Ungku Aziz to be honoured with inaugural Merdeka Award

Friday August 22, 2008

Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid (pic) will be accorded the inaugural Merdeka Award 2008 for the education and community category.
Chairman of the Merdeka Award Board of Trustees Tan Sri Hassan Marican announced yesterday that Ungku Abdul Aziz was selected the Merdeka Award recipient for that category for his contribution to the eradication of poverty, rural economics and the development of Pilgrims Management and Fund Board (Tabung Haji).
Hassan said the award also recognised his iconic status in the field of education.
Born in Hampstead, London, England on Jan 28, 1922, Ungku Abdul Aziz is a renowned economist, administrator, academician, sportsman and writer.
He is the first Malaysian and longest serving vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaya, the first Malay economist and the sole person to have been accorded the status of royal professor in the country.
The Malaysian Nature Society emerged as the recipient of the Merdeka Award for the environment category for its achievement and relentless efforts in the conservation of the Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserves in Perak, which is over 130 years old.
Established in 1940, MNS is the oldest nature society in the country, which focuses on fighting for environmental conservation, protection, enhancement, public education and awareness.
For the Health, Science and Technology category, the joint winners were the Nipah Encephalitis Investigation Team from the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya and Prof Datuk Dr Khalid Kadir for his breakthrough work in the study and understanding of diabetes.
Datuk Leslie Davidson emerged as the recipient for the outstanding contribution to the people of Malaysia category.Davidson, a British citizen, was selected for his breakthrough in revolutionising the insect pollination of oil palms using weevils, which consequently increase productivity and reduced the cost of production.The recipients of each category will be awarded RM500,000, a trophy and a certificate to be presented later this year.
However, there is no winner for the outstanding scholastic achievement category for this year.
The award was founded by Petronas, ExxonMobil and Shell in conjunction with the 50th Merdeka Day last year.

TS