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KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government appointed a woman as the state’s new Attorney General to replace Datuk Brenndon Keith Soh, who resigned on November 23, just four months after his appointment in July.
The current deputy state attorney general, Datuk Nor Asiah Mohd Yusof, officially received his letter of appointment as the new state attorney general on Monday (December 28) from Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Ni Asiah, a 50-year-old lawyer and graduate of the International Islamic University of Malaysia, will be the fourth woman to be named a state GA.
The other AG women were Datuk Kinnie Li Yun Ken (1968-1972), Datuk Mariati Robert (2013-2017) and Datuk Rose Zaleha Pandin (2017-July 2020).
Nor does Asiah’s appointment come after Soh, who was appointed by the previous Warisan Plus state government, resigned in an apparent mutual agreement between the state and him.
Soh is now in the Chief Minister’s Department as legal adviser.
Another woman, Kota Kinabalu City Council Managing Director Noorliza Awang Alip, will be the first Kota Kinabalu City Mayor to replace incumbent Datuk Nordin Siman, whose contract ends on December 31.
Noorliza, 55, a career civil servant, also received her appointment letter from Hajiji on Monday.
In a statement released by the Chief Minister’s Department, Hajiji said that the appointment of the two women was a reflection of the government’s recognition of women’s capabilities.
“The state government will always prioritize women to occupy important positions in the state,” she said.
“These appointments are among the measures we are taking to select qualified women, especially those high-level officers with experience in their respective departments or organizations to be recognized,” he said at the event held at his office in the State Administration Building of Sabah here.
Hajiji said the state government will focus on providing women and young professionals with opportunities to play more roles in the development of the state.
Ni Asiah, thanking the state government, said there was much work to be done to update various Sabah ordinances, including those relating to strata titles.
Noorliza said her appointment as mayor was recognition of the role of women in the development of the state.
“It shows that the state government recognizes women and I think it will be an inspiration to other women,” said Noorliza, who has been working with the city since 1996 when it was still a city council before becoming a city in 2000.
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