KUALA LUMPUR: For the first time, two Malaysians have been awarded the Merdeka Award in the education and community category.

They are the country's first woman minister, Tun Fatimah Hashim, and Datuk Lim Phaik Gan or P.G. Lim, the first Malaysian woman to be appointed the country's deputy permanent representative to United Nations in the 1970s.

The other recipients of tis year's Award are Professor Dr Halimaton Hamdan in the health, science and technology category and Professor Datuk Dr Zaini Ujang for outstanding scholastic achievement.

Halimaton is the professor of chemistry at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Zaini is the vice-chancellor of UTM.

The winners were announced yesterday by the chairman of the Merdeka Award Board of Trustees, Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican.

He said the recipients would receive their awards from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is the patron of the Merdeka Award, on Oct 19.

There were no winners for the environment or outstanding contribution to the people of Malaysia.

Fatimah, who was born in December 1924, in Parit Kurma, Muar, Johor, was a minister from 1969 to 1973.

She convinced Parliament to abolish discriminatory practices against female government servants which included lower pay and fewer benefits than male colleagues of equal rank.

She tenaciously campaigned for the "equal pay, equal benefits" policy which was officially implemented in 1971.

Lim, 91, was selected because because of her many accomplishments which included being a diplomat, noted lawyer, union champion and director of the KL Regional Centre for Arbitration.

Halimaton was selected for inventing the Maerogel (Malaysian aerogel), a high-tech material with wide ranging uses.

The original aerogel was invented in 1931 by an American scientist, but the high cost of producing the lightest known solid had limited commercial use.

Halimaton's method cut the costs of producing aerogel by 80 per cent, making it affordable enough for widespread use.

Zaini's selection was for his scholarly contributions in various environmental initiatives concerning water supply, sewage, river rehabilitation and industrial ecology.

The Merdeka Award is open to all living Malaysian citizens -- individuals or organisations -- non-citizens are eligible for outstanding contribution to the people of Malaysia.

Each award category carries a prize money of RM500,000, a trophy and a certificate.

The Merdeka Award is a Petronas initiative and is co-founded with ExxonMobil and Shell.