This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 22, 2020 - June 28, 2020

NOT many know it, but ex-banker Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz was initially hesitant when called upon to take on the role of Malaysia’s finance minister. It was early March and a political crisis had unexpectedly rendered Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin the country’s new prime minister.

“I don’t know who advised the PM, [but] the thinking was they wanted a technocrat for a few positions. So I got a call from the PM. If [it were] from anyone else, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he tells The Edge, recalling that fateful phone call.

Zafrul, who turns 47 this week, took a few days to think about it, consulting only his family on the big decision. “It was a tough decision. I didn’t want to ask my friends because I wasn’t quite sure if they could keep a secret,” he says with a laugh.

Taking the job meant that there would be no returning to banking, a sector in which he had enjoyed an enviable career path over some 20 years after starting out as a financial analyst. At that point, he was group CEO of the country’s second-largest banking group, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd.

In the end, the clincher for him was the realisation that it was “time to give back”.

“When I was an analyst, I [knew I] wanted to achieve certain things. When I went to banking, I wanted to be CEO of an investment bank [but] I never thought I’d be CEO of a financial group. When I became CEO of a financial group, my thinking was, maybe I’ll work until I’m 50 and then do something else on my own [but] now, I’m doing civil service work. Being in government is another milestone, it’s another new challenge,” he says.

“But the main [reason I took the job], corny as it may sound, is that I thought I should help out. It is national service for me, personally... not just because I’m taking a big [cut] on the compensation side, but this is just so completely different. But it is to do something good. I did not take this job to become a politician. I want to be in this job as a technocrat.”

Interestingly, he is the first banker and technocrat — basically, non-politician — to become Malaysia’s finance minister. He is also one of the youngest. (It is believed that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the youngest, at 44, when he took on the role years ago).

At the point of this interview on June 18, Zafrul was 100 days into the job — and it has certainly been a test of his mettle, no thanks to the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic that up-ended the economy.

“The first 88 days, I had to do three [stimulus] plans. Honestly, I didn’t have a chance to think about anything … had to deal with the day-to-day issues as they came. We’ve been working very hard to focus on areas where we can help the economy and the people. A lot of time was spent in the office. We’ve not taken any break, except for [Hari] Raya, for just one day. We’ve only taken two Sundays off because we are in crisis mode, like it or not. But things are improving,” he says.

Asked about his transition from banker to finance minister, Zafrul says it has been better than expected because of the support he is getting.

“I thought, coming in as an outsider to the Cabinet would be a challenge because I am not a politician. But surprisingly, I guess because of Covid-19, everyone is united in trying to tackle it. And secondly, the civil servants … we work so hard, but they do too. Some of them didn’t sleep for days when we did the Penjana and Prihatin [stimulus plans]. The commitment level is very high among the ones I work with. So that has been quite refreshing to me. We don’t have to push them to do work.”

Asked when he knew he had turned the corner from banker to minister, he says, tongue-in-cheek, “I never had the opportunity to call or engage the [Bank Negara Malaysia] governor the way I am doing now. As a banker, you would not be able to get the mobile number of the governor!” As banking regulators, central bank governors often cut a scary figure to bankers.

Known for his love of exercise and outdoor sports, Zafrul has had to put the gym, biking and marathons on hold for now. He tries to go for a run every other morning, his main destressing activity now.

With yet another birthday coming up, his wish — one he says probably all Malaysians share — is for Covid-19 to be successfully contained, so the economy can finally get back on track. 

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