KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff has stepped down as chairman of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
In a statement today, Rais said he had conveyed his desire to resign to Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz in mid-August.
He said he had also communicated the same to the Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa in early September.
“I chaired the last board of directors’ (BoD) meeting as chairman today.
“The journey in MDEC has been a very intense and enriching one, particularly with MDEC being a critical agency that spearheads and drives the digital economy of the nation.
“I have been vocal in many ways driving these changes, as time is of immense essence. Listening to various stakeholders, particularly in the industry and the people charting out the digital economy for the many,” he said.
Rais’ resignation comes days after he was criticised by maritime industry associations for “attacking” Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong over his stand on the cabotage policy issue, which saw the reinstatement of the cabotage exemption for submarine cable repairs.
Rais was appointed to chair the government’s digital development agency last June.
Despite his short tenure, he said much work on reinventing MDEC had been done – BoD and management restructuring, improvement of governance and integrity with new Discretionary Authorisation Limits (DAL), setting strategic direction through Malaysia 5.0, and the holistic digitisation of MDEC operations.
“Credible open tender for procurement was intensified, open and transparent grant administration was implemented based on ‘know how’ and not ‘know who’ principles anchored on four core objectives – speed, rightful recipients, good governance and integrity.
“The Input-Output-Outcome-Impact (IOOI) model replaced Input-Output (IO) model, where the outcome and impact to the industry and the many are given importance more than speed to spend the budget at hand under IO model,” he added.
He stressed that reforms for government-linked companies (GLC) that take place must be as credible as they can, and be conducted without political or any other forms of interference.
“A GLC is, after all, funded by the people’s money.
“Be that as it may, MDEC is a very critical agency that requires utmost attention and empowerment. It cannot be treated as a mere project management or event management company, nor can it be vendor-driven. It has a bigger and important role in charting the digital economy of the nation.
“The recent pandemic has shown how important and critical the digital economy is, in all spheres of human existence. This will only grow in months and years to come, with greater intensity,” he said.
In addition, he said that it is critical that the BoD be allowed the necessary latitude and independence to do the right thing, in line with the fiduciary responsibility that comes with it.
“The BoD cannot and must not be a rubber stamp for anyone, be it shareholder ministry or supervisory ministry.
“Fiduciary responsibilities require board members to stay independent, objective, responsible, honest, trustworthy and efficient.
“Board members, as stewards of public trust, must always act for the good of the organisation that they represent.”
Having said that, he reiterated that he had never compromised his principles in performing his duties and urged his MDEC colleagues to “do the right thing always and stay by your right principles, no matter what”.
“At times there were some very difficult decisions made, unpopular as they may be, but they are the right decisions, guided by good governance and integrity.
“It would have been much easier to just ‘follow’ instructions from the shareholder ministry and/or the supervisory ministry, but that would be tantamount to a huge battle of conscience.
“I have always believed in doing the right thing anchored on the right principles. Anything less would have crossed my red lines that I have drawn for myself.” – The Vibes, October 6, 2021
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