Top Dentist In Armed Forces Retires

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) Dental Director Mejar Jeneral Datuk Dr Mohamad Termidzi Junaidi, who retired Friday, created history when he became the first Asian chairman of an international military dental service under the United Nations (UN).
He chaired the Section Defence Forces Dental Services (SDFDS), one of the main components of the International Dental Federation (FDI), from 1998 to 2000.
For Dr Mohamad Termidzi, 53, it was the high point of his military service spanning nearly 30 years.
"I chaired the SDFDS during conferences in the United States, South Korea, Spain and Mexico," he told Bernama after handing over the ATM Dental Director's duties to Kolonel Dr Sukri Hussin at the Defence Ministry here.
He said he had served as a SDFDS executive member from 1995 to 1998 and was entrusted to be the FDI Field Dental Parts Working Group Head in 1996 in Seoul, South Korea.
He also successfully organised a SDFDS/FDI conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2001.
Through Dr Mohamad Termidzi, a dental and biomedical research cooperation programme was being planned with the United States Navy Institute of Dental and Biomedical Research.
The third in a family of nine siblings from Kuching, he received his early education at Sekolah Rakyat and Sekolah St Thomas in Kuching before being accepted into the Royal Military College in Sungai Besi in 1967.
"I was the only one selected among 25 candidates from Sarawak at the time," he said.
He received an ATM scholarship to study for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery in Universiti Malaya and graduated in 1972.
He is married to Datin Halimaton Zawiah Busu and they have a son and three daughters.