Newly appointed Kuala Lumpur Mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan came to tears today when recalling how he had to endure public humiliation at the hands of former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo in 2007.

Nor Hisham, who took office at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall today, said at the time, he was serving at the Hulu Selangor District Council, which the Khir administration criticised because the council's assessment collection rate was below 40 percent.

"When I was called to receive the 'broom award' from the former Selangor menteri besar, I had just been promoted from the Federal Territories Ministry to Hulu Selangor in September 2007.

"The 'award' was given in December 2007... even though (the problems with collection) did not happen during my time, I still had to receive 'the broom'. It was a responsibility.

"It was a historical moment (which contributed to) the defeat of BN in Selangor," Nor Hisham was quoted as saying by Bernama.

He said he managed to turn the council's collection rate around in just two years and was given a proper award by then Selangor menteri mesar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in 2009.

"We collected 92 percent in just two years. That was recognised by the Selangor government," he said.

Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad, who was at the ceremony to welcome Nor Hisham today, said the "broom" incident had motivated the latter to greater heights.

Nor Hisham took over as the 12th mayor of Kuala Lumpur from Amin Nordin Abd Aziz, who was initially supposed to retire on July 18, 2019, but he resigned on Sept 1.

Previously, Nor Hisham was the head of the Subang Jaya Municipal Council.

In an interview with Malaysiakini in 2008, Khir defended the "broom" incident.

He said it was done in order to motivate the civil servants to do better - and that his mistake was not to gift-wrap the broom.