SHAH ALAM: Veteran newsman Rozaid Rahman has been appointed as the Director of Media and Strategic Communications to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The 58-year-old reports for first-day duty today (Tuesday) at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in Putrajaya.
Rozaid replaces Datuk Wan Nurzila Wan Abd Rahman who ended her service at PMO early this month.
Prior to this appointment, Rozaid was The Star Media Group’s executive content officer/executive editor and former Sinar Karangkraf’s Group Editor-in-Chief.
He started his career at Utusan Malaysia as a cadet reporter in 1984, before being promoted to chief reporter of the Utusan Group in 1992 and news editor two years later.
Rozaid was known for his report in 1989 when he entered the 1.5km tunnel built by the Malayan Communist Party at the Malaysia-Thailand border soon after the peace agreement in December 1989.
He became the first Malaysian journalist to enter the tunnel.
He had initially covered the cease-fire signatory event, dubbed Hat Yai Peace Agreement, between the Communists, Malaysia and Thailand, bringing to a close 41 years of conflict that cost thousands of lives.
Rozaid was appointed as Editor-in-Chief/Chief Content Officer to the Sinar Karangkraf Group on Jan 4, 2021 overlooking Sinar Harian and later Sinar Daily.
He replaced Datuk Baharom Mahusin, 54, who died in November 2020.
He played a key role in setting up the Sinar Daily digital platform when he joined the media group during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic. The Sinar Daily website was later launched under his purview on Jan 1, 2022.
Rozaid told Sinar Daily he was grateful all the support he had received.