Ah, Iskandar Mizal Mahmood!

ANY MOVEMENT involving the top brass of any GLC will get noticed. And when the appointment is timed just days before the tabling of the Budget, which is the 'moment of truth' for any incumbent Minister of Finance, as in the case of the appointment of Iskandar Mizal Mahmood as managing director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, it will raise an eyebrow or two. 

On top of that, this is MAHB. You'd remember how the Minister of Finance was compelled to come out with a public assurance that Subang Airport, one of the 39 airports operated by MAHB (and, more importantly, one of the most lucrative), would not be given to a 'friendly' property developer to run? MOF Tengku Zafrul Aziz was unhappy with the previous MAHB MD, Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, for opposing the Subang Airport deal, or so legend had it. 

Of course, I didn't buy into such talk. I believe any MAHB chief in his right mind will NOT support such sellout. Nor would any decent MOF, for that matter.

The fact is, Shukrie's contract was up. He had done an excellent job under the circumstances, that is clear. The airports trade union pointed out that under Shukri, nobody had lost their jobs despite the pandemic. The entire MAHB board and management deserve our praise.

It would seem that Iskandar Mizal has his work cut out for him. He is coming on board at the tail-end of the pandemic (we wish) and just as the economy is picking up (we hope) and borders opening up (we pray). And he's got three decades of experience in so many fields, including as a mere manager at MAHB some 20 years earlier. Aviation is key to Malaysia's economic recovery. Feet on the ground, head in the clouds and I'm quite confident Iskandar will be up to the task. 

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