Transformation of a media group

IT’S been a decade (short of a year) since Abdul Rahman Ahmad, together with comrade and Cambridge mate Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, entered the embattled corporate Malaysia post-Asian financial crisis. Scepticism among Malaysians was at its peak as the crisis had unravelled the extent of mismanagement in many government-linked companies.

Critics were waiting to pounce on Rahman, then 30, deemed as a “turnaround specialist” from Danaharta with an unblemished track record and tasked with heading the beleaguered Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) group. He was after all, one of the first in the crop of fresh, young professional managers hand-picked by Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (then Second Finance Minister) who was leading the charge on the clamour for change, dubbed as the “GLC Makeover”.