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. Prior to that he served as the Deputy Director-General of Health (Medical) since February 2008. He is also the current president of the Malaysia Medical Council (MMC), as well as a board member of the Drug for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). In his role, he has been prominent in leading Malaysia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early life and education.
Born as Yew Ming Seong on 21 April 1963 in Sepang, Selangor to a poor Chinese family of Foochowese descent, he spent his childhood in a "kampung" at Sungai Pelek. He was raised by his single mother after his parents separated since birth and had lived in the Loke Yew Flats, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. As a young school boy, he would walk with his younger sibling to the Methodist Boys' School (MBS) in Jalan Davidson where he acquired his early education.
Forced by his family's poor condition, Yew was then adopted by an "Ustaz" who was the principal of the Kolej Islam Klang (KIK) where he continued his upper secondary studies before continuing his pre-university education at Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (SAS), Cheras. Later on in life, he married his adoptive father's biological daughter; at about that time, he changed his name to Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Yew also had obtained a medical doctorate degree in 1988 and a Master in Surgery in 1994, both from National University of Malaysia (UKM). He went on to specialise in endocrine surgery and did his training in various universities in Adelaide and Sydney, Australia.
Medical 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. Three years later in 2002, he took on the role of Head and Senior Consultant of Breast and Endocrine Surgery at Putrajaya Hospital, a position that he has held until today.
Noor Hisham has received the Excellent Service Award (2000), Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) and Excellent Service Award (2004), Federal Territories Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Health Department (JKWPKL) for the recognition of his service in medical career.
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 before being promoted as the Director-General of Health in March 2013.
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. Noor Hisham's briefings were praised for their calm and clarity during the crisis.
In April 2020, he was picked to join an international coalition dedicated to clinical research involving COVID-19. The China Global TV Network (CGTN), had recognised Dr Noor Hisham as among the “top doctors” of the world alongside America's Dr Anthony Fauci and New Zealand's Dr Ashley Bloomfield for the handling of COVID-19 pandemic approach. He also was named again among the COVID-19 heroic trio by Singaporean news outlet, "The Independent".
Recognition and accolades.
On 4 July 2020, Noor Hisham was awarded the '2019 Most Notable Alumni' by his alma mater UKM's Medical Faculty. On 17 July, he received the BrandLaureate Award 2020 for Outstanding Brand Leadership along with the 'Certificate of Recognition and Appreciation' for Ministry of Health by the World Brand Foundation. On 19 August, he was named as the recipient of the national level Maal Hijrah Figure Award 2020AD/1442AH. Noor Hisham received the Rotary Club's Paul Harris Fellowship, the highest honour given by the to individuals who have contributed to good causes, from the club Kuala Lumpur chapter on 13 September.
On 18 December, women's magazine Nona honoured him with a special Nona Frontliner Award during the Nona Superwoman Award 2020 presentation. On 20 December, he was presented a special award during the "" (AME 2020) jointly hosted by Astro's both MeleTOP television entertainment programme and ERA radio station.
On 18 March 2021, a year since the first Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed, in which he spearheaded the fight against COVID-19, Noor Hisham received the Ibn Khaldun Merit Award by International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) on behalf of all frontliners in the country from its chancellor Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.
In popular culture.
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.
Controversies and issues.
Controversial political tweets and posts.
In 2018, Noor Hisham was criticised for his politically-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.
Noor Farida Ariffin, a spokesperson for G25 (a group of eminent ex-civil servants of Malaysia), said that 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 that the Ministry of Health should lodge a complaint against Noor Hisham to the Election Commission (EC).
The electoral reform group, Bersih 2.0, also criticised 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.
SOP breach allegation.
Noor Hisham allegedly flouted the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the still on-going Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). Online, circulating photos showed him and other family members standing closely without any face masks for a photo-op during wedding reception of his daughter, Khairin Afiqah, which was held at the BoraOmbak Marina Hall, Putrajaya, on 21 March 2021. As a result, many netizens has questioned Noor Hisham, as an icon should have set a good example for the public by strictly observing the SOP himself during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Personal life.
Noor Hisham is married to Nik Suwaida Nik Mohyideen and has six children; four sons and two daughters.
Noor Hisham having a lanky physique is an avid sportsman since his younger days. He was a school athlete, played football during university days and enjoys scuba diving including underwater photography. His hidden singing talent became known after an old video clip of him rendering the Shanghai Beach or "Seung Hoi Tan" (上海灘), a famous 1980s Cantopop song, resurfaced on social media. He is also known as a multilingual being able to communicate fluently in English, Malay, several Chinese dialects including his native Foochow colloquial and even little of Tamil.