KUALA LUMPUR – Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has the power to appoint and also remove the director-general of Tourism Malaysia, said Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali.
The minister’s powers are stated in the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act 1992 (Act 481), the chief secretary to the government said after attending the closing of the Madani Central Zone Programme in Kuala Selangor, as quoted by Bernama.
“The power to appoint the director-general is under the minister. According to Act 481, it is the minister’s power to appoint and end the director-general’s service.”
Zuki was asked to comment on Tiong’s move to demote Datuk Ammar Abd Ghapar from Tourism Malaysia director-general to deputy director-general.
Tiong had ordered the demotion in a February 22 letter that was leaked. The letter also stated that Ammar is to begin work at his new post next Monday.
According to Tiong’s letter to Ammar, the directive was carried out in line with Section 10(1) of the act – which stipulates that the minister shall appoint a person on terms up to his determination to be the director-general and chief executive officer of the board, read together with Section 47 of the Interpretations Acts 1948 and 1967.
The Interpretation Act states that where a power to make an appointment is conferred by any written law, the appointing authority shall also have the power to remove, suspend, reappoint or reinstate any person appointed in the exercise of the power.
The Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs), however, has questioned the lack of procedures in Ammar’s demotion.
Cuepacs secretary-general Abdul Rahman Mohd Nordin was reported by the New Straits Times saying Ammar should first have been given a warning letter and a chance to explain his underperformance.
Tiong should have also followed the Statutory Bodies (Discipline and Surcharge) Act 2000 (Act 605) instead of acting hastily, Rahman said.
Tiong came under fire and was accused of racism over Ammar’s demotion, while Bersatu’s Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, who was formerly deputy tourism minister, also accused Tiong of power abuse.
Ammar, meanwhile, said he was “sad and disappointed” over his demotion to deputy director-general after serving in the ministry for 36 years.
He was appointed director-general in April last year, and said his sudden removal from the post with only five days’ notice of his new position came as a shock.
Earlier today, Tiong explained his decision to demote Ammar was due to the latter’s incompetence.
Taking to Facebook later today, the minister reiterated the same laws as explained by Zuki.
Tiong also said that there had been “complaints from various parties claiming that it is difficult to deal with the KP (director-general) Tourism Malaysia (Ammar) and its employees”.
He then listed Ammar’s alleged faults, noting how he failed to bring in 5 million tourists from China and was only able to bring in 1.6 million.
He also accused Amar of having “no constructive planning, no new tourism products”, besides failing to actively engage tourism players and state governments.
Tiong stressed that Malaysia needed to be aggressive to boost its tourism and called for a stop to accusations that he was racist.
“Key performance indicators are a priority when making assessments. It doesn’t matter what religion a person belongs to,” he said. – February 24, 2023