PETALING JAYA, March 14 ― Film and television producer, director and actor Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri has been announced by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry as the new chief executive officer of the National Film Development Corporation (Finas).
In a media statement, Minister Gobind Singh Deo announced the 45-year-old would fill the position for a period of two years, which came into effect Monday, March 11.
“Ahmad Idham Nadzri is an Accountancy degree holder from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and has expertise and experience in the creative industry for more than 25 years as well as having set records and received multiple local and international awards.
“The Ministry hopes the new chief executive officer will serve the efforts of Finas to continue building the industry. I also hope Finas board members will give their full cooperation to Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri in executing the changes based on the direction of the government.”
The reactions to the appointment on social media were swift.
Apasal Ahmad Idham?? I think there's other better choices from the "experienced director/actor" pool like Hans Isaac, Afdlin Shauki etc. Heck even Yusof Haslam is much better.
— shafiq (@shafiqshahari) March 14, 2019
Hi yb @GobindSinghDeo, we Malaysians truly believe Mr Ahmad Idham does not suit the position as Finas director. You may check his work thoroughly and it wasnt that impressive to begin with. We humbly believe you should take someone better than him.
— Panda The Fatty BumBum (@Pandaphiler) March 14, 2019
Gobind Singh could have just tweeted "thinking of making Ahmad Idham FINAS's top guy, any thoughts?" and wait for the replies.
— QJ (@Qayzr) March 14, 2019
Celaka apa Ahmad Idham jadi pengarah FINAS ni?
— 🇲🇾 Isyraq Salleh 🇲🇾 (@mohdisyraq) March 14, 2019
Ahmad Idham dilantik sebagai CEO baru FINAS. Majulah FINAS untuk negara. Hahahahahahahahaha
— Cikgu (@Aweeff) March 14, 2019
Banyak benda yang dirisaukan tahun lepas bila nak tukar kerajaan baru. Adakah kerajaan akan jadi lebih teruk dari sebelum ni? Semua tak pasti. Dan harini dapat berita Ahmad Idham dilantik sebagai KP Finas.
— Muzzamer (@muzzamer) March 14, 2019
Ahmad Idham jadi CEO Finas ni aku tak heram, tengoklah twitter dia, macam nak membodek je.
— Mohamad Alif Aiman Sabri (@alifkiwomya) March 14, 2019
The outspoken and controversial director’s last film in 2017’s Pencuri Hati Mr Cinderella was a major flop, raking in only RM18,865 at the box office, which sparked a war of words when he hit out at critics of his work.
He had mocked and dismissed brickbats in claiming his detractors had no experience or qualifications to judge him.
This prompted Malaysians on social media to trash his films, as Ahmad Idham continued to lash out at “haters”.
He had then also blamed the country’s economy for the poor ticket sales, as movie buffs continued to hit out at him for his films being mediocre or simply “trashy” as well as behind the times as the reasons for his films’ failures.