S N Nair and eight others received their appointment letters from KL mayor and board chairman Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan.

The appointments, which took effect from Nov 1, were made by the Federal Territories Ministry under the Federal Capital Act 1960 and sanctioned by the Agong.

The role of advisory board members is similar to town councillors.

Nair described his appointment as a funny twist as he had taken DBKL to court in the past, including one in his personal capacity over his car damaged by floods in the basement car park of Dataran Merdeka.

Nair also appeared for current Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok and the Consumer Association of Kuala Lumpur, who sued the mayor last year for appointing Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan to collect parking charges. The case was dismissed.

Nair was appointed to head the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) in July.

Following his appointment to City Hall, he said his immediate priority was to ensure a better living environment for residents in Kuala Lumpur.

“We want to see that DBKL allocate more resources for development,” he said.

Other appointees are Suhara Husni (Finance Ministry), Zahir Hassan (MRCB Builders Sdn Bhd), Abdul Rahman Hussein (APEX Communications Sdn Bhd), Ahmad Thamby Kadir (Iktisas Ingenieurs Sdn Bhd), Khairiah Talha (KW Associate Planners Sdn Bhd), Sally Sian Keng Eng (Cosmo Human Resources Bhd), Ismail Ngah (International Federation of Landscape Arhitects) and Azli Yusof (Dexion Asia Sdn Bhd).

Three others in the board are Abdul Ghani Pateh Akhir (representing the Selangor government), Fateh Iskandar (Real Estate and Housing Developers Association of Malaysia) and Ezumi Harzani Ismail (Malaysian Institute of Architects).