First Dayak to serve as Senate President

Former Bukit Mas MP Mutang Tugal has made history in Malaysia as the first member of the Dayak community to be appointed as Senate President.

Mr. Mutang Tugal was sworn in as President of the Malaysian Senate on the afternoon of February 19.

According to Borneo Post, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim nominated Mr. Mutang Tugal as the head of the Malaysian Senate (Dewan Negara) and he is also the only candidate for this position.

At a special meeting of the Malaysian Senate on February 19, Mr. Mutang Tagal was elected as the 20th President of the Senate, replacing Dr. Tan Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar - who resigned after being appointed Governor of Sarawak on January 26.

Thus, Mr. Mutang, 69 years old, is the first person from the Dayak tribe from Sarawak state to hold the position of Senate President. Dayak is a long-standing indigenous group on Borneo island - the largest island in Asia and the third largest in the world, after Greenland and New Guinea.

A trained lawyer with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Curtin University, Mr Mutang served as a member of parliament from 1982-1990. He is currently the President of the Orang Ulu Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Honorary Consul of Romania in Sarawak.

In his inauguration speech, the new Senate President shared: “Law is a field close to my heart, so I will use my experience and knowledge as a legal practitioner to further strengthen and enhance the status of the Senate and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) as the legislative bodies in Malaysia as provided for by the Federal Constitution.”

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/malaysia-nguoi-dayak-dau-tien-dam-nhiem-chu-tich-thuong-vien-246361.html