THE HON. TAN SRI DATO’ SERI UTAMA DR. RAIS YATIM

Born in 1842 in Kampung Gagu, Jelebu, HIS EXCELLENCY TAN SRI DATO’ SERI UTAMA DR RAIS YATIM (TSRY) needs no introduction to a lot of us. As a politician, he has been in government since 1974 and served all the Prime Ministers Malaysia ever had! His five decades of involvement in politics and his contributions to the country warranted him to be coined as a stateman alongside Tun Dr Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh, to name a few.

His keen interest and ardour for language, arts and culture along with the works that he has done to preserve and maintain the sanctity of Bahasa Melayu, Malay tradition and the Minangkabau culture have also made him a Budayawan or a respected figure in Malaysian culture.

Efforts he made in educating and planting the seeds of love for the country and character building towards the practices of high culture through Budi or virtue in English are no less great. With Budi, Tan Sri Rais hopes Malaysia will turn into a better place where Malaysians will have good moral or virtuous qualities and live a life with high standards.

Tan Sri Rais received his primary education from the Triang Malay School from 1953 to 1960. He then moved on to adulthood with several more series of secondary educations before he reads Law at the University of Singapore between 1970 to 1973. In 1994, Tan Sri Rais was awarded a PhD in Law from the King’s College, London with a thesis entitled ‘The Rule of Law and Executive Power in Malaysia: A Study of Executive Supremacy.’

Tan Sri Rais is a writer. He has been a writer since 1963. His writings covered topics related to custom and culture, particularly about Malay and its civilization, Budi, law, national administration and governance.

At present, Tan Sri is working on two important books, Dewan Negara and Melayu. His book Budi Asas Tamadun (2021) is his latest writing edition.