The newfound love and appreciation Malaysians have for Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah seems to be growing stronger each passing day.
The 56-year-old has received extensive praise in recent weeks for his handling of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, catching the attention of people both locally and internationally, with many feeling a new sense of admiration for Dr Noor Hisham.
So much so that Malaysians decided to fill the health ministry’s live Facebook post of Dr Noor Hisham’s daily press conference yesterday with birthday wishes for their new hero – two days ahead of the actual date.
Within minutes of the press conference going live on the ministry’s Facebook page, hundreds of social media users filled the comments section with respectful and appreciative early birthday wishes.
But some social media users probably didn’t get the memo as hundreds have continued wishing him, even during today’s press conference, as birthday wishes continue to pour in.
“Happy birthday Datuk DG. Good news on your birthday. Thank you for your hard work,” wrote a user.
And if flooding the comments section with birthday wishes every day isn’t enough to show their support for Dr Noor Hisham, appreciative Malaysians have created a Change.org petition in accordance with his birthday.
The petition, titled “Happy Birthday Dr Noor Hisham DG MOH & In Support & Appreciation to all Front-liners”, was created two days ago in a bid to get more Malaysians to value our Dr Noor Hisham’s efforts, as well as those from the frontliners.
“The Health DG no longer needs any introduction, he has become a welcome face every day providing much-needed comfort and assurance to all Malaysians,” said the petition.
“His ever-composed demeanour calms the anxiety of Malaysians everywhere and his outstanding attention to detail and work ethic is now globally recognised.
“We hope that through this petition we can rally Malaysians behind the ministry of health, so that they may be continually motivated to know that the prayers, support and appreciation of all Malaysians are with them.”
The petition aims to collect one million signatures from Malaysians “united against Covid-19” to show their support and appreciation for Dr Noor Hisham and all frontliners in the country, with over 28,000 people signing it thus far.
“We sign off by wishing our beloved Dr Noor Hisham a very happy birthday, and may God bless him, all frontliners and their families the best of health,” said the petition. – MMO