NORWEGIAN AMONG FOUR RECIPIENTS OF INDEPENDENCE AWARDS THIS YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 5 (Bernama) -- One of the key figures in the formulation of the National Economic Policy (NEP), Just Faaland, is among four recipients of this year's Merdeka (Independence) awards.

Faaland, a Norwegian, receives the award in the Outstanding Contribution to the
People of Malaysia category.

The three other personalities chosen to receive the awards are Mother Mangalam
a/p S. Iyaswamy Iyer, who is recipient for the Education and Community category
while Professor Emeritus Dr Yong Hoi Sen and Professor Dr Harith Ahmad are the
joint winners in the Outstanding Scholastic Achievement category.

The announcement of the winners was made by the chairman of the Board of
Trustees of Merdeka Awards, Shamsul Azhar Abbas, at the Malaysian Petroleum Club
here, Wednesday.

He said the recipients' selfless endeavours and contributions have made a
positive impact on the lives of many, and will forever be inscribed in the
annals of Malaysian history.

"The Merdeka awards has truly emerged as a critical platform to promote thought
leadership that will pave the way for Malaysia's progress in the future.

"At the same time, the Merdeka Award continues to honour the independent spirit
of our forefathers whose struggle for independence brought back the sovereignty
and dignity as a nation that we take for granted today," he said.

He added that there were no winners for the Environment as well as the Health,
Science and Technology categories for this year.

As an economist, Faaland, 88, had researched extensively into the
relationship of economy, society and development.

He had advised the government and had led a team of consultants and
researchers to study the socio-economic situation in Malaysia, and helped advance
the solution to promote equitable sharing of wealth through the formulation of the
NEP.

Currently he is a senior consultant with the Chr Michelsen Institute (CMI)
Norway, an independent centre for research on international development and
policy.

Mother Magalam, 84, a prominent figure in education and social work in the
country, was selected for her outstanding contribution in promoting the welfare
of the underprivileged and for fostering national unity.

She is currently the head of Pure Life Society, an institution that reaches out
to the less fortunate.

The selection of Prof Yong was based on his outstanding contribution towards the
development of basic and applied knowledged of Genetics, Molecular Biology,
Biological Systematics, Evolutionary Biology and Biological Diversity of
Malaysian flora and fauna.

Among his outstanding achievements include the discovery of female mammals with
XO sex chromosome, new species and new records of living
organisms, besides confirming the existence of many other species in Malaysia.

A noteworthy new species, the Trypanosoma raksasa- the largest trypanosome
parasite of frogs and toads in the world - was discovered by him in the
Universiti Malaya campus.

For his achievement, Yong, who is currently attached to Insitute of
Biological Sciences, Universiti Malaya, has had various species named after him,
including Topomyia yongi, Cladomyrma yongi and Kalophrynus yongi.

Meanwhile, Prof Harith is a prominent name in the field of photonics in
Malaysia. One of the earliest and high impact achievements was his role in
kick-starting the virtually non-existent field of solid state lasers in
Malaysia.

He is currently attached to the Phontnics Research Lab, Department of Physics,
Universiti Malaya, where he and his research team have successfully produced
various components used in the nationwide optical network by Telekom Malaysia
such as fused couplers, optical amplifiers, optical fibres, Brillonis sources,
Ring lasers, C-band Edfa and white light sources.

Each recipient will receive prize money of RM500,000 (US$157,68), a trophy and a
certificate.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is scheduled to present the awards on Oct 26 at
the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, Kuala Lumpur City Centre here.
-- BERNAMA