KUALA LUMPUR: Two senators took their oath of office before Dewan Negara president Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim on Thursday (Jan 20).

       Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid and Datuk Shamsuddin Abd Ghaffar were sworn-in as senators at a ceremony held at the Dewan Negara here.

       They will serve for a three-year period effective from Dec 20 last year after being elected by the Perak State Legislative Assembly.

       Iskandar Dzulkarnain, 45, who holds a Bachelor's degree in business, human resources and marketing from a university in Perth, Australia is the chairman of Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation (Bioeconomy Corporation).

       Shamsuddin, 72, who is the Ipoh Barat Umno chief, has served as a member of the Ipoh City Council (MBI) for 18 years and held the positions of member of the board of directors of the Perak Water Board as well as Yayasan Perak for five years.

       In his speech at the ceremony, Rais congratulated the senators for their appointment and reminded them to always strive to discharge their duties excellently and fulfil the oath taken with full of responsibility.

       He said senators must use Dewan Negara as a platform to bring the voices of the people from the states they represent.

       Rais also reminded the senators to debate in a proper and orderly manner.- Bernama