Dato’ Mohamad Ariff bin Md Yusof was accorded the Old Putera (OP) of the Year Award at the  49th Old Putera Association’s (OPA) Annual Dinner on Friday, July 26, at a leading hotel in the Klang Valley. Mohamad Ariff, a 1965 intake of the Royal Military College (RMC), was honoured as the recipient of the RMC Alumni Association’s prestigious award.  This award is the highest recognition given to deserving alumni of the RMC as a symbol of acknowledgement from the OPA to celebrate OPs who have achieved noteworthy level of prominence in their chosen professions and who have made significant contributions to the OPA, the RMC, fellow OPs and the nation throughout the years in the spirit of the RMC’s charter and its motto – “Serve To Lead”. 

Mohamad Ariff’s recognition is well-deserved. He is currently the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia since 2018.  Mohamad Ariff was born in Sungai Petani, Kedah in 1949. He graduated from the London School of Economics (LSE) with a Bachelor’s degree in Law.  Mohamad Ariff was appointed a Judicial Commissioner for the High Court of Malaya in 2008. He was the high court judge in 2009 and in 2012, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal. 

The Annual Dinner of The Old Putera Association which is in its 49th edition, is an event organised and hosted yearly by the OPA to provide an avenue for former RMC students to rekindle old memories of their time at the college and to provide a platform for OPs to broaden their networking.