KUCHING: Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Abang Openg reassured all quarters that his priority is to serve and deliver as the chief minister for all Sarawakians, regardless of race and religion.
Breaking away from protocol, the chief minister said he did not mind if people addressed him with or without his honorary titles.
“There were people who had enquired on whether they should include my honorary doctorate titles when addressing my name. I told them, I don’t mind and that is the least of my concerns.
“I am a ‘doctor’ without any thesis. Perhaps, I was conferred such an honorary doctorate because of my experience as an assemblyman and minister.
“With or without my ‘doctor’ title, my concern is to deliver my duties as chief minister to the people of the state,” said Abang Johari when delivering his integrity mandate to state civil servants here today.
Present were two of his three deputy chief ministers — Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas and Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hasan — Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Talib Zulpilip, State Secretary Tan Sri Morshidi Abdul Ghani and State Speaker Datuk Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar.
The chief minister was conferred the honorary doctorate title from University College of Technology Sarawak during the university’s second convocation ceremony in Sibu last month.
Many of the 900 people who attended the event could not help but reminisce on Abang Johari’s predecessor, the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem, who had also ignored protocol during his tenure as chief minister.
The changes in the industrial revolution, he said, had compelled the state government to introduce new approaches to ensure that the integrity and accountability in the state civil service was intact.
Under his administration, the chief minister said he had created a ministry to oversee integrity and ombudsman, which would identify and resolve loopholes in the state administration.
“Integrity without knowledge is weak since there is nothing that we can do to develop the community. On the other hand, knowledge without integrity is dangerous.
“It is a universal value in all religion that one must have accountability, not only to a targeted group but also to God. Once you are accountable, all of the people can live in harmony,” he said.