KUCHING, June 4 — Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian revealed today he had rejected a “lucrative” offer to work at the prestigious Heart Centre of National University of Singapore because he wants to serve Sarawak and its people as his top priority.

He said the offer came on May 10, a day after Malaysia had held its 14th general election (GE14), when he received an email from the centre’s director, asking him to work as a cardiologist.

“He (director) sent me an email and asked if I was still a cardiologist, and I replied yes,” Dr Sim said when addressing Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) members at the flag-raising ceremony at the party’s headquarters here.

He said he did not ask how much the centre was prepared to pay him, but believed that it would be very lucrative.

Dr Sim said scouting around for the best talents around the region and offering them with high salaries and perks is how Singapore works.

“You think they wait for people (to apply)? They grab the best talents wherever they can get,” he said.

He said it would be a betrayal for the voters of Batu Kawah if he had accepted the offer.

“I was elected by the people of Batu Kawah in the 2016 state election, so how could I betray them? How could I run away from them who had put their trust on me?

“They would be disappointed if I had betrayed them,” he said, explaining that the offer to him was linked to the outcome of GE14 when PH took over the federal government.

“I told him (centre’s director) we might have lost in the GE14, but we are still in the state government,” he said.

Dr Sim, an internationally renowned cardiologist, was the head of the Sarawak Heart Centre before he resigned to contest in the 2011 state election, but is now its consultant cardiologist.

He also teaches final year medical students at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

Dr Sim also called on SUPP members to mull over how and why the party lost six out of seven federal seats it contested in GE14.

“The GE14 gives us an opportunity to find out why we lost and what we can do together and what kind of work that we need to do better so to prepare ourselves for the state election three years from now,” he said.

He said party members must give priority to serving the state and people, and it is not about taking care of personal interest or seeking positions.