Kota Kinabalu: State Assembly Speaker Datuk Kadzim M Yahya was among the 54 recipients of the State awards first session conferment in conjunction with the 69th birthday celebration of Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.Kadzim, Deputy Chief Minister III Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam and the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki were conferred the State’s highest award, the Seri Panglima Darjah Kinabalu (SPDK), which carries the title Datuk Seri Panglima.
Three other SPDK recipients were former State Finance Minister Datuk Mohammad Noor Mohd Mansoor, former Mayor Datuk Iliyas Ibrahim and Datuk Lim Haw Kuang.
Left: Mohd Noor Mansor receiving his SPDK and Lucy receiving her PGDK.
Meanwhile, 42 recipients were conferred the state’s second highest award, the Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK), which carries the title Datuk.
Among them were Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah, Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) Commander DCP Datuk Hamzah Ahmad and Esscom Land Operations Division Chief of Staff SAC Datuk Chandrasehkaran Muthu.
Other recipients included State Education Director Tah Nia Jaman, Chief Minister’s Department Media and Communications Director Datin Lucy Yong, Sibu High Court Judge Christopher Chin Soo Yin and businessman Koh Chung Jade.
In addition, Juhar awarded the Justices of Peace (JP) to Deputy Chief Minister II, Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan and five others.
Also present at the ceremony was Juhar’s wife, Toh Puan Norlidah R.M. Jasni, Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor and his wife, Datin Seri Panglima Juliah Salag, State Cabinet and special guests.
A total of 1,407 recipients were conferred state awards, namely six SPDK, 81 PGDK, nine JP, 131 Ahli Setia Darjah Kinabalu (ASDK), 246 Ahli Darjah Kinabalu (ADK), 319 Bintang Setia Kinabalu (BSK), 393 Bintang Kinabalu (BK) and 222 Pingat Perkhidmatan Terpuji (PPT).
