By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Jan 16: Dato Richard Wee Liang Chiat has been appointed as a new member of Yayasan Sarawak’s board of trustees.
Deputy Premier of Sarawak Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian announced this in a Facebook post late last night (Jan 15).
“I am highly confident that Dato Wee with his vast personal experience in the field of education will be able to contribute to Yayasan Sarawak which has been entrusted to facilitate and further the aims of Sarawak’s education (themselves being owners of many private universities within Sarawak) in the awards of scholarships and loans etc for Sarawak students in the last 50 years.
“Hundreds of millions of ringgits every year have been allocated as we continue to develop and enhance our human resources development in the past, present and for our future and especially in the pursuit of Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” Dr Sim wrote.
For the record, Wee who is also the Federation of Chinese Associations of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions president is among community leaders who have been vocal on pushing for the government to recognise the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
Yayasan Sarawak’s 9-member board of trustees includes Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg as chairman and Sarawak Secretary Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki as deputy chairman.
Other board members include Sarawak Financial Secretary Dato Sri Dr Wan Lizozman Wan Omar, Sarawak Education director Datu Dr Azhar Ahmad, Yayasan Sarawak director Mersal Abang Rosli and former Machan assemblyman Dato Sri Gramong Juna.
According to a reliable source, three members had left the board of trustees effective January 2023, namely Deputy Sarawak Secretary (Performance and Service Delivery Transformation) Datu Dr Sabariah Putit, former director of Internal Audit Unit Datu William Lee Boon Tong and Kota Samarahan Municipal Council (MPKS) chairman Dato Peter Minos.
This means Wee will fill one of the three vacant seats. — DayakDaily
