As a matter of fact, it turns out that a lot of people are fans of Dr Noor Hisham outside of Malaysia as well.

All hail the hero

According to a report by The Star Online, Singaporean news website The Independent has named Dr Noor Hisham as one of the heroes in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 57-year-old made the list alongside director of the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr Anthony Stephen Fauci and New Zealand’s director-general of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

The article titled “Drs Noor Hisham, Bloomfield and Fauci – Covid’s heroic trio” was written by consulting editor of the news website Tan Bah Bah in his column 'Sense And Nonsense'.

He said while the original hero of the COVID-19 pandemic was Dr Li Wenliang, the late whistleblower ophthalmologist who first warned health authorities in Wuhan of the virus last December, Dr Noor Hisham has been Malaysia’s regular face on live telecasts.

“For most evenings the past few months, anxious Malaysians have been tuning in from all over the nation to watch the live telecast of the Covid-19 briefing, delivered by Dr Noor Hisham.

“He would calmly detail the latest developments, switching effortlessly between English and Bahasa. He is the country’s public face in Malaysia’s fight to contain the virus,” wrote Tan.