Dato’ Harun Rawi retired as Ipoh mayor on Tuesday, June 30 after helming Ipoh City Council for one year and six months. He took over the appointment on January 2, 2014 from Dato’ Roshidi Hashim. Harun Rawi, 60, plans on staying in Ipoh although Penang was his hometown having been born and bred on the island.
“I’ll continue to live in Ipoh despite my parents are still in Penang,” he told reporters soon after chairing the Council’s full-board meeting for the final time. “After almost 35 years in the civil service it’s about time I take a long-deserving rest,” he added.
Harun joined the civil service in November 1970 and among the appointments he had held was as an administrative officer and then as assistant secretary at the Home Ministry in Kuala Lumpur. He was once the deputy director of the Perak Immigration Department and the immigration attaché at the Malaysian High Commission in London. Prior to being the mayor of Ipoh, Harun was the District Officer of Larut Matang and Selama, an appointment he held for nearly three years.
For all retiring senior government officers their final day in office is of significance, as it will have a resounding impact on their lives. Harun was no exception.
When Harun clocked out from the Council building at 5.30pm on Tuesday, June 30 it was a melancholic moment indeed. As he punched his attendance card he was being watched on by his subordinates, among who was the Council Secretary, Mohd Zakuan Zakaria.
Officers and Council staff formed a line to shake his hand and to bid him farewell, as he walked to his waiting staff car under the porch. Some were moved to tears. But life goes on. Out goes the old and in comes the new. That is life.
Incidentally, Harun was the ninth mayor of Ipoh. He is being replaced by the former president of Manjung Municipal Council, Dato’ Zamri Man.
Nantini
