KUCHING, July 22 — Datuk Seri Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki has been appointed as the new Sarawak government secretary, taking over from Datuk Amar Jaul Samion, who had recently retired.

Deputy Premier Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian confirmed the appointment in his Facebook post last night.

"Heartiest congratulations to Dato Sri Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki as the new Sarawak Secretary,” Dr Sim, who is also the state Public Health, Local Government and Housing minister, posted.

Abu Bakar, 58, also addressed himself as the Sarawak government secretary in his greetings, posted on Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) Facebook page, in conjunction with the Sarawak Day celebration today.

Previously, Abu Bakar was deputy state secretary since 2018. Prior to that, he was State Planning Unit (SPU) director and Sarawak Foundation director.

Born September 29, 1964, he holds a Bachelor of Arts from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Master of Science, Human Resource Development (HRD) from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

Throughout his service, he won a number of state and civil service awards — the most notable of which was the Panglima Negara Bintang Sarawak award which carries the title ‘Dato Sri’ in Oct, 2019.

Jaul retired on June 30, 2022, after holding the post of Sarawak government secretary for three years, taking over from Tan Sri Morshidi Abdul Ghani, on August 22, 2019.