MDEC ex-CEO Surina Shukri dies

The former CEO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Surina Shukri, died this morning. She was 48.

According to a statement from her family, Surina passed away at Ampang Puteri Hospital in Kuala Lumpur at about 9am with her family by her side following a long battle with cancer.

Surina was CEO of MDEC from January 2019 to August 2021.

She was also an independent non-executive director at Capital A (formerly known as AirAsia Group) and CIMB Investment Bank Bhd.

She served as a governing board member at Unesco’s Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education of Peace and was a member of Accelerate Global’s board of directors.

In 2020, Surina was named one of the World’s 50 Most Influential People Revolutionising Governance in the inaugural Agile 50 list – a joint initiative by Apolitical and the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Agile Governance.

Surina spent the bulk of her professional career in New York City, including 17 years as an investment banker, strategist and leader at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

She graduated with a dual degree from the Wharton School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

She leaves behind her husband, Jasmin Ong Rashid, and three children, Ean, Arianna and Zac.

The funeral prayers for Surina are expected to be conducted at Masjid At-Taqwa in TTDI this afternoon.