Semester 4 Biotechnology students went to Taman Tugu Forest Trails for their Plant Cell and Tissue Culture based assignment. The students were able to identify several plant species that have the potential to be commercialised, such as medicinal and ornamental plants, as well as some endangered plants. Great job!
Chief People Officer,
MBSB Bank
Farid Basir, 51, joined MBSB Bank as the new Chief People Officer on April 19, 2021.
With experience in Human Resources (HR) disciplines spanning over two decades, Farid brings along a wealth of professional insights to MBSB, having had career exposures abroad and across industries, ranging from telecommunications, insurance to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and banking.
Upon graduation in 1994, he started off his career with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), specializing in HR restructuring, training, succession planning, total rewards, organizational development and policies & procedures.
He then moved to focus on performance and rewards management at the country’s then-largest national insurer, Malaysia National Insurance Bhd (MNI).
Ten years on, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate Nestle took him on board in 2004, where he assumed various HR roles in Malaysia, Switzerland, The Philippines and South Africa.
Upon his return under TalentCorp’s Returning Expert Programme (REP), Farid was appointed as the Chief Human Capital Officer at Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd in 2016. Thereafter, he returned to TM to assume a similar post until December 2020.
Being a proponent of continuous professional education, Farid has added several business and leadership programmes into his curriculum vitae – with certifications from Cambridge Judge Business School; Said Business School at the University of Oxford; Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires, or popularly known as INSEAD; and the Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland.
He took centre stage internationally when he was awarded the “Upcoming Personality in Islamic Finance 2017” at the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) 2017, held in Kazakhstan; and the “CHRO of the Year” at the World HRD Congress 2018 in India.
A strong advocate of leadership excellence initiatives for the younger generation of workforce, Farid is presently the Vice- President of Malaysian Employer Federation (MEF).
Talent Curator, Organization Advisor & Mentor
Aishah’s journey in HR started more than 20 years ago in Performance Management. She is a strategic and resourceful problem solver with working experience in diverse industries – consulting, financial services (conventional and Islamic), IT, oil & gas, and facilities management. Aishah is a proponent of systems thinking, change management and human dynamics – connecting the dots between people, purpose and technology. With a postgraduate background in engineering, she is a firm proponent of data and technology as the enabler for agility and productivity. She led and achieved business results via business-centric people programs in public listed companies and GLC sectors. Her expertise is also sought by Boards and C Suites for Talent Assessment and Selection. She volunteers as a program curator and mentor in several programs for emerging women leaders.
Areas of Expertise
Assurance Leader, PwC Malaysia
Ching Chuan is the Assurance Leader for PwC Malaysia and is responsible for overseeing the firm’s overall Assurance strategy and driving its initiatives.Prior to this, he was PwC Malaysia’s Financial Services Leader. He has over 25 years of audit and business advisory experience, covering a wide range of clients from banks to other industry groups. In recent years, Ching Chuan has been responsible for multiple banking audits and various IFRS and regulatory compliance engagements.In his role as Assurance Leader, he is responsible for driving a sustainable Assurance practice with strong markets and client focus while upholding the quality agenda.
Ching Chuan graduated from the University of Malaya and he is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA). He has also been involved in various Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) and MIA sub-committees.
NLP Certified Executive Coach
A game-changer, TEDx speaker, High-Performance NLP Certified Executive Coach, and among the top 100 most inspirational LinkedIn icons in Malaysia, Andreas is an award-winning marketing maverick, ex-CEO of many top tier media agencies in Asia, and the first non-Malaysian CEO of Star Media Group.
A catalyst for positive change, Andreas has transformed many businesses, MNCs, SMEs, start-ups, and many executives to define their purpose and achieve exponential growth & success. In his tenure, he has built & managed several media agencies for Publicis, Omnicom, WPP, and Havas, leading them to flagship positions in their respective markets.
Since 1997 in Asia, Andreas has successfully navigated companies through two recessions, a global monetary crisis, two global pandemics, and brings to the forefront extensive experience on critical business areas, such as:
People Development & Business Growth
New Business Acquisition & Client Retention
Transformation & Organisational Structure
Corporate Strategy & Brand Building
Marketing, Advertising & Media Strategy
Purpose Creation & Leadership Coaching
Vision & Mission Creation & Implementation
A High Honours Advertising graduate, Andreas has forged a life journey from Greece to New York, to Tokyo and Taiwan, until he made Malaysia his home in 2006. Over the years, he has served in numerous industry associations, several industry committees & boards, on many university boards, and on multiple award juries.
Vice President, Business Development, Dentsu Aegis Network
Neal Estavillo is the Vice President in charge of Business Development at Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN). Neil is responsible for positioning the group’s integrated Media offering, combining cultural insight and creative content together with data and analytics expertise to drive business growth. With a strong creative, media, and content background, he has over 2 decades of brand marketing and communications experience.
With over 25 years in the business, Neal Estavillo has expertise in company and culture leadership, marketing and communications, and business to business/ customer environments. He has proven success in securing big new businesses and developing strong client relationships, having overseen and led significant regional and local pitch wins including Celcom, Sunway Group, Coca-Cola, P&G, and Fonterra.
Director, Matrix Communications
Doris Lim is currently the Director of Matrix Communications. She is a member of the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia and holds a Master of Arts (Communication Management) from the University of South Australia.
As Director of Matrix Communications, she is responsible for managing diverse corporate communications & MARCOM tasks, and has worked with plantations, gloves, SMEs, and manufacturing industries; she has also managed high profile bank mergers (CIMB), insurance mergers (Aviva-Sun), and the UEM Group, among others.
Over four decades of career experience, Doris Lim has garnered a wealth of professional insights in public relations, brand management, corporate restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, and has worked with notable companies including Unilever, GAB, Nestle, and the Sapura Group.
Doris is also a part-time academic, free time scriptwriter and content generator, leisure time social activist – tv producer, and dedicated Public Relations practitioner.
Chairman, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd
Nasir is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom, and a Chartered Accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). He also holds a Master of Business Administration (Finance) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
His career started in 1979 as a Trainee Accountant with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB). He went on to hold a number of different positions before being seconded to Malaysia Transformer Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, (a subsidiary of TNB) as the Financial Controller in January 1993. He was later made the Chief Executive in June 1994. In January 2000 he moved to SPK Berhad as its Chief Executive Officer. On 1 June 2001, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad, a position he held until his retirement on 1 June 2011.
Currently, he is the Independent Non-Executive Chairman of CIMB Group Holdings Berhad, CIMB Bank Berhad, and CIMB Bank PLC (Cambodia). He is also a Director of SIRIM Berhad, Prokhas Sdn Bhd, and a Trustee with Yayasan Canselor UNITEN.
His past board positions include among others, Chairman of Media Prima Berhad, Chairman of Sistem Television Malaysia Berhad, Independent Director of Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad, Pelaburan Mara Berhad, Bina Darulaman Berhad, MIMOS Berhad and member of the Board of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
He was Chairman of the Association of Development Finance Institutions of Malaysia from April 2008 to May 2011, President of ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee from March 2009 to February 2011, President of Malaysian Institute of Accountants from August 2011 to July 2013 and currently a Council Member of ACCA (UK) since September 2013.
CEO, Minority Shareholders Watch Group
Devanesan Evanson is currently the CEO of the Minority Shareholders Watch Group (MSWG). He is a qualified Accountant (FCCA) who is also a Chartered Member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and holds a law degree (LLB Hons) from the University of London. He is a Fellow member of the Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia (FIIAM).
He is an adjunct professor at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Devanesan also sits on the Board of AKPK (Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit) as an Independent Director and is Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Devanesan is a Past-President of the ACCA Advisory Committee, Past-President of the Institute of Internal Auditors Malaysia and a Past-Council Member of the Malaysia Institute of Accountants.
He retired from Bursa Malaysia in 2010 after serving Bursa Malaysia for eighteen years. Having started his career at Bursa Malaysia as Head of Internal Audit and Risk Management, he was also, at one time, the Chief Regulatory Officer and later, the Chief Market Operations Officer of Bursa Malaysia.
Managing Director & Clinical Psychologist, SOLS Health
Ellisha is a Clinical Psychologist at SOLS Health, a community-based behavioral health centre. Prior to her career in psychology, she pursued a career in corporate finance. As the current Managing Director of SOLS Health, she focuses on leading the organisation to provide sustainable and accessible behavioural health services especially to the marginalised and underserved population with a community development approach.
In her role as a clinical supervisor and honorary lecturer for the University of East Anglia UK, she focuses on developing and nurturing socially-responsible mental health practitioners in-training from Malaysian and international universities. As a clinician, she is predominantly trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Adlerian Psychology. Ellisha has worked with children and adolescents as well as the adult population on a myriad of psychological and developmental disorders, behavioural management, parenting skills, chronic pain, and trauma intervention.
Her prior research areas include studying mood and anxiety disorders amongst those with learning disorders and the gynecological cancer population, and currently focuses on the impact of community based behavioural health interventions. Ellisha is fluent in English and Malay and is an active member of the Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology (MSCP) as a strong advocate of her profession, and served as the Honorary Treasurer from 2017-2019.
Sri Sempurna International School, KL
Dr Ng is currently the CEO of Sri Sempurna International School and a certified trainer of HRDF. He graduated with a PhD and MBA, and is a Fellow of ACCA and CIMA. He worked a total of 25 years in the IT industry, gaining his experience from both the ASEAN and European regions. He has served in various capacities as Finance Director, Regional Director, and Chief International Auditor.
Dr Ng is an active committee member of MIA-PAIB and the immediate past chairman of MIA-Digital Technology working group. He served a total of 15 years as a member of the ACCA Malaysia Advisory Committee and member of the ACCA SME Committee. He is also the past Branch Committee Chairman of CIMA Malaysia.
Dr. Ng is passionate about fusing IT and accounting knowledge for data analysis and analytics for management reporting. The experiences he gained from the IT industry, combined with his accounting expertise and his skill at research has given him a unique competence as an accounting professional.
CEO, Bioeconomy Corporation
Mohd Khairul Fidzal Abdul Razak joined Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation (Bioeconomy Corporation) as the Chief Operating Officer on 1 April 2018 before he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer on 17 November 2020. He was previously the Vice President of the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MiGHT).
Mohd Khairul Fidzal held a senior position in MiGHT Technology Nurturing and simultaneously headed the Malaysia–Korea Technology Centre and Knowledge Event Sdn Bhd.
It was during his tenure with MiGHT that he was seconded to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation as the Private Secretary to the Minister, after which he became the Special Officer to the Science Advisor. Prior to MiGHT, he was with United Overseas Bank.
Mohd Khairul Fidzal holds a Bachelor of Economics from University Kebangsaan Malaysia.
CEO, International Compliance Association, Asia Pacific and Middle East
Helen is the CEO of the International Compliance Association (ICA), responsible for meeting the training, education and membership needs of the compliance community in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. Having worked with ICA for over 13 years, Helen brings a great deal of experience and insight in terms of inspiring and educating the professionals of today and tomorrow.
Having started her working life with the Financial Times Helen has been working in and alongside the financial community for some 30 years. Helen finds working for the ICA incredibly rewarding as the focus and ambitions of the organisation are to make a difference to those they represent. Members and students are at the very heart of all that goes on in ICA.
Throughout her working life, Helen has learned and understands a great deal about the challenges and opportunities the global compliance community face. Everyone lives and works in constantly shifting and evolving times, sometimes exciting, sometimes daunting, and the importance of facing these times as a united community has never been more important. The purpose of ICA is to inspire, educate and engage the international compliance community to think more, perform better and conduct business the right way. Helen will bring the same passion and enthusiasm she has for ICA to IUMW.
