KOTA KINABALU 5 July 20218: Datuk Mohammad Din Ketapi, has been appointed Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
The new minister hails from Kampung Segama, Lahad Datu in Sabah, East Malaysia.
Mohammad Din, 61 holds a law degree (LLB) from the University of Buckingham, England. His political career began in 1985 when he was appointed Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Youth deputy chief and deputy secretary-general of the Central Committee.
He contested and won the Lahad Datu state seat in 1986 and was appointed assistant minister to the then Sabah deputy chief minister.
In the 14th general election Mohammad Din defeated Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur with 6,401 majority votes to win the Silam parliamentary seat.
Earlier this week, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal thanked Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad for appointing three leaders from Sabah to serve as full ministers in the federal government.
“We are represented by senior party leaders. The three Cabinet ministers and two deputy ministers appointed by Tun Dr Mahathir are senior leaders of Parti Warisan who lead the new government in Sabah,” he said.
In related news, YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, MP for Balik Pulau in Penang, was named Deputy Minister of Tourism and Culture.
The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents posted a warm welcome message to the new minister on its website 3 July.
MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said: “We are glad the new government recognised the importance of tourism in generating foreign exchange, creating jobs and stimulating the economy.
“Last year, 25.95 million foreign visitors spent MYR82.1 billion in Malaysia and domestic visitors spent another MYR83.1 billion within the country.”
“MATTA wishes to extend our heartiest congratulations to YB Datuk Mohammad Din Ketapi, Member of Parliament (MP) for Silam in Sabah, on his appointment as Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, and to YB Tuan Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, MP for Balik Pulau in Penang, as Deputy Minister.”
MATTA called on the government to engage with foreign government organisations that issued travel advisories against visiting the east coast of Sabah to have them lifted.
“Our tourism industry is bound to rise by several notches when public and private sectors work closely together and in sync, led by our new Minister and Deputy Minister”, concluded Tan.
