Former foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar has been conferred the Grand Cordon of the Order of The Rising Sun by the Emperor of Japan for building a robust relationship between Malaysia and Japan during his time in office.
Japan’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Makio Miyagawa, presented the decoration to Syed Hamid at the awards ceremony at his official residence in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday night.
Syed Hamid, who served prime ministers Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, led the Foreign Affairs Ministry from 1999 to 2008.
According to a statement from the Embassy of Japan, the honour recognises “his outstanding contribution to strengthening bilateral relations and promoting friendship between Japan and Malaysia and to strengthening Japan-Asean relations.”
“Whenever I serve to do anything, I did (so) always not for records but it’s more doing what I should do,” said Syed Hamid upon acceptance of the decoration at the ceremony.
“The most important thing is how I’m able to serve my country, to serve the bilateral relationship between Malaysia and Japan during my period of service.”
“All the successes that have been considered as successes - building relationships in bilateral, multilateral or regional levels - these are all not my work but people’s work (sic) who worked for me, who have been very kind to me and given me the support,” said Syed Hamid.
He also expressed his “deepest condolences to the victims of the Typhoon Hagibis,” which hit Japan last weekend.
Prior to the ceremony, Miyagawa listed Syed Hamid’s achievements during crucial diplomatic occasions, such as the Asean-Japan Commemorative Summit Meeting in 2003 and the conclusion of the Malaysia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement in 2005.
The Grand Cordon of the Order of The Rising Sun is the secondmost prestigious Japanese decoration given to Malaysians, only topped by Grand Cordon of the Order of the Paulownia Flowers which was conferred upon Mahathir during his visit to Japan last November.
The decoration was also bestowed in 2019 to former deputy premier Musa Hitam and in 2018 to Tengku Ahmad Rithauddeen, former foreign minister. - Mkini
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