Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek has been appointed the new Chairman of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) replacing Al-Ishsal Ishak effective 10 June 2020. The announcement was made today by the new Minister of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM), Dato’ Saifuddin bin Abdullah.
Al-Ishsal Ishak was appointed Chairman of MCMC by former Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo on 1 October 2018. His contract was for a period of two years and only supposed to end in September-October 2020, about 4 months from today. No reason was provided for the early termination of the contract.
The new Chairman, Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek, currently 58 years old, is not new to MCMC. He joined MCMC in 2017 and was previously the Chief Officer Network Security, New Media Monitoring, Compliance and Advocacy until sometime in 2018. Back then, Dr. Fadhlullah was a key person who supported the Malaysia Anti-Fake News Act that came into force in April 2018. Under the Anti-Fake News Act 2018, those found guilty of spreading what authorities deemed as fake news could be jailed for up to 6 years and fined up to RM500,000. However the Anti-Fake News Act 2018 was scrapped in late 2019 when the Pakatan Harapan Government came into power, calling it, “draconian laws because freedom is the most precious thing”.
Prior to MCMC, he joined Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) in 2010 and was the Director of communications content and infrastructure, business services National Key Economic Area (NKEA). In 2011, Dr. Fadhlullah supported the 1Malaysia email project (MyEmail), which has drawn public outcry. He was reported as saying that the government agencies would pay concessionaire Tricubes Bhd about 50 sen per e-mail for the MyEmail project. Until today, it was unclear if the RM50mil MyEmail project was funded by Tricubes or by the Malaysian taxpayer.
The controversial 1Bestarinet project was initially proposed during one of the labs conducted by NKEA (Communications Content and Infrastructure(CCI) Entry Point Project 6(EPP 6) ) in December 2010. In 2019, it was reported that the Malaysian Government paid close to RM42 million in electricity charges for YTL’s Yes 4G Telecommunication towers in schools nationwide, for the 1BestariNet project.
Prior to Pemandu, he was Chief Corporate and Regulatory Officer of Telekom Malaysia Berhad. He served the Ministry of Health for 9 years before joining TM Net Sdn Bhd in 1997. Its been said that he has over a decade of experience in the telco sector in the field of strategy, regulatory, corporate governance and product development.
Prior to the appointment as Chairman of MCMC, he joined Perdana University in September 2018, initially as a Senior Lecturer for Public Health and Director of Business Development, later taking on the role of Deputy Chief Executive and Registrar before being appointed as Vice Chancellor in January 2019.
Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek graduated with a medical degree from University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) in 1988. He then obtained a Masters of Medicine in Public Health (MMedPH) from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1993. Later in 1996, he was conferred Master of Arts in Health Management Planning and Policy with distinction from University of Leeds, United Kingdom. He is also an alumnus of the Malay College Kuala Kangsar.
The Minister of Communications and Multimedia also appointed ex-Telekom Malaysia CEO Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa as the advisor to the Minister. He is currently the Chairman of a property developer company, UEM Sunrise Bhd.
Full media announcement (text) by the Minister of Communications and Multimedia:
[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]
PELANTIKAN PENGERUSI BAHARU DAN PENAMBAHBAIKAN DASAR-DASAR BAGI SURUHANJAYA KOMUNIKASI DAN MULTIMEDIA MALAYSIA (MCMC)
Sukacita saya mengumumkan pelantikan baharu bagi Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (MCMC). YBrs. Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek dilantik sebagai Pengerusi MCMC untuk tempoh dua (2) tahun berkuat kuasa 10 Jun 2020.
Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek merupakan Naib Canselor dan CEO Universiti Perdana. Beliau juga bekas anggota Suruhanjaya di MCMC dan mempunyai pengalaman sebanyak 20 tahun dalam sektor telekomunikasi. Beliau menggantikan YBrs. Encik Al-Ishsal Ishak yang telah berkhidmat sejak Oktober 2018.
Saya juga akan melantik YBhg. Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa sebagai penasihat telekomunikasi kepada Menteri KKMM. Beliau merupakan Pengerusi Lembaga UEM Sunrise Berhad dan pernah meneraju Telekom Malaysia sebagai Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif dan Pengarah Urusan. Beliau mempunyai pengalaman lebih 30 tahun dalam sektor ini.
Selain itu, penambahbaikan dasar-dasar MCMC akan diperkenalkan untuk penyesuaian terhadap norma baharu akibat wabak Covid-19, dan pada masa yang sama, merancang dan melaksanakan program-program tertentu mengikut urutan prioriti dan secara mampan bagi jangka masa panjang. Penambahbaikan dasar-dasar akan melibatkan tiga aspek utama, iaitu i) infrastruktur, ii) persediaan untuk 5G, dan iii) urus tadbir dan institusi.
Usaha meningkatkan liputan infrastruktur jalur lebar yang lebih luas dan berkualiti tinggi di kawasan bandar, sub-urban dan luar bandar akan dipercepatkan.
Dalam usaha persediaan 5G, strategi pengagihan spektrum akan diperbaiki untuk memastikan penggunaanya yang optimum. Struktur industri juga akan disemak semula untuk memastikan kemampanan industri dan keseimbangannya dengan kepentingan pengguna dalam jangka masa panjang.
Bagi meningkatkan prestasi urus tadbir dan ketelusan institusi, kuasa Menteri akan disemak semula supaya wujud sistem semak dan imbang (check and balance). Selain itu, pihak MCMC juga akan menyemak-semula skop tugas dan tanggungjawabnya supaya memberi fokus kepada peranan utamanya (core business). Ini termasuk memperbaiki struktur organisasi dan menambahbaik bidang-bidang tertentu seperti perundangan, audit dan sumber manusia.
Saya yakin bahawa dengan pelantikan Dr. Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek sebagai pengerusi baharu serta usaha-usaha penambahbaikan ini, kita dapat mengukuhkan lagi peranan dan prestasi MCMC demi memberi manfaat kepada rakyat dan negara.
DATO’ SAIFUDDIN ABDULLAH
MENTERI KOMUNIKASI DAN MULTIMEDIA MALAYSIA
9 JUN 2020
[PDF]
[/box]
