Dato' Sri Idris Jala, who is from the
Kelabit ancestry, is the current Minister without Portfolio in the
Prime Minister's Department and chief executive officer of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu). He is a Senator in the
Dewan Negara, upper house of parliament.
Before that, Idris used to work for
Shell. In 2005, the
Malaysian government elected him as CEO of
Malaysia Airlines due to massive losses of the company. In February 2006, he announced the airline's business turnaround plan from a 9-month loss of USD400 million in 2005 to achieving a record profit of USD260 million in 2007 until September 2009.
In May 2008, Idris appeared on national television announcing the airline's first ever 'zero fare' for domestic and a selection of international flights, a move that raised his spat between him and
AirAsia’s boss,
Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes to a new level.
view: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_Jala