KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Department of Skills Development’s Former Director General, Zaihan Shukri, has been conferred the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for his outstanding commitment in promoting amity between Japan and Malaysia.
Japan’s Ambassador to Malaysia Takahashi Katsuhiko presented the certificate of the commendation to Zaihan in a ceremony held at the ambassador’s residence here, Tuesday.
In his remarks, the ambassador said Zaihan has played a central role in Japan’s efforts to develop industrial human resources in Malaysia for nearly 40 years.
“On behalf of the Government of Japan, I am pleased and honoured to present the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation to Datuk Zaihan today in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and Malaysia through human resource development,” he said.
In his acceptance speech, Zaihan expressed his gratitude to be named a recipient of the award.
He said he will continue to share his knowledge and expertise with other human resource training agencies to develop new pool of talents for the country, especially in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
“I hope this award will always be the new spark for me to continue this effort in adopting and transferring the skills, knowledge and technologies from Japan especially to Malaysian young people,” he said.
Zaihan was also recognised for his role in supporting the success of the Look East Policy (LEP) since it was introduced in 1982.
“I was fortunate to be appointed as a young officer in the Labour Ministry (then) and was assigned to the Centre for Instructor and Advanced Skill Training (CIAST) after I graduated from Clemson University in South Carolina, USA in 1984.
“This is the beginning of my journey to understand and to love my works to promote and develop skilled manpower for the nation. The initial exposures and guidance that I had received from CIAST Japanese experts is abundant wealth for me to continue these efforts throughout my entire government service for 38 years,” said Zaihan who retired last February.
Throughout his career, he had, among others, headed the training department of CIAST which was established in the 1980s with grants from the Japanese government and supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) since its establishment.
He also served for nearly 20 years as the first Director of the Japan-Malaysia Technical Institute or JMTI in Penang, which trains advanced technicians who have mastered Japan’s cutting-edge technologies.
— NNN-BERNAMA