WHILE most senior politicians tend to be outward looking to do their post-graduate degree – be it Masters, doctorate or even Master of Business Administration (MBA) – for the matter, it is praiseworthy that Malaysia’s ninth premier Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has chosen Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) to pursue his Ph.D.
Yesterday (Aug 14), the five-term Bera MP was at UUM’s main campus in Sintok, Kedah for a defence of his Ph.D. dissertation proposal entitled “Policy Model for Facing Pandemic Threats to Health Security: Case Study of COVID-19 in Malaysia (2020-2022)”.
Surely, this is a topic close to Ismail Sabri’s heart as he was the senior minister security (security cluster/defence minister) at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic during the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration which later stretched to his appointment as PM9 on Aug 21, 2021.
“Alhamdulillah, after completing my presentation and listening to comments from the panel members, I received the happy news that I obtained approval to proceed with my study,” he penned his joy in a Facebook post.
“Pray that I will continue to persevere until the end of this study and successfully hold a Ph.D. Thank you to the supervisors, assessors and UUM management for their great help.”
Although there were a few detractors who poked fun at Ismail Sabri for his English language proficiency and the likelihood of getting “special treatment” in terms of “easy passage” to complete his doctorate studies, many netizens nevertheless praised him for his determination to study at his age.
According to a Wikipedia post about him, Ismail Sabri has scored numerous firsts during his prime ministership tenure though some of his records may sound unpleasant to the ears:
- Both Malaysia’s shortest-serving prime minister (15 months/one-year and 51 days) and shortest-serving deputy PM (42 days);
- The first PM born after the independence of Malaya;
- The first former opposition leader to become PM;
- The only PM who did not hold the highest position in the ruling party or coalition (he was only the UMNO vice-president); and
- The only PM to serve without a deputy.
Most Malaysians will remember the 64-year-old UMNO lawmaker as the brain behind the Keluarga Malaysia tagline which encouraged Malaysians to put aside their differences and work together to rebuild the nation in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and achieve the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030.
The concept was later abolished and replaced by Malaysia Madani in 2023 following a change in government helmed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. – Aug 15, 2024
