IT appears that former Agrobank president/CEO Syed Alwi Mohamed Sultan could be in contention to fill up the CEO post vacancy at the Human Resource Development Corp Bhd (HRD Corp) following the departure of Datuk Shahul Hameed Dawood on April 15 this year.
Syed Alwi is currently the chief financial officer (CFO) of the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) which is a merger between Technology Park Malaysia Corp Sdn Bhd (TPM) and the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC).
Appointed to his latest role on Feb 12, he boasts over 25 years of experience spanning financial services, banking software technology, insuretech and management consulting.
“Bear in mind that he’s also close to PKR’s recently elected deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar,” a source with insider knowledge told FocusM. “There could be other candidates but thus far, only his name is hot on the lips of HRDF Corp’s staff.”
Syed Alwi graduated with a Bachelor of Accounting (Hons) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Islamic Finance from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and is currently pursuing his PhD in Finance at the Universiti Malaya.
Added the source who is familiar with the running of the HRD Corp:
In light of the extensive controversy surrounding the previous CEO Shahul’s leadership, it is crucial that HRD Corp’s future appointments are based on merit.
“The appointment of HRD Corp’s CEO should be free from political cronyism, thus ensuring that funds are not exploited for personal gain or political agendas to prevent further institutional jeopardy.
The organisation must enhance transparency by providing comprehensive reports on levy fund allocation and the results of its training initiatives, thereby restoring stakeholder confidence and ensuring optimal fund effectiveness.
Bad publicity
Very frankly, whoever helms HRD Corp, he/she will be subject to the daunting challenge of having to clean up ‘loads of mess’ or to improve public perception of the government-linked company (GLC) which has on numerous occasions courted controversies.
In July 18 last year, former CEO Shahul Hameed has offered to take temporary leave to facilitate an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
This came about after Auditor-General Datuk Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi recommended that the Human Resources Ministry refers HRD Corp’s management to the appropriate authorities due to instances of mismanagement.
Auditors had earlier discovered mismanagement involving hundreds of millions of ringgit related to training grants, investments and property acquisitions.
The audit also revealed poor governance in HRD Corp’s investments amounting to RM3.73 bil which resulted in unrealised losses of RM49.38 mil. These funds originated from the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) which pools employer levy contributions.
Additionally, more than RM50 mil in training grants were repeatedly disbursed to the same individuals while over 200 grants were flagged as “suspicious” by the auditors.
From 2020 to 2023, 234 grantees under the Skim Gerak Insan Gemilang were considered suspicious due to inconsistencies such as the same identity card number being used under different names or the same name appearing under different identity card numbers.
Even during the early stage of his appointment in April 2020, Shahul was embroiled in controversy of having “close association” with controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik.
Shahul’s predecessor Datuk C. M. Vignaesvaran, too, found himself investigated by MACC in 2018. Back them HRD Corp was known as the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF).
Vignaesvaran came under fire in 2018 after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the 14th General Election (GE14) following which allegations of misappropriation of RM300 mil in funds surfaced.
Vignaesvaran eventually resigned on Jan 21, 2018 with his then deputy chief executive Lim Kah Cheng taking over as the acting chief executive. – July 8, 2025
