RECIPIENT / PROFILE

Dr Timothy William 

Life
Dr Timothy William was born on 25^th August, 1970 in Klang, and was raised in Banting, Selangor. When he was asked to name an accomplishment that he is most proud of, Dr William reminisced his five distinctions for his STPM in 1989 when he was still a teenager. Three out of the 38 students in the whole country with 5 distinctions came from the small secondary school in Banting he studied in.The school had only 23 Science Stream students. Having the results announced in the National news the day before the official release as an example of how a “Sekolah Luar Bandar” could still be successful was Dr William’s proudest moment. It gives hope that kids who  live in rural areas can still  accomplish much with hardwork.

After graduating from the University of Malaya in 1995 as a young doctor, he started working in Hospital Sultanah Aminah Johore Bahru as a House Officer for a year. This period of Housemanship was the toughest posting he had ever endured, as he was grilled and taught by both kind and tough consultants on what it takes to be a good doctor. After finally completing his Housemanship, Dr William was posted to Tambunan, a small town in the interior of Sabah, which he remembers as “heaven on earth”. It was also here that he met Aida, the love of his life whom he later married. During his time at Tambunan, Dr William realized that infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, typhoid, melioidosis and others were a major problem faced by people in rural areas and those in the lower socioeconomic group. Thus, he became passionate about the treatment of infectious diseases and pursued a career that would allow him to make a difference in the way that these diseases are managed.

After spending two years in Tambunan, Dr William headed over to Kota Kinabalu to work at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital under the guidance of his mentor Datuk Dr. Jayaram Menon, where he obtained his specialist qualifications. Later in 2003, he worked and underwent training in infectious Diseases at  Hospital Kuala Lumpur under Datuk Dr. Christopher Lee and Dr. Suresh Kumar for three years, then the Royal Darwin Hospital in Australia for about a year, before returning to Malaysia to work as the Sabah State Infectious Disease Physician for Adults for a term of eight years. The most memorable moments he had was being in the team managing patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 and the H1NI Pandemic in 2009. Dr William started doing research seriously in 2009 on Infectious Diseases despite his already busy schedule in clinical medicine and managing the Sabah State Clinical Infectious Disease Services. He worked closely with his friends and colleagues, Dr Yeo Tsin Wen and Professor Nick Anstey. He currently works at the Jesselton Medical Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah as an Infectious Diseases Physician and also serves as the President of the Infectious Diseases Society of Kota Kinabalu. He remains highly active in both clinical and research efforts.  

When it is time to unwind and relax, Dr William keeps himself grounded by reading the Bible, novels, spending time with his children and having a cup coffee with his wife. He prefers the company of friends who have a positive mindset and speak with candour mixed with humour. Dr William strongly believes that the  work he is doing is just as important and special as the good work many others do in their own fields and profession.