KUCHING: The establishment of the Sheikh Othman Sarawak Chair can help the state government in realising its aspiration to empower the socio-economy of the Muslim community, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
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He said the Chair which was established in collaboration with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), can also help boost the image, sustainability and progress of Sarawak as the most important region in the Federation of Malaysia.
“It is also hoped that the collaboration with a national institution such as UKM can help us achieve sustainable and integrated development through new knowledge creation and smart partnership.
“The establishment of the Sheikh Othman Sarawak Chair at UKM is also a manifestation of the state government’s agenda for the education sector,” he said in his speech at the handing over ceremony of a memorandum of understanding for the setting up of the Sheikh Othman Sarawak Chair between the Sarawak government and UKM, here, today.
The Sarawak government was represented by Assistant Minister in Chief Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs and Kuching North City Hall) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi, while UKM by its vice-chancellor Prof Dr Mohd Ekhwan Toriman.
The Chair was named after the late Sheikh Othman Abdul Wahab, a prominent Islamic scholar who had contributed a lot to the development of Islam in Sarawak.
Born in Kuching in 1863, Sheikh Othman was among the most prominent Islamic scholars of the 20th century, on par with Tok Kenali of Kelantan and Sheikh Abdullah Fahim from Penang.
-Bernama
