KEPALA BATAS: Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) Kepala Batas has been renamed in honour of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The proclamation was made by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a ceremony here on Monday (May 12).
The institution will now be officially known as MRSM Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The change of name was made officially by Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) chairman Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki as a tribute to fifth prime minister Abdullah in recognition of his decades of service to the country.
MRSM Kepala Batas began operations on March 1, 2007 with the first intake of 359 students on April 16 that year.
Its establishment marked a milestone in expanding bumiputra education access in the northern part of the peninsula.
It was Abdullah himself who officially launched the college at a Federal Projects Inauguration Ceremony for the Kepala Batas parliamentary constituency on March 29, 2009.
A native of Penang born in Bayan Lepas, Abdullah, who was popularly known as Pak Lah, passed away at the age of 85 on April 14.
He served as prime minister from 2003 to 2009 after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad concluded his 22-year tenure.
Abdullah earned the title of Malaysia’s “father of human capital development” after introducing the National Human Capital Policy as prime minister.
Present during the proclamation ceremony were Dr Asyraf Wajdi, Penang Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mohamad Abdul Hamid, Bertam assemblyman Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Kepala Batas MP Dr Siti Mastura Muhammad, and Abdullah's son Tan Sri Kamaluddin Abdullah.
