It's back to school for Ismail Sabri as former PM pursues PhD

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.-The Star filepic

PETALING JAYA: During the Covid-19 pandemic, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was the senior minister responsible for the security cluster.

He was directly involved in planning and implementing measures to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, a task that intensified when he became prime minister in August 2021.

The 64-year-old is now pursuing his PhD and, appropriately enough, has chosen the nation’s handling of the pandemic as the topic for his thesis.

Presenting his thesis proposal during a PhD colloquium session organised by Universiti Utara Malaysia on Wednesday (Feb 14), Ismail Sabri said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had acknowledged Malaysia as a nation that excelled in the fight against the disease.

“I got my student card today. It’s official,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday (Feb 16).

“Who would have thought I’d become a student at this age? This is called lifelong learning.”

On the pandemic response, Ismail Sabri said there was no existing model to use as it was a new experience to every nation.

“Every policy and action (by a country) was tailored to its own situation,” he said in a separate post quoted by Astro Awani on Thursday (Feb 15).

He added that he hoped to show the world Malaysia’s experiences in battling the pandemic through his research.