KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 2 -- Now the nation's leading voice on health and combatting Covid-19, Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has revealed that medicine was not his first choice.

In an interview with the New Straits Times (NST), he said he had initially wanted to be a mufti or an officer with religious authorities.

"I wanted to be a religious officer or a mufti! Yes, seriously," he was quoted saying.

"When I was in Form 2, I started thinking about the purpose of my existence. I focused on religious studies to get to know myself on a deeper level and find answers to those existential questions."

Affected by poverty, the now trained endocrine surgeon was later put in the care of the Klang Islamic College's principal, w...