Malaysia’s creative industry is keeping a close eye on the sweeping leadership changes at government-backed film and television agencies. 

The shift mirrors the country’s new political landscape, although attempts are being made to highlight the non-political nature of the appointments.

The end-May reorg, announced by Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, puts one-time politician Zakaria Abdul Hamid, former Pahang PKR division leader, in as chairman of the National Film Development Corporation (Finas). 

Hamid replaces actor/producer Hans Isaac, who held the role for a little over a year. Isaac was fired on 23 May. 
The letter, signed by Abdullah, was titled “Pembatalan Pelantikan Sebagai Pengerusi Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia (Finas)”. (“Revocation of Appointment as Chairman of National Film Development Corporation of Malaysia (Finas”).

 Hamid’s new deputy is KRU music chief executive Norman Abdul Halim. Both roles run for two years to May 2022. New board members have also been appointed. 

The new leadership comes along with promises of financial support for Malaysia’s legion of content creators in the post-lockdown environment. 

Details of the support measures were not immediately available. 

During his tenure, Isaac was a supporter of developing a stronger support network  and ecosystem for Malaysia’s creative industry. This included setting up a provident fund for freelancers and transparency in allocating funding.

More recently, he pushed for relief programmes for producers and creators hard hit by Covid-19 containment measures, but says he met with little success and had not been allowed to make public statements.

In a social media post announcing his exit, Isaac said he had “tried the best for this industry despite facing the procedure and bureaucratic challenge in government agencies”. 

He also apologised for any offence he may have unintentionally given “some parties”, whom he did not name, and promised that “my struggle to defend this industry will not end here”. 

“Without the position as Finas chairman, i am free to speak,” he added. 

In a later post, he congratulated the new Finas chairman and he hoped Finas “does not make the same mistake again”.