Chief Secretary to the Government Zuki Ali said Johan, 50, had extensive experience in finance, economy, and policy-making. He was most recently the finance ministry’s deputy secretary-general.
Johan, who graduated from Cambridge University with first-class honours, is a chartered accountant and had also served as the deputy director-general (policy) of the economic planning unit (EPU) and national budget director in the past.
He replaces Asri Hamidin, who was appointed in 2020 and had been placed on leave in December, shortly after Anwar Ibrahim was appointed prime minister and subsequently took on the finance portfolio.
Anwar was reported to have said that Asri’s replacement was “a usual matter”.
Separately, Zuki announced that Zulkapli Mohamed had been appointed the director-general of the public services department (JPA), replacing Shafiq Abdullah who had his contract terminated on Dec 12.
Shafiq had been embroiled in controversy last August after an immigration officer complained that he had berated him in public. A high-level committee was later formed to carry out an investigation.
However, it is not known if his termination was related to the incident.
Zulkapli is a former JPA deputy director-general, and was also the CEO of the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp) and Sabah’s federal secretary in the past.
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