MBA edge Postgraduate Studies

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Studies

POSTGRADUATE STUDYING MEDICAL SCIENCES IN MALAYSIA with Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat TAPPING INTO A GOLD MIND with Ermin Siow, Executive Director of Poh Kong Holdings Bhd Positive Politics as the Best Practice in the Workplace with LENNY CHIAH

transformING Melaka into the regional hub for educational excellence

Datuk Seri Ali Rustam

CHIEF MINISTER OF MELAK A PP 17103/09/2012 (030736) 2012 Issue 11 September/October 2012 RM7.00

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The Premier Postgradaute Magazine in Malaysia

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POSTGRADUATE

TAPPING INTO A GOLD MIND with Ermin Siow Executive Director of Poh Kong Holdings Bhd

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Studies

POSTGRADUATE

Positive Politics

as the Best Practice in the Workplace LENNY CHIAH with Rodney Toh

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EDITOR’S NOTE CORPORATE Managing Director: Steven Shim Office Manager: Vicky Shim Key Accounts Manager: Wong YW Finance Manager: Bonnie Bang

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of “Twinning Programmes” between Malaysia and Michigan” which details the enduring journey of twinning programmes from the 1980s to present time, changing the landscape of private education forever and providing even Rodney Toh is in dialogue more opportunities for with Lenny Chiah on politics in students who would otherwise the work place; you would be be limited by the limited surprised to know that not all capacity in public universities. office politics are bad – there If you have any suggestions are positive politics too! Ms on what you would like to see Chiah dispenses advice on how best to manage politics in in this magazine in relation to We speak to Associate postgraduate studies or have the office so that they create Professor Dr Alan Ong from the University of Tunku Abdul a positive environment rather any comments about our current issues, please email us than the opposite.

Rahman (UTAR) about the at: penerbitwawasan@gmail. study of biomedical sciences We have also featured an com. as well as job opportunities article by Professor Howard and the latest developments in Happy reading!

Dooley of Western Michigan the field.

University entitled “KL to Ermin Siow, Executive Director KZOO: Twenty-Five Years n this issue, our cover story features an exclusive interview with the Chief Minister of Melaka, Datuk Seri Ali Rustam, where he shares his vision and plans to transform Melaka into the regional hub for educational excellence.

Readers will discover the CM’s exciting plans for transforming Melaka into a first-class learning community and taking education tourism to the next level.

of Poh Kong Berhad, the country’s largest jeweller, talks to Alexandra Wong about the future of the gold industry in Malaysia and the viability of investment in this increasingly valuable commodity.

Janet Tay

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EDITORIAL TEAM Senior Editor: Janet Tay Writers: Nurraihana, Mohd Amil Contributors: Alexandra Wong, Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat, Lenny Chiah, Jeremy Francis, Julian Goh, Professor Howard Dooley Photographer: Tang Weng Kit, Brandon Leow Graphic Designer: Tony Lam PUBLISHER Penerbit Wawasan Nusa (M) Sdn Bhd (866716-P), Wisma Wawasan, 19-2 Jalan PJS 8/12, Dataran Mentari, Bandar Sunway, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia Tel: 603-56301802, Fax: 603-6301803, Email: info@pwn.com.my, penerbitwawasan@gmail.com Website: www.pwn.com.my PRINTER Intan Spektra Sdn Bhd 12 Jalan Vivekananda, 50470 Kuala Lumpur All rights reserved by MBA EdgeTM and its publisher. While every care has been taken, the publisher, writers, and editors will not be held liable for errors, inaccuracies or commissions.

Unsolicited material is submitted at sender’s risk. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of copyright owner. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this magazine via the internet or any other means without the permission of publisher is illegal by law. Unless otherwise stated, credits for public domain images are from www.inmagine.com without prejudices (royalty free).

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CONTENTS

mba edge & postgraduate studies september-october 2012 TM

COVER STORY

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BUSINESS SEGMENT

Transforming Melaka into the regional hub for educational excellence, Datuk Seri Ali Rustam, CHIEF MINISTER OF MELAKA

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PROFILE 16

STUDYING MEDICAL SCIENCES IN MALAYSIA with Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat

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Dr Tai Chen Chih, With A Great Attitude Comes Great Happiness

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Increasing Productivity in Hard Times, Hard Time Lesson in Europe, Be ready before the Storm comes again in ASIA., by Jeremy Francis & Julian Goh

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KL TO KZOO: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF TWINNING PROGRAMMES BETWEEN MALAYSIA AND MICHIGAN,

by Howard Dooley, Professor of History, Western Michigan University

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SUNWAY UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF NEW VICE-CHANCELLOR

TAPPING INTO A GOLD MIND, MEB Postgraduate Studies speaks to Ermin Siow, Executive Director of Poh Kong Holdings Bhd

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Positive Politics as the Best Practice in the Workplace, RODNEY TOH interviewed LENNY CHIAH

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New Method to Counter Fake Degrees, A system that enables job portal to obtain validated degree qualifications

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Sun Tzu’s Art of War & Supply Chain Innovation, UTAR and MISI sign pact to advance supply chain innovation

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POH KONG PRESENTS THE WORLD OF LUXURY, The Launch of MORAGLIONE 1922 Jewellery

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The Smartest People in the World

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The MBA EdgeTM Business Competition Season 3

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COVER STORY transformING Melaka into the regional hub for educational excellence.

Datuk Seri Ali Rustam

CHIEF MINISTER OF MELAK A MBA Edge Postgraduate Studies Bi-monthly interviews Datuk Seri Ali Rustam, Chief Minister of Melaka

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by Alexandra Wong

Making Melaka a first-class learning community will be a top priority for my administration in the next few years.

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Mr Likeable, People’s Person, Hardest Working Chief Minister: Melaka’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has been called a lot of things.

European country with limited natural resources like Luxembourg could rise to become one of the world’s most prosperous economies, so could Melaka, he argued.

Now you can add “Idealist” to the list, after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak described Melaka as Malaysia’s most progressive state and credited it to the leadership of the CM: “his idealistic thinking is embodiment of the nationalistic agenda of progress for the people”.

On 10 October, 2010, that ambitious goal was realised when Melaka was declared a developed state. This was no pyrrhic, syiok-sendiri self-praise: Melaka actually exceeded the OECD score of the other 38 member countries in 29 out of 32 criteria. Melaka came out tops for seven of the indicators: 100% clean water, 100% electricity supply, lowest poverty rate (0.5%), lowest unemployment rate (0.7%), lowest crime rate (74 cases per 100,000 population),

That idealism was never more apparent than when he daringly expressed his dream to turn his home state Melaka into a developed state by 2010. If a tiny Western

the highest percentage of contribution from the manufacturing to the economy and the most ideal population growth.

Such achievements mean nothing if the rakyat’s lot is not improved in any meaningful way. Again, the numbers speak volumes: Its sound fundamentals have enabled the state’s economy to grow 5.26% annually; its 2010 GDP was 84.3% higher than 2000; and Melakan household incomes increased by a whopping 286% from 1999-2009. For a job well done (and we’ve not even started talking about the whole World Heritage City coup), the Federal Government awarded the

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It is also an engine of growth in its own right. The sector contributes approximately RM27 billion or 4 per cent of GNI in 2009.

Chief Minister’s Department with a five-star rating.

This 43-year UMNO veteran, and wakil rakyat for 25 of those years, has few things left to prove. But the people of Melaka are fortunate that the sprightly 62-year-old – who keeps a hectic work schedule from 7am to 3am and can outpace people half his age on the jogging track – is still raring to go and has more items to cross off his mile-long bucket list.

In this exclusive with MBA Edge Postgraduate Studies, he shares his vision and plans

to transform Melaka into the regional hub for educational excellence.

Q. At the top of your agenda is your goal is to turn Melaka into a regional hub of educational excellence.

Why? Making Melaka a first-class learning community will be a top priority for my administration in the next few years. Education is one of the most critical drivers for our transformation from a middle- to high-income nation, due to its impact

on productivity and human capital development. With Vision 2020 in our sight, we need a sound education as a means of generating sufficient human capital with the right skills to support a broad range of industry needs.

It is also an engine of growth in its own right. The sector contributes approximately RM27 billion or 4 per cent of GNI in 2009. Malaysia is the world’s 11th biggest exporter of education. Education tourism is going to be a very lucrative niche to earn foreign

exchange earnings.

Q. Can you give us an overview of the development of the education sector in Melaka?

It was kick-started when Tun Mahathir articulated his vision of having community colleges in each state. Melaka rose to the challenge. We began with UTEM, then KL University at Alor Gajah, UITM, University Islam, MMU, Open University, and so forth. Over time, when these colleges proved their commitment to excellence, we pushed

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MMU, the first private university in Malaysia, has emerged as an international benchmark for ICT in higher education and its graduates are the most desired by key players in the industry.

for them to be upgraded to college-universities, and eventually achieve full university status.

and communities while meeting the labour demand in a variety of public and private sectors.

Some have established themselves as major players in the field of their specialization and achieved notable firsts.

KUIM is the first private university college of Islam in Malaysia to develop a focused study psychology at degree level as an intervention to reduce psychological problems among individuals

MMU, the first private university in Malaysia, has emerged as an international benchmark for ICT in higher education and its graduates are the most desired by key players in the industry. MMU also serves as a catalyst for the development of the high tech ICT industry of the nation, parallel to the Silicon Valley-

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Stanford model in the United States. MMU (including the branch in Cyberjaya) now hosts 13 Research Centres to date, focusing in the niche areas of nanotechnology, microsystems, biometrics, virtual reality, microwave and telecommunications, engineering, photonics, advanced robotics and business.

As our educational sector grows from strength to strength with the most

popular courses being Business Studies, Economic, Finance and Banking, Hospitality, ICT, Engineering and Medicine. From just two universities, we now have 10 university campuses and 42 institutions of higher learning, and you can expect more colleges and universities to open up in Melaka.

Q. How is Melaka able to achieve this critical mass

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From just two universities, we now have 10 university campuses and 42 institutions of higher learning, and you can expect more colleges and universities to open up in Melaka. in such a short span of time?

We were always performance driven and moved swiftly to secure opportunities as they arose. For example, when UiTM ran into trouble securing land for their campus in Selangor, Melaka jumped in and gave them an alternative. In 2000, when distance learning was still a new concept in this country, we saw its potential and established the Open University. When Datuk Seri Najib declared in UMNO Assembly that he wanted 200K Bumiputera students in UiTM to galvanise

human capital development among bumiputera, I wrote to him and asked him to open a branch in Melaka. Today, the UiTM City Campus is the biggest in Malaysia with almost 3,500 students. I believe that private institutions will be instrumental in leading innovation and driving growth in the industry, so we have spent much effort wooing educationists to Melaka. We want Melaka to play a pivotal role in moving the country forward towards the realisation of the objectives of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and Vision 2020.

Q. What is Melaka’s competitive edge as an education centre? Why would a foreign student choose to further his postgraduate studies in Melaka over KL, for instance?

You might say I am biased because I am Malaccan. But the moment you step into Melaka, you can’t help but feel that the milieu here is different. There was an article who said that “out of the 13 States and three Federal Territories that make up Malaysia, perhaps the one that best encapsulates the essence of Malaysia is Melaka.”

I have to agree. We have all the necessary elements such as infrastructure, amenities, social and industrial network, backed by progressive local government policies.

Many would agree that Melaka’s biggest drawcard is the range of leisure activities within a rich heritage and cultural legacy which together makes for a very conducive learning environment that promotes a balanced work life. We have a wide range of shopping outlets, eateries, parks, museum, etc. You learn hard, and also play hard!

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“

The moment you step into Melaka, you can’t help but feel that the milieu here is different.

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We are very much aware that when you study in Melaka, there is a chance to gain cultural competency with an understanding of other communities and their traditions. Stay long enough in Melaka and you’re able to blend in anywhere with ease.

No other place in Malaysia can give you this kind of cultural exposure, putting you ahead of others in the job market. To help foreign students fully optimise their experience here, we have a department under the CM’s office which organises orientation programmes to help foreign students adapt to local life and culture.

Q. A traditional academic problem has been a mismatch between what is required and what is produced. What is Melaka’s answer to this challenge?

We realise that over the last decade, the career market has changed dramatically because of globalisation. The ability to innovate is critical to sustain economic stability and generate wealth. That’s why in recent years, we have focused not only on theoretical study, but equipping the young with the ability to build their competitiveness, to enable them to stand proud on the world stage. The right education will give them that. As leaders of the nation, we have the responsibility to provide the environment

where learning is meaningful, useful and relevant.

Melaka has a well-developed high-tech industry but we know that we cannot remain complacent in the manufacturing niche forever.

With increased globalisation, the demand for increasingly sophisticated skills increases and we’ll have to scale up and upgrade ourselves or get left behind.

To create the right kind of human capital, we spent a great deal of time and effort in building a progressive educational eco-system.

We’ve initiated dialogues with both the academia and industry stakeholders, with a view to creating symbiotic partnerships and offering internship and training

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opportunities that can enable graduates to assimilate into an emerging green economy, the technology sector, and a service-based economy.

Q. How forthcoming are the industries so far?

I’m very happy to report that the private sector’s responses have been very encouraging and reassuring.

Our corporate partners are excited by our vision and are interested in being part of Melaka’s progress and transformation to the next level. Infineon, Sunpower, Honda, CTRM, Panasonic and numerous other MNC have invested much and continue to actively contribute in our development by getting involving in the development of industry specific curriculum and infrastructure planning.

Once this new crop of graduates emerge, I believe they will prove that the Malaysian education system is innovative, global and industry-focused.

As the industry and relationship matures, our focus is shifting from manufacturing to R & D. This will open up the opportunities for our people to upgrade our

skills, knowledge and competencies to at global level. We are already moving aggressively into the R & D area, beyond our traditional strengths, assembling and manufacturing. For example, Infineon invested RM500 million this year to build an R & D centre, generating employment opportunities for a few hundred engineers.

This represents a major step for Melaka as it will catalyse sector transformation and accelerate Melaka’s progress up the value chain. It’s great for Melaka, and Malaysia as a whole.

MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY MELAKA

Q. Finally, after all that you’ve accomplished, we’re wondering: what would be your ultimate dream for Melaka?

I am proud of what my people have achieved but I still have a few dreams. I want to see Melaka become a green city. We have begun working on Hang Tuah Jaya Green City, a new township which will be a benchmark for the future development of similar cities in Melaka.

Another challenge is to lower the income disparity levels between the urban and rural areas in the state.

We have spared no effort

UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

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“

THE HISTORIC A FARMOSA OF MELAKA

I am proud of what my people have achieved but I still have a few dreams. I want to see Melaka become a green city.

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in eradicating poverty: for welfare aid, with an allocation of RM71 million a year, we have given aid to almost 27,000 people. We have spent RM65 million on housing projects for the poor, building 6,600 houses since 2000.Now the ratio is RM1 in kampung to RM1.37 in the city.

Compared to the national ratio of 1:1.99, it’s very good already, but we must keep working at reducing it. The number must come down to 1:1.

My ultimate dream is to see Melaka become a true city-state. This means that whatever infrastructure and resources you have in the city, you can also get in the kampung. You enjoy the same facilities – be it water, education or telecommunications - as if you were living in the city.

That’s why in Melaka, the institutions of higher learning are spread out. You can find universities in the city as well as in rural areas like Linggi, Semujuk, Durian Tunggal, Selandar, etc.

As leaders, it is our responsibility to help the people and bring change that they desire. The opportunities before us have to be maximised for the benefit of the people. Every plan needs to be designed with an overarching mission: do what is best to improve the future and vitality of this state. ME

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“As leaders, it is our responsibility to help the people and bring change that they desire. The opportunities before us have to be maximised for the benefit of the people. Every plan needs to be designed with an over-arching mission: do what is best to improve the future and vitality of this state.�

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F: 03-7955 8170

Jalan Universiti, Bandar Barat, 31900 Kampar, Perak Darul Ridzuan.

T: 05-468 8888

postgrad@utar.edu.my www.utar.edu.my/ipsr

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Addressing the Challenges and Advancement of Medical Sciences Researchers at Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UTAR are engaged in niche research areas of Cancer, Stem cells and Chemoprevention More info: http://research.utar.edu.my/CCR/

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UTAR’s Master of Medical Sciences and Doctor of Philosophy (Medical Sciences) are multidisciplinary postgraduate programmes, providing opportunities for aspiring candidates to engage in an extensive research that will improve or save life. As the demands for skilled medical science professionals continue to increase, UTAR invites candidates with relevant qualifications and practical experience to upgrade your knowledge in the area of Medical Sciences, on a full- or part-time basis.

The university also offers programmes at Master’s and Doctor of Philosophy level in the following areas of specialisation: • Accounting • Applied Accounting • Banking • Bio-Diversity • Business and Management • Cancer Research • Chinese Studies • Communication & Networks • Computing and Intelligent Systems • Corporate Governance • Creativity in Technology, Games and Design • Finance • Economic Studies • Environment and Green Technology • International Studies • Learning and Teaching • Management • Mathematical Sciences • Media and Creative Communication • Modern Language and Literature • Project Management • Science • Social Change and Trend • Social Science • Stem Cell • Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility in Business • Photonics and Advanced Materials • Vehicular Technology • VLSI Design

Wholly owned by UTAR Education Foundation (Co. No. 578227-M)

INTAKES: JAN, MAY & OCT

For enquiry, contact Division of Programme Promotion

Petaling Jaya Campus

No. 9, Jalan Bersatu 13/4, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

T: 03-7958 2628 ext. 8227

Perak Campus

03-7625 0328 (direct line)

F: 03-7955 8170

Jalan Universiti, Bandar Barat, 31900 Kampar, Perak Darul Ridzuan.

T: 05-468 8888

ext. 2260

F: 05-466 8906

postgrad@utar.edu.my www.utar.edu.my/ipsr

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STUDYING MEDICAL SCIENCES IN MALAYSIA with Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat

Associate Professor Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat, Department of Pre-Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Associate Professor Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat is currently attached to the Department of Pre-Clinical Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Tunku Abdul Rahman. He has a BSc degree in Biotechnology and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. He has authored

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a number of scientific publications mainly in a the area of molecular biology related studies and has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Initiative II Grant (British Council) in 2008.

He is actively involved in research and was the recipient of the Malaysian Toray Science Foundation

research grant in 2010 and an EScience Grant in 2011.

His current research interest is in molecular microbiology of oral cancer and cancer stem cells. MBA Edge Postgraduate Studies Bi-monthly speaks to Dr Ong on the study of medical sciences.

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What are the entry requirements for biomedical science courses [Masters in Medical Sciences and PhD (Medical Sciences)?

A relevant Bachelor’s (Hons) degree from institutions of higher learning, its equivalent or other professional qualifications recognised by the University Senate, is a general entry requirement for a Masters course by research whereas a relevant Master’s degree from institutions of higher learning, its equivalent or other professional qualifications recognised by the University Senate is a general entry requirement for a entry into the Doctoral Degree course by research.

However, a minimum CGPA of 2.5 and an English language qualification is normally a prerequisite entry requirement. Nevertheless, applications of candidates whose CGPAs are below the minimum requirement can be considered based on relevant work experience in their respective fields and upon an evaluation of the candidate’s suitability on a case by case basis.

What are the facilities your universities provide for such programmes and courses?

Well-equipped research labs which include cell culture and molecular biology facilities. The presence of a pool of experienced research academics and the availability of external research grants and internal seed fundings are essential to conduct a postgraduate research programme. Conducive research and teaching environment as well as good library facilities including a comprehensive online journal database are also provided by the university to cater for the specific needs of postgraduate students. Financial research assistantships in the form of monthly stipends, graduate assistantship as well as government sponsored assistantship such as MyMaster and MyPhd are made available to deserving candidates.

“Financial research assistantships in the form of monthly stipends, graduate assistantship as well as government sponsored assistantship such as MyMaster and MyPhd are made available to deserving candidates.”.

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“With the right skills and exposure, graduates in this area are in demand in the health sector that is constantly expanding. “

What are some of the major challenges new students face when taking up these courses?

Is the workload very heavy? Is there a lot of rote learning? Do students have time for extracurricular activities?

As the postgraduate course is research based, most students face some form of challenge in being more independent and innovative in conducting their research activities which includes self-directed readings and critically reviewing relevant research papers as well as managing their own experiments. With good time management skills and an adequate level of discipline, postgraduate students can have a balanced lifestyle of spending productive

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time in the lab as well as enjoying themselves with extracurricular activities and having their own personal time.

What are the career and job prospects for students pursuing these courses?

Based on the Malaysian Science and Technology Indicators 2008 Report, the Medical & Health Sciences sector was the second highest in terms of R&D researchers being hired on the whole by government research institutes, the private sector and institutions of higher learning. In addition, under the 10th Malaysian Plan, the Health Sciences Education (EPP8) is expected to create more jobs by 2020

especially for knowledged and skilled intensive human capital in order to meet the demands and challengers of medical sciences and health care. With the right skills and exposure, graduates in this area are in demand in the health sector that is constantly expanding.

What are examples of some career options available for graduates?

Research Fellow in Research Centres, Research Scientist/ Officer in Medical Diagnostics Labs or Research labs, Technical Consultant, Academic, just to name a few.

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“In a full-time research postgraduate course structure, a certain amount of specialisation is required in order to address specific issues and to deliver realistic outcomes.�

Some qualities of a good research specialist include the ability to demonstrate indepth knowledge and good analytical skills in addressing biomedical related challengers and issues.

Are there any options for specialisation? Is it better to specialise?

What are some of the latest development in the field?

In a full-time research postgraduate course structure, a certain amount of specialisation is required in order to address specific issues and to deliver realistic outcomes. As such, specialisation in a particular research area is generally part of the objectives of the programme.Â

The global advancement in the field of medical sciences is currently associated with adult stem cell research, cancer therapy, regenerative medicine, pharmacogenetics and drug discoveries, just to name a few. Although similar research trends are seen in Malaysia, the research focus remains unique as certain diseases are more prevalent in this part of the world as compared to that in the developed countries.

What about research and development? Are there any initiatives in your university in these areas?

Are there any research opportunities at the university?

The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UTAR is currently hosting three research centres namely Centre for Cancer Research, Centre for Stem Cell Research and Centre for Research in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

These centres together with the research activities of academics in the faculty

are mainly focused on stem cell research, cancer chemoprevention, cancer research as well as research components of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Potential postgraduate candidates can expect research opportunities in relation to the niche areas mentioned above.

What are some of the qualities of a good research specialist in biomedical science?

Some qualities of a good research specialist include the ability to demonstrate

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in-depth knowledge and good analytical skills in addressing biomedical related challengers and issues. Equally important are for postgraduates to communicate effectively in their field of research as well as to practise ethical judgment and professionalism when addressing the demands and challenges in medical sciences.

What is your advice to students entering the job market in the field of medicine or biomedical sciences?

A certain level of competency in research methodology and the use of up-to-date instrumentations to carry our

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“evidence-based research� are essential for trustworthy research applications to be used in healthcare research, management and treatments. In order to meet job market expectations, good analytical skills and statistical knowledge as well as creative, innovative and proactive attitudes are much sought after in postgraduate candidates. ME

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Name: Leslie Low Chen Cheong Email: leslielow86@gmail. com Name of postgraduate programme: MBA Studied at: University Tunku Abdul Rahman Current occupation: Engineer Brief job scope: Quality Management Q. What do you consider the best take away value from your postgraduate programme?

Every single subject or value I learn from my programme will be practised in my work life.

Q. What is your advice to prospective postgraduate students to prepare them for this programme?

Be prepared to be committed because this programme will take up most of your time.

Q. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Joining a corporation for a bigger challenge.

Q. What is your motto in life?

Keep moving forward.

Name: Ng Di Lin

Name: Wong Ping Keong

Name: Lee Khye Tze

Email: ngdilin@hotmail.com

Email: christpk85@hotmail. com

Email: richard_lkt@hotmail. com

Name of postgraduate programme: MSc (Molecular Biology) Studied at: Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Year graduated: 2011 Current occupation: Lecturer Brief job scope: Lecturing and conducting research.

Q. What do you consider the best take away value from your postgraduate programme?

Learning to be independent and being patient in adversity.

Q. What is your advice to prospective postgraduate students to prepare them for this programme?

Always prepare to fail and be disappointed, so that you can learn from mistakes.

Q. Where do you see yourself in five years?

A successful researcher/ consultant with a balanced work/life schedule.

Q. What is your motto in life?

Do not give up and always strive for the best.

Name of postgraduate programme: Master of Science Studied at: Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Year graduated: 2012 Current occupation: Development Engineer Brief job scope: Medical device manufacturing, developing and validating new and improved products, formulations and materials Q. What do you consider the best take away value from your postgraduate programme?

My interest and knowledge in polymer science was greatly generated.

Q. What is your advice to prospective postgraduate students to prepare them for this programme?

Fortify the EQ and always be motivated. Think out of the box.

Q. Where do you see yourself in five years?

With better knowledge, experience and problem solving abilities.

Q. What is your motto in life?

Play hard, live strong.

Postgraduate programme: MBA University: University Tunku Abdul Rahman Graduated: 2010 Current occupation: Executive Customer Service Operation (Toyota) Brief Job Description: Management Staff in a service centre at Puchong What do you consider the best take away value from your postgraduate programme?

The best value that I have learnt is in developing the skills of team work and planning in every job or assignment.

What is your advice to prospective postgraduate students to prepare them for this programme?

To prepare for the knowledge that would be shared among lecturers and students to assist them for the future.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

To use my knowledge and experience to excel in my work.

What is your motto in life?

Word hard for our own future.

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Dr Tai Chen Chih With A Great Attitude Comes Great Happiness

Taiwanese motivational speaker Dr Tai Chen Chih’s new book: With A Great Attitude Comes Great Happiness sharing session

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Renowned Taiwanese motivational speaker Dr Tai Chen Chih who was at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman Petaling Jaya Campus for his new book: With A Great Attitude Comes Great Happiness sharing session, shared with the public about the journey to success. He encouraged others to “be brave in overcoming difficulties upon stumbling them”, and never give up but persevere till the very end even when

there are setbacks because “victory always comes after perseverance”. A person’s success or failure, to Dr Tai, depends on the right “attitude”.

Born in Taiwan, Dr Tai went through setbacks and frustrations when growing up. These, in turn, only enriched his life experiences.

Since 1994, he has published 35 inspirational and motivational books. Touted as the “Carnegie of the East” and “Motivational Guru”, Dr Tai is

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a key and influential figure in Taiwan that brings positive changes in society.

During the sharing session, Dr Tai gave precious advice which saw the audience eagerly and diligently taking down notes. Dr Tai also invited the audience on stage to share their thoughts and feelings about a motivational short video shown to them. Dr Tai’s fans were really enthusiastic and there was active interaction between the speaker and the

audience. Before the sharing session came to an end, some audience members queued up to share with everyone in the audience words of advice they had taken down during the session.

The talk was jointly organised by the Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Centre for Extension Education and Popular Book Co. (M) Sdn Bhd. ME

“

Giving up needs only one sentence; whereas success, requires a lifetime’s perseverance.

”

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Name: Law Chong Seng (Vincent Law) Postgraduate studies at: a. Asia e University, Kuala Lumpur; Executive Master’s Degree of Business Management in Supply Chain Management; Year graduated: 2012 b. University of Technology (UTM), Skudai, Johor; Doctor of Philosophy in Management; Year graduated: ongoing 2012-2016 Current Occupation: Supply Chain Manager Brief description of job scope: To oversee and monitor daily functions and development, plan and enhance the systems, procedures and documentation flow for the continual improvement of the Supply Chain Department.

To manage and review product sales forecast and ensure efficient and timely execution of product planning schedule.

To review product planning and delivery schedule and ensure the production plan meets demand and to maintain buffer stock at healthy levels.

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To direct inventory and distribution activities and maintain excellent housekeeping of the warehouse.

In what area did you pursue postgraduate studies?

Supply Chain Management research (RFID Adoption in Warehouse) What do you consider the best take away value from your Masters/PhD? Being an individual who adds intellectual and scholarly values to my field.

What is your advice to prospective students preparing for the Masters/ PhD? Researching and writing your dissertation will probably require several years. A faculty committee will help and guide your process and keep you on the right track.

You may end up knowing your area of specialisation better than any of them, but they will offer general, if not specific, advice when they’re able to do so. One of these professors will be your primary advisor or supervisor and will hopefully become your mentor, offering you the benefit of years of experience and the

opportunity to meet other professionals in the field.

Your advisor or supervisor will be your advocate and can mediate amongst the other members of the committee, if necessary. Your relationship with your advisor or supervisor can, and will, play a vital role in your success in your Master/PhD programme.

Name: Low Cheng Gek

What are some pitfalls to avoid?

Q. Why made you want to study for an MBA?

Even with your advisor or supervisor as mentor, you’ll be on your own most of the time, thinking, studying, and working independently.

Self-discipline is absolutely necessary. This is another stage, unfortunately, where many students falter. A number of graduate students never complete their dissertations, thus leaving behind years of work.

Knowledge is a journey that has no end, only stops. I’m doing the MBA for self-development and to enhance skills required for higher managerial work.

It is also a great opportunity to meet like-minded people from different industries and perspectives.

Email: lowcg123@gmail.com Occupation: Compliance Monitoring University: Sunway University (VU MBA) Brief Job scope: Monitoring Risk Management activities and other internal control processes.

Q. What inspires you?

To move into the exciting world of learning and gain as much as knowledge from the PhD programme.

I am still looking for the answer to that, but I think wisdom, people who live life with a greater purpose is great inspiration. The Last Lecture by Professor Randy Pausch is inspiring and so is Steve Jobs’ advice: “Live everyday as if it’s your last day”.

What is your motto in life?

Q. Favourite Quote

“Anything is not impossible, unless you quit”

Whatever you are, be a good one -- Abraham Lincoln

Where do you see yourself in three to five years?

When status and position come second to sincerely giving one’s best in everything one does.

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Name: James Ng Kai Hung Email: 12038766@imail. sunway.edu.my Occupation: Manager, International Brokers University : Sunway University; Victoria University, Melbourne Brief Job Description Manage the international brokers division and continually develop its operations by setting operational procedures with best practices of the company and industry to meet the objectives of the business plan. Also responsible for the procurement and development of business through international brokers with specific objectives of increasing gross written premium with sustainable profitability while maintaining customer satisfaction.

Why made you want to study for an MBA? As some might view pursuing MBA as a form of academic progression while others view its necessity for career development, I had always held an opinion that having an MBA along with your other accreditations would be an

honour. At the beginning of the MBA course, one can imagine the congregation of potential CEOs and business owners from different backgrounds and industries to be a challenging environment. Throughout the MBA course, you would soon realise that it is the different ethnicities and characters of your fellow MBA mates that make it interesting, especially when vast contrast of ideas are being tossed around and debated.

What inspires you?

Reading genuine success stories of common people, how their perseverance carried them through failures and reinforced their success in life.

Favorite Quote ‘Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you are gonna get’ by Forrest Gump

Name: Ng Geok Leng Email: leng1988@hotmail. com Occupation: HR Professional – Case Management & Appeals University: Sunway University College Brief Job Description: Handles concern & appeal submissions from employees Why made you want to study for an MBA? To explore and enhance my knowledge in other areas of business which can help in career advancement.

The MBA course also helps me to develop managerial skills, providing hands-on experience leading study groups, classroom discussions and school organisations.

What inspires you?

To be a well-equipped professional with business knowledge and to be able to create successful business models for the future.

Favourite Quote “Work hard, study hard and party hard” and “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

“Whatever you are, be a good one.”

Abraham Lincoln

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Mohd Firdaus Omar Name: Mohd Firdaus bin Omar Email: fir_tm2000@hotmail. com Occupation: EngineerProjects, Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd University: Victoria University, Australia (MBA), University Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia (BEEE, Hons.)

Brief Job Description: Current Job To lead project execution for Caterpillar (CAT) engine generator sets, based on customisation requirement of project specification.

Coordinate and manage

the project based on work scope and the design layout.

In charge of procurement related to the overall project specification.

Previous Job: Consultant, Advanced Power Solutions Sdn Bhd Performed insulation coordination studies including transient switching and lightning over-voltage and Harmonics Analysis that involved full three phase harmonics penetration studies (using PSCAD software). Also conducted Protection study (using CAPE software) under Engineering System Study.

Why made you want to study for an MBA? I would like to acquire critical business administration knowledge which can be applied in my workplace and will help to manage work more effectively in an increasingly complex, challenging and changing work environment. This knowledge will help one to mature at work, become more creative and also innovative as every job is a business by itself.

What inspires you?

Green natural scenery Calmness of high hill places

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Einstein

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like the Cameron Highlands Beautiful beach with crystal clear sea water Favourite Quotes: You have enemies? Good.

That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Winston Churchill Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new -- Albert Einstein Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony -Mahatma Gandhi

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Profile of the winners of the MBA Edge Business Competition Season 2

Name: Lew Man Wai Email: manwai_rc@yahoo. com Currently Pursuing: MBA University Name: University of Strathclyde Current Job Title: Senior Electrical Engineer Brief Description of Current Job: Develop, design and enhance twoway communication radio accessories.

Q. Why did you choose to study for an MBA at the current institution?

My reasons are because of its triple accreditation, it being in the Financial Times Global MBA top 100 rankings and also because the course is taught by lecturers from the main campus.

Q. To a prospective MBA student, how should he/she prepare before starting the programme?

They need to allocate time not only for the MBA classes but assignments too. It is important to balance the time between family, work, study and etc. They might also face challenges to meet both assignments and work deadlines at the same time. They need to mentally prepare for all kind of challenges.

Q. The MBA is not for everyone. Who should not pursue the MBA? It is not suitable for fresh graduates who do not have work experience because it is hard for them to link what they learn in the course to real situations.

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Q. What do you find most rewarding about the MBA? Other than the knowledge taught in the MBA programme, friendships with classmates and networking are most rewarding. It is a platform to meet with people from different industries and share knowledge. Besides, it helps me to see things differently. We study the same subject during the MBA but people from different industries will have different interpretations of it.

Q. What do you find toughest during the programme?

Time management and travelling. It is tough when assignment deadlines clash with urgent issues at work.

And since I work in Penang, I need to keep myself motivated to travel long distance for the class.

Q. Where do you see yourself in five years?

I will have myself prepared for various skills/knowledge (business, management, finance) other than technical.

And I am looking forward to another breakthrough in my life.

Q. What is your motto in life? What is your favourite quote?

Motto: Nothing is going to happen without you doing it Quote: “Man is what he believes.” – Anton Chekhov

Name: Teoh Wei Yi Email: teohwy@yahoo.com Currently Pursuing: MBA University Name: University of Strathclyde Current Job Title: Research Analyst Brief Description of Current Job: Equity research in fund management industry Q. Why did you choose to study for an MBA at the current institution?

The University of Strathclyde business school is a reputable university. It is listed in the Financial Times Global MBA top 100 rankings.

Q. To a prospective MBA student, how should he/she prepare before starting the programme?

He/she has to prepare to commit their time and effort throughout the programme.

At the same time, be openminded and prepared to be a listener, regardless of your job position. This is very important in the entire learning experience.

Q. The MBA is not for everyone. Who should not pursue the MBA? Fresh graduates who do not have much work experience as well as professionals who want to be specialists in their industry.

Q. What do you find most rewarding about the MBA? Networking is one of the most rewarding parts of the MBA, together with quality knowledge gained.

Q. What do you find toughest during the programme?

The toughest part is managing time between family, work and assignment.

Q. Where do you see yourself in five years?

The knowledge and the experience gained during the MBA are very helpful in my existing career. With these value-added skills, I can see myself excelling in my career and also having a broader network.

Q. What is your motto in life? What is your favourite quote?

Motto in life: Never regret.

Favourite Quote: “We don’t have to be smarter than the rest. We have to be more disciplined than the rest.” – Warren Buffett

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Dialogue: Partnership between Sunway Univeristy & Feng Chia University

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Increasing Productivity in Hard Times Hard Time Lesson in Europe, Be ready before the Storm comes again in ASIA.

By Jeremy Francis & Julian Goh

E

very organisation goes through hard times at some point. This may be down to mistakes of judgement it has made or because of external market conditions.

It is during these times that engaging the whole workforce in productivity improvement becomes a critical issue.

There are seven factors to address to achieve this.

1. Communication This is the time to substantially improve the quality and quantity of communication. Employees are not dumb. They are in touch with what is happening but they may not know the whole picture. Communicate the brutal facts. Employees need to know results and trends over the last year/two

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years. They need to see the facts and figures in a clear and tangible way. These facts may include trends in the organisation’s market share, sales and profitability figures, competitor activity and its impact, marketplace predictions and customers’ likely demands.

Share what the organisation is doing to confront these challenges, what is working and what more needs to be done. The message should be upbeat and positive with a ‘we can do it but we need your help’ message.

Introduce and formalise a communication process. For example, the CEO should introduce monthly face-toface communications with his/her direct subordinates, and the next level down, on key messages to be passed on to employees. The CEO

should address all employees informally, at their locations, bi-monthly, face to face or via video conferencing.

This should be a two-way communication, including questions, concerns and feedback. The CEO needs to be highly visible in his/her communications. In addition, monthly briefings should be introduced to encourage top down and bottom up communication.

The message is ‘communicate, communicate, and communicate’ and engage employees at all levels with the current realities. Be honest, be open and win their trust. You cannot over communicate in hard times.

2. Cuts Pay cuts and compensation pain should start at the top with the CEO, Directors

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and Senior Management.

In hard times it is totally unacceptable for Senior Managers to be awarded 11 per cent pay rises annually and employees one per cent or worse still, nothing. It is immoral and plain wrong.

In hard times, the owners of the business and the already well-paid senior management need to be seen to be setting an example. Their pay and bonus cuts should be significant and demonstrate their commitment to the future of the business. They also need to make other obvious statements by driving less expensive cars, staying at less expensive hotels and taking cheaper flights. This is a time for servant leadership and the leaders need to be seen to be taking their leadership role seriously.

This should also be a time for reassurance and the message should be that no staff pay cuts or cuts in numbers should be necessary if the organisation can work together to increase productivity. This message is one of total team-working through the hard times and beyond.

This is a time for the CEO and his/her team of Directors and Senior Managers to walk the talk when it comes to making sacrifices for the good of all.

Make no mistake, all eyes are upon them.

confrontation. Confront the enemy – that’s your competition! In hard times, your competitors will savagely reduce prices and attack your customer base.

The result is that your market share falls and theirs rises.

Your sales and profitability are falling at the same time.

This must not be allowed to happen. You must renew your external focus and fight the competition.

Focus on three of four key issues or ‘battles’ you must win to take on your competition and the marketplace. Call these ‘Must Win Battles’ (see the book with this title), or something similar. These should be initiatives which will involve everyone in the organisation becoming externally focused and fighting the ‘enemy’.

Examples of such battles might be: •

•

•

Involving your internal departments with key suppliers in improving customer distribution and servicing processes Using tele-sales and e-commerce more effectively to increase higher volumes of cost effective sales

•

Broadening your product/service offerings

•

Speeding up research

3. Confrontation Turn the crisis into

Creating a greater variety of customer service offerings, including flexible pricing

and development processes to get products to the market faster •

Increasing customer communications, demonstrating the financial value you bring to them and improving account management

•

Getting to know key decision makers in key accounts better and building positive relationships with them to open up new business opportunities.

•

Cost-wasting internal issues also need to be addressed aggressively.

For example:

•

Can you afford to support an ailing part of the business any longer?

•

Does that new product idea really need to be scrapped now?

•

Does that piece of technology that has been causing you real problems really need to be replaced now?

considering changes in key suppliers?

All these and other questions should be considered to make the organisation a fully effective operation, capable of winning major battles.

Wake up the organisation, kill complacency and go on the offensive!

4. Creativity Now is the time to tap into the creative abilities of your workforce. Human beings can be enormously creative if they are allowed to be! In hard times, you get out of trouble by not doing more of what clearly does not work! Problems need to be re-thought. The status quo needs to be robustly challenged. Processes need to be changed drastically.

The objectives of all activities need to be questioned.

Old norms of internal working practices need to be changed. Linear, rational thinking needs to be replaced by creative, innovative thinking.

So what can you do? Here are some tips:

•

Does the internal culture and values need to change significantly now?

Engage with individual employees to find out what contribution they can make

•

Are there key people who are not performing and really need to go?

Find out the natural gifts, talents and strengths they can bring to their job (if they were allowed to!)

•

Is the current structure working or does it need to be changed?

•

Is this a time for

Involve them in solving a problem at their level. Pose the problem as a question, e.g., “How can we reduce the

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number of products returned by customers?” Turn the problem into a ‘battle’ Train employees in creative and innovative thinking processes and problemsolving skills Form teams of employees to tackle problems at their level. Encourage them to be self-managing teams. Appoint facilitators e.g., managers/ supervisors from other teams to help them Put time frames to problemsolving initiatives, make them short and urgent e.g., two to three months maximum Praise successes and encourage more involvement in daily continuous improvement processes When you fully engage your employees with your challenges, you will be amazed at the results. Not only will you realise their talents, you will also motivate them and make them feel like a valuable part of your business, vital for enhancing their psychological contract with you.

Get creative, make step

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changes re-invent the business and just see the employee energy that is released!

5. Collaboration Hard times can really benefit organisations. Why? Because no one has all the answers anymore and the opportunity for collaborative working suddenly appears.

This is a time for creating partnerships between managers and employees, internal departments, the organisation and its suppliers and the organisation and its customers. The historic mindset must change from command and control to collaborate and co-create!

Vertical functional and independent ways of working need to be replaced by horizontal, cross-functional and interdependent ways of working. In hard times, functions cannot be allowed to work in isolation. They need to bring their own individual expertise and know-how to other teams to create a ‘one team’ approach to meeting the challenges the organisation faces. This requires stamping

out competition between internal teams, not allowing any teams to opt out of co-operative working and putting collaborative, creative working high on the agenda.

Managers should be encouraged to adopt a less directive and more participative way of working with employees. Your account managers should talk afresh with major customers and your purchasing managers should talk with key suppliers to explore ways to work more in a collaborative partnership for mutual benefit. Move from a competitive mindset to a collaborative mindset.

The beauty of collaboration is the need to share, to be open and honest and to allow the creatively for problem solving to flow. Your organisation will be able to make step changes

as a result.

6. Capabilities In hard times, organisations should seize the opportunity to train, re-train and upskill the capabilities of their managers and employees.

The time is now available to do this, and this is the right time to do this!

Accept that things will not get better overnight but investment in your people will enable you to capitalise on the change in market conditions when it comes.

Train your managers to be modern managers by changing their management style to be more inclusive and engaging. Train them to be leaders of change and entrepreneurs. Turn them into coaches. Show them how to empower people by working less ‘in the business’

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and more ‘on the business’.

Get them to delegate more, to think strategically, to plan more effectively. Quite simply, increase the capabilities of all your people. Challenge them, stretch them and grow them. It sends out the signal that you value them and that you are investing in them.

If you do not have enough budget for this purpose, pay for the training and development from cuts in senior management salaries!

celebration success.

•

Engaged and empowered people with creative/innovative thinking

Let’s face it, your business is your people. There is not always the time to invest in their development, but now the time is here. It is also the time to send some big new signals on how you want to commit to continuous people development. That is turn will increase staff motivation and productivity.

•

Instilled a collaborative, interdependent and partnership style of working into the business

Formalise your people development commitment by introducing Personal Development Discussions between managers and their staff. Grow your people and they will grow.

7. Celebration Now for the best part – the

Let’s recapitulate. You have: •

Communicated the brutal facts

•

Cut costs at the top

•

Turned a crisis into a confrontation with competitors

•

Embarked on a programme of increasing people capabilities and developing their potential

What’s missing? Quite simply, celebration! Lots of open, generous and frequent celebration. Celebration of success should be evidenced at an individual level (e.g., employee of the month), at a team level (e.g., internal of external customer feedback

on the team’s improvements), at a functional or divisional level (e.g., improved results) and at an organisational level (e.g., improved market data and press comment).

Celebrations need not be extravagant. People would question them if they were! They need to be fun and enjoyable, and most important of all they need to reward everyone’s hard work.

They can be paid for out of productivity improvements. If you’re stuck for ideas, employ the services of a specialist adviser/organiser in their area.

Celebration fuels the fire of success, it fans the flames of personal desire and it sets ablaze the marketplace as what you do is noticed and admired by others. What an impact it can make!

So that’s it – the seven ‘C’s

of increasing productivity in hard times. It is all common sense, but that of course is the first thing to go when organisations run into hard times! ME

About the Author & Editor Jeremy Francis is the CEO of Buyandtrain.com, based in London. Julian Goh is the sole representative (Goh Business Practitioners) of the company in Asia. Should you have enquiries, kindly forward your email to j@juliangoh.com or contact him at +01115683183

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KL TO KZOO:

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF TWINNING PROGR AMMES BETWEEN MALAYSIA AND MICHIGAN THE SUNWAY UNIVERSITY-WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP 1

by Howard Dooley, Professor of History, Western Michigan Universit y 2

K

uala Lumpur is famous for its “Twin Towers”, dual 88-floor skyscrapers that dominate the skyline of Malaysia’s vibrant capital city. KL is also notable for another kind of pairing: “Twinning Programmes”, Malaysia’s contribution to the globalisation of international education. Pioneered in a partnership between the SungeiWay Group (now known as the Sunway Group) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, “twinning” proved such a success that programmes modelled on it are a hallmark of Malaysia’s higher education system.

July 2012 will mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of Sunway College and the inauguration of its “Twinning Programme” with Western Michigan University.

This paper historically and analytically examines why “twinning” was invented in 1987 through a partnership between a Malaysian Chinese company and an American Midwest state university; how together they created a private school, Sunway College, that with that with a 2+2 programme built a bridge between KL and KZOO that has graduated thousands of students; and the ways it spurred development of a vibrant private education sector that helped Malaysia emerge as a Southeast Asian regional centre for education attracting 80,000 students from 100 countries.

Among the students who have benefited are Tengku Idris B. Tengku Zaid, Sue Yen Lam, and Mohan Rajah Vatghumalai. They are graduates of a “twinning programme” that in 2012

will mark its 25th anniversary as a bridge between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Malaysians all, representative of this Southeast Asian country’s three major communities – Malay Muslim bumiputras (sons of the soil), Chinese, and Indians – they exemplify the 2,500 students who have travelled from Malaysia to Michigan through an international partnership between Sunway College and Western Michigan University. Thousands more have attended more than 60 other American universities and colleges after graduating from the Sunway-WMU programme. They embody the success of an innovation in international education that was invented in Malaysia, pioneered in operation by these two schools (a Malaysian private college and

a Michigan public university), adopted to transform Malaysia into a regional center for higher education Southeast Asia, and been replicated from Indonesia to Kenya.

Mid-1980s: Crisis of Capacity in Public High Education; Enter the Private Sector Twinning grew out of a crisis in the mid-1980s when the government was unable to provide enough seats in its six universities or scholarships for study abroad for Malaysians seeking a higher education.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad appealed to the private sector to help by creating private colleges that could offer access to higher education at an affordable price. Quick to respond was Jeffrey Cheah, President of the SungeiWay

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Professor Howard Dooley

Group, a construction and real estate conglomerate.

With no experience in education, he sought a partnership with a university abroad already popular with government-sponsored Malaysian bumiputras: Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. Contracting together in January 1987, they developed the idea of “twinning”: a 2+2 collaboration through which they would create Sunway College to offer the first half of WMU bachelor’s degree programmes (60 credits) in KL, then students would transfer seamlessly to Kalamazoo to complete the remaining half of their studies. With savings of 40% compared the cost a full education overseas, 2+2 was especially appealing to middle class Malaysians from Chinese and Indian communities, who could not get into local universities because of ethnic quotas, and did not qualify for government scholarships to study abroad.

Sunway: From Humble Beginnings to FullFledged University

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Sunway College opened in July 1987 in rented quarters in Petaling Jaya, an edge city west of Kuala Lumpur and first intake of 67 students, mostly Chinese and Indian Malaysians, who began their studies in WMU-model classes. A faculty member from Western Michigan University served on-site as a full-time Resident Director of the Twinning Program 3.

After two years, the pioneer cohort transferred to WMU in 1989 and graduated in 1991.

By 1992 the Sunway-WMU programme had grown to 350 students. Sunway added twinning programmes (2+1 and 1+2) with universities in Britain (2), Australia (4), and New Zealand (1); enrollment burgeoned to 3500. SungeiWay began constructing a 22-acre campus as the centerpiece of Bandar Sunway, a satellite city it developed west of Kuala Lumpur. The new Sunway College was opened

by Prime Minister Mahathir in April 1993; with purpose built classrooms and hostels, it was the first private college in Malaysia to offer students the experience of a complete

campus environment rather than commuting to classes in converted shophouses. By its 10th anniversary in 1997, Sunway was largest private college in the country, and WMU had become the top destination in the U.S. for Malaysians, enrolling 700 students.

The Asian financial crisis of 1997 was a setback for Malaysia, forcing devaluation of the ringgit, but the country and Sunway quickly adapted. The WMU twinning programme was rebranded as an American Degree Transfer Program (ADTP) offering enrollees the choice of continuing on to Kalamazoo, or applying to ultimately 60 other American universities and colleges that accepted transfer credits on the Sunway-WMU program.

When the Ministry of Higher Education authorised private colleges to offer 3+0 foreign degree programmes through franchises, SungeiWay formed a joint venture with Australia’s Monash University to establish Malaysia’s first foreign branch campus alongside Sunway College.

Sunway College added

franchise degree programmes from the UK and Australia, professional and financial courses, and pre-university foundation programmes.

In 2004 it was upgraded to Sunway University College by the Ministry of Education, able to offer its own 3+0 degrees, and in 2010 was recognised as Sunway University, with Jeffrey Cheah its first Chancellor. Enrollment in Sunway’s education institutions now stands at 16,000, with about 30% international students from 80 countries.

Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah: The Andrew Carnegie of Malaysia?

At the center of Sunway’s rise is its founding father, Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling. Now 66, he is a Malaysian Chinese of Hakka descent. Hakka were Han Chinese “guest families” from south China who immigrated to Malaysia early in the last century and many rose from nothing to wealth. An accountant from Ipoh, in 1974 he founded SungeiWay as a tin mining company that moved into construction and real estate.

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Today he is one of Malaysia’s wealthiest magnates; his SungeiWay Group is a multinational diversified into hotels, health care, infrastructure and education.

He has become a major charitable donor, recognised with honorific Tan Sri by the King of Malaysia. In 1997 he set up the Sunway College Trust Fund to formalise the status of Sunway College as a not-for-profit educational institution, and in 2010 in created the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation into which he transferred equity ownership of the not-for-profit Sunway Education Group, composed of Sunway University, Monash University Sunway campus, the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and

Sunway International School.

Through the Foundation, operating surpluses from the Sunway Education Group are reinvested into the universities and schools, and the Foundation will disburse scholarships and research grants. The Foundation is the first of its kind in Malaysia.

Through his philanthropy and especially his devotion to education, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah seems destined to be the Andrew Carnegie of Malaysia.

A Win-Win Twinning has proved to be a “win-win” for all parties.

The Sunway CollegeWestern Michigan University Twinning Program was the first in Malaysia, and its

success inspired emulation throughout the country.

A vibrant private sector in education grew up in Malaysia that now numbers over 20 private universities and 40 private colleges.

Twinning has become the hallmark of Malaysian higher education. Thousands of young Malaysians were enabled to begin their higher education at home, broaden their horizons while finishing their degrees abroad, and bring back skills and connections to help Malaysia realize its goal of becoming a fully developed country by 2020. The success of twinning spurred the government of Malaysia in the early 1990’s to declare the goal of becoming a regional center for higher

education in Southeast Asia, aiming to attract students from around Southeast Asia. Today 80,000 foreign students from 100 countries are studying in Malaysia’s twinning programs and 3+0 degree programmes, bringing in valuable foreign exchange and experiencing this cosmopolitan multicultural crossroads.

Twinning also proved to the most successful “internationalisation” initiative in Western Michigan University’s history. The Sunway-WMU contract of 1987 created a bridge across the Pacific linking two “pleasant peninsulas” – Malaysia and the state of Michigan – that as 2012 begins has enabled 2500

Interview: QUILL BMW with the Head of After-Sales

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to become Sunway University awarding its own degrees, the 2+2 arrangement must come to an end. While the contract forged in 1987 is terminating, the relationship will continue in the form of course articulation arrangements, study abroad opportunities, and faculty teaching and research activities, Currently Dr. Christopher Korth, Professor of Finance and International Business in WMU’s Haworth College of Business-, is in Kuala Lumpur for three months to WMU still welcomes students teach courses in Finance at from Sunway and Malaysia, Sunway University. He first 93 in the Fall Semester 2011, visited the site 35 years ago, and it replicated its 2+2 in an earlier career as a banker, “twinning” model in Hong and when what is now the city Kong, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, of Bandar Sunway was a tin and Kenya. mine deep in the jungle.

Malaysian students to begin their educations in SE Asia and complete their degrees in America. In addition, the Sunway-WMU twinning programme attracted an international enrollment, drawing students, e.g., from Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mongolia, Mauritania, Nigeria, even Iran and Uzbekistan, who began their higher education in Kuala Lumpur and completed their degrees in Kalamazoo.

The Sunway-WMU Partnership

Conclusion

The partnership will mark its 25th anniversary in 2012, but is also ending as a “twinning programme.” The Malaysian government ruled that a school desiring to become full-fledged university could no longer offer curricula provided by a foreign partner; in order

Looking back over 25 years of history linking KL and KZOO, Malaysia and Michigan, the partnership forged between a Malaysian Chinese entrepreneur’s company and an American Midwest state university has proved to be an extraordinary win-win for all parties, and a microcosm

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of the globalisation process linking Southeast Asia, the US, and the world. Fittingly, a new restaurant just opened in Kuala Lumpur, created by two WMU alumni, is named the Kalamazoo Café! *

Executive Director of International Affairs from 1991 to 2004, and Fulbright Program Adviser 1983-2004. He has also served as Chair of the Michigan Humanities Council, and project evaluator for the National Endowment for the * A-36, Jalan PJU 1/43, Aman Suria Humanities. In 2002, he was Damansara, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia http://www.facebook.com/ selected by AMIDEAST for a pages/Petaling-Jaya-Malaysia/CafeKalamazoo/ team of US higher education 160001724019165?ref=mf administrators who visited Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and About the author Tunisia under the auspices Howard J. Dooley is Professor of the US Department of of History at Western Michigan State. He chairs the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship University, where he has Committee of the Kalamazoo been a faculty member since Rotary Club. ME 1970. His scholarly interests include World History, Modern Notes: European Diplomatic history since 1870, Twentieth Century 1. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Southeast United States history, World Asia and World History Symposium, Pannasastra University, Siem Reap, War II and the Cold War, Cambodia, January 2, 2012 the Modern Middle East; Globalization and International 2. Dr. Howard Dooley served as Western Michigan University’s repEducation. He wrote his resentative on the Academic Board dissertation on the Suez Crisis of Sunway College 1992-2004.

3. Resident Directors from Western of 1956 and is working on a Michigan University were: Dr. book tentatively titled: 1956: Larry Israel-general studies-social The Year That Shook the World. sciences; Dr. Lawrence Tyler, Dooley led Western Michigan University's “internationalisation” as

general studies-social sciences; Dr. Alan Jacobs, anthropology; Dr. Richard Pippen, biology; Dr. David Dickason, geography; and Dr. Richard Pippen (extended second term).

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SUNWAY UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF NEW VICE-CHANCELLOR (ABOVE) Professor Wilkinson, VC of Sunway University, First Class Honours in Physics (Imperial College, London), Doctorate in Philosophy in Atmospheric Physics (Oxford University), Johnson Memorial Prize.

Sunway University

London and received a

to play a part in shaping the

continues on its path

Doctorate in Philosophy in

growth of Sunway University.

of providing quality

Atmospheric Physics from

He states, “I am both proud

education

Oxford University in 1977 and

and honoured to be given

was awarded the Johnson

the opportunity to play such

Memorial Prize.

a pivotal role, leading Sunway

Bandar Sunway, 11 July, 2012 – Sunway University

University and building upon

is proud to announce the

Professor Wilkinson’s career

appointment of Professor

has seen him take up

Graeme Wilkinson as

lecturing positions at several

Vice-Chancellor of Sunway

highly regarded universities

University. Professor

in the UK, including the

Wilkinson will be taking

University College London.

over from Professor Robert

As a specialist in satellite

Bignall this month, and will

image understanding, he has

be responsible for providing

also worked at the European

strategic direction and

Commission’s Joint Research

leadership for the University,

Centre in Ispra, Italy, where

representing it both at

he led a team of international

The appointment of Sunway

home and abroad. With

scientists working on the use

University’s new Vice-

this appointment, Sunway

of space satellite technology

Chancellor is testament to its

University is the only

to monitor environmental

continued commitment to

homegrown institution with

issues. More recently, he

providing quality education

an international academic as

helped spur the growth

to its students. As one of

its Vice-Chancellor.

and development of new

the leaders in the field

universities in the UK, taking

of private education in

up senior positions as the

Malaysia, Sunway University

Head of School, Dean and Pro

is constantly seeking

Vice-Chancellor.

new avenues for growth,

Professor Wilkinson brings with him broad experience, as an academic and senior university manager. Born in England, he graduated

As he begins a new chapter in

with First Class Honours in

an already esteemed career,

Physics from Imperial College,

Professor Wilkinson is excited

the outstanding work that has been carried out by my predecessor as well as the highly dedicated staff here.

I will be looking to grow this university to become a globally recognised academic institution known for grooming students who think to make a difference.”

enhancing the range of programmes it offers its students. With Professor Wilkinson on board, Sunway

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“

As one of the leaders in the field of private education in Malaysia, Sunway University is constantly seeking new avenues for growth, enhancing the range of programmes it offers its students.

”

University will be able to

joins the Sunway family. I look

university partner. Owned

harness his global experience

forward to working closely

and governed by the

and expertise, supporting

with him in bringing Sunway

Jeffrey Cheah Foundation,

its growth as it continues

University to greater heights.”

Sunway University is

to cater to the needs of its growing population of students and staff.

Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah, AO, Chancellor of Sunway University stated, “I am extremely happy to have such an esteemed individual come on board as ViceChancellor here at Sunway University. On behalf of all the staff and students of Sunway University, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Professor Wilkinson as he

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ABOUT SUNWAY UNIVERSITY

committed to plough back its surpluses to provide education opportunities

Sunway University provides

that will transform lives. To

high quality education

date, the Foundation has

based on a tradition of

given out more than RM80

exceptional teaching that

million in scholarships to

has shaped competent

over 11,000 deserving and

and intellectually vibrant

needy students. For more

individuals since 1987. By

information about Sunway

collaborating with Lancaster

University, please log on

University, a Top 10 UK

to www.sunway.edu.my/

university, Sunway degrees

university or call +603 7491

have been benchmarked by their distinguished

8622 ME

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New Method to Counter Fake Degrees A system that enables job portal to obtain validated degree qualifications

T

o safeguard degrees from being forged, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and the leading online job portal JobStreet.com have developed a system that enables the job portal to obtain validated degree qualifications of UTAR graduates in their system.

With this new system, employers with JobStreet. com we can now verify degree qualifications of UTAR graduates quickly and effectively. Information obtained from UTAR’s registry includes name, class of the degree holder and convocation date.

UTAR President Ir. Professor Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik said, “This system is a fruition of the collaborative efforts between the university and JobStreet.com since the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in January 2010 and a research agreement in March the same year”.

“There are more than 20,000 UTAR graduates and graduating students who are

currently using JobStreet. com to find their next job. By validating their degree, it will give assurance for companies in Malaysia to hire UTAR graduates who will contribute to the country’s economy”, said Mark Chang, CEO & Founder of JobStreet.com.

The database linkage for verification of graduates is part of a collaborative research effort by the two organisations to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the hiring process by employers.

About UTAR Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) was established in June 2002 under the Act of Private Institutions of Higher Learning 1996 of Malaysia.

With an inaugural intake of 411 students in June 2002, today, UTAR has a student enrolment of over 20,000 and alumni strength of over 26,000. It started with eight Bachelor’s degree programmes and now offers over 100 programmes ranging from

UTAR President Ir. Professor Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik

Mark Chang, CEO & Founder of JobStreet.com.

Foundation and Bachelor’s to Master’s and PhD levels in its four campuses in Kampar, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and Bandar Sungai Long, which house nine faculties of Accountancy and Management, Arts and Social Science, Business and Finance, Creative Industries, Engineering and Green Technology, Engineering and Science, Information and Communication Technology, Medicine and Health Sciences, and Science, and the Institute of Chinese Studies. Aiming to

become an internationallyreputed teaching and research university, UTAR is also actively involved in research, development and commercialisation activities and has established 25 research centres.

About Jobstreet.com JobStreet.com (www. jobstreet.com) is a leading online recruitment company presently covering the employment markets in Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

ME

Hap

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Sun Tzu’s Art of War & Supply Chain Innovation UTAR and MISI sign pact to advance supply chain innovation

The Art of War was written sometime in the 6th century BC

U

niversiti Tunku Abdul

Education Director Dr Albert

supply chain and logistics,”

the pursuit of excellence

Rahman (UTAR) and

Tan signed as witnesses.

said Prof Ewe.

in supply chain, logistics

Present to witness the signing

He added that a specific item

was MISI Chairman Tan Sri Dr

under the MoU would be the

Zulkefli bin A. Hassan.

full-credit-transfer graduate

Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (MISI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation at the UTAR

“Under the MoU, UTAR and

Petaling Jaya Campus on 3

MISI will collaborate to foster

July 2012.

advancement in teaching,

Signing on behalf of the two parties were UTAR Vice President (Internationalisation and Academic Development) Professor Dr Ewe Hong Tat and MISI Chief Executive Officer Dr Mahender Singh while UTAR Dean of Faculty of Science Associate Professor Dr Lim Tuck Meng and MISI

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research, and promoting international reputation of both institutions through

student exchange between the two institutions, which would provide an enriched learning experience for the graduate students of both institutions.

student and staff exchange,

“MISI is very proud to be

joint research projects,

working alongside UTAR, a

training activities, consulting

University with distinguished

services or conferences, and

achievements and a history

other academic activities,

for excellence. Today signifies

particularly those that are

a partnership that commits

related to the advancement

us to work together closely

of education and research in

towards our common goal,

education and research.

Our joint endeavours will encompass many significant activities, from the exchange of students to the promotion of educational and academic activities” said Dr Mahender Singh.

He added that the first UTARMISI workshop would address the ‘Art and Science of Supply Chain Management’ which would be supported with contents from MIT and linked to the Sun Tzu’s art of war strategic principles.

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Professor Ewe (second from left) and Dr Mahender exchanging the signed documents while Dr Lim (far left), Tan Sri Dr Zulkefli (centre) and Dr Tan look on.

About UTAR Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) was established in June 2002 under the Act of Private Institutions of Higher Learning 1996 of Malaysia.

With an inaugural intake of 411 students in June 2002, UTAR now has a student enrolment of over 19,000 and alumni strength of over 26,000. Starting with eight Bachelor’s degree programmes, it now offers over 100 programmes ranging from Foundation to PhD level in its four campuses in Kampar, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and

Bandar Sungai Long. These

research centres towards this

dissemination of global

campuses house the nine

end. For more information,

innovation in supply chain

faculties of Accountancy

visit www.utar.edu.my

and logistics.

and Management, Arts and

About MISI

MISI offers graduate and

Social Science, Business and Finance, Creative Industries,

Located at Shah Alam, MISI

Engineering and Green

has been a joint initiative of

Technology, Engineering

the Malaysian Government

and Science, Information

and the world’s renowned

and Communication

MIT Centre for Transport

Technology, Medicine

and Logistics. It was

and Health Sciences, and

launched on 22 March 2011

Science, and the Institute of

and is the fourth centre

Chinese Studies. Aiming to

in the MIT Global SCALE

become a university with an

(Supply Chain and Logistics

international reputation for

Excellence) Network,

teaching and research, UTAR

which is an international

also actively pursues a variety

alliance of leading-edge

of research, development and

research and educational

commercialisation activities

organisations, dedicated

and has established 25

to the development and

executive education in logistics and supply chain management and will admit its first Masters students in August of 2012. There are also plans for a doctoral degree as well as a deep portfolio of professional courses for executives, symposia, short courses, and extended onsite events with activities to reinforce MISI’s connections with corporate partners. For more information, visit www. misi.edu.my ME

Happenings ME

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POH KONG PRESENTS

THE WORLD OF LUXURY The Launch of MORAGLIONE 1922 Jewellery

Kuala Lumpur, 28 August 2012 – Malaysia’s largest jewellery retail chain store, Poh Kong, announced their new partnership with one of Europe’s finest and notable jewellers, MORAGLIONE 1922, in an exquisite European themed roadshow at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur today.

MORAGLIONE 1922 is a jewellery brand rich in heritage established in Valenza, Italy, in 1922. The company has fostered its skills in creating timeless jewels that are sold in the most prestigious locations all over the world such as Europe, Russia, the Middle and Far East, Latin America, Japan and now Malaysia.

Their collections are the result of the ability to juxtapose colourful precious stones with diamonds, in true Italian style.

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For MORAGLIONE 1922, the jewel is a masterpiece of art, which accentuate the femininity of a woman. The collection showcased at the launch today was inspired

by Europe’s elite royalty including Queen Sofia of Spain, Princess Grace of Monaco, Princess Anastasia of Russia and Queen Isabella of Spain and will be available at selected Poh Kong outlets.

Emiliana Caprioglio, International Sales Director of MORAGLIONE 1922 said, “At MORAGLIONE 1922 we are constantly renewing and adapting our design elements but will always remain true to our objectives and high standards of quality. We are looking forward to this partnership as we believe that Poh Kong shares the same philosophy.”

Emiliana Caprioglio (middle left) and Eddie Choon (middle right) Poh Kong, founded in 1976, is one of the most recognised jewellery brands in Malaysia.

With over 100 outlets nationwide, the brand is synonymous with excellence in respect of design, quality and craftsmanship. Over the years, Poh Kong has expanded its offerings beyond the traditional to cater to the demands of its growing clientele. Besides MORAGLIONE 1922, Poh Kong is also the privileged sole distributor for Schoeffel luxury pearls from Germany, Luca Carati from Italy, Angel Diamond from Belgium

and carrier of many more exquisite jewellery pieces from all over the world.

“We at Poh Kong are extremely happy with this new partnership with MORAGLIONE 1922 – a company with an incredible reputation for its craftsmanship and passion. As the largest jewellery retail chain store in Malaysia, we are always committed to bringing the very best to our customers.

With MORAGLIONE 1922 collections, our consumers can expect nothing but glamour, elegance and

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sophistication,” said Dato’ Eddie Choon, Executive Chairman and Group Managing Director of Poh Kong.

To celebrate this unique partnership, Poh Kong has embarked on a European themed roadshow to showcase MORAGLIONE 1922’s latest collection along with designs from Luca Carati, Schoeffel and Angel Diamond from Belgium for the first time at signature mall Pavilion Kuala Lumpur from 28 August to 2 September. This exquisite

event promises nothing but beauty, class and elegance as Poh Kong has collaborated with notable local designers such as Keith Kee, Carven Ong and DL Fashion, pairing their designs with these unique jewellery brands in a series of fashion shows and special appearances by Reshmonu, Syafinaz Selamat and Daniel Lee. About Poh Kong Founded in 1976 and listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad since 2004, Poh Kong

is the largest jewellery retail chain in Malaysia, reaching its 100th outlet mark in 2012, which include concept stores such as Poh Kong, Poh Kong Gallery, Diamond & Gold outlets, Diamond Boutique, Jade Gallery, Tranz Boutique and Oro Bianco. Poh Kong offers a wide range of gold ornaments, diamonds and gems specially created by its team of skilled craftsmen and designers. Poh Kong in-house brands include Tranz, Happy Love, Anggun, The Art of Auspicious, Bunga

Raya Gold Bar and many more to come. Poh Kong is the licensee for Disney Collection; sole distributor for Schoeffel luxury pearls from Germany, Luca Carati from Italy, Angel Diamond from Belgium, and carrier of many more exquisite jewellery pieces from all over the world. Poh Kong has won numerous awards including the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands Awards (2011) and the Fair Price Shop Awards (2010). The company was also listed in Retail AsiaPacific Top 500 (2010). ME

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Credits: SuperScholar.org

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“If we do discover a complete theory, it should be in time understandable in broad principle by everyone. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people be able to take part in the discussion of why we and the universe exist.�

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“I learned that fighting on the chess board could also have an impact on the political climate in the country.”

“In my own work, I've tried to anticipate what's coming over the horizon, to hasten its arrival, and to apply it to people's lives in a meaningful way.”

“High school's attractive to me, not necessarily because you have a good time, but because it's clear why you are miserable.

As opposed to real life . . .

Dissatisfactions are more vague, more amorphous.”

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At the age of 14, Christopher Hirata entered the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and two years later began working with NASA on a project exploring the possibility of colonizing Mars.

Polgár and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age.

“Just because we can't find a solution it doesn't mean that there isn't one.”

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“I don’t always accomplish what I might initially intend to do, but I usually make progress on something (even if this “something” is just the task of replenishing my own motivation levels).”

In 1974, during his university studies, he began his research work at NASA and continued this work until his return to Korea in 1978 where he decided to switch from physics to civil engineering and eventually received a doctorate in that field.

“Celebrity - I don't even know what that means.

Obviously it's the same basic word as celebration, but I don't know what's being celebrated.”

ngs

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presents

The MBA Edge Business Competition Season 3 TM

P

ersonal branding is like your fingerprint. It is unique to you. But how does one create a powerful personal brand?

The MBA Edge Business Competition is now in its third season. For this season, prepare a powerpoint presentation (target audience 28 to 35 years old business executives) on “The Salient Points of Creating a Powerful Personal Brand in the Malaysian Context Today” with presentation notes for each slide.

Rules • Maximum 30 slides.

• Proof of purchase - a receipt for 1 copy of MBA EdgeTM Postgraduate Studies magazine.

• 3 winners will be judged by the impact, persuasiveness, and pragmatism of the advices.

• This is an individual competition open to current MBA students studying in Malaysia.

• • • • •

All submissions will be blind judged by a panel of judges Winners will be contacted directly.

Decisions of judges are final. No queries will be entertained.

The Organizer reserves the rights to substitute prizes of equal worth.

The Organizer reserves the rights to publish the entries submitted with due credits to the students.

Prizes Each winner will win a prize consisting of: • Certificate of achievement.

• Faber-Castel Premium Pens.

• 1 session of personality-style test by professional image consultant.

• Make up & hair styling (2 themes).

• Fashion styling.

• 8 touch-up photos (print).

• 20 softcopy photos in CD.

Submit by email to: penerbitwawasan@gmail. com before 15th November 2012 or by mail to: Penerbit Wawasan Nusa (M) Sdn Bhd, Wisma Wawasan, 19-1 & 19-2, Jalan PJS 8/12, Dataran Mentari, 46150 Petaling Jaya, Bandar Sunway, MALAYSIA Tel: 603 - 56301802, Fax: 603 - 56301803

When Tom Peters coined the term personal branding” in his 1997 article “The Brand Called You” in Fast Company, he had this to say: We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc.

Entry Slip Name of participant: Email & Mobile: University name: University chop:

Dan Schawbel puts it this way: Personal branding is the process of how we market ourselves to others. The way we manage our careers is changing, due to the rise in competition and the introduction of web 2.0. In order to extend our reach, visibility and networking capabilities, we must turn to personal branding as our savior. In the digital age, our name is our only currency.

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BUSINESS SEGMENT profiles of extraordinary people

SUBSTANCE, RELEVANCE, SIGNIFICANCE

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TAPPING INTO A GOLD MIND MEB Postgraduate Studies speaks to

Ermin Siow

Executive Director of Poh Kong Holdings Bhd

by Alexandra Wong

E

veryone, it would seem, is infected by gold fever.

According to the World Gold Council, the demand for gold from private investors has hit unprecedented highs.

Where is Malaysia in the life cycle of this gold rush? How safe is it to invest in gold? Will the gold market continue to be bullish? We speak to from Ermin Siow, Executive Director of Poh Kong Holdings Bhd – the country’s largest jeweller by revenue and size – and Deputy President of Federation of Goldsmiths And Jewellers Association of Malaysia (FGJAM).

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Q. Let’s talk about the gold industry. What are the major segments of demand?

Gift-giving continues to be one of the biggest demand drivers, simply because of gold’s significance in many cultures. In Malaysia, the Chinese give gold gifts for the baby’s full moon celebration, dragon-phoenix bracelets for weddings and so forth. Recently, however, investment has been rising as a major driving force. From

high net worth individuals to the man on the street who wish to diversify their investment holdings, gold investment is shaping up to be a major trend. Malaysia has at least 10 banks offering gold savings accounts (no physical transfer of gold, funds parked as weight of gold tagged to market price) and selling physical gold. We are also getting more and more customers who want to invest in gold wafers to diversify their investment portfolio. Investment demand

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for gold is expected to post an unprecedented high of nearly 2,000 tonnes for 2012.

Q. Why the sudden surge in interest, considering how stagnant gold price was several years ago?

Gold does well in times of economic uncertainty. When investors are unsure of the global political, economic and financial climate, gold is where they go. When inflation is low and the stock markets are roaring, nobody looks at gold. When economy and stocks don’t go well, people start buying gold! Beginning 2010, the Central Banks started buying back gold because they felt it was time to diversify their current foreign reserves. For the first time, they were net purchasers of gold rather than net sellers. In 2010, the central banks collectively bought 77 tonnes of gold. Then last year, the volume shot up to 450 tonnes! In Turkey, the government encouraged consumers to bring their gold and save in the bank as a collateral for loans, etc. China is openly encouraging its people to buy gold, which is very different from five years ago. This is not happening in Malaysia – yet. Gold was never considered a first-tier investment, which means zero risk, but the situation is swiftly changing with the central banks demonstrating a clear interest in bringing gold back to the financial system.

Q. Would you consider this form of gold investment a threat to the gold jewellery business?

With more money channelled into investment, there are less funds available for jewellery. Up to the year 2000, more than 70 per cent of whatever gold was mined had gone into jewellery.

Last year, the percentage is only slightly above 45 per cent. Jewellery consumption is forecast to ease further this year, given higher gold prices and a slowdown in global economic growth.

However, the loss is mitigated by increased sales of gold bars, wafer and coins. This facility was always available, just never as popular as now.

In the 90s, hardly anybody bought gold bars over the counter!

Q. Why is there such strong support for gold?

How would you rate it as an investment instrument compared to other metals/ precious stones like silver, platinum, diamonds and property?

One reason why gold is so sought after is because it’s very rare. As a naturally occurring element like iron, there is a finite amount of gold in the world. There are only 171,000 tonnes of gold on the surface of the earth as at 2011. If you melt all this together into a cube, the resulting mass is smaller than a tennis court.

You could argue that platinum is even rarer, but gold has another property: it is very inert. It doesn’t corrode or rust. It isn’t easily affected by chemicals. That’s why whatever gold coins were buried underneath the sea hundreds of years ago can

Ermin Siow, Executive Director of Poh Kong Holdings Bhd

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“

Up to the year 2000, more than 70 per cent of whatever gold was mined had gone into jewellery.

Last year, the percentage is only slightly above 45 per cent.

”

be recovered in their original state.

Diamonds or gold? If you’re a first-timer, I would advise you to buy gold first. There is always an intrinsic value to gold. It is not as volatile as equities, which could drop from RM10 to 10 sen within a short time. The price is transparent. When you want to sell, you know how much it is worth.

Gold is also easy to liquidate and the transaction is less of a hassle. You can do it

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within 24 hours (except for weekends). Traditional jewellers like Poh Kong have so many outlets across the country and we open seven days a week, unlike the banks.

We also accept credit cards and customers can go for our easy payment scheme when purchasing our products whereas banks operate strictly in cash with no instalment facility.

Silver is another metal to watch. It has recently gained popularity because of several

reasons. One, it’s widely used in the manufacturing industry, so there will always be demand. Two, it is cheaper compared to gold, so the entry point is much lower.

Three, there is still a lot of upside. It has come down from its all-time high of about RM5,000 per kg to RM3,000 now.

Silver, platinum and diamonds are useful alternative assets, but are very different from gold. These are niche investments and should be held as a very small part of any portfolio.

Q. What is the outlook for gold price for the next three years? Do you think the price of gold will continue to rise indefinitely?

Every investment is a risk. The golden rule in investment is diversify, diversify, diversify.

Broadly speaking, I would say that there are more bullish factors than bearish. There is a slowdown in world GDP growth; downturn in both developed world and most emerging market countries.

The implication is a loosening of monetary policy globally.

The Eurozone debt crisis continues in 2012, with only slow progress towards resolution. Short-term interest rates in developed world remain at ultra-low levels throughout 2012.

Concerns about inflation, a volatile stock market and risk aversion among investors will eventually drive them away from traditional equities and fixed income instruments, to safer havens of investment – like gold.

I would say the upside for

gold within the next three years is quite good. Of course, not everyone shares this optimism. Investing icon Warren Buffett said in a speech at Harvard, “[Gold] gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace.

Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.” Whatever his reasons, you can’t argue with numbers. If you had invested with Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway between 2000 and 2010, you would have acquired 70 per cent returns. On the other hand, an investment in gold for the same period would have netted you 600 per cent gains!

Q. Can you explain why the retail gold price differs from the market price or newspaper report gold price?

Like most businesses, dealers include a mark-up to cover their costs and profit. Depending on the fluctuation of the market gold price, a margin is built in. Prior to the enforcement of the Competition Act this year, the Federation of Goldsmith and Jewellers Association of Malaysia issue a Recommended Retail Price (RRP). Even then, the RRP is not mandatory. Members can sell at different prices if they want to. Early this year, the Competition Act was introduced to promote a competitive market environment and provide a level playing field for all players in the market, which

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Ermin Siow Executive Director of Poh Kong Holdings Bhd and Deputy President of Federation of Goldsmiths And Jewellers Association of Malaysia (FGJAM)

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“

in the process will squash anti-competitive practices such as cartels and collusions.

With the introduction of the Competition Act early this year, FGJAM doesn’t issue an RRP anymore.

I would say the upside for gold within the next three years is quite good.

Of course, not everyone shares this optimism.

”

Q. I’m interested in investing in gold. What kind of investment options are available in Malaysia?

In the past, gold investment was largely limited to the purchase of gold coins, pendants and gold bars from banks, with gold coins being a particular favourite of investors. Jewellers sell gold wafers from 1g to 100g to customers with many buying gold wafers at least 20g and above as investments.

Customers can also trade in their old gold bars for jewellery or cash. Today, more than 10 banks in Malaysia offer gold investment accounts and there are more on the horizon due to its growing popularity.

Q. For investment purposes, is it better to buy physical gold or

open a gold investment account?

If the amount is not significant, there’s little difference between the two so I wouldn’t worry about it. One consideration when you open a gold investment account with, say, 1kg of paper gold, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your investment is backed by 1kg of physical gold in the bank.

That’s because in Malaysia, most banks hold the gold on an unallocated basis, which means that you are not guaranteed of an equal exchange for metal in the event of a run on the issuer’s gold on deposit.

Q. What are the prospects in the gold and jewellery industry?

The gold jewellery industry, like other sectors, offers good prospects for the enterprising. But like most industries in globalised 21st century, you must have size, purchasing power, and image clout. Money makes money, so you’ll need to come in big. A small outfit will not have purchasing power. An established name is a must, or else the big malls won’t let you in. And when it comes to retail, good location is everything.

Q. What are prerequisites for fresh graduates who wish to enter the gold and gold jewellery industry?

Start from retail because it’s the best training and learning ground. Jewellery is one field where you must learn handson. Attitude is as important as your qualifications. In retail, you need to socialise, be comfortable dealing

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Graphic Credits: traderdannorcini.blogspot.com

with customers, and be trustworthy. I would recommend taking up a supplementary course in gemology. The nearest place you can get a diploma in gemology is in Thailand.

In Malaysia, you can do a correspondence course with GIA (Gemology Institute of America). Poh Kong has sent our brightest talents overseas for gemology courses. More than 10 long-time workers have left and set up their own companies. Eventually, I believe that most people want to be their own boss.

Q. Safe storage is an issue for those who prefer to buy physical gold. What are some solutions?

A safe is the ideal place to store gold as it can provide protection against theft or fire. Many companies and financial institutions provide safe storage facilities for valuables, although for convenience, it may be worth to consider installing a fireproof personal household safe.

Q. How do you tell fake gold from real gold?

Not all that glitters is gold.

To tell if the chunk of yellow metal is real, fake or adulterated, measure its density with a densitometer, which is easily available.

The density of pure gold, 19.3 grammes/cm3, is much higher than most other metals. For the layman, you can start with identifying gold’s attributes: real gold does not rust and the item should be heavy for its size.

Gold is not ferro-magnetic, so it is not attracted by magnets, although not fool proof as other metals and alloys have similar property. The best way to assess your gold jewellery is to take it to a reputable jewellery store and have them do it for you; they can also assess its purity.

It is advisable to buy gold only from registered or authorised dealers and obtain the necessary certification or authentication to safeguard its value and our investment.

ME

Gold Fast Facts What is gold?

Gold is one of the most stable chemical elements and may be found in free elemental form in nature as nuggets, grains, or particles dispersed in rock veins and alluvial deposits.

Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, and requires some processing to extract it. Gold cannot be manufactured and its finite quantity on earth means that it gets depleted over time. Gold is used in manufacturing, electronics, and artefacts of high intrinsic value such as jewellery and financial instrument due to its rarity, workability and durability.

What are the different grades of gold?

You have pure gold – also known as 24K gold or 99.99, which refers to the percentage of gold; 22K or 916 gold; 18K or 750 which is chiefly used in white gold, gold watches and gold pens.

Below that you have 14K and 9K but they are not so popular.

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Positive Politics

as the Best Practice in the Workplace Lenny Chiah

Lenny Chiah has more than 20 years in the media and advertising industry. She believes in continuous learning and loves to impart knowledge gleaned from her long experience in the field.

Rodney Toh is the founder of Kim & Kerrie Sdn Bhd, an e-Book publishing solution provider and pioneer in the field in Malaysia.

RODNEY TOH interviewed LENNY CHIAH during a stage interview session on 26/8/2012 (Sunday) during the Popular Book Fest at KLCC, English Pavilion

Rodney (R): Please define politics in the workplace.

Lenny (L): In general, Politics is the use of one’s power to influence others to achieve a set of goals and benefits for individual, team or the organisation as a whole. In a nutshell, Politics is using power and influence to get what we want.

R: Why are there politics in the organisation or workplace?

L: There is a multitude of people with different and diverse interests, backgrounds, beliefs,

opinions and behaviours with different sets of values, needs and expectations.

Therefore, conflicting views are bound to happen with each individual or team wanting to achieve their own goals within a limited supply of resources.

R: What are these “limited resources”?

L: An organisation always has limited resources in the form of tangible assets like the 4 Ms. The first ‘M’ is Manpower, then, Material, like company cars, iPads, iPhones and bigger office space. Also, Money, like salary increments, bonuses and incentives. The last ‘M’ is Machinery, like

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Mr Rodney Toh, the interviewer, and Lenny Chiah, the respondent on stage

Office politics the use of one's individual or assigned power within an employing organization for the purpose of obtaining advantages beyond one's legitimate authority.

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office systems and hardware to get jobs done.

procedures.

And intangible assets like status, job power distribution, control of information flow, career advancement, job promotion, and even rewarding or prestigious assignments like being given overseas trips or blue-chip clients to service.

R: You talked about Negative Politics and Positive Politics. What are the differences?

Therefore, these resource limitations always lead to power struggles, unfortunately, with negative tactics like misrepresentation of facts, downplaying others, abusive handling of the promotion and reward system for your blueeyed boys or pets, unfair practices of hiring and firing

L: Manipulating and competing for limited resources by a self-serving individual at the expense of others or the organisation is Negative Politics.

R: Please give me some examples.

L: Credit claiming for example, the credit thief who steals other’s good works. Or pass the buck and blame others for mistakes.

Like in the case of the

corruptive leadership game by Enron’s tactic of Impression Management, through distorting information and suppressing bad news about company’s performance, thus resulting in wrong decisions being made, leading to the downfall of the company.

Some other negative cases were witnessed in the recent London Olympic Games.

We noted some game fixing or manipulations, doping etc. with the objective to win, but at the expense of the individual as well as the country’s image and reputation.

R: What about Positive

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Lenny Chiah answering questions from the floor. The pendrive inventor, Datuk K.S. Phua, is behind Lenny.

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Mr Lai Sing Siang, Advisor of HELP University, being asked about the application of “Jungle Warware” to “Office Politics”

I strongly advocate Positive Politics as the best practice of organisational culture.

It is all about good working relationships and communication.

Politics? Could you tell us more about it?

L: Cooperating and competing for limited resources for the common good or greater good of the team or the organisation is considered positive politics.

One such positive example was also during the recent Olympic Games, in which, after winning over our Datuk Lee Chong Wei, the Olympic Gold medallist, Lin Dan humbly said that he had to thank Datuk Lee for his superb performance which had spurred Lin Dan himself to upgrade his skill to perform even better to win the gold medal.

Overall, the super match of the century had indeed upgraded the overall standard of the badminton

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industry.

Positive outcomes can be rewarding. Playing it well can help us to surpass any academic qualifications, expertise, personality, characteristics and intelligence.

You really don’t need to be a PhD holder to get promoted etc. Other outcomes are like win-win or multi-wins, faster decision making, better team work and performances which are good for individuals, teams as well as the organisations.

For me, I strongly advocate Positive Politics as the best practice of organisational culture. It is all about good working relationships and communication.

R: When a company emphasises zero tolerance for office politics, does this mean that the absence of negative politics is positive politics?

L: I believe you are referring to Intel as one of the Best Companies to work for in Fortune Magazine list. I guess what they meant was probably the negative office politics.

I personally believe that there is no such thing as “No politics”, that’s a very academic concept.

As long as there is power and influence, there will be politics. If I understand it well, Intel believes in the open office concept, even the CEO had no office. Literally,

nothing behind closed doors, as there is no room and so no door.

But just by having an open office structure doesn’t mean there are no office politics. As I mentioned earlier, politics is all about human relationships and communication. It is also about having proper systems like reward, promotion, hiring and firing procedures and many other human resource functions in fair and good order. So that nobody can take advantage of what is lacking or the imperfection of these things by interpreting and dictating their own rules in accordance with their own agenda.

R: You have worked for or cooperated with many different organisations

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“Fight” tactic is not encouraged. Because if we fight, we will create even more tension, misunderstanding and resistance . . .

and have seen many cases of negative politics at work. Could you share with us on how to change these negative politics to positive politics?

L: For leaders, set the constructive and positive political tone as effective organisational culture for the healthy growth of the organisation. Organisational culture is a direct reflection of the leader’s values and character.

For individuals, if you are still climbing up the corporate ladder, the first rule and the most golden one is that when we have nothing nice to say, it’s best not to say anything, don’t just say something for the sake of saying it.

Otherwise, the things that you say will come back to haunt you. Sure, we can be

good listeners, especially when people gossip or bitch about somebody. It’s important to make peace and be friends with others as it is said that if we don’t spend 5% of our time building up relationships, we are doing something very wrong for our career indeed.

Next thing to remember is that we do have a choice to protect or to defend ourselves in office politics.

Usually, our most immediate reaction is either Fight or Flight.

“Fight” tactic is not encouraged. Because if we fight, we will create even more tension, misunderstanding and resistance, and thus worsening the conflicts, as the other side will sure to

oppose every thing we say or suggest simply for retaliation or saving face.

“Flight” or evasive tactic is also not encouraged, as we would be seen as indifferent, unmotivated and lacking the ability to cooperate and to solve the conflict. Therefore, we can fail as a problem solver. Most importantly, we unintentionally let others who could be very much less capable, less experienced or less hardworking than us to take advantage and to manipulate and to influence decisions in our absence.

These decisions can either make or break our career.

Whenever there is a budget cut, people with this type of “Flight” or evasive attitude will usually be the first on the chopping board. This is

a survival game of the fittest.

Perception can always be a reality. Therefore, we need to be known for our capabilities and must have the backbone to stand up to defend our career and our reputation.

Remember, we are hired for what we know, but get fired for who we are.

R: Both these two tactics (Fight & Flight) are equally unhealthy for career advancement or even our health. What is the positive approach to handling negative politics?

L: Well, we know that bosses with sound minds would not choose someone who is bitchy, emotional, who complains and fights all the time, or someone

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Office politics is a major issue in business because the individuals who manipulate their working relationships consume time and resources for their own gain at the expense of the team or company.

who takes the flight tactic and is perceived as being uninterested all the time.

What the bosses want to see is someone who is mature, strategic and is capable enough to be a problem solver, or a bridge builder and a mediator to take charge of conflicts and to initiate open communication to value every one’s unique needs and goals, opinions and contributions. for a multi-win solution. Even if we are the star performers, we must still remain positive, so that we can make it easy for our bosses to champion us for a new challenging and rewarding job, or for a promotion.

R: How about the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? Wouldn’t you give others the benefit of a doubt?

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L: Yes, do not think of only the negative side of people’s behaviours. This is self-defeating if we keep thinking of the differences in each other’s opinions.

It’s better that we focus on the overall objective of the organisation which is to grow and sustain the business.

Be strategic, open-minded, respect different opinions by being more pragmatic and less idealistic, because ideology can deter us from understanding the needs and opinions of others. When the organisation does not win, we also do not win. When everyone does not win, but only our competitors win, then the organisation cannot survive well.

R: So is there ever a “winwin” situation?

L: Yes, from school days, we were given the idea of

“win-lose” tactics especially in sports and any competitions as there was only one place for the champion. So when you win, I have to lose. But this is not so at all in our work place today. We have to practise win-win, and learn how to be diplomatic in giving face to others, so that people don’t look bad.

It’s ok to be the first to eat the humble pie as long as we can get things done.

Also, we may not be the champion, but at least we can be the winner. Like in the earlier mentioned case of the champion Lin Dan’s high accolades of our Datuk Lee Chong Wei. Obviously, Datuk Lee is truly a winner for his superb performance and great sportsmanship.

R: In a scenario where a co-worker is not part of a group and the group gangs up against him, what would be your

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advice to him or her?

victims.

L: Well, my advice is to leave the group, and join another group of people who respect you and share the same interests. Focus on the things you do best. Consult them always for any problems. The adage “birds of a feather flock together” still holds true. So if you still can’t beat the devils, join them. It is important that we should keep our friends close, but keep our enemies even closer!

Be a mental warrior. Other than EQ, IQ, SQ and AQ, we must also have PQ. The P is for Politics, so it’s Politics Quotient, PQ. Meaning that we need to do our very best always even if we can’t change the outcome. But at least others can see that we react positively and maturely.

In a way, it’s a self-branding opportunity too. Good for career advancement.

Remember, the more we climb up the corporate ladder, the more PQ we should have to convince others and to beat the rest to win the race.

One more advice, do not have all your emotional eggs in one basket. Do know some Risk Sharing Management.

Therefore, it’s very important to have a balanced life beyond work, as beloved family and good friends are our safe harbours whenever we are sailing in the stormy seas of office politics.

Under all circumstances, never present ourselves as

R: At what point is it worth considering changing jobs/career due to negative politics?

L: Office politics is everywhere. It’s like the air we breathe in, either fresh

or stale. So unless there is a better prospect and also that we have enough management or business skills for us to go over to the other so-called greener pastures, we can’t be job hopping all the time simply because we fail to handle the negative office politics.

R: What are some of these management or business skills you have just mentioned ?

L: Well, whether we survive or fail to survive office politics, we do unknowingly acquire some of these transferable skills like interpersonal skills, impression management, communications, negotiation, stakeholder management as well as other general skills like social networking in the process. These are truly career survival skills that should help us to build up our immunity to notorious attacks or to

In the workplace, where resources are limited, individuals have an incentive to achieve their goals at the expense of their colleagues.

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Co-worker backstabbing occurs to some degree in many workplaces. It consists of an employee doing something to another employee to get a "leg up" on the other employee.

help outdo and outwit those office politic players. These players have many names like Drama Queen, Hell Warden, Toxic King, Office Psycho and whatnot.

R: Some will say that office politics is always bad. What are your thoughts on this?

L: Well, I think whoever says this could actually be the office politics players themselves. I would like to reiterate that as long as we want to get our jobs done smoothly and get ahead, we really must have good working relationships and cooperation from all related parties. To create this good relationship, we must practise politics, of course in a positive and ethical way.

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Even though we might not do it actively or proactively, many a time, subconsciously, we are actually doing it. And also, very often, someone we respect and admire greatly might have practised their positive politics tactics naturally and subtly without us realising it. Or in most cases, someone who can appear to be very supportive and appreciative is actually very toxic and is working very hard to undermine or sabotage our plans, efforts, reputation and career.

And to safeguard our career, one should not be na誰ve to always think that we should be judged on merit, performance and contributions only. Much more is needed than these

factors alone to protect ourselves from any negative office politics.

R: What are your parting thoughts to those facing some of these challenges of negative politics in the workplace?

L: Office politics is natural, it is like the cockroach that will survive after a million years or even after an atomic bomb or a weapon of mass destruction. We just have to get on board or get left out, but always for positive and constructive reasons. If we do not practise positive politics, the outcome is like this image: instead of seeing light at the end of the tunnel, we see only the oncoming train towards us. Do not let this kind of destruction to spoil any of our successful chances for ourselves as well as for the organisation ! ME

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