PUTRAJAYA: The new Director-General of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) is appointed based on her 30 years of service, especially with the department.

       Datuk Hakimah Mohd Yusoff created history by becoming the first woman to be appointed to the position.

       Chief Secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali said the appointment of the former Jakim Deputy Director-General of Policy would take effect on March 21.

       “This appointment will increase the involvement of women as decision makers in the civil service,” he said in a statement yesterday.

       Mohd Zuki hoped that the appointment of Hakimah would lead Jakim towards strengthening its role as a competitive Islamic affairs agency at the federal level and globally.

       Hakimah, who graduated from Universiti Malaya with a Bachelor’s Degree in Syariah in 1990 and a Master’s in Human Resource Development from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 2001, joined the civil service in 1992 as an assistant director at the Jakim Halal Hub Division.