Abdullah conferred Kedah’s highest award

ALOR STAR:Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will be conferred
Kedah’s highest award, the Darjah Utama Kedah (DUK), in conjunction
with Sultan Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah’s 78th birthday today.

Newly-appointed Mentri Besar Datuk Mahdzir Khalid and Datin Paduka Seri
Rosmah Mansor, wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, will be conferred the
Seri Setia di-Raja Kedah (SSDK) award that carries the title Datuk
Seri.

State executive councillor Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md
Hanipah, Army commander Jen Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Zainal, Langkawi MP
Datuk Abu Bakar Taib, Navy commander Datuk Illyas Din and Air Force
deputy commander Lt Jen Datuk Azizan Ariffin will receive the Datuk
Paduka Seri Setia Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah (DHMS) award that
carries the title Datuk Paduka.

The Darjah Gemilang Seri
Mahkota Kedah (DGMK) award that carries the title Datuk Wira will go to
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Paduka Azalina Othman Said, state
financial officer Datuk Ismail Hamid, Alor Star mayor Datuk Yusof
Nayan, deputy Army commander Lt Jen Datuk Muhammad Ismail Jamaluddin
and Westar Holdings Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Seri Syed Azman
Syed Ibrahim.

The Datuk Paduka Mahkota Kedah (DPMK) award that
carries the title Datuk will be conferred on Alor Star High Court judge
Datuk Zainal Adzam Abd Ghani, High Court judge Datuk Wan Adnan Muhamad
and Deputy Information Minister Datuk Zainuddin Maidin.

The Sultan will also confer the Datuk Setia di-Raja Kedah (DSDK) award that carries the title Datuk on
51 recipients. Among them are Mardi Economic and Technology Management
Centre assistant director Tunku Mahmud Tunku Yahya, Judiciary
Commissioner Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, Integrated Air Defence System
deputy commander Brig Jen Tunku Izham Tunku Jusoh, Kedah deputy chief
police officer SAC (I) Ahmad Katran Askandar, Penang CID chief Senior
Asst Comm II Syed Ismail Syed Azizan, Sixth Brigade Infantry commander
Brig Jen Datuk Al Latif Mohd Noor, state executive councillors Datuk
Azmi Daim and Nawawi Ahmad, Deputy Speaker Jamil Idross, Malaysian
ambassador to Qatar Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari, and parliamentary secretaries
in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mohd Johari Baharom and Datuk
Dr Mahitoh Ibrahim.

Other DSDK recipients include state Wanita
MCA chief Lim Bee Kau, TV3 news and current affairs department director
Datuk Kamarulzaman Zainal, Mida director-general Datuk R. Karunakaran @
Karownakaran, Survey and Mapping Department director-general Dr Abdul Kadir Taib,
Kota Star district officer Hashim Ismail, Prime Minister’s chief
confidential secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab, Universiti
Utara Malaysia registrar Latifah Hassan, and Universiti Putra Malaysia
orthopaedic lecturer Assoc Prof Dr K. Silvakumar.

National
Fishermen Association (Nekmat) chairman Jusoh Awang, Syarikat Edaran
Digital System Berhad managing director Bistaman Ramli and Thong Guan
Industries Bhd chairman Ang Toon Cheng @ Ang Tong Sooi are also among
the recipients.

The Setia di-Raja Kedah (SDK) award will be
conferred on 27 people, Ahli Mahkota Kedah (AMK) award to 110, Bintang
Perkhidmatan Cemerlang Kedah (BCK) to 49, and Jaksa Pendamai (JP) to
18.

The state had yet to release the list of Bintang Kebaktian
Masyarakat (PKM) and Pingat Jasa Masyarakat (PJK) recipients at press
time.