Credit : Erwin Khairul Ahmad's X
Information Department of Malaysia (JAPEN) Director-General Erwin Khairul Ahmad has described the country’s District Information Officers as the department’s front line, both in taking government information to the public and in bringing the people’s feedback back to the government.
Erwin made the point in a post shared on X on the morning of October 28, as he highlighted an informal get-together with the officers held in conjunction with the District Information Officers Leadership Course for the Peninsular Zone.
https://x.com/erwinkhairulahm/status/2115245160456163548
“District Information Officers (PPD) are JAPEN’s front line in delivering government information and obtaining feedback from the people,” he wrote, adding that the session, called “Sesi Santai Bersama Ketua Pengarah Penerangan” (A Casual Session with the Director-General of Information), was organised as part of the course to strengthen leadership and competency within JAPEN.
Photographs accompanying the post show the Director-General seated among officers around dinner tables in a relaxed setting, talking with participants, as well as a group photograph of the course participants posing with him at Klana Resort. The informal format offered officers from across Peninsular Malaysia a chance to speak directly with the head of the department outside the usual briefing-room setting.
District Information Officers lead JAPEN’s presence at district level, where the department runs community engagement programmes, explains government policies and initiatives to the public, and gathers ground sentiment that is fed back to policymakers. Their work places them in daily contact with local communities, making them one of the government’s most direct channels to the people in towns and rural areas alike.
Erwin took the helm of JAPEN on June 22, 2026, becoming the department’s 20th Director-General since its founding in 1945. He succeeded Julina Johan, who retired on June 21, 2026. At the time of his appointment, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil congratulated him and expressed hope that he would continue serving with dedication and wisdom to strengthen the Information Department’s role as an effective medium for delivering information to the people.
The Director-General’s own career began at district and state level. He joined the public service as an Information Officer in 2001 and has more than 25 years of experience in strategic communications, issues management and cyber media. His previous posts include Deputy Director of JAPEN’s Cyber Media Division, Director of JAPEN for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Undersecretary of the Strategic Communications Division at the Ministry of Communications, and Deputy Director-General (Digital Content) of JAPEN. He is also Vice-President of the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM).
He holds a Bachelor of Mass Communication (Hons) in Broadcasting and a Master of Arts in Media and Information Studies from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).
JAPEN comes under the Ministry of Communications and is the government’s main agency for public information at federal, state and district levels. The Peninsular Zone leadership course brought together District Information Officers serving in the peninsula, and, in Erwin’s words, was aimed at strengthening leadership and competency across the department. The session with the Director-General gave participants a direct line to the department’s top leadership as they continue carrying government information to communities across the country.
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