reactions
march-April-may, 2020 | The Health Xtra
05
Dr Noor Hisham was a sprinter at school. Now is he
running what will well be the fastest race in his life.
The race to contain the spread of Covid-19 and keeping
the death rate down in the country.
“Managing the health crisis is under
the purview of Ministry of Health
(MOH) and as Director-General of
Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah
is the spokesperson who will be
providing updates to MKN and to fellow
Malaysians. The DG of Health managed
the crisis well because the steps were
taken enough and he delivered the
information to the public clearly. He
was able to translate the information
prepared and gathered by his staff in
the simplest way so that Malaysians
can understand. The messages were
straight to the point and the reasons
provided were evidence-based. Even
my 75-year-old mother can understand
the seriousness of the Covid-19 impact
especially for “Warga Emas” and people
with underlying medical condition(s).”
– Prof Datuk Dr Rokiah Omar,
Director, University Community
Transformation Centre, Low Vison
Specialist, Faculty of Health Sciences
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
“A calm, reliable figure who knows
how to covey information effectively
offline and online. Commendable efforts:
Urging the public to stop the blame
game, coming up with MoU with online
companies to reduce overcrowding at
clinics during this pandemic.”
– Joycelyn Ong
Shee Hui, 26
“Datuk Dr Noor Hisham is a very diligent
and professional person. He always
speaks based on scientifically-proven
evidence and facts.”
– Dixon Tan, 27
“He is very experienced, accountable
and competent as he assures the public
via clear facts and transparent data.”
– Harveena Kaur, 22
“Looking at his Covid-19 action plan, he
is doing a great job at handling the case.
We’ve seen other countries with spike in
numbers. Though to some our numbers
are high, it is relatively low compared
to other countries. So, whenever I see
tweets or his Press conferences, it
makes me feel safer.”
– Nurul Hashima, 29
“Day in and day out, seven days
a week – this man stands up
straight, stoic and composed,
delivering the daily updates. Such
composure under strain is the sign
of a strong leader, leading a strong
organisation. Messaging to the
people is simple and consistent. The
nature of the man that he will not
take credit for himself. ”
— Prof. Dato’ Dr Hanafiah
Harunarashid,
Managing Director at
Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz
“Datuk Dr Noor Hisham is definitely a
good and reliable leader! He was able
to realign MOH, from the top-level
MOH management to consultants,
specialists, medical officers, assistant
medical officers and nurses to operate
simultaneously to handle the situation
in most optimal ways. He is an excellent
example that real leaders cannot work
in isolation and groups cannot do away
with leaders. He never takes any credit
for himself; teamwork is key to success
during this pandemic. This is epic!”
— Dr Mohd Faizal Ahmad
Clinical specialist & lecturer
ObGyn Department UKM
Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur
Letters from
the heart
By JOHNSON FERNANDEZ
A cute little handwritten note from a
nine-year-old to Health Director-General
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah is
tugging the hearts of Malaysian netizens.
And equally touching was Dr Noor
Hisham’s response to the note from Lara
Khadijah McAfee.
Lara, who lives with her parents and
four siblings in Kuala Terengganu, had
also sent along with the note a blue loom
band as a sign of friendship. Lara, a
gymnastics enthusiast as well, said she
was very excited when told her letter
had gained nationwide attention, but
she started becoming nervous with the
constant phone calls.
“There were a lot of calls, it was like
non-stop,” said Lara.
As what prompted her to write to Dr
Noor Hisham, Lara said it was a trait she picked up from her mum,
Mutiara Jusuf McAfee.
“My mum always told us to be expressive. It was something that
she learnt when she was a child, and she has taught us to be the same.
So, my siblings and I are proactive in that sense. We express ourselves.
“As for the loom band, it’s my hobby. It is something I do, and I
used blue because it the colour of good health,” added Lara, who is of
Canadian-Malay parentage.
Her dad, Anuar McAfee, is the Director of International Centre, at
University Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), where he also teaches English.
“It has been just so overwhelming,” said Mutiara, Senior Associate,
Group Strategic Communication, of Terengganu Inc. “We have been
getting calls and responding to messages from the media, family and
friends.”
Hours after the letters from Lara and Dr Noor Hisham became
viral, the Twitter from Lara’s brother, Iman, started to burn the local
Internet.
“So my lil sister wrote a letter for Dr Hisham and sent it to his office. Then today got a whatsapp message
with this pic of the official surat, Dr Hisham punya reply to my lil sis. He is so humble and I respect him a lot
with what his contributions for our country,” Iman twitted.
Lara watches Dr Noor Hisham as often as she can on TV during his daily Press briefings.
“I not only watch him. I listen to what he has to say. He makes it even easy for me to understand, kind of,”
said Lara.
The McAfee family had a wish for Dr Noor Hisham: “Happy birthday, Dr Noor Hisham”.