Chairman Profile
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Sulong bin Matjeraie
Chairman
(15 March 2023 - 14 March 2025)
(15 March 2023 - 14 March 2025)
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Sulong Matjeraie has more than 30 years of Legal and Judicial experience.
He initially worked in the Sarawak Civil Service before pursuing his studies at University of Malaya at Kuala Lumpur in 1966 and was conferred the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 1969.
In 1971, he went to London on a Sarawak Government Scholarship to read law at the Inns of Court School of Law, London. In the Trinity Term of 1974 he was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, London. In the same year he was also admitted and enrolled as an Advocate to then High Court of Borneo at Kuching. He was also admitted to practice at the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam.
In 1975, he left Sarawak to study at the University of Southampton, England and was conferred with a Master of Laws Degree specialising in Mercantile Law in 1977. In 1978, he attended a course in Advanced Management Programme jointly sponsored by Universities of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Canada and was awarded a Certificate in Advanced Management Programme (AMP) by the Banff School of Advanced Management.
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Sulong Matjeraie started his career in 1964 as a Probationary Sarawak Administrative Officer in the Sarawak Civil Service. In 1966, he left on Study Leave to pursue his studies at the University of Malaya. Upon graduation he was appointed as the Acting District Officer at Binatang (now renamed as Bintangor) before moving on in 1971 to take on several roles; firstly as the State Training Officer and the Secretary of the Sarawak Government Examination Board and District Officer of Bintulu giving him the distinction of being appointed as the youngest District Officer in Malaysia at the age of 23 years. He left for further studies in the later part of the year to read Law in London.
Upon returning to Sarawak in 1974, he was appointed as the Director of Civic Development Unit within the Office of the Chief Minister. He resigned in 1975 to pursue his postgraduate studies at the University of Southampton.
Upon completing his studies in 1977, he was called back to serve as the Administration and Finance Manager at the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) before assuming the role of its General Manager from 1979 to 1980. He became the General Manager of Bintulu Development Authority (BDA) in 1980 until 1983.
He resigned from the Sarawak Government Service on 27th September, 1983 to set up his own legal firm under the name and style of Messrs. Sulong Matjeraie & Co in Kuching. He also served as the President of Advocates Association of Sarawak until 2nd September 1998 upon his appointment as a Judicial Commissioner of the High Court of Malaya at Johor Bahru. He was confirmed as a High Court Judge at Johor Bahru in June 2000. While serving as a judge, he attended the “Nineteenth International Symposium on Economic Crime” at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, England in September, 2001.
He was appointed as High Court Judge of Sabah and Sarawak at Kota Kinabalu in July 2000 before being promoted and appointed as a Court of Appeal Judge and later to the Apex Court of Malaysia. He served as a Federal Court Judge until his retirement in 2013.
On 30th January, 2014 he was made a Bencher to the prestigious Honourable Society of The Inner Temple, London.
He was appointed by the Prime Minister of Malaysia as one of the four (4) Eminent Persons to serve as a member of the Judicial Appointments Commission for a maximum period of two terms until 9th February, 2017.
Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Sulong Matjeraie has been appointed as Chairman of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s Board of Directors since 1st May 2018. Currently Tan Sri Sulong is serving as The Non Executive Chairman of three (3) Public Listed Companies in the Malaysian Stock Exchange and these are Petra Energy Berhad; Southern Acids Berhad and WTK Holdings Berhad. He is also the founding Chairman of Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Future Fund’s Board of Guardians since 2023.
