KUALA LUMPUR, 10 March 2009: Former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Effendi Norwawi and MIC Tapah Division chairperson Dr M Malasingam were sworn in today as senators before Dewan Negara President Tan Sri Dr Abdul Hamid Pawanteh.
Effendi, 61, has been appointed for a second term and Malasingam for the first time. Both appointments are for one term of three years beginning today.
Effendi told reporters at Parliament House after the swearing-in that he was grateful to God for having been given another opportunity to be of service to the nation.
He pledged to provide excellent service by focusing on economic issues in tandem with his experience as an entrepreneur and corporate leader.
Effendi was appointed a senator for the first time in February 2006. He was the Barisan Nasional Member of Parliament for Dalat in Sarawak from 1999 to 2004.
Effendi holds an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Tasmania, Australia, and was brought into the cabinet in December 1999. He retired from politics in 2008 to devote more time to his family and business.
Malasingam, 59, a medical practitioner who graduated from the Bangalore Medical University in India, pledged to discharge excellent service as a senator.
He has been a member of the MIC Tapah Division in Perak since 1981 and was deputy chairperson of the division from 2000 to 2002. — Bernama
