Noor Hisham bin Abdullah (born Yew Ming Seong; 21 April 1963) is a Malaysian retired civil servant as well as breast and endocrine surgeon.

Born as Yew Ming Seong (姚明祥) on 21 April 1963 in Sepang, Selangor to a poor Chinese family of Fuzhounese descent,[12] and is the second child out of three children.

[13] He was raised by his single mother after his parents separated since birth and had lived in the off Jalan Loke Yew's San Peng Flats, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur.

[16] Due to his family's poverty, Yew was adopted by an Ustaz who was the principal of the Kolej Islam Klang (KIK) where he continued his upper secondary studies.

Once returning from his fellowship in Australia, Hisham Abdullah was appointed as the head of the Breast and Endocrine Surgery Unit at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital in 1999.

[2][29] For his contributions in improving the nation’s health through various reforms and innovations coupled with the advancement of endocrine surgery, surgical training and research in Malaysia, Hisham was awarded the Fellowship Ad Hominem of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) in February 2018.

[41] On 6 April 2020, Hisham Abdullah announced that Malaysia had started the worldwide Solidarity Trial by the WHO to collect reliable data and compare the safety and effectiveness of four COVID-19 treatment protocols using different combinations of Remdesivir, Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Interferon beta, Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine.

[43][44] The China Global TV Network (CGTN), had recognised Dr. Noor Hisham as among the “top doctors” of the world alongside America's Dr. Anthony Fauci and New Zealand's Dr. Ashley Bloomfield for the handling of COVID-19 pandemic.

With the assistance of Third World Network (TWN), Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), and Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Hisham provided a leadership and direction to improve access and equity for the Hepatitis C treatment in Malaysia.

It is the first drug produced through south-south collaboration to improve access and equity for the treatment of Hepatitis C. In August 2023, World Health Organisation (WHO) included Ravidasvir in the list of essential medicine (EML).

Hence, through the Global Surgery Initiative, Malaysia strategically targeting these and other areas of need based on an analysis of waiting times, geographical distribution of surgical facilities by level and other performance indicators.

[54] As a breast and endocrine surgeon, Hisham regularly participated in teaching and training the difficult thyroidectomy procedure, most notably in Malaysia Field Hospital in Cox's Bazaar.

[56][57] Additionally, Hisham led the Ministry of Health to develop Klinik Katarak KKM to eliminate preventable blindness by delivering high-quality cataract surgery to underserved populations in Borneo.

[58] To ensure good surgical outcome when delivering these services, the Ministry of Health partnered with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) via E-Cusum initiative that managed to reduce post-cataract surgery complication to less than 0.2% in 2017.

The emergency, critical and operative care services are an integral part of a comprehensive primary health-care approach and are essential to meet people’s health needs.

[60] Alongside the Health Minister, Dr. Zaliha Mustafa, Hisham Abdullah was appointed as the Executive Board Member representing the Western Pacific Region.

[62] On 18 March 2021, a year since the first COVID-19 pandemic Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed, Hisham received the Ibn Khaldun Merit Award of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) from its chancellor Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah.

One of his retweets was a message by former Prime Minister Najib Razak's, containing a photo announcing the ceremony of the Hospital Kajang women and children's complex with a verse of his[who?]

A founding member of G25 and former Treasury secretary-general, Mohd Sheriff Kassim said that the Ministry of Health should lodge a complaint against Noor Hisham to the Election Commission (EC).

[82] On 21 March 2021, photos of Noor Hisham were circulated online showing him going against the standard operating procedure (SOP) of the ongoing conditional movement control order (MCO).

[83][84] In July 2021, the former health DG Tan Sri Dr Mohamed Ismail Merican rebuked Noor Hisham as a "toothless tiger" for not being effective in leading the nation's COVID-19 pandemic management by failing to be firm with decisions, as well as being pressured by politicians.

[85] Dr Mohamed Ismail, who was the former position holder in charge of the 2003 SARS outbreak, opined that if politicians tried to interfere, they would be told to stay calm and stop meddling.

[16] His hidden singing talent was revealed after an old video clip of him rendering the Shanghai Beach or Seung Hoi Tan (上海灘), a famous 1980s Cantopop song, resurfaced on social media.