Mohd Shukri – from teacher to Perlis Mentri Besar

ARAU: The newly-minted Perlis Mentri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli says the position was a responsibility entrusted by the people to him and it needs to be carried out properly.

The Perlis Perikatan Nasional chairman said his peers and him were elected by the people in the 15th General Election (GE15) and would work hard to implement Perikatan Nasional’s manifesto of building a clean and stable government to give rise to a ‘New Perlis’.“Changes especially in terms of economic and human resource development as promised in the manifesto will be implemented in stages as we cannot do it drastically,” he told Bernama here yesterday.

Earlier, Mohd Shukri was sworn in as the new Mentri Besar before Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail at the swearing-in ceremony held at the Green Room in Istana Arau.

Mohd Shukri, 61, who is more popularly known as Cikgu Shukri, expressed his gratitude to the Perlis people for giving their mandate to Perikatan in the polls.

The state PAS commissioner who joined the party in 1990, also said he hoped the people could give some time to the new state government to bring about changes.

Wasting no time, Mohd Shukri said he wanted to meet with the state’s senior government officials to discuss what needs to be done to safeguard the welfare of the people, in addition to holding a special ceremony to honour the contributions, services and sacrifices of the leaders of the previous government, especially the former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man and the state executive council members.

Mohd Shukri said he would fully utilise his experience as a three-term assemblyman for the Sanglang state constituency and as a teacher for 28 years to help him carry out his new responsibility.

Meanwhile, Mohd Shukri’s wife Najwah Othman, 53, said she was shocked when told that her husband would be appointed as the new Perlis Mentri Besar.

“I only found out about it early this morning, and that was when he asked me to prepare black Baju Melayu, songkok and sampin,” she said when met yesterday.

The housewife said her husband did not inform any of their family members about the appointment.

She said they would always support Mohd Shukri so that he could carry out his duties well for the Perlis people. — Bernama