Remembering the late Tan Sri Dr. Jamaluddin Jarjis

By : Professor Datuk Dr. A Rahman A Jamal

As an academician I had little chance to rub shoulders with the late Tan Sri Dr. Jamaluddin Jarjis (or fondly known as JJ) within the political circle. However, I had the privilege of interacting directly with him in relation to two research programs which involved our research institute during his term as the minister of MOSTI. The first one was The Malaysian Cohort project itself. The YAB Prime Minister had met Professor Leland Hartwell (Nobel Laureate and also President of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center) at the Bio 2004 Convention in USA and our PM was briefed about a large initiative called the Asia Cohort Consortium project. Professor Hartwell requested that Malaysia embark on a population cohort study and be a member of the consortium. Upon his return to Malaysia, the Prime Minister requested Tan Sri JJ to initiate the Cohort project as soon as possible. Tan Sri JJ invited Professor Hartwell over to Malaysia to have a discussion and also to interact with our local researchers. Tan Sri JJ agreed that a concept paper for the Cohort project be written quickly and a cabinet paper be submitted. I was called to send in my CV to Tan Sri JJ to be considered as a project leader. My name had been suggested by Professor Dr. Nor Muhammad Mahadi who was then the Director of the Malaysia Genome Institute (MGI). We had just a week to prepare a concept paper complete with a budget estimate. Professor Nor, myself and Professor Dr. Sharr Azni Harmin (who was then the director of the National Biotechnology Division) met with Tan Sri JJ and presented to him the concept paper. He immediately instructed us to make a trip to Seattle to present the proposal to Professor Hartwell and his team at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, USA. Tan Sri reiterated that the Cohort project will be an important research project for Malaysia. When told that there is no allocation yet for the proposed project let alone the trip to Seattle, he summoned his deputy secretary general (finance) to come over and instructed that money be approved for our trip. That’s the decisive Tan Sri JJ whom I know especially when he believed in something that needs to be done without delay. Just clear and immediate execution. Three months later, Tan Sri JJ tabled the cabinet paper for the project to be approved and the rest is history. The Malaysian Cohort now stands as the largest prospective cohort study in the nation and the Biobank which stores the biospecimens from 106,527 participants is the largest in South East Asia.

The next interaction I had with Tan Sri JJ was during the National Angkasawan Programme (which was launched in 2003). For me, it was indeed a personal honour to be invited into the space science programme in December 2005 by Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman, who was then the director general of the National Space Agency. By that time the list of candidates to become the first Malaysian astronaut was already shortlisted to four individuals and the whole country was already abuzz about having our first angkasawan. The researchers involved in the scientific experiments were very much in the background although I had a good share of trips to Moscow during the contract negotiations with the Russians accompanying the team from the National Space Agency. Tan Sri JJ came to Moscow in December 2006 to visit our two candidate astronauts who were then already undergoing intensive training. He also wanted to be briefed on the scientific experiments. I remembered clearly the night after my arrival in Moscow whilst getting under the duvet on my bed in the hotel room and getting ready to sleep (Russian winter is really excruciating cold) when the phone rang. The minister’s senior aide mentioned that Tan Sri JJ wanted to see me and Professor Dr. Abu Bakar Salleh (who was then the TNC UPM and representing the UPM’s research group). It was already 1 am in the morning but for those who knew Tan Sri JJ, to him serving the nation certainly does not follow the normal working hours. After briefing him on the status of the preparations for the scientific experiments, he reminded us on how important that the experiments be planned and conducted well as the scientific program itself was as equally important as getting our first astronaut to space. When he asked me whether there was already funding for the experiments, I honestly told him there was none approved yet. He was rather surprised and immediately summoned one of his senior officers to come to join us. Tan Sri JJ asked me how much money will be needed for the space experiments and then instructed his officer to get the necessary funding. A few weeks later, the fund for the experiments was approved. The rest is already history. On the 10^th of October 2007, we had the first Malaysian astronaut in space and we also flew 5 scientific experiments (two of those experiments were led by UMBI’s researchers) to the International Space Station and which was conducted successfully. Now UMBI has its own space science laboratory equipped with the only 3-dimensional random positioning machine in Malaysia which is sponsored by a grant from the National Space Agency.

We at UMBI would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to the families of the crash victims including the family of the late Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis. May Allah bless his soul and grant him paradise. Tan Sri JJ’s contribution to facilitate scientific research in Malaysia is forever etched in the two key projects (and I am sure also along with many others during his term as the minister of MOSTI) for which UMBI is directly involved i.e. The Malaysian Cohort and the National Angkasawan Programme. Indeed we belong to Allah and unto Him is our ultimate return. Al-Fatihah.

Tan Sri JJ interacting with our Cohort staff during the recruitment of participants at FELDA Keratong in 2007.