34th Asian Regional Training & Development (ARTDO) International Conference, Bali, August 28-31

I was browsing the net today, downloaded the wharton school alumni newsletter (summer 2007) and then accidentally went to the GSE website...and this was what I saw and read (below). Approaching 50 years of independence, we now talk of studies in ethnic relations, but look at the US, after over more than 200 years of independence...they still continue to grapple with race relations, biases, prejudices, and use more politically-correct terms like minority groups...so I guess there's really hope in us redefining, re-engineering our society so that we can continue to achieve unity in diversity....food for thought eh? heheh

THE CHRONICLES OF HIGHER EDUCATION: Graduate School of Education, Pennsylvania State University
Home Search
OBSERVER
Who's Biased Now?
By MARYBETH GASMAN
Recently one of my students — an African-American woman — came to my office with a disturbing question: Had I given her an A on a paper she wrote for my "History of Higher Education" course because she was a member of a minority group? Shocked by her question, I asked her why that idea had occurred to her. She answered, "I shared my graded paper with a white student whom I trust, and she said there wasn't anything special about it and that you must have given me the grade because you like students of color." At first I was speechless — stunned and angry. But at the same time I wondered what she must be feeling, and what experiences she had had that made her so mistrustful.

Bagehot...my favourite Economist columnist...heheh

Read it....some stuff he said there sounds ratherf familiar..hihi...makes one wonder where we could have picked our habits from...heheh...

Weddings oh Weddings and the School Holidays...

Yesterday was monday, the first day of the school holidays. My son began his holiday by losing his kodak digital camera. He dare not tell me but informed his mother instead. And yesterday too was a wedding I attended alone as my wife, who left me for a one whole week away in New Zealand, left me again for her ministry's meeting in Malacca. The wedding was that of the daughter of a long time friend, Tuan Haji Shuib who is general manager of MIDFCCS and was the company that arranged for our HeiTech's listing on the main board almost a decade ago. At my table was also old friends from Aseambankers who were our merchant bankers during that listing exercise. There was Wong and his wife and Wan Asmadi and his wife with a baby coming along soon ...heehee. The whole PwC gang were also present and I caught up with my Hull alumnus, Chin Kwai Fatt, the current PwC managing director. There were others too, like ahmad husni vp, biotechology at Technology Park Malaysia and yes, I bumped into Tan Sri Mohd Salleh Yassin former UKM Vice-Chancellor and now the new VC of United Nations University based at the UN Building, Jalan Semantan, Kuala Lumpur. One of the nice things about weddings is that one gets the chance to catch up on old long lost friends. However, there is something not nice that I observed that I must put in writing...hmmm...I noticed that beng late is becoming to be a norm among malaysians, specifically malays at malay weddings these days. the card says arrival at 8pm...and we still see people walking in shamelessly into the wedding halls....further aggravating the already butterly-filled tummies of the 'tuan rumah' and probably screwing up their agenda too. Some places that I have gone to, fortunately, are able to adjust the program in such away that everything was covered in good time. I must not forget to also note down that apparently, weddings at Felda Perdana Ballroom has a unique attraction in their ermmmm...irresistible tapai with vanilla ice-cream? (see picture...heehee). Tantalising and awfully salivating...isnt it?. Oh...that lontong and that foamy tehtarik was not part of the wedding menu...hihi...that wuz my breakfast this morning at the basement canteen of heitech village...hahaha....

Hacker-Halted...

The afternoon of thursday,august 15, I was at crowne plaza mutiara hotel (former KL Hilton) by accident. HeiTech was a diamond sponsor to a IT security conference attended by many CIOs from various sectors both private and public. I was there at the wrong(right?) time and was roped in to give a 5 minute closing thank you remark to the well over 300 delegates. I said thank you to everyone on behalf of HeiTech, for the opportunity to sell our new Tier IV compliant disaster recovery and data centre at bukit jelutong and in a jest said that we forgot to screen diehard 4.o on our brand new LCD screeen...hahaha. Before I got off the rostrum...which normally I will not...no until I have spoken for at least 45 minutes !!! hahaha...I reminded everyone of risks and exposures we all have to live with...however..the trick is to know the RIGHT EXPOSURE...which I then related to a story of a professor who was bathing in the River Cherwell in Oxford, at a place called Parson's Pleasure, in which it was the custom to swim naked. As the professor got out of the pool a punt of undergraduettes glided by, whereupon he grabbed his towel and wrapped it round his head.....heheh... the last thing i heard..after about a 2 second silence....a roaring laughter from the floor....hahaha.

ABER Malaysia hosts dinner for Lord Morgan at Putrajaya Lake Club

On aug 15, i got a call from Fariz's PA inviting me to join the simple dinner to host Lord Professor Kenneth Owen Morgan and his daughter Catherine. Catherine is head of strategy branch (assets, savings and wealth team) at HM Treasury, London. The dinner was hosted by the current committee of the Aber alumni malaysia. Not many, as usual, turn up. I always try to attend all of aber functions even though i am not an aberite myself. the long relations i had with the university of wales at aberystwyth made most people think that i am an aberite hahaha. the malaysian alumni has made me an honorary fellow and that OSA at aberystwyth has recognised that.... so whenever i attend the easter reunions at aberystwyth, i too attend the OSA AGMSs and committee meetings with the malaysian alumni president....heheh.

BURSA MALAYSIA/MAICSA listing requirements update Roadshow at Sime Darby Convention Center

Today I attended the roadshow by Bursa Malaysia. Not so boring. Quite informative, illuminating and entertaining at some point by my favourite speaker Cng Boon Huat the enforcement chief of bursa malaysia hehehe. The speaker on Investor Relations I would him low marks for his powerpoint slides, speaks sooo monotonously I couldn't realy figure out what he was mumbling away....and can you imagine? he was trying to sell us what investor relations is all about...hmmmm. The last speaker on CSR...corporate social responsibility was ok...macam cikgu atau law lecturer bercakap...rambling away her verbal diarrhoea...hahaha...sounds familiar and very academic at times...well still much too rethoric to me lah...hihi

INPUMA Public Lecture Series XII

Yesterday at 4.45pm I was at the front VIP row of the closing ceremony of a global governance conference where keynote addresses were delivered by HRH The Crown Prince of Perak Tuanku Dr Raja Nazrin, Datuk A Kadir Jasin (ex-GEIC the mainstream media) and publisher of Malaysian Business who is also close friend. The closing was done by The Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Sidek Hassan. Followed immediately after tea-break the public lecture by lord professor kenneth o morgan. I was seated next to Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid ex-Chief Judge of Malaya also a close friend. Others present included senator tan sri jins shamsudin, politicians, tan sri arshad ayub, and was moderated by tan sri abdul hamid pawanteh former chief minister of perlis and current president of the senate, malaysia. Lord Professor Kenneth Owen Morgan spoke on the constitutional challenge and political change in the United Kingdom. After his lecture I went up to him...heheh...he still remembers me and said I must have lunch lunch with him at the house of Lords the next time i am in london or dinner or English tea at his home in longhansborough just outside oxford. The last time I was with him was in 1995 just before he retired as the senior Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales at Aberystwyth.

Can the Muslim world be re-branded?
By Thomas Fuller
Published: May 28, 2007 International Herald Tribune

KUALA LUMPUR: Can the Muslim world be rebranded? Led by Malaysia and Indonesia, political and business leaders from Asia, North Africa and the Middle East vowed at a conference here Monday to reshape the image of Islamic countries, aiming to replace visions of poverty and violence with vibrancy, trade and, ultimately, prosperity.
"We must change our partners' perception of the Muslim world," said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the president of Indonesia, who gave the keynote address.
"We must change their attitudes toward us from something negative or indifferent - if not hostile - to something positive and enthusiastic."
Whether or not the mission is successful, the meeting here of the third annual World Islamic Economic Forum put on display the frustration that many leaders in Muslim countries have for being associated with corrupt, dysfunctional governments and intractable conflict.
The speakers, including government ministers from Kuwait, Malaysia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, hardly mentioned the Palestinians, Iraq or terrorism. Instead, they talked about job creation, streamlining bureaucracy and strengthening intellectual property rights.

By holding the conference in Kuala Lumpur, its organizers hoped to underline the successes of Malaysia and neighboring Indonesia in marrying moderate Islam with modernity.
Both are multicultural countries, a contrast to the rigid Wahhabi tradition of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, for instance.

In a series of speeches notable for their self-deprecation, leaders castigated Muslim societies for neglecting education and for offering copious rhetoric but little action.
"We as leaders of the Muslim world need to take responsibility for ourselves and our citizens," said Sheik Saud bin Saqr al-Qasimi, the crown prince and deputy ruler of Ras al-Khaimah, a part of the United Arab Emirates. "We need to make sure that our young people can find jobs."
Shortfalls in education in Muslim countries "make people vulnerable to misinformation," he added.

Yudhoyono said Muslim countries needed to change what is taught in madrasas, the Islamic schools that have been criticized for being heavy on religious training and light on science, technology and the humanities.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia, the host of the gathering, said Muslims needed to steer their populations toward the "idea of work as worship."
"We must break the shackles of rigidity and dogma that currently envelop Islam," he said, restating the theme that underlies his policies in Malaysia. "We must go beyond rituals and ceremonies."

Abdullah and Yudhoyono both said that the Muslim world should leverage its control over the world's oil resources - more than two-thirds of the world's energy needs are provided by Muslim countries, Yudhoyono said - to gain access to knowledge and technology.
"The wealth is there for us to invest," Abdullah said.

Despite a similar name and logo, the World Islamic Economic Forum has no connection to the annual meeting of business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.

The Islamic forum, which met for the first time in 2005, expanded this year to include meetings dedicated to the role of women and young people in Muslim countries.
By focusing on business both among Muslims countries and with the wider world, Islamic countries can help play down the stubborn issues that divide Muslims and non-Muslims, said P. Miles Young, the chairman of Ogilvy & Mather in Asia, which co-sponsored the conference.
"Business itself is a bridge for what seem to be two competing worlds or two clashing civilizations," Young said. "It is through business that there is common ground."

The notion of the "Muslim world" as an economic bloc is still mainly wishful thinking. Muslim countries conduct very little trade among themselves. Defined as the 56 member nations of the Islamic Development Bank, Muslim countries send 51.5 percent of their exports to industrialized countries, compared with just 13.5 percent to fellow Muslims nations, according to the bank.

Perhaps for that reason, some participants found the emphasis on Muslim solidarity retrograde and unhelpful.

Hakima el-Haite Mounir, director of the largest waste management company in Morocco, said the focus at the conference on Muslim solidarity could backfire.
"Aren't we moving backward in putting up religious boundaries?" she asked. "We should all be trying to remove barriers, to move against the segregation of the world."

Khalida Azbane Belkady, director of Groupe Azbane, a cosmetics company also based in Morocco, said the emphasis should be more squarely on business - whether among Muslims or non-Muslims."We are Muslims and we are women," she said. "But maybe we should stop talking about Muslim this-and-that and just get to work."

The meeting of women business leaders, which took place Sunday, was a feisty session that could have been mistaken for a convention of American feminists in the 1970s.
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HeiTech Padu Berhad

HeiTech Padu Berhad

'The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of crime that Dickens loved to paint. It is conceived and moved, seconded and carried and minuted, in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails, and smooth-shaven chins, who do not need to raise their voices. '
--C.S.Lewis

At a time when there are lots of hoo-haa about increasing crime rates in our country, alot of hissing sounds of complaints, dissatisfactions (perceived) from the public with our police, judiciary, government, and everything else in the system, wether with sufficient evidence or just mere hearsay or at worst, conspiracy theories....let me put my two sen worth of opinion to all these...by posting the above quote. Written quite a long time ago but...hmmm is soo relevant today...lest we forget. Perhaps it should be a reminder to all of us that crime can happen anytime anywhere and not necessarily in places we have been attuned to think that they normally would occur....don't you think so?

2007 Company Secretaries' Conference

I will be speaking at this year's annual M2Asia conference, please read details. It is flattering to be invited to speak. I notice when you are in power, or in a reasonably powerful position (as perceived by some...) you get lots of speaking invites. But then again, I know alot of people in powerful corporate positions who never get invited or got invited once...and that's it...not anymore...for reasons..well...you guess is as good as mine..heehee. Don't get me wrong...power has many faces and connotations...depending from which perspective one is looking at...hihi. At home...it would be an utter disappointment if one thinks that the daddy is all mighty and powerful....when your kids grow up...they are the ones who are really in power....hahaha

The 2007 Company Secretaries' Conference

Venue: Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Conference Date: 13-14 August 2007

Day One – 13 August 2007, Monday

9.00 Opening Remarks from the Chairperson
Wong Tat Chung
Partner
Wong Beh & Toh

9.10 The Role of Company Secretaries in Enhancing the Board Decision Making Process
Muhammad Suria Doshi Abdullah
General Counsel/Company Secretary
Group Legal & Company Secretarial Department
SIRIM Berhad

10.00 Morning Refreshment

10.20 Guidelines for Company Secretaries Considering M&A as a Corporate Expansion Strategy
Tai Chu Wei
Partner
Raja, Darryl & Loh

11.10 Best Practices in Corporate Governance to Ensure Business Success
Wong Tat Chung
Partner
Wong Beh & Toh

12.00 Company Secretaries Responsibility in the Financial Management of the Company
Mohd Zam bin Mustaman
Director, Company Secretary
KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Berhad

12.50 Lunch

1.50 Developing and Implementing Enterprise Risk Management in your Organization
Ramesh Pillai
Chief Executive Officer
Friday Concepts (Asia)

2.40 The Essence of Corporate Governance and Shareholder Value
Chan Tuck Wai
Internal Audit Manager
GuocoLand Berhad

3.40 Afternoon Refreshment

4.10 Role of Company Secretaries in Corporate Exercises
Tan Wooi Hong
Senior Associate
Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong

5.00 Close of Day One
Day Two – 14 August 2007, Tuesday

9.00 Opening Remarks from the Chairperson
Lee Leok Soon
Head, Client Services Division
Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG)

9.10 Developing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Company Secretaries
Navin Pasricha
Chairman
Columbus Circle Group

10.10 Morning Refreshment

10.30 Managing the Role, Duties and Liability of Directors
Lee Swee Seng
Managing Partner
Lee Swee Seng & Co

11.30 Latest Updates in The Companies Act 1965 – What Company Secretaries Need to Know
Associate Professor Dr. Aishah Bidin
Law Faculty
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

12.30 Lunch

1.40 Disclosure Requirements for Related Party Transactions for Public Listed Companies
Sharon Koo
Partner
Lee Choon Wan & Co

2.40 Aligning the Remuneration and Rewards with the Performance of the Board and Directors
Khaeruddin Sudharmin LS 7037
Group Company Secretary, HeiTech Padu Berhad &
Managing Director/CEO, Motordata Research Consortium Malaysia
In partnership with THATCHAM UK

3.40 Afternoon Refreshment

4.00 Company Secretaries in Their Role to Communicate and Protect the Rights of Minority Shareholders
Lee Leok Soon
Head, Client Services Division
Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG)

5.00 Close of Conference

Speaking engagements....

I have not been documenting much stuff of late. Procrastination and laziness, I guess, are the only excuses I can offer. Perhaps a litle busy too. Writing papers and doing powerpoint presentations for others. And to think I don't have enough of conference papers and powerpoint slides of my own to do? I have quite a few speaking engagements for the month of august/september starting with speaking on:

1. 'quality leadership' (whatever that means...hahaha) at the International Quality Management Symposium at the KL Hilton august 7, 2.oopm
2. company secretary conference 2007 - M2Asia at Prince Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, August 13/14
3. 34th International ARTDO conference, Bali, Indonesia August 28-30 (speaking on: 'HRM & Corporate Governance: STrange Bedfellows?')
4. Corporate Secretary Conference (Marcus Evans), The Renaissance Hotel, KL, September 4/5

I recently gave a 2 hour lecture at Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (UNITAR) on the subject: redefining ethics and morality in marketing and have bee asked to repeat the same at UITM. I just remembered that I have been invited to speak on Risk Management (MRC case study) at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) in september.

THE MALAYSIAN AUTOBODY REPAIR MARKET
- A SNAPSHOT

(this article will be published in the inaugural

issue of bodyshopnewsAsia from Australia)

How do we ensure growth, success and sustainability in the auto body repair industry? Dov Seidman could not have framed it better when he took the idea of success even further by redefining it as a quest for significance, to have a positive impact, to make a difference, to excel. Isn’t that what we all really want? He shows us a new way to think about enduring success in times of change. The auto body repair industry in Asia has to quickly rise up to the demands of operating their businesses in a transparent, wired, global marketplace.

Closer to home, we continue to grapple with unending issues and challenges of the Malaysian auto body repair market. The auto body repair industry in Malaysia is part and parcel of the automotive industry, the motor insurance industry and other stakeholders. Auto manufacturers and insurers have common interests in ensuring on behalf of their common customers – the auto owner who is also the auto insurance policyholder – that auto repairs are carried out in a cost-effective manner and that the automobile being able to meet safety standards and are road-worthy.

The auto body repair fraternity in Malaysia plays no small role in the overall automotive scenario. While there are still ‘under the cherry tree’ type bodyshops, the repair industry is going through an interesting evolution. There won’t be any major revolution. That, I can assure you, but the industry is keeping up with the times. I spoke to the president of the Federation of Workshop Owners Association Malaysia or FOWOAM in short, Cho Chee Seng who himself is a New Zealand trained accountant. He tells me that the nation’s bodyshop repairers, are undergoing transformation and the stereotyped workshop owner is now passing over the baton to their children some of whom are engineers or have had tertiary education abroad in Australia, the UK or the USA. They see things from a different perspective and realize and accept that in order to sustain their business they need to embrace technology and adopt the ‘doing more with less’ approach with a global overview. Bodyshops like Thong Hin in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, Wong and Lau Motor Workshops of Ipoh, are some examples of this new wave.

FOWOAM has 3000 members according to Cho, and there are roundabout 15,000 repair bodyshops in the country (including, mechanics and machine shops and those that handle engine blocks as well). The ratio of bodyshops to mechanics in Malaysia is 1:3. Franchise bodyshops make up another 600 and the General Insurance Industry Association of Malaysia or PIAM-approved workshops stands at 800.

While the industry, generally, is not yet overly conscious with legislation and strict environmental laws like their counterparts in Europe, we are moving in that direction. In the UK for instance, the newly launched Publicly Available Standard 125 (PAS 125) in February last year has been touted by some as the savior of the body repair industry. Then there are other legislations or the BA5750/ISO9000 standards for example. But the PAS 125 is particularly important to me because it is industry specific, of a greater technical nature and is sponsored by the industry for the industry. We at Motordata Research Consortium (MRC), being the custodian of the national centralized database for motor repairs estimation, believe that PAS 125, has relevance to our market because its key drivers include, among others, the concern at the rapid increase in repair technology; the multicity and duplication of schemes by various stakeholders to which bodyshops are sometimes subject, causing unnecessary costs and downtime which affect everyone including the policyholder, the acknowledged and growing skills gap; the resultant ‘corporate risks’ of unsafe repairs arising from both legislation and corporate social responsibility; the impending inspection of repair supply chain quality processes and procedures; and the belief that PAS 125 will provide a platform for business improvement.

At the governmental level, the Ministry of Consumer and Domestic Trade, a legislation to license workshops under the Motor Vehicle Repair Maintenance and Services Act, has been drafted. The Malaysian autobody repair industry will soon be regularized (not necessarily regulated though) with the certification of mechanics, technicians within this industry sector. Vocational training with a much more structured approach is being revisited to meet the skill shortages. Again, the image of the industry is not helping efforts at raising the bar and attracting the young in making autobody repairs their career of choice. Other market factors affecting the local autobody repair industry includes, opening up of markets, liberalisation, AFTA et al and the perceived rise in manufacturers’ aggressive inroads into parts, services and after sales services so I was told.

On the automotive front, reports are adorned with news of PROTON’s (our national pride) impending partnership with VW. Car sales in the country are expected to pick up in the third quarter this year, after slipping 12 percent in the first half as reported by today’s mainstream daily. The nation is celebrating its 50th anniversary on August 31st and as the nation matures we hope that the autobody repair industry matures in reasonance. MRC is proud to continue playing its role in building bridges in the motor vehicle repair industries in Malaysia in particular, and in Asia, hopefully in the foreseeable future.

(Khaeruddin Sudharmin, Managing Director & Chief Executive of Motordata Research Consortium Malaysia was a keynote speaker at IBIS2006, Montreux, Switzerland)

High-Tea at the official residence of the deputy prime minister at putrajaya hosted by Datuk Seri Rosmah to honour the visit of Frances Estrada, the newly installed president of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), manila, The Philippines...(25th July, 2007)

HeiTech Padu Berhad 2006 Annual Report arrived on my desk yesterday afternoon. This pix is part of the full board. The rest of the board members and company secretaries appear in the picture posted earlier.

Farewell Hanida...

Roundtable UMS/AIM 15 may 2007

Me, dr kamal n assoc prof dr kassim dean of economics UMS

Anak branak kira duit