Yayasan KRU president Norman Abdul Halim appointed Finas deputy chairman.
Businessman and community activist Zakaria Abd Hamid has been appointed chairman of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas).
Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said Yayasan KRU president Norman Abdul Halim was appointed Finas deputy chairman.
“The new board members of Finas will be announced soon and the move is part of our measures to further improve the tasks of Finas,” he told reporters yesterday at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Zakaria will be replacing Datuk Hans Isaac, who had served as Finas chairman since April 2019.
The two appointments take effect for two years beginning May 23.
“Norman has wide experience in the media and entertainment industry at local and international level.
“KKMM is confident that they would carry out their responsibilities with full dedication and work towards developing Finas further,” the statement said.
Saifuddin said a task force would be set up to draft a future plan, including providing an economic recovery plan for local writers and artists affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said last Wednesday the ministry held a meeting with the Finance Ministry to submit input on efforts to restart the country’s creative industry involving small players.
“Last week, we gave approval to start the filming of documentaries and advertisements after raya for big players who could afford to restart soon.
“But for small players who did not have income for two to three months, restarting would need a bit of assistance and the aid was among our proposal to the government, we hope to have some good news for art practitioners,” he said.
He said the task force would be jointly chaired by himself and Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri.
Zakaria holds a degree in urban planning from California State University, USA.
Last November, Zakaria, who was the former PKR division chief, was stripped of his party membership following corruption allegations brought against him by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
He allegedly dangled projects from the Housing and Local Development Ministry and the Works Ministry to lobby for votes in the 2018 PKR election.
He was formerly the political secretary to the then works minister Baru Bian under the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
He is aligned to the faction led by former PKR deputy president Azmin Ali that had broken away from PH to side with PN.
Zakaria, who had appealed against his dismissal, has since maintained his innocence and described his sacking as a breach of principles of justice by certain top leaders in Pakatan Harapan.