Zamrose Mohd Zain is new army chief

General Ahmad Hasbullah Mohd Nawawi (left) and General Zamrose Mohd Zain signing documents to mark the handover of duties. (Malaysian Armed Forces pic)

PETALING JAYA: General Zamrose Mohd Zain was named the country’s 28th army chief this evening, with immediate effect.

He succeeds General Ahmad Hasbullah Mohd Nawawi, who assumed the post in September 2018. Hasbullah retires in November.

Zamrose, who hails from Negeri Sembilan, joined the army in 1980 as a cadet officer. In his 39 years in the service, Zamrose held various important positions in the army.

Hasbullah, on the other hand, was promoted to army field commander in 2009 before being appointed the army’s deputy chief in 2011. Born in Kuala Kangsar, he was commissioned into the Royal Malay Regiment on Dec 11, 1981 and rose through the ranks.

Prior to this, Hasbullah headed the Op Penawar, an operation to combat the Covid-19 crisis, which saw the armed forces working together with the police in keeping the pandemic at bay.

Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had at one time labelled him the “Covid Commander” for his efforts.

Hasbullah also created history when he became the only foreign student of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College (CACSC) to be inducted into its “Hall of Honour” in 2019. - FMT