Jala is the first Kelabit to be appointed a federal cabinet minister.

Hailing from the highlands of Bario in the interior of Miri, north-eastern Sarawak, Jala, 51, has become a role model and epitome of what hard work and proper education can bring.

Anecdotes have it that over four decades ago, a young Jala, accompanied by his father, retired teacher and Penghulu Henry Jala Tamalai, had to trek for two weeks over rugged jungle terrain and rivers to make it to a boarding school in the nearest town.

This heart-warming tale tells of a man’s love for his son and even in the deep interiors of Borneo, the realisation of the importance of a sound education for one to realise his or her potential. The Kelabit community is one of the smallest ethnic groups in Sarawak, numbering just over 5,000 people.

Jala was appointed managing director and chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) in December 2005 in the aftermath of the national carrier’s biggest financial loss in its corporate history.

Soon after he took over, he announced in February 2006 the MAS Business Turnaround Plan (BTP1) and managed to turn around a nine-month loss of US$400 million (RM1.41 billion) in 2005 to a record profit of US$260 million in 2007.

Subsequently, Jala put into effect a five-year business transformation plan (BTP 2) towards making MAS a world-class five-star value carrier.

Prior to joining MAS, Jala spent 23 years at Shell, including as managing director of Shell MDS (Malaysia) and vice-president of Shell Malaysia Gas & Power between 2002 and 2005.

Jala was credited with turning around Shell MDS, the world’s first gas-to-liquids commercial plant, making it profitable six months after he was appointed to the helm of the outfit via his innovative engagement with clients.

Between 1998 and 2000, he was the managing director of Shell Sri Lanka, where he helped to shape the turnaround of Shell’s LPG business there.

From 2000 to 2002, he was the vice-president of retail marketing, Shell International, based in London. He was also vice-president, business development consultancy, where he led a team of top-notch internal consultants on radical business improvement projects, and revamped the Shell global retail business model towards achieving profitable growth.

Yesterday, as Jala took his oath as a senator of Dewan Negara before Senate President Datuk Wong Foon Meng, he would have reminisced about the long journeys he had taken, but made no mention of it. Perhaps he was not asked.

Speaking to the media after the swearing-in, Jala called his taking up the appointment as a federal minister a “national service” and promised to strive and perform to the best of his ability.

The affable former MAS managing director and CEO said he would be assigned responsibilities from time to time by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He said the prime minister had yet to indicate what his responsibilities were as he would only be taking his oath of office at Istana Negara today, adding that there was no “duplication” of his ministerial role with that of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

“I want to make it clear that there is no minister reporting to one minister. There is only one minister in charge of KPIs (key performance indicators) and that is Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon,” he said.

Jala added that besides appointing him as a minister without portfolio, Najib also made him the CEO of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), stressing that he was not a minister in the capacity of the organisation to oversee the implementation of KPI initiatives.

“I know the blogs have been quite confused about it. My response is that I am the CEO of Pemandu and report in the capacity as CEO to the minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon (Pemandu chairman),” Jala said.

He pointed out that as CEO of Pemandu, his first task was to find out what had been done by the organisation to date. He will be working closely with Koh and the Pemandu board to chart the way forward.

On MAS, Jala said in any job, there was always a need to have continuity of leadership, adding that his successor Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin  “is an excellent man” to take up the job as managing director and CEO of the national airline.

Jala said it was his responsibility then as managing director and CEO of MAS to groom his successor and as such, Azmil had been involved in making all the big decisions along the way and was ready to take charge of the national carrier.

“I’m very convinced that Azmil with his credibility and knowledge will do a better job than me in that responsibility. I wish him well,” he added.

Melaka MCA liaison committee deputy secretary Lee Cheam Choon, 55, also took his oath as senator yesterday.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, September 2, 2009.