2013 marks the 3rd year into the International Council of Malaysian Scholars and Associates’ foundation. Even though the Council is still young, our mission-
“Careers and intellectual development, a platform for debate and dissemination of ideas , and formation of a global network of the most capable Malaysians” -remains vivid and strong. With these missions to guide our actions, we endure and grow. Through continuous recruitment of new talent, we hope to reach the future that we wish to create. ICMS aims to be the bridge between exceptional Malaysians across different universities and industries to help build our nation.
ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
CONTENTS KEY MILESTONES
02
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
03 04
SENATORS
FOUNDER’S FOREWORD CHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICMS
05 06 10
RETH!INK
12 15 16
FINANCE
17
CORPORATE RELATIONS
18
HUMAN CAPITAL
20
INTERNAL PROCESSES REVIEW
28
MALAYSIA PUBLIC POLICY COMPETITION ICMS APPRECIATION DINNER
ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
KEY MILESTONES Officially became a registered society
360% increase for MPPC budget Y-o-Y
Adoption of the ISFP and EFRS
Publication of the first Annual Report
Ratification of Constitution
Formalised the recruitment and selection processes
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Top from left to right: Tim Chu, How Zean Shiung, Tan Jian Hao Bottom from left to right: Lee Peck Fen, Wendy Chen, Jennifer Kwong Not in picture: Ritesh Saigal
2nd Council Executive Committee How Zean Shiung Chief Executive Director LLB Law, King’s College London
Ritesh Saigal Corporate Relations Director MSci Mathematics with Economics, University College London (UCL)
Tan Jian Hao Council Policy & Strategy Director BSc Government and Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Timothy Joshua MingZhong Chu Corporate Relations Director MSci Chemistry, University College London (UCL)
Wendy Chen Wen Yin Internal Affairs and Membership Director BSc Actuarial Science, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Kwong Wai May (Jennifer) Secretarial Director BSc Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Lee Peck Fen Finance Director BSc Accounting & Finance, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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SENATORS 1st Council Executive Committee Louis Chuo Zung Sung Chief Executive Director Principal Founder BSc Accounting & Finance, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Sheela Ratnam Deputy Chief Executive Director BSc Physics, Imperial College London
Peter Heng Jun Yan Council Policy & Strategy Director BSc Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Tho Leng-Lei Internal Affairs and Membership Director BSc Accounting & Finance, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Ng Eng Wee Corporate Relations Director BSc Economics London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Ee Wui Yang Corporate Relations Director MEng Civil Engineering, Imperial College London
Kevin Wong Sing Keat Communications & Resources Director BSc Actuarial Science, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Haw Sue Hern Communications & Resources Director MSc Natural Sciences (Biology), University of Cambridge
Michelle Ng Mei Sze Advisor LLB Law, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Winson Lee Weng Hoe Founder & Project Director of MPPC 2011 MEng Chemical Engineering Imperial College London
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FOUNDER’S FOREWORD While at the LSE, I founded the International Council of Malaysian Scholars and Associates (ICMS), an intellectual and vocational development global Council registered in Malaysia (ROS: PPM-012-1403092012). My student experience as a Sarawakian in Singapore and London forced me to think about how much more Malaysia could have progressed over the past 50 years. Because of poor institutions and a serious failure in our political process, the average Malaysian has not enjoyed such progress. Nowhere else in Malaysia is the result of our government’s folly more evident than in Sarawak. This massive social injustice has always bothered me. So, the ICMS was founded in an attempt to bring opportunities for self-development to the average Malaysian student. It complements the nation’s top agenda of progress and development. It attempts to fill any gaps that national institutions have not filled. Whether in finance, public policy, science or active citizenry, the ICMS was set up to support independent projects and provide opportunities for active participation. The ICMS is likewise an opportunity to establish connections across the Malaysian diaspora. At the student level, this is the first ever concerted effort focused on supplementing national development and progress. In even the infant stage of the Council, many have worked in partnership with us and our success has exceeded almost any measure of expectation. Moving forward, challenges await. The Council will have to broadly address sustainability issues. Sustainability, I feel, will feature as a top priority for as long as the Council exists. More specifically, in the immediate term, the Council will need to focus on financial and leadership sustainability. This ties in very closely to reputational issues – financial and leadership sustainability is heavily reliant on a strong reputation. Our partners and prospective leaders need to trust in the ICMS brand and the quality we promise to deliver. Internally, the ICMS has to put in place formalised and robust processes. It is worth noting that there had been significant gains in areas of finance, recruitment and decision-making in general. These efforts must not falter. The next Council must sustain gains that have been made. Finally, the ICMS will need to seriously consider building a performance management framework that tracks the Council’s progress in all areas (project management, finance, outreach, reputation etc.). All these considerations are essential in building a strong and effective Council. On the 28th of November 2010, we set out to achieve goals we knew would test the boundaries of our skills set and conviction. More than ever before, I am confident of our future, confident in our people and confident that as Malaysians, we are able to collectively succeed.
God Bless,
LOUIS CHUO ZUNG SUNG ICMS Founder
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT 2012/2013 has been a year of significant growth for the ICMS. At this juncture facing the beginning of yet another exciting year ahead, on behalf of the International Council of Malaysian Scholars & Associates (ICMS), I would like to take this opportunity to first thank all our partners and affiliate groups for the meaningful journey they have been kind enough to share with us. We are honoured to have established a strong expansive network of meaningful relationships across at least seven countries around the world as of now. Without each party’s confidence and trust in our work and more importantly our philosophy, the ICMS could nothave attained its achievements to date. Council Policy & Sustainability We started the year with a vivid priority to strengthen all aspects of our Council’s policy and sustainability issues as foundations for greater visions ahead. We completed our official registration with the Registry of Societies Malaysia (ROS) and ICMS is now an officially registered society with legal mandates and a legal identity. Registration of the ICMS was more than ceremonial; it seals our commitment and devotion in being a legitimate body contributing as a significant part of our nation. Along with our registration, the first Malaysian bank account was set up under the name of ICMS, improving our professional image and conduct as an accountable Council. On top of that, our team invested great effort into completing the Council’s first set of Internal Standards for Financial Processes and External Financial Reporting Standards. These financial procedures shall bind successive Councils as sustainable standards of professionalism and accountability which have been the long-standing working principles of the ICMS since day one of foundation. As a Malaysian student leadership body, we pioneered such level of financial integrity among peers both externally and internally as accolades to our partners’ vested trust and confidence, both of which we treasure dearly. Finally, we completed the drafting of the ICMS Constitution after two years of hard work and fine tuning, signed and ratified by the founding Council, the second Council and the succeeding third Council. The constitution enshrines not only our values, beliefs, mission and philosophy but also all of our functioning frameworks and standard procedures. With these proper structures and frameworks in place, our Council is confident that successive Councils will be able to focus on greater visions that will bring the ICMS to new heights.
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Investing In People Following a series of comprehensive recruitment efforts tailored around strategies of expansive outreach, the Council has grown by leaps and bounds in the past year. Not only has our membership base expanded by size, we have also grown in specialty, intellect and capacity. With a bigger member base, our members are able to share and exchange ideas spanning wider fields. This adds value to our network as well as builds up an even stronger reputation for the ICMS’ quality of work. The ICMS has insisted in its excellence-based membership policy - to continue to demand excellence from our members, regularly evaluating our members’ performance against high and stringent expectations. Our members now go through a probationary period of at least 3 months before qualifying as permanent associates. At the same time however, we emphasised openness to all who believe in our values – we accepted every Malaysian who have expressed interest in joining us and worked our level best to help everyone integrate into the ICMS experience. On this regard, we introduced a range of development platforms for our members to build various skills and competencies out of their original university degrees. Intellectual and vocational developments remain two of our backbone pillars; we utilise our network of committed Malaysian groups and corporate affiliates to facilitate growth which will truly impact the Malaysian diaspora in addressing National agendas, both back home and in the global context. The ICMS has never shied away from investing heavily in people – because after all, our people is our greatest asset. We have held and will hold onto one principle throughout our journey as a student body –each and every individual should and must be entitled to indiscriminate and monopoly-free provision of student welfare from any collective community. We are proud to commit our work to championing this very principle. Partners & Affiliates Besides its people, our partners & affiliates are the epitome of the ICMS. In the past year, the ICMS continued to grow its treasure of partners to build comfortable professional relationships with a wide array of parties from the public and private arenas as well as the growing third sectors alike. The ICMS insists on establishing meaningful relationships with our partners on mutually beneficial grounds. With partnering institutions’ and companies’ continuous support and generous help, our Council has been able to facilitate a number of our members’ ambitions through various projects. Our confident
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT relationships with partners are manifested through our range of events and activities, among them the flagship Malaysia Public Policy Competition as well as our side Roundtable Series and symposiums. These projects serve not only to fulfill the core missions of the ICMS – Intellectual and Careers Development – but also to advance more sustainable, meaningful relationships with our partners. Through MPPC 2012, we have established strong relationships with the Institute of Public Administration Malaysia (INTAN), the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), Ministry of Education (MoE) and PEMANDU, our national performance delivery unit. Our collaboration with various public institutions proved to be a rewarding and comfortable experience; the support from the public sector especially the Prime Minister himself symbolised significant recognition of our work and effort. With their help, the ICMS is honoured to facilitate the birth of our history’s first batch of youth public policy makers who were invited to sit along panels of public policy decision-makers in PEMANDU and the PMO to debate and decide on future public policy which will bring real impacts to lives of our countrymen. We pride ourselves with this measurable success of our flagship MPPC; this would not have been possible without the support from countless private parties, especially our private sponsors Malayan Banking Berhad, Maxis Berhad, Securities Commission, K&N Kenanga, Teach For Malaysia as well as distinguished industry leaders representing TalentCorp, US Education Community, McKinsey & Co, the Malaysian Bar Council and many more. Above all else, we are especially indebted to Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) who have stood along us through all of our battles as ICMS’ Strategic Partner from the beginning of our journey. As our utmost, sincerest appreciation to each and every one of our partners and affiliate groups, we held the first ICMS Appreciation Dinner 2012 towards the end of last year. Commemorating the ICMS’ short but significant two years journey, about 50 of our partners gathered at Double Tree Hilton to receive our deepest gratitude and requital. We celebrated the achievements we shared so closely with all our partners and spoke ever so hopefully about the exciting possibilities ahead. The Future The year ahead will be a year of hope and possibilities. As part of our great tradition, the ICMS dedicated much diligence and devotion into installing the best line-up of the succeeding third core executive Council. With the new batch of leaders installed, we have never been more confident and hopeful about the ICMS. The new executive committee represents a comfortable and competent group of aspiring youngsters with capacity and skills
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT spanning across arrays of disciplines from law to engineering and even the performing arts. The tradition of the ICMS lives – a dedicated team will constantly review the ICMS’ steps and decisions against the grander picture of the Council’s vision, mission and values to ensure the Council’s sustainable growth. The third Council will be the strongest and most capable that the ICMS has ever seen, especially with the unconditional support of both the founding and second Councils as well as our panel of professional Council advisors. My highest congratulations and best wishes go to the third Council. Under the leadership of David Ho, the succeeding Chief Executive Director, the ICMS will reach new heights. I vest great trust and confidence in his team of capable directors to work ever so closely with him to lead ICMS through yet another chapter of amazing journey ahead. After all, it is but the journey and experience ICMS goes through in its years of growth that gives it value, meaning and maturity. What is certain is that ICMS’ philosophy and methodology must and will remain clear and vivid, and they will only grow stronger from here. With passion and the right attitude, no dream is beyond our reach. Lastly but hardly ever the least, I must personally send my highest, deepest and the most wholehearted appreciation to all of my directors who have fought battles, drenched sweat and lost tears with me on my journey. No apology can make up for the shortcomings I might have burdened them with but their love, devotion and fire will never leave my heart. Their laughter, immense love for great yet sinful gourmet and relentless naggings will follow me to my grave. It might be commitment and determination that kept us as a team but it was destiny that brought us together. On behalf of my team of extremely able directors to which I am forever indebted, I thank all parties for their continuous support and criticisms in helping us grow. It was an amazing experience that will forever remain a part of my memory. I might resign the office of executive committee into repose but I will never resign from the part of this great legacy, of the International Council of Malaysian Scholars & Associates. Thank you and all the best.
HOW ZEAN SHIUNG Chief Executive Director 2012/2013 ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICMS The International Council of Malaysian Scholars and Associates (ICMS) is a professional and intellectual development student Council which aims to build a global network of highly capable Malaysians. This aim was established in the context of the broader national agenda of collective progress and national transformation. The ICMS currently has 148 members from Malaysia, Singapore, United States, United Kingdom and Australia. ICMS held its first General Meeting chaired by its Founder, Louis Chuo, at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford on 28 November 2010. During the meeting, many fundamental questions were raised and debated thoroughly – particularly over the motivations behind establishing the ICMS. At the end of the meeting in the Rosalind Hill Room, St. Hilda’s College, the ICMS was formally founded. In the ensuing weeks, ICMS continued to face many challenges ranging from financial to operational issues. Furthermore, many members were from the LSE which caused the Council to be perceived as an LSE-centric society. Without a track record, the ICMS also faced reputational issues. In short, the ICMS was founded in an uncertain environment and disadvantaged by a lack of financial resources.
Despite the rocky start, the founders were confident that the Council would achieve what they set out to do given the quality of members and directors, holding onto the philosophy that their people are their greatest assets. Today, nearly 3 years on, our people continue to play defining roles within the ICMS.
By 2011, the ICMS made significant gains after successfully organising its first flagship event: Malaysia Public Policy Competition (MPPC 2011) in partnership with the Faculty of Economics and Policy Science of UCSI. MPPC was the ICMS’ first attempt at offering opportunities for active professional development for future policy makers. Under the leadership of Winson Lee, Project Director and ICMS Advisor, and Dr. Ong Kian Ming of UCSI, MPPC 2011 proved to be a huge success, attracting applicants from different disciplines across a cross section of prestigious universities. Additionally, two industry roundtables on public finance and business sustainability were organised with Citibank and KPMG. ICMS also successfully organised reTh!nk!, our first London-based event, in conjunction with PwC in late 2011. With the success of our events, ICMS’s reputation grew and the Council gained the confidence of various companies. In 2011, the ICMS even managed to establish its first strategic partnership with ICAEW. This gave us a significant boost in financial resources and professional reach. Following this success, our reputation continued to grow and many companies were keen on working with us. Nevertheless, the Council never neglected the importance of strengthening its internal processes. In 2011, significant improvements were made to the financial, recruitment and induction processes, with the adoption of the Internal Standards for Financial Processes (ISFP) and External Financial Reporting Standards (EFRS) and the establishment of a robust and ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICMS formalised recruitment and induction process. As of 3rd September 2012, the ICMS is officially registered as a society with the Registrar of Societies Malaysia (ROS: PPM-012-1403092012). By late 2012, with the success of MPPC 2012, our list of partners included INTAN, ICAEW, Maybank, McKinsey & Company, Teach for Malaysia, Maxis, PwC, PEMANDU, KPMG, Citibank, Securities Commission Malaysia and K&N Kenanga. With these achievements, we anticipate that ICMS will have an exponential growth in the future. Today, the ICMS is more broadly recognised and maintains a reputation that reflects the quality of its people. We continue to work towards financial sustainability and aim to continually improve our processes. More than ever before, we are now closer to achieving our founding aims.
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MALAYSIA PUBLIC POLICY COMPETITION OVERVIEW The Malaysia Public Policy Competition (MPPC) is a case-based competition, set in the landscape of Malaysian public policy making. The MPPC is ICMS’s first flagship event and aims to provide Malaysian college students and undergraduates the opportunity to take on the role of a public-policy maker. In this competition, all participants will have the chance to understand the importance of conception as well as implementation of public policies, and the difficulty of tackling the common policy dilemmas in balancing “right” and “popular” policies.
HIGHLIGHTS OF MPPC 2012
INTAN as the co-organiser of MPPC 2012 Approximately 360% increase in project budget Y-o-Y Significant increase in applications from students Lengthened the duration of the competition to facilitate a more extensive public policy-making experience
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MALAYSIA PUBLIC POLICY COMPETITION ”The team is everything, not the individual.” This quote, shared by my Brazilian colleague in college as a response to my question on why Brazil has such amazing footballers, still lingers in my head. I can still recall the first meeting we had in Oxford – the meeting that gave birth to the ICMS. Back then, the ICMS had nothing, and I never knew what it meant to put all your eggs in one basket until I got into ICMS. Louis then was a passionate first year Accounting student looking for like-minded students for his “project”. As an almost qualified engineer, I must say that I am a very sceptical and conservative person. Engineers do not believe in fluff and rhetoric; we believe in data and past performance. Joining ICMS as such was a step out of my comfort zone. ICMS had no proof of concept, no past performance, no income statement, no sponsors, no logo, no committee, and no events, apart from a vision. And I share that vision. As a passionate Malaysian who loves my country, I really wanted to build something, anything that will make Malaysia a better place. To set the context, Malaysia was, and still is, starving of talent and yet, I found many talented men and women around the world. Reading and hearing about Malaysian men and women who were willing to return to Malaysia, but were turned off by unsound policy making and government is excruciating. Yet, it is because of this particular situation that our flagship event, the Malaysia Public Policy Competition was born. I have always been skeptical of words and the people who make careers out of them - because words can be manipulated to serve one’s agenda. Today, I am finally in the position to implore the ICMS and all of our stakeholders to look beyond our words and promises; that they look at our track record. The incoming leaders of ICMS are very blessed to have their work cut out for them, but I truly hope that they will build the ICMS on top of whatever we have built over the past couple of years. Indeed, our foundation might not be perfect and there were certainly things we hoped could be done better - but insights are luxury. The ICMS lives on the strength of its people, holding strongly onto the philosophy that its people are its greatest assets. If there comes a moment when the Council becomes complacent, the ICMS will then lose sight of its goal of becoming the meaningful and significant student-led initiative it yearned. Therefore, to all the future leaders of the ICMS, I hope that you will be brave enough to take risks; to face and learn from past mistakes; but also to never forget to take ownership. It is when your reputation and good name are at stake, that you will give your all. I would like to end with a wisdom shared by Dale Carnegie. He said, “The essence of making friends and influencing people is to always make people feel important, and be sincere about it”. Once you have individuals who place each other above their personal needs, you will have a strong team. Take care of your team, and your team will take care of you. I give thanks to Jesus for this opportunity to serve in the ICMS, and I pray that the ICMS will continue to be served by those who share the vision of the founding members, for many years more to come. WINSON LEE WIENG HOE Founder and Project Director of MPPC 2011 ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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MALAYSIA PUBLIC POLICY COMPETITION 2012 Building on the success of the inaugural MPPC in 2011, MPPC 2012 was held from the 7th to 9th of September 2012 with the theme “Education: Exploring New Paradigms” at the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN), Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur with the aims of being bigger and better than before. The second installment of MPPC saw significant improvement in various aspects of the competition: increased the number of teams from 16 to 24, increased the duration of the competition from 2 days, 1 night to 3 days, 2 nights, introduced a coalition round, and tripled the operating budget to approximately RM 150, 000. All these improvements were possible because of the increasing awareness of MPPC amongst the public and private sectors, and the general public. MPPC 2012 had the privilege of having Maybank, Securities Commission, Maxis, and K&N Kenanga as sponsors of the event. In addition, entities such as McKinsey & Company, Groupon Malaysia, TalentCorp, and Teach for Malaysia were also MPPC 2012’s esteemed supporting partners. Among the public sector, INTAN agreed to be the co-organiser due to the mutual aim and philosophy of MPPC shared. The partnership between INTAN and ICMS signaled a change in the perceptibility of the public sector towards the voices of youth. Furthering that notion, MPPC 2012 also engaged key personnel from the Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, and the Performance Management Delivery Unit (PEMANDU). We also managed to secure Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Higher Education as our keynote speaker at MPPC 2012.
“In terms of engaging with youths, I spent the weekend thinking it was great that Malaysian students have such platforms such as the MPPC as a way for them to share their ideas productively and constructively.” -Sheila Stanley, 2012, Students’ Take on Public Policy (The Star)
The event attracted over 200 applicants from United Kingdom, United States of America, Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia. The pool of applicants consisted of both pre-university and undergraduate level students from renowned institutions such as University of Cambridge, Oxford of University, London School of Economics and Political Science, University College London, Singapore Management University, Tokyo University, Swathmore College and Mount Holyoke College, USA. MPPC prides itself as the only competition of its kind in Malaysia but more importantly, it prides itself as a prestigious competition where the prestige stems from the quality of its participants, judges and speakers, discourse, and the policies that emerge at the end of it. ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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ICMS APPRECIATION DINNER 2012 The ICMS credits its success thus far to not only its members, directors and associates but also to the external parties such as partners, sponsors, and illustrious individuals who have supported the Council’s endeavours. To show our ICMS’s sincere appreciation for their support, the 2nd Council organised ICMS’s first Appreciation Cocktail & Dinner at DoubleTree by Hilton, Kuala Lumpur on September 20th , 2012. A total of 50 guests were in attendance and were served with a 4-course meal. The guests were also entertained by world-renowned magician, Zlwin Chew.
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RETH NK reTH!NK 2012: Changing Perspectives was a competition-based symposium organised by the ICMS, sponsored by PwC and hosted by ICAEW. Analogous to the Olympics, the symposium, themed "The 2012 Olympics: Thinking Beyond The Games", acts as a platform for students to engage in intellectual discourse and express their opinions or ideas in a thought-provoking and constructive manner with like-minded peers. Drawing its inspiration from TEDx talks, reTH!NK 2012 places great emphasis on originality of ideas and creativity in presentation of those ideas. Participants may talk about anything related to the theme from various perspectives like (but not limited to) social impacts, economic effects, environmental consequences or even technological innovations to solve the lingering problems of the Olympics. This freedom of ideas is what pushes conventional boundaries and changes perspectives! The judges for the symposium were Johan Mahmood Merican, Mark Billington and Pauline Ho. Winning last year’s symposium was a team that proposed an innovative and creative idea of streamlining transport across London with ticketing for the Olympics. Johan Raslan, the Excecutive Chairman of PwC Malaysia commended the effort by all the teams and said he was impressed with the innovative ideas the teams presented. Following the symposium, participants were invited to join PwC and ICAEW for a cocktail reception. This provided the participants with a great opportunity to network with the organisers and a chance to impress the high-level individuals.
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FINANCIAL REVIEW The Council has seen great improvements in its finances in just a short span of two years. FY2012, the Council managed to obtain a gross income of RM200, 000. Also, we are proud to announce our strategic partnership with world-renowned organisation, the Institute of Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW). ICAEW has been providing the Council with substantial contribution of funds and support since its inception. At the core of this partnership is our mutual interest in thought leadership. Both of our institutions place great emphasis on the development of leaders who will eventually provide changes towards society’s collective benefit. Nevertheless, we are still keen to embark on different partnerships with various companies, hoping to establish meaningful relationship with each and every one of our partner. FY2012, the MPPC Project Budget more than tripled from last year’s budget, totalling up to approximately RM180, 000. With the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) as our coorganiser, we managed to increase the scale of the competition to a three-day-two-night event. Furthermore, in line with the ICMS’ policy to expand the Council, we have organised road shows and increased the number of recruitment drives held in institutions outside of London such as the University of Oxford, University of Warwick and University of Manchester. These are conducted with the aim of increasing the students’ awareness of ICMS and also to recruit the most capable and outstanding Malaysian undergraduates studying in the United Kingdom. To ensure financial sustainability, the Council had prepared the Financial Integrity Plan and strongly adheres to the guidelines in it. The Financial Integrity Plan (FIP) was prepared to serve as a financial decision-making and reporting framework for the Council. The FIP contains two main policy documents - Internal Standards for Financial Processes (ISFP) and External Financial Reporting Standards (EFRS). The ISFP contains details of internal controls and financial decisions made within the Council while the EFRS discusses financial reporting standards. These documents provide guidance on the master budget, income and sponsorship, management of funds and financial reporting system. In terms of fund management, we have also put in place some internal financial controls. All expenses are to be individually approved by the Finance Director and discretionary spending decisions are made after consultation with the Senior Advisors. The motivating principle behind reimbursements is to minimise the cost of active participation of our members. To reduce the risk of moral hazard, clear and transparent reimbursement policies are put in place. All expenditures will be reviewed regularly by the Chief Executive Director. Furthermore, the Council practises a monthly internal financial reporting system. Monthly internal financial statements contain the detailed breakdown of costs. In addition, a financial statement will be prepared by the Finance Director in each quarter of the year. At the end of each year, a financial report will be prepared to evaluate the progress and performance of the Council. While financial reporting is not conventional for most student-based societies, we believe that it is important for our partners to understand their investments in the ICMS. Moving forward, the Finance Director will work closely with the Corporate Relations Directors to maximise the income of the Council. Specific targets and future plans will be discussed at the Annual Budget Meeting. A Master Budget will be prepared after the Annual Budget Meeting to ensure systematic allocation of funds throughout the year. It is one of the many reflective mechanisms with which the ICMS manages the Council’s performance from time to time. It is prepared and adhered to by insisting on efficiency, consistency, transparency and foresight. ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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CORPORATE RELATIONS REVIEW The year in review saw significant effort from the Council to step up and establish ICMS’ recognition and reputation in the corporate space as well as improving the efficiency and productivity of the corporate relations division of ICMS. Initially, with the lack of track record and reputation, the Council faced many challenges in obtaining sponsorship for both ICMS and MPPC 2012. Many were still unaware of what ICMS is and what the Council’s aims are. As such, many corporations were hesitant to entrust a substantial amount of money to fund our projects. Nonetheless, our corporate partners for the MPPC 2012 placed a huge trust in the Council through their generous sponsorship and help. The success of MPPC 2012 was largely attributed to the crucial support and financial banking from our corporate partners such as Maybank, Maxis, Securities Commission Malaysia, K&N Kenanga and ICAEW as well as the coorganisers, INTAN. Sponsorship and project budget rose by more than double to RM 50,000 and RM 150,000 respectively. This is a testament to the increase in confidence from corporations in ICMS. ICMS has grown tremendously ICMS has grown tremendously in the short span of two years and the 2nd Council have left behind a solid foundation and legacy on which the 3rd Council can build upon. In the coming years, the Council hopes that ICMS will continue to build and strengthen bonds with corporations, existing and new, across an array of industries.
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CORPORATE RELATIONS REVIEW STRATEGIC PARTNER ICAEW is a professional organisation, supporting over 140,000 chartered accountants around the world. Through their technical knowledge, skills and expertise, they provide insight and leadership to the global accountancy and finance profession. Their members provide financial knowledge and guidance based on the highest professional, technical and ethical standards. They develop and support individuals, organisations and communities to help them achieve long-term, sustainable economic value.
SPONSORS
PARTNERS
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HUMAN CAPITAL 2011/12
2012/13
Level of Study
Level of Study
Method of Education Funding
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HUMAN CAPITAL COMPARISON BY LEVEL OF STUDY
The distribution shows that majority of the member consists of 1st year undergraduate and 2nd year undergraduate students. The number of 1st year and 2nd year students dropped from 64% to 52% in 2012/13. In contrast, the number of 3rd year students and graduates increased by 8% and 9% respectively.
COMPARISON BY GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
In 2012/13, the number of members outside of London had a 10% increase in one year. This was primarily due to the implementation of the Council’s policy to expand ICMS membership beyond London and to reach out to a wider group of students. As such, the 2nd Executive Committee conducted ICMS Information Sessions in several non-London universities such as Manchester, Warwick and Oxford to spread awareness about ICMS.
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HUMAN CAPITAL United Kingdom 138 Members United States of America 5 Members
Malaysia 1 Member Singapore 2 Members
Australia 2 Members
UNIVERSITIES
TOTAL MEMBERS 2010-2011 8 11
2012-2013 1 16
Kings
5
4
LSE
23
26
Oxford
7
1
Queen Mary
1
2
UCL
7
11
Keele
-
2
Manchester
-
1
Birmingham
-
1
Warwick
-
9
Network
9
-
Not grouped
2
1
73
75
Cambridge Imperial
To date, the Council has a total of 148 members which consists of 138 general members and 10 network members. We currently have members from top ranking universities in the US, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE ICMS TRI-LEADERSHIP SENATE
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
COURT OF GOVERNORS
PRESIDENT
CHIEF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
CHAIRPERSON
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Deputy Chief Executive Director Performance Management Director Council Policy and Strategy Director Corporate Relations Directors Finance Director Internal Affairs & Membership Directors Secretarial Director
ASSOCIATES ORDINARY MEMBERS NETWORK MEMBERS
Central Tri-Leadership: 1. 2. 3.
Court of Governors (Chairperson, Vice Chairpersons and Governors) Senate (President, Vice Presidents and Senators) Executive Committee (Chief Executive Director, Deputy Directors and Directors with Portfolios)
This unique leadership structure serves as the identity of the ICMS. Effective decentralization of power is ensured, giving rise to effective checks and balances within the leadership. The three governing bodies are of equal standing and act independently within the common aims of the ICMS. The President, Chairperson and Executive Directors are placed in charge of the respective administrative jurisdictions of their governing bodies. The three governing bodies however, serve to enhance the overall performance of the ICMS by producing review reports and competing proposals which are exchanged, scrutinized and debated. ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Performance Management Director
Chief Executive Director
Council Policy and Strategy Director
Deputy Chief Executive Director
Finance Director
Secretarial Director
Internal Affairs and Membership Director
Corporate Relations Director
Changes to the Organisational Structure In FY2012/13, given the rapid growth of the Council, the ICMS decided to change the organisational structure to encourage better implementation of the Council policies and strategies. Previously, when the Council was just born, the fluidity of the positions prevented proper and accurate separation of job scope. Therefore, the Council believes that the additions of these two posts: Deputy Chief Executive Director and Performance Management Director will enable better Council management. The ICMS believes that said changes will assist in the Council’s on-going efforts of achieving its aims. The role of a Performance Management Director is to ensure effective Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to help the Council define and measure the process towards our missions. The Deputy Chief Executive Director will play a supportive role to the Chief Executive Director. ICMS is confident that with the implementation of these structural changes, there will be proper delegation of duties among the directors. These changes will only be implemented starting FY2013/14 with the instalment of the 3rd Council Executive Committee.
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MEMBERSHIP ASSOCIATE Open to all Malaysian
students currently studying in the UK. Students can sign up during
the recruitment sessions or send an email to the Internal Affairs and Membership Director.
ORDINARY Open to all Malaysian
students currently studying the UK. Students can sign up during
NETWORK Open to students outside
the UK. We currently accept applications from institutions in the US, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore
the recruitment sessions. Application Procedure: Application Procedure:
i. Send a Curricular Vitae ii. Fill up an application form
i. Send a Curricular Vitae ii. Fill up an application form online
i. Send a Curricular Vitae ii. Fill up an application form iii. Attend an interview
Ordinary members are not
Network members will
The Internal Affairs and
Ordinary members will
Application Procedure:
Membership Director will then email all applicants on the results of their interview.
required to attend an interview.
receive newsletters of any events organised by the ICMS and are given priority to join events.
receive newsletters of any events organised by ICMS. They are also encouraged to propose any new ideas for events.
Successful applicants will be
named Junior Associates and undergo a 3 months probation period. During these 3 months, their performance in ICMS will be constantly evaluated. Junior Associates will be
assigned to a portfolio of their choice. After the probation period,
Junior Associates will then be promoted as Board of Directors and Associates.
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RECRUITMENT 1. POLICY Huge emphasis is placed on quality when making recruitment and selection decisions as the ICMS wishes to ensure that we recruit the best and brightest Malaysian students who will contribute significantly towards the Council’s effectiveness. It is also becoming increasingly important, as the Council evolves and changes, that new members show a willingness to learn, adaptability and ability to work as part of a team. The Recruitment and Selection procedure should help the central leaders to ensure that these criteria are addressed. This policy ensures our Recruitment and Selection Policy will: i. be fair and consistent ii. be non-discriminatory
2. SELECTION PROCESS All applications must be made through either an email to the Internal Affairs and Membership Director or form submission on the website which will then be forwarded to the Executive Committee of the ICMS. All applicants will be granted an informal meeting with key leaders of the ICMS. Informal meetings should be undertaken by a minimum of two central leaders to avoid any possibility of bias. All applicants will be required to submit their CVs either through an email or a meeting. The CV will only serve as a preliminary assessment of applicants. Performance in the meetings will be mainly relied upon as evidence of future potential. When the applicant has been interviewed, the interviewers will write a report based on the criteria and suggest a suitable role for the applicant. A report on each applicant will be written by the interviewer and the decisions will be made by the Executive Committee as a whole. If the applicant was recommended by a Central Leader, the specified Central Leader cannot be the interviewer for that applicant. These are steps taken to dispel any form of biasness within the application process for membership selection. The report will be forwarded to the Executive Director, President, Chairperson and the Internal Affairs and Membership Director. The final decision will be made by the Executive Director, Internal Affairs and Membership Director and the interviewers. The Internal Affairs and Membership Director will then email successful applicants a formal acceptance of their membership within five working days. Applicants who are not successful will also be informed.
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RECRUITMENT 3. RECRUITMENT PROCESS FY2012/13
OCTOBER 2012 ICMS 2nd Council Executive Committee had a general meeting in London to discuss recruitment plans and changes in the Council’s policies. ICMS’ first recruitment session was conducted on the 19th October 2012 at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
NOVEMBER 2012 Three ICMS Information Sessions were held at Manchester, Oxford and Warwick. Interviews for the Associate positions were also conducted this month. Successful applicants were elected as Junior Associates. A total of 27 Junior Associates were recruited.
DECEMBER 2012 The inaugural ICMS Induction Day took place on 1st December 2012. The Induction Day was organised to give each Junior Associate an opportunity to experience the work culture in ICMS as well as to familiarise themselves with other fellow Junior Associates. We started off the day with an ice-breaking session. The games played during this session were designed to encourage interaction between the junior associates. Following that, the Junior Associates were sorted into groups to plan an event for the British Malaysian Society (BMS) using the information given during the briefing earlier. The Junior Associates had to consider various issues such as engaging external partners and affiliates, managing human resources, sourcing for funds, handling sponsorships and finances, executing logistics and marketing when planning their project. They were given 2 hours and 30 minutes of preparation time and 10 minutes to present their proposal, followed by a 5 minutes Q&A session. Considering the project’s feasibility, cost efficiency and time constraint, the 2nd Council Executive Committee then selected the best proposal to be used in organising a Pilot Project. The Pilot Project serves as one of the means of assessment of the Junior Associates’ skills and quality of commitment.
JANUARY 2013 The Pilot Project was tailored according to the requirement of sponsors. Preparations of the Pilot Project were carried out by Junior Associates.
FEBRUARY 2013 The Junior Associates were constantly evaluated during the three months. Interviews for the next Executive Committee were conducted on the second week of February. Taking into account of their performance during the past three months and at the interview, the 3rd Council Executive Committee was selected from the Junior Associates. ICMS 2nd Annual General Meeting was held on the 23rd February 2013 at University College London. The line-up for the next Council was announced and the 2nd Council Executive Committee was officially dissolved. The other Junior Associates were then promoted to “Associates” Level. ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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INTERNAL PROCESS REVIEW RISK MANAGEMENT
SUSTAINABILITY
The ICMS recognises the importance of having a comprehensive Risk Management Framework (RMF) to pre-empt, mitigate or adapt to significant risk areas including financial, operations, human capital, and information security.
The ICMS is still a young Council and as with any young entity, the question of sustainability remains omnipresent until internal systems are developed, tried and tested. In order to reflect the changes in circumstances, the systems need to be continuously reviewed. For the period in review, the 2nd Council Executive Committee has identified three key areas to focus on in improving the sustainability of the Council, namely finance, human capital and governance.
The 2nd Council Executive Committee has built further upon the foundations laid by the 1st Council but realised that more internal procedures have to be put in place to serve as a guide to succeeding Councils. These guiding principles laid out in the constitution should be abided by all the succeeding Councils to ensure sustainability of the Council.
INTERNAL AUDIT The 2nd Council Executive Committee recognizes that internal audit is an integral component of the governance process. As such, in appointing the 3rd Council Executive Committee, a new position – Performance Management Director – has been created to serve as an internal audit function. The Performance Management Director’s key function is to monitor and manage the performance of any strategies set out by the Executive Committee. The role of the Performance Management Director is designed to work closely with both the Council Policy & Strategy Director and the Chief Executive Director to ensure that those strategies are achieved in a timely and ethical manner.
Since its inception, the ICMS has gone leaps and bounds in terms of its external and internal achievements. In 2012, the 2nd Council Executive Committee successfully developed and implemented the Financial Integrity Plan (FIP) which includes the Internal Standards for Financial Processes (ISFR) and External Financial Reporting Standards (EFRS). The ISFP contains details of internal controls and financial decisions made within the Council while the EFRS discusses financial reporting standards. The ICMS prides itself as one of the most progressive and respectable global network student-run organisation because of its focus on developing human capital and building a network of highly capable Malaysians. This distinct element of the Council fulfils the niche for many external partners seeking to engage high calibre individuals. To ensure that the Council maintains this momentum of recruitment and quality of the recruits, the Executive Committee has embarked on a more aggressive recruitment drive this year with a wider geographical outreach. Furthermore, the Executive Committee has devised an Induction Programme for Junior Associates and a three months probationary period before appointment of the succeeding Executive Committee. ICMS ANNUAL REPORT 12/13
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INTERNAL PROCESS REVIEW Lastly, to improve and enshrine the proper governance of the Council, the 2nd Council Executive Committee has finalised the draft Council Constitution initiated by the 1st Council and officially ratified the ICMS Constitution in the 2nd Annual General Meeting held in University College London on the 23rd February 2013. The Constitution will serve as a general guidance to the succeeding Executive Committees for good governance without being prescriptive. Even though much has been done by the 2nd Council Executive Committee, we understand that further operational and internal control systems need to be developed and constantly reviewed to ensure ongoing adequacy and effectiveness of the system to meet the changing operating and external environment.
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INCOME STATEMENT MYR (RM) Total income1: Discretionary funds Partnership funds Sponsorship funds
MYR (RM)
9924.55 140,268.00 50,600.00
Total income
Total expenses2: Project maintenance and development Malaysia Public Policy Competition (MPPC) reTh!nk: Changing Perspectives Total
MYR (RM)
200,792.55
174,132.85 620.55 174,753.40
Recruitment
Food and beverages Stationery and printing Travel expenses Total
1482.85 660.90 2399.90 4,543.65
Administration
Meeting expenses Total Total expenses Reserves
89.75 89.75 179,386.80 21,405.75
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INCOME STATEMENT NOTES 1. The income received FY 2012 can be broken down into 3 main sources: i. Discretionary Funds ii. Partnership iii. Sponsorship
Breakdown of Income FY2012
2. FY2012, the Council divided its expenses into 4 main categories, namely projects (for organisation of events), recruitment (to facilitate recruitment drives), administration (to ensure smooth operations of the Council), and to act as reserves. FY 2012, more than half of the budget was allocated for project maintenance and development as we believe that investments in high quality and meaningful projects will ultimately benefit our members and the society. Also, there was an increase in expenditure spent on recruitment this year due to the additional road shows and recruitment drives that were organised.
Breakdown of Expenses FY2012
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The International Council Of Malaysian Scholars And Associates
Web: icmscholars.org
Email: Enquiries@icmscholars.org