KUALA LUMPUR, The Dewan Negara today observed a minute of silence to honour and commemorate former Dewan Negara Speaker, the late Datuk Mutang Tagal who passed away at the National Heart Institute (IJN) on May 10. The new Speaker of the Senate, Datuk Awang Bemee Awang Ali Basah expressed the condolences of Dewan Negara to the family of the deceased before asking all members of the House to stand for a moment of prayer. 'I am deeply saddened by the death of the late Speaker. He is a committed leader in fulfilling his responsibilities, he was even on assignment to lead the country's delegation to the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, Azerbaijan (before the incident). "He is also a person who is concerned about the welfare of members of this House as well as all officers and staff, therefore his departure is deeply felt and is a great loss to the country," he said in his speech after being appointed to the position in Dewan Negara, today. Mutang was elected as the 20th Speaker of Dewan Negara a nd was sworn in on Feb 19. His appointment created history when the late Speaker, who hailed from Lawas, Sarawak, became the first leader from the Lun Bawang ethnic group to be appointed to the position. The late Speaker who was a lawyer, served as a Member of Parliament for Bukit Mas, Sarawak, from 1982 to 1990 and left behind his wife Datin Ho May Leng and three children. Source: BERNAMA News Agency