KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, 54, has been appointed Malaysia’s new tourism minister in a Cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday.
Tengku Adnan, the former minister in the Prime Minister's Department, takes over from Datuk Dr. Leo Michael Toyad who was dropped from the Cabinet.
Deputy information minister Datuk Donald Lim is the new deputy tourism minister. He swapped places with Datuk Zahid Hamidi, his counterpart from the Tourism Ministry.
The changes in the tourism ministry came as a surprise to the travel trade. Many were shocked that Toyad had lost his job as tourism minister. A low profile minister, he was appointed to the tourism portfolio two years ago following the ruling party’s overwhelming victory in the last general election.