Kota Kinabalu: Former Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman received an honorary doctorate (PhD) in Development Economy from Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) on Wednesday.
He received the award during the university’s 25th convocation ceremony.
UMS Pro-Chancellor Tan Sri Azman Hashim, who presented the scroll, said it is in recognition of Musa’s dedication and works he has done for the State.
He said Musa’s achievement led him to be known as the Economic Development Architect for Sabah.
After receiving his scroll, Musa said the award was an honour given to him by UMS.
“For me, this award is very meaningful. Therefore, it is not wrong for me to share this award with all my Sabah Cabinet members when I was in the government, all my fellow political friends, family and civil servants who had shown their full dedication and helped me bear the heavy role of a Chief Minister at that time,” he said.
On education, Musa said his focus on the development and improving the education system started when he was made the Director of Yayasan Sabah in 1994.
“I realised that education is very important and is the backbone to achieving excellence in life, more so for Sabah which at that time was still far behind in terms of development compared to other states,” he said.
“I believe that great economic success, improvement in education and excellence in moving a state forward has a major connection to our initiative to build highly educated human capital,” he said.
Musa, who served as Sabah Chief Minister from March 2003 to May 2018, said this is why he had given a clear focus to upgrade quality education infrastructure.
He urged UMS graduates to not be easily satisfied with the scroll that they have received.
“Keep working towards furthering your studies although there are some from you who would embark into your career life after this,” he said.
“Let it set in your mind that education is a lifelong learning process and it has no end,” said Musa, a former UMS pro-chancellor.
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