PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri R. Ramanan has pledged good governance at the Human Resources Development Corporation (HRD Corp) through a major restructuring exercise, including a refresh of its board and a review of training providers.
The Human Resources Minister said he was committed to ensuring that HRD Corp aligns with the Malaysia Madani framework, with an emphasis on responsible business practices and transparency following previous controversies.
“Certain steps have been taken, including a restructuring that is currently ongoing.
“It is public knowledge that we have brought in a new chief executive officer, Datuk Mohamed Shamir Abdul Aziz, for HRD Corp,” he said.
Ramanan pointed to Shamir’s eight-year tenure at Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) which recorded a 99.98% repayment rate from 2019 to 2024 and achieved a full 100% repayment rate in 2025.
“He is a guy who makes sure things are delivered and everything is run properly.
“When you are dealing with hundreds of thousands of borrowers and can achieve a 100% repayment rate, this shows not only administration skills, but how he manages the AIM members and creates family values there,” he said.
Ramanan also revealed new appointments to the HRD Corp board.
Among them are International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance University (INCEIF) president and CEO Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mohd Azmi Omar, former Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia CEO Datuk Rusli Jaafar and Mydin managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin Mohamed.
“We are bringing in people who are very strict in ensuring that all guidelines are followed.
“These are the kind of personalities that we will be putting in the board to ensure good governance and ensure that the Prime Minister’s vision for the Madani government is moving in that direction,” he said.
Ramanan said his ministry plans to check whether the training providers under HRD Corp are properly certified and trained to be educators.
“I will leave this to the HRD Corp CEO, but one of the things that is briefed is that these 7,000 trainers, if they are not properly trained, will be re-certified.
“We don’t want to have uncertified or unregistered trainers. So, we will ensure all these gaps are plugged,” he added.
HRD Corp has been involved in several controversies over the years, including suspicious real estate deals and high-risk investments that were highlighted by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its 2024 report.
The Auditor-General’s Report 2024 also flagged the suspicious disbursement of training grants totalling RM51.69mil by HRD Corp, with more than 200 participants having identical names or ID numbers.
The report also said that HRD Corp had outstanding levies totalling RM205.42mil as of Dec 31, 2023. In May last year, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) presented findings of its probe into HRD Corp over its management of levy collections and investments.
