KUALA LUMPUR: Nurini Kassim, the first woman appointed as Bernama chief executive officer in its 51-year history, clocked in for duty at the headquarters of the Malaysian National News Agency here yesterday.
Nurini, 55, will be at the helm for a two-year term, taking over from Datuk Zulkefli Salleh who completed his term of service on Oct 3 last year.
Addressing Bernama staff at a town hall session yesterday, Nurini said Bernama must keep up with the fast-changing digital and social media landscape to stay relevant.
Noting that information was literally at one’s fingertips nowadays, she said she aimed to position Bernama as the most trusted source and the top choice for news in the country.
“How we consume content and information today is totally different from before. With your mobile phones, you don’t have to wait for the 8 o’clock news as we used to. Contents get pushed out to you and consumers themselves can choose what they want to see, read, hear or watch,” she said.
Nurini, who holds an MBA from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom, was the head of the Corporate Affairs Department of the Employees Provident Fund, holding the position since October 2015.
She also has 15 years of experience, since August 2000, at the Securities Commission of Malaysia where she headed various divisions including the Corporate Affairs Department, Secretariat for the Capital Market Development Fund, Capital Market Promotions Unit and Islamic Capital Market Development Project Unit.
Nurini said it was an honour and a privilege for her to be the first woman CEO of Bernama and hoped that she could contribute and add value to the organisation with her experience.
“It was unexpected and I didn’t see it coming. I am honoured that somebody noticed the work that I have done in the past that required putting in so much time and effort,” Nurini said, adding that she was positive that there was so much more that Bernama could do and become in the future.
Earlier, she was welcomed on arrival at the news agency located in Jalan Tun Razak by editor-in-chief Datuk Zakaria Abdul Wahab and other Bernama executives.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo announced the appointment of Nurini on Dec 11, 2018. – Bernama
