Dato’ Zainal Abidin Putih, aged 78, a Malaysian, was appointed as Non-Independent Non-Executive Chairman of TM on 1 August 2023.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), as well as a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA).

Dato’ Zainal Abidin was formerly the Country Managing Partner of Messrs Hanafiah Raslan and Mohamad and was an Adviser with Messrs Ernst & Young Malaysia until his retirement in 2005.  He brings with him decades of extensive experience in audit, having worked as a practising accountant throughout his career covering many principal industries including banks, insurance, energy, transport, manufacturing, government agencies, plantations, properties, hotels, investment companies and unit trusts. He also has good knowledge of taxation matters and management consultancy, especially in the areas of acquisition, takeovers, amalgamations, restructuring and public listing of companies.

He is currently a Board member of Khazanah Nasional Berhad and the Chairman of several companies including Land & General Berhad, Tokio Marine Insurans (Malaysia) Berhad and Touch ‘n Go Sdn Bhd. He also sits on the boards of several private limited companies.

Dato’ Zainal Abidin also serves as the current Chairman of Financial Reporting Foundation, and a Trustee of IJN Foundation and Yayasan Universiti Multimedia. He was the past President of MICPA and former Chairman of the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board, CIMB Bank Berhad, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad and Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad, as well as a former member of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and Investment Panel of Employees Provident Fund. He also served as a director of Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Berhad.