The Story Behind the Name of Politeknik Ungku Omar in Ipoh
Politeknik Ungku Omar is located on Jalan Raja Musa Mahadi, formerly known as Jalan Diary in Ipoh, Perak. Politeknik Ungku Omar was established in 1969 by the Ministry of Education Malaysia with the assistance of UNESCO, with an allocation of RM24.5 million.
Originally, the Politeknik Ungku Omar campus was located in the Ampang area of Ipoh. At the end of 1973, it moved from the Daily Training Centre to its permanent campus, which was inaugurated on May 10, 1974, by the then-Minister of Education, the late Tun Abdul Razak Bin Hussein.
For our loyal readers at orangperak.com, Politeknik Ungku Omar was named after the late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad to commemorate his services and contributions to the nation and its people, particularly in the fields of scientific and medical research. The late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad was born on January 18, 1931, in Johor Bahru, Johor, and received his early education at the Sekolah Melayu Kluang in Kluang, Johor. Subsequently, he continued his studies at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) located in Kuala Kangsar.
After completing his secondary education, the late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad continued his studies at the University of Malaya in Singapore, where he successfully obtained his medical degree in 1957. He later pursued further studies and successfully obtained a diploma in Pathology from the Royal College of Physicians, London, and the Royal College of Surgeons, England, in 1962. Proudly, two years later in 1964, the late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists and also successfully obtained a doctorate in Clinical Chemistry from the University of London.
Perhaps many in our generation today are unfamiliar with who the late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad really was. For our loyal readers at orangperak.com, he was a prolific individual who produced 40 research papers in the medical field. Holding to the principles that "health is progress" and "without health, there is no progress," he frequently emphasized these points while tirelessly advocating for the use of the Malay language in the nation's medical field. Furthermore, one of his other major contributions was his significant role in the establishment of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, which today is one of the leading universities in our country.
The "Malay Genius" is the title given to the late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad by our society during his prime, as his contributions to the world of science, medicine, and national education were immense. Beyond that, the late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad was also the first Malay to hold the position of Director of the Institute for Medical Research since 1965. He also frequently represented Malaysia at international medical conferences, contributing through lectures and public speeches in Australia, Indonesia, the United States, the Philippines, China, and Singapore.
On February 15, 1969, at the age of just 38, the late Dato Professor Ungku Omar Ahmad passed away due to a heart attack while at his home. As the proverb goes, "a tiger dies leaving its stripes, a man dies leaving his name."
