundation for Outstanding Brand Leadership 2020,[14] meanwhile the Ministry of Health also received the award of 'Certificate of Recognition and Appreciation' for flattening the curve.[15][16] On 19 August 2020, he was named as the recipient of the national 2020AD/1442AH Maal Hijrah Figure Award.[17]

In October 2020, Noor Hisham appeared as an animated character along with characters from BoBoiBoy franchise in a one-minute public service announcement to remind Malaysians to take steps to prevent COVID-19.[18] He also was named among the COVID-19 heroic trio by the Singaporean news outlet, The Independent.[19]

Personal life

Noor Hisham is married to Nik Suwaida Nik Mohyideen and has six children; four sons and two daughters.[20]

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

References
  1. "Did You Know about the Life of: Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah". Malaysian Youth Community (MYC). 21 April 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  2. "Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan" [Health Director-General]. Ministry of Health (Malaysia) (in Malay). Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  3. "Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah – DNDi" [Grandfather Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah – DNDi]. www.dndi.org. 11 November 2013. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. "How mismanagement has fuelled Malaysia's coronavirus surge". South China Morning Post. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  5. "生于雪邦华裔家庭 · 诺希山从小立志当医生" [Born in a Chinese family, Noor Hisham wishes to become a doctor since early childhood]. Sin Chew Daily (in Chinese). 29 March 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  6. Nor Ashaha, Nurul Riduan (5 April 2020). "Manusia paling popular di Malaysia" [The most popular man in Malaysia]. Sinar Harian (in Malay). Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  7. "Dr Noor Hisham – the man of the hour". The Star. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  8. "Who is Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the man now lauded as a "national hero"". Cilisos.my. 5 April 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  9. Michael Murty (20 April 2018). "Health chief under fire for 'disgraceful' pro-BN retweets". Free Malaysia Today. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  10. "Najib named in Bersih's 'Hall of Shame'". Malaysiakini. 20 April 2018. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  11. "Noor Hisham terpilih sertai saintis dunia lakukan kajian perangi COVID-19" [Noor Hisham chosen to join scientists on researches to combat COVID-19]. Astro Awani (in Malay). 3 April 2020. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  12. "China's CGTN names Dr Noor Hisham one of world's top doctors". The Star. 15 April 2020. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  13. "Dr Noor Hisham awarded UKM Medical Faculty 2019 Most Notable Alumni". The Sun Daily. 4 July 2020. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  14. Hana Naz Harun (17 July 2020). "Dr Noor Hisham receives Outstanding Brand Leadership Award". New Straits Times. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  15. Faris Danial Razi (17 July 2020). "KKM, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah rangkul Anugerah Brandlaureate 2020" [KKM, Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah embraces the Brandlaureate 2020 Award] (in Malay). Astro Awani. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  16. Noor Atiqah Sulaiman (17 July 2020). "Dr Noor Hisham, KKM terima Anugerah BrandLaureate" [Dr Noor Hisham, KKM received the BrandLaureate Award] (in Malay). Berita Harian. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  17. "Dr Noor Hisham named national 2020 Maal Hijrah figure". Malay Mail. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  18. Mumtaj Begum (23 October 2020). "WATCH: Dr Noor Hisham as an animated character in a one minute PSA video". The Star Online. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  19. Tan Bah Bah (25 October 2020). "Drs Noor Hisham, Bloomfield and Fauci, COVID's heroic trio". The Independent. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  20. "Here Are 7 Things You Should Know About Our Health DG, Dr Noor Hisham". WORLD OF BUZZ. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  21. Bernama (17 August 2020). "Noor Hisham made Tan Sri in birthday honours". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  22. "Tengku Maimun, Dr Arshad Ayub dahului senarai penerima darjah kebesaran, pingat" [Tengku Maimun, Dr Arshad Ayub preceded the list of recipients of honorary degrees, medals] (in Malay). Berita Harian. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  23. "Tengku Maimun, Arshad Ayub dahului senarai penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Pingat sempena Keputeraan Agong" [Tengku Maimun, Arshad Ayub leads the list of recipients of the Order of Merit, Medal in conjunction with the Royal Birthday] (in Malay). Bernama. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  24. "Yang Di-Pertuan Agong's birthday honours list". The Star. 2 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  25. "Top officials head honours list". The Star Online. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  26. "272 receive Negeri Sembilan state honours". Bernama. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  27. "King heads Selangor Sultan's 75th birthday honours list". Bernama. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  28. "Agong terima Darjah Kerabat Selangor" [Agong received the Selangor Relative Degree] (in Malay). Berita Harian. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  29. "Pandikar Amin Dahului Senarai Penerima Darjah Kebesaran TYT Pulau Pinang" [Pandikar Amin leads list of order recipients from His Excellency Governor of Pulau Pinang]. Bernama (in Malay). 26 August 2013. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020 – via mStar.
  30. "199 Individu Terima Darjah Kebesaran Pahang" [199 individuals received Pahang's orders]. Bernama (in Malay). 5 April 2014. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020 – via mStar.
  31. "Juanda antara 207 penerima pingat Perlis" [Juanda as one of 207 recipients of Perlis's medals]. Malaysiakini (in Malay). 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  32. "Sultan of Johor heads Perlis' honours list" (PDF). Borneo Post. 17 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.