The Selangor government appointed Raja Idris Raja Kamarudin as executive consultant and advisor to Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB).
Raja Idris, who replaces Datuk Karim Munisar, has been tasked with “monitoring and overseeing” the business affairs of KDEB and its subsidiaries.
Raja Idris’s appointment, made through Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI), also allows him to sit on the KDEB board of directors and chair all companies under the group.
“The state government is committed to ensuring that all state subsidiaries are managed professionally with... emphasis on transparency and accountability,” Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim told reporters after a state executive council meeting.
Raja Idris is a member of The Institute of Bankers and The Institute for the Management of Information Systems, both UK bodies.
He also currently serves as consultant to Rototype International, Significant Technologies Sdn Bhd and the Markfield Institute of Higher Learning in Leicester, England.
Prior to this appointment, Raja Idris has held positions in various companies including TDM Bhd group managing director and Siemens Malaysia information and communications network vice president.
The appointment, made with the consent of the Selangor Sultan, took effect on April 5 2011.
This comment by ELOOFK in TMI on April 12 is prophetic:
Well done!!! Must be a Coup of the Year for Selangor MB, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim. Lets see any UMNOputras try to run Raja Idris down!!!
The above found fulfillment in the persons of these three:
Selangor Umno secretary Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed has questioned why and how Raja Idris, 58, was picked to be the chairman of Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPSB), Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB) and executive consultant and adviser of Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB).
KDEB is the investment arm of the Selangor Government while KPSB is a full-fledged water services provider. KHSB is an investment company with many land assets.
Mohd Zin said Raja Idris, the brother of fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, was listed on the official website of KHSB as a British subject.
“Raja Idris is a British citizen. It raises a big question as to why he is selected to head several big GLCs. Can't Khalid, who is from the corporate circle, find any local talent to run the show?” he asked.
In an immediate reaction, Raja Idris admitted that he was still a British citizen but said he assumed that his appointment was in line with the country's initiative to bring back Malaysians from abroad.
“Well, I thought that was why Talent Corp was set up to bring back Malaysians who have left Malaysia and have taken up other jobs and obtained new citizenship in other countries,” he said, adding that he was a non-executive director.
Mohd Zin said there was much unhappiness about how Selangor GLCs are being run, including the removal of senior officials.
(Who is unhappy, if not only UMNO has-beens? Give us some names of those who can turn around companies like what Raja Idris did when PAS managed Terengganu.)
He was referring to the sacking of two KHSB company secretaries in relation to the ongoing controversy over the “loss” of a 234ha piece of land in Gombak worth RM250mil belonging to a fully-owned subsidiary of KHSB. Two other officials have also been given show cause letters.
(These officials were leftovers from the former Selangor UMNO regime. In management we call this auditing…..housekeeping….even Khir Toyo presented brooms to non-performers instead of sacking them. Why keep deadwood unless used as driftwood to decorate the office.)
Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Mohd Khalid Atan said it would not be fair to others if the appointment was politically motivated, adding that “priority should be given to locals”.
(IF, key word….what did UMNO Selangor achieve? Were not Khir Toyo’s appointments political? Remember a railway gatekeeper building his mansion on TOL land. This late clown was even injected into the Selangor Badminton Association. By the way isn’t the Chairman of NFC very local? Ever wonder why Singapore recruited our former chief of Petronas, Hasan Merican. If you want quality, you recruit the BEST IN CLASS and not local dungus!
“Why trust outsiders more than locals? This is an insult to locals,” he said.
(Why trust APCO, FCB etc….we do not have credible Malaysian PR outfits?)
MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok urged Raja Idris to give up his British citizenship, asking whether it was wise for him to have access to so much information involving state assets.
(Did MCA urge Yen Yen to give up her Australian PR? If full knowledge of state assets (previously HIDDEN, no?) contribute to gains in Selangor like what is happening now, why not? Grapes are always sour to some.)
THESE THREE HAD BETTER WATCH THEIR TONGUE QUESTIONING THE SULTAN OF SELANGOR ON THE APPOINTMENT OF HIS COUSIN!