KUALA LUMPUR: Senate president Tan Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has been conferred the 2023 Distinguished Asia Leader Lifetime Achievement Award by think tank KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific today.
The conferment ceremony was held during the 6th Asia Economic and Entrepreneurship Summit at a leading hotel here.
Wan Junaidi in his acceptance speech extended his gratitude to KSI for recognising his contributions to Malaysia throughout his career in public service.
“With deepest gratitude and appreciation, I accept the award from Kingsley Advisory and Strategic Initiatives or KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific. This is indeed a great honour and merit for me and for my family.
“I have been l serving the nation for over 56 years and I will continue to serve the nation as long as my services are needed.
“The honour of serving the country is on me and not the other way round,” he said.
In his new role as Senate president, Wan Junaidi pledged to realise the true implementation of an independent Parliament as well as compliance with constitutional provision whereby the Cabinet is made accountable to the Parliament.
The award, limited to a single person each year, was previously conferred to Penang governor Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak in 2022.
Past recipients of the award included former Indonesia president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and former Singapore prime minister Goh Chok Tong.
Wan Junaidi, 77, served as de facto law minister under former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration from 2021 to 2022.
He was previously Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister under the previous government led by former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
He also served as Natural Resources and Environment Minister in the federal Cabinet and previously was Deputy Home Affairs Minister in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.
He was also the Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker from 2008 until 2013. Wan Junaidi was Batang Lupar MP from 1990 to 2004 and subsequently Santubong MP until 2022.
He was sworn in as the 19th president of the Senate last month, succeeding previous president Tan Sri Rais Yatim.
