Musa (left) receiving his scroll from UMS pro-chancellor Tan Sri Azman Hashim.
KOTA KINABALU: Former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Musa Aman has been awarded an honorary doctorate (PhD) in economic development by Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).
The award was bestowed at UMS’ ongoing 25th convocation ceremony here on Wednesday (Dec 13) by pro-chancellor Tan Sri Azman Hashim.
“This is to honour his achievements in Sabah’s development, so much so that he (Musa) is called the Economic Development Architect for Sabah,” Azman said in his speech.
In his acceptance speech, the text of which was provided by UMS, Musa expressed his gratitude for the honour.
“For me, this award has immense value and I feel that it is right to share this achievement with all of my former Cabinet members when I was chief minister,” he said.
He said everyone who had worked with him including political comrades, his family, civil servants and his officers were dedicated and had helped him achieve his goals and fulfil his duties.
Musa said his deep interest in the development and improvement of the education system in the state started when he was appointed Yayasan Sabah director in 1994.
“I realise education is very important and it is core to achieving success in life, more so for Sabah, as at that time, we had been very much left behind in terms of education and other development compared to other states,” he said.
In Musa's view, great economic growth, educational improvement and excellence played vital roles in driving a state forward.
The drive to create quality human capital also plays an important part in this, he added, which was why he focussed on quality education infrastructure.
He urged graduates to strive for improvement and not be easily content, as learning is a lifelong process.
Musa served as minister for 15 years from 2003 to 2018.
He was also UMS pro-chancellor between 2005 and 2018.
