The right man for the right job at the right time
In a bold move the Minister of Human Resources YB Saravanan Murugan has decided that the new Chief Executive Officer for the Human Resource Development Fund must be a technocrat well versed in the art of business and from outside his party and one with a background in Information Technology.
The appointment comes with some criticism not because of his experience or his corporate background but rather because the new Chief Executive Officer Mr Shahul Hameed Bin Shaikh Dawood had once organised an event where the controversial preacher Zakir Naik had been invited.
And one can guess that the critics will criticise Mr Shahul’s appointment simply because one will be deemed anti this and that when one is associated with Zakir Naik.
I took the opportunity to do some research and delve a little into Mr Shahul’s past, his background, his family to see if the critics charge that Mr Shahul should be condemned simply because of his brief association with Mr Zakir Naik.
Mr Shahul Hameed, 45 years of age was born to the late Shaik Dawood and Jamaliya. He is the great grandson of well known religious leader Haji R.E Mohamad Kassim who had served on the State Council of Selangor in the 1920’s. He was the President of the Selangor Indian Merchants Association and a JP for Selangor. Haji Kassim was a respected community leader who was the founder of a charity then known as the Kassim Charitable Dispensary.
Mr Shahul’s grand uncle was a legend among both the Malay and the Indian community of his time, Tan Sri SOK Ubaidullah was a pillar of both communities and well known as businessman of impeccable repute. Tan Sri SOK Ubaidullah was a prominent member of MIC and just before his passing was a Lifetime member of both MIC and UMNO, probably one of the very few if not the only one to be accorded such a status.
He is also the grand nephew of Dato A.S. Dawood a prominent business man from Negri Sembilan .
Mr Shahul comes from a family which has strong roots in business and Mr Shahul himself has inherited a penchant for entrepreneurship. He is well on his way to making his own name in the business community of both communities, the Malays and the Indians, he speaks Tamil fluently in addition to Bahasa Malaysia and English, he is frequently involved in charitable activism involving the business community having been the secretary general of MIMCOIN which is the Indian Muslim Chamber of Commerce.
He started his working career in the education sector by rising through the ranks at Informatics and was a key figure in JobsDB a leading regional online recruitment agency. He then went on to form My Events International an event management company with presence in 8 countries around the world.
He is married to Sabrina Siamala Vadivelu born to Hindu parents and who has two siblings who are still proud practising Hindus. Shahul has an easy demeanour and this has served him well, he gets along with people of different walks of life from all races and this is testament in his multi-racial multi-religious family links and the make up of his company.
Much kudos must be given to YB Saravanan the Minister of Human Resource Malaysia to go out of his party to pick the CEO of HRDF, Mr Shahul’s selection is based on his experience and understanding of the industry is clearly based on merit.
There must be very little to be critical about in this selection hence the need for his critics to go way back to look for an association which is more political in nature than racial or religious. But it must be pointed out that the selection of a CEO for the Human Resource Development Fund is not one made based on race or religion, but one that needs to be made with ensuring that the new CEO is one who is able to steer the HRDF in these trying times where millions of Malaysians will be looking for jobs and the government to prepare for a post-Covid19 scenario where Malaysians have to be prepared and trained for new skills that are future ready.
There is little time to play politics and even less time to make decisions based on raging emotion.
Joseph Thambirajah
Rantau
Negeri Sembilan
