This “Lifetime Achievement” Award recognises Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Lim Kok Wing for his innovative approach to creative education and outstanding contribution to excellence in human capital development.

In Malaysia, the name Limkokwing is a brand that is widely associated with creativity and innovation. For over 35 years, Tan Sri Dato’ Lim has applied the principles of innovation to not just build his business but to move hearts and minds on national issues as well as nurture innovative capability of the
next generation in nations across the world. He was recently voted Entrepreneur of the Year, recognised for having balanced business success with social consciousness.

He set up his own consultancy at the age of 29 and in less than 10 years became an industry legend. He ventured into education and in less than 15 years built a formidable university that is recognised and respected in over 100 countries.

His boldness and vision in transforming the conduct of education in the seven countries where he has established campuses, including one in the heart of London, UK is commendable. With a global vision, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Lim continues to innovate and articulate a formidable brand name that will not only make
Malaysia proud, but create a worldwide precedence of avantgarde education system to touch people’s lives positively.

This “Contribution to Society” Award recognises Mr. Tony Bingham's contribution to workplace learning and performance training and development of professionals.

Mr. Tony Bingham is President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) which is one of the world’s largest associations dedicated to workplace learning and performance of professionals. Tony is a strategic leader with broad-based business, financial, operational and
technical management expertise in ASTD whose members and associates work in thousands of organisations across many industries in more than 100 countries.

Tony reshaped and defined the direction of workplace learning and performance with his dynamic leadership. Under his stewardship, ASTD opened its doors to developing human capital with ASTD networks throughout the globe. This willingness to share and develop human capital globally can be ascribed to the underlying values of Tony Bingham – a persistent commitment to develop the world’s human capital.

Under Tony’s leadership, ASTD continues to enhance programmes and services for members and professionals in the workplace learning and performance (WLP) field. In fact, he has helped set the strategy for WLP all over the world. Tony is focused on expanding ASTD’s reach by developing strategic partnerships with various organisations by investing in educational offerings
to meet members needs, convening the professional community, improving the society’s technology infrastructure, developing opportunities to support life-long learning for individuals, and creating closer ties with members, chapters and international partners, and the supplier community.

This “Contribution to Society” Award recognises Datuk Michael Chong’s dedication to public services and humanitarian work in Malaysia for the past three decades.

Datuk Michael Chong’s passion to serve has led him to head MCA’s Public Services and Complaints Department. Any person irrespective of nationality, race, religion or gender approaching for help have found in Datuk Michael Chong, a saviour. He has endeavoured to minimise the sharp angularities in life for
anyone in need.

Datuk Michael Chong is a public figure whom the people turn to for help works with his four assistants to handle about thirty cases daily in the department. With decades of public services experience, his achievements are noteworthy and deserve special mention. He has received the “Tokoh Pengguna” Award, Unity Chain Award and Community Service Awards from the Rotary Clubs of Pudu and Brickfields. In addition, he has been conferred titles by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, the Sultan of Selangor and the Sultan of Perak.

Besides committing his time with his current passion of helping people, he holds advisory positions in other social organisations where he continues to share his knowledge and experience.

This “Contribution to Society” Award recognises Mr. Ahmad M. Al Banna’s contribution to human resource management and planning strategies in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Mr. Ahmad joined Gulf Air as its Chief People Officer in 2007 and brought with him over 3 decades of knowledge in raising the skills development in the public and private sector. His portfolio includes vast experience in developing, interpreting and implementing human resource strategies. He also has extensive experience in planning and integrating HR strategies with corporate business objectives. This is complemented with wide experience in Oil, Aviation, Aluminium and Insurance industries both in Bahrain and abroad.

Ahmed’s major achievement is in handling government projects in his capacity as General Manager of the National Employment Programme which helped to reduce unemployment figures from 16% to 4% in less than two years time in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

His passion to upgrade the quality of Bahraini human capital is well recognised by his continuous involvement with global organisations such as being a Board member of the International Federation of Training & Development (IFTDO).

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises Open University Malaysia for its commitment to provide distance learning opportunities to a wide spectrum of Malaysians. OUM today can be credited for making education accessible and affordable to anyone willing to learn.

When the Government called for democratisation of education, OUM responded to the call with confidence and it took off with 753 learners in 2001. Today the student population has exceeded 81,000 in cumulative intake and 19 of its programmes have obtained full accreditation. Staff development is emphasised
at all times in OUM.

OUM has established a stringent recruitment policy to attract competent staff and has allocated 8% of the total staff emolument for employee learning and development initiatives equivalent to around RM1.2 million annually.

The University is currently designing and developing a series of career related programmes aimed at linking competency with performance and compensation. Apart from salary revisions, other monetary benefits have been introduced to meet the rising cost of living.

OUM reaches out to society by enabling learners to continue their academic progression without adjustments made to their jobs, family responsibility or relocation. In addition, applicants could obtain tertiary education via assessment of prior work and learning experience. OUM’s special fee discounts for senior citizens and the under privileged has also received tremendous support.

Besides that, RM10 million is set aside by Yayasan Canselor to assist students who are in financial difficulties. The Corporate Social Responsibility initiative at OUM now plans to include workplace, community, health & wellness and the environment.This organisation wide CSR blueprint would be implemented by the end of 2009 with the “people factor” in mind.

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises Abu Dhabi Police for its dedication and visionary planning in developing its task force for the betterment and security of its people.

The wise leadership of the UAE takes great interest in establishing secure and safe living to locals and residents of this country. For achieving this ambition, it spared no effort to provide tangible assets and staff, enhancing by-law and organisational orders, developing cadres of different police departments to be fully equipped and prepared for facing security challenges and efficiently performing tasks assigned thereto.

Under the leadership of His Highness Lt General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed AL Nahayan, Minister of Interior of Contemporary Policing Trends, a firm believer in maintaining qualified local police officers and staff, His Highness ensures the police officers and non-commissioned officers are trained in order to enhance
their efficiency, broaden their knowledge base and develop their skills and capabilities for better performance of the work. Its effort towards improvement included, providing officers with updated knowledge, developing skills, refined manners and attitudes. It also enhanced the development of scientific and policing capacities for fulfilling assorted needs of all police departments and sectors.

It achieved the above by building strategic partnerships, cooperating with leading international organisations in the field of training for developing policing experience and cadres, direct the same towards latest techniques, tools and devices through training courses held in cooperation with international training organisations.

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises CapitaLand for its contribution to talent management, strategy and planning.

As an MNC headquartered in Singapore, CapitaLand adopts a“Building People” philosophy to manage a footprint that spans about 120 cities in more than 20 countries.

CapitaLand engages in the talent war at a global front and looks out for high caliber people with strong potential to help it build a lasting and prosperous real estate company. While bringing in the best people is an important first step in its talent management strategy, bringing out the best in them is just as important. These initiatives are led by the top management right from the Chairman of the company.

CapitaLand adopts an integrated Talent Management strategy for long term planning, acquisition, development, reward and retention of talents to achieve sustainable and lasting business enterprise. It ensures that its people are aligned to its business and organisation culture and values. This people strategy can be broadly defined in the following areas: Acquisition, Development, Reward and Retention.

In the area of acquisition, the growth strategy of the company is supported by a sustainable pipeline of talents at all levels which are critical to the business. In the area of development, training and development programmes are designed and implemented to align employees to company values and systems.

CapitaLand has its own training institute, CapitaLand Institute of Management & Business (CLIMB) which focuses on systematic and consistent human resource development. It also has an Ascott‘s Centre for Excellence which trains participants on skills and knowledge in the hospitality and service industry. Senior managers are encouraged to adopt a lifelong learning orientation. The comprehensive reward and retention schemes are implemented to create employee ownership and an accountability culture that drive business goals.

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises DST Group of Companies, Negara Brunei Darussalam for its commitment to human resources planning and development.

The history of DST goes back a long way in 1994 when it was mainly a mobile phone operator with about 100 employees. Today, DST has become an information-communications-media group of companies with over 500 employees under one roof.

DST Group’s HRD has been playing a major role in assisting the growth of the organisation to its current status. The measures taken in developing Human Capital in DST are currently based on business results consisting of measures of organisational performance which includes financial analysis like profit and loss and market share. Its key performance drivers consist of measures such as productivity, quality, innovation and customer satisfaction using KPI (balanced scorecard) and ISO 9001.

DST’s human capital capabilities consist of the most immediate and visible people-related qualities that are necessary for achieving critical business outcomes. Their influence is felt through key performance drivers which the DST Group adopts through measurements. The human capital processes consist of practices that lead to robust and effective human capital capabilities. This process includes core HR processes and broader human capital processes such as learning and knowledge management which may include the conventional classroom style training or the more technologically-based training like e-learning DST Group has engaged on staff succession planning through the recently implemented “HRD Power” system which enables the organisation to identify talented employees and provide education to develop them for higher level performance and broader responsibilities. The succession planning tool helps to“track” and “build” the “bench strength”.

The succession planning of DST Group also involves giving priority to internal recruitment for promotion seeking out top talent, DST Group has always been able to make a start on the road to successful forward planning.

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises Dato’ Edmund Santhara for his breath taking contribution to providing health education in Malaysia.

Dato’ Edmund Santhara is the Chief Executive Officer of Masterskill University College of Health Sciences and is also acting as the agent of change to implement a new paradigm in the arena of health education in Malaysia.

Responsible in ensuring growth, he mobilises the business by implementing international franchise models and by leading the overall business activities of Masterskill. Dato’ Edmund developed a simple and friendly business model called RTS and adopted core values to be practised by all to promote good corporate working culture within Masterskill.

Dato’ Edmund Santhara is a strong believer in giving to the society what it needs most - education and healthcare. Dato’ Edmund, embarked into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes in 2006 and implemented the programme through 6 streams, namely providing education, nurturing a respectful workplace, providing community and social welfare, caring for the environment,
building national integrity and contributing to nation building.

Masterskill won the Prime Minister’s CSR Award in 2007. In March 2008 Dato’ Edmund established Malaysian Intellect Development Foundation (MIDF) to strengthen and multiply efforts in nation building by encouraging the development of young leaders and entrepreneurs in Malaysia.

Dato’ Edmund Santhara also initiated the Education Sponsorship Programme enabling many employees to further their studies from Certificate to PhD level. His hard work and success were bestowed with recognitions including the National Youth Award from the Prime Minister, Malaysian Entrepreneur Award, Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Award and most recently the 2008 World Creative Young Entrepreneur Award by Junior Chamber International, a worldwide federation of young leaders and entrepreneurs at the JCI World Congress in New Delhi.

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises Mr Thiagarajan’s contributions in upgrading the quality of human capital in his visionary quest to establish a new business model in the Indian aviation market – a business airline.

Mr Thiagarajan is a young, charismatic and influential entrepreneur who has been identified as one of India’s top 50 young people. At a time when the Indian Aviation was abuzz with the concept of low cost airlines, he chose a “high value carrier business model” targeting the premium segment of customers with a business and first class configuration using Brazil-made Embraer aircraft.

Today, the reigning carrier has a 27% market share in its southern India operations and has consistently seen an increase in the market pie since its inception. It is one of the few airlines in India still making a profit.

Understanding the need for air connectivity in India, Paramount introduced the hub and spoke model wherein metro cities are connected to tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Paramount operates fifty two flights daily and offers the maximum connectivity and frequency in Southern India.

In due course, Thiagarajan plans to take the airline international and underline its presence across the globe. He is regarded as a determined, articulate leader who fosters innovative thinking. As a young entrepreneur, many in the Indian aviation industry consider him as serious and silent player who will be formidable in the twenty first century emerging Asian landscape. Thiagarajan hails from a renowned industrial family from Madurai that has varied business interests like Textiles, Banking and Insurance. His family has been a major supporter of educational programmes.

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises Puan Nora Manaf’s work in organisational development for over two decades.

Puan Nora is the Head of Group Human Capital for Maybank Group and is also the President of MCBA. She joined Maybank Group after nine years in Standard Chartered Group as the Head of Human Resources for Scope International, a whollyowned subsidiary of Standard Chartered UK Plc.

Nora is a Chartered Accountant and is registered with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. Being an accountant proficient in the world of numbers, she proved to her peers that it is no disadvantage while working in the world of people.

Puan Nora has held many important positions in the banking industry especially in the area of human capital. Some of her positions include her two international assignments in Permata Bank, Indonesia as Executive Vice President and head of Strategic Initiatives and in London at the Centre of Expertise.

As a HR professional, she has been sharing her knowledge and expertise in areas of Rewards, Organisation Development as well as HR audits and M&A integration work in Hong Kong, UK, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. She has also worked in HR generalist and specialist areas of Staffing & Human Resource Planning, Training, OD, and Reward Systems in multinational companies and in large local corporations spanning various industries related to Finance, Semiconductor, Academia, and Telecommunications.

This “Contribution to HR Community” Award recognises Ms Hamidah Naziadin’s contribution in areas of Human Capital Development.

Ms Hamidah Naziadin, the Head of Corporate Resources for CIMB Group, is a lawyer by training. Yet, she has demonstrated a passion for people development by playing a key role as a change agent by personally reaching out to the employees. With the integration of the then Bumiputra Commerce Bank into the
Group and the merger with Southern Bank, her responsibilities were expanded from 1,000 employees to 16,000 employees.

As the Group expands its region, her scope of work extended to cover Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand with a total group headcount of 35,000.

She has been a proactive change agent through the implementation of several strategic human capital initiatives. These included The Complete Banker Programme which recruits fresh graduates and grooms them to take on bigger roles in the Group and the Talent Management Framework to identify and develop the talent pipeline to support the growth of the organisation.

Ms Hamidah also held the position as President of the Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association (MCBA) for 2 consecutive terms and negotiated with the in-house union to agree to a performance based bonus to replace the guaranteed bonus practice. She has proudly led the team to win the Malaysia HR Awards twice in 2002/2003 and 2008/2009.

This “Contribution to HR Community” Award recognises Mr. Ahmad A. Aziz Al Khayat’s contribution to human capital development in the Ministry of Works, Kingdom of Bahrain.

Mr. Ahmad Aziz Al Khayat was appointed in August 2002 as Director of Human Resources in the Ministry of Works (MOW), Kingdom of Bahrain. He has moved on from his role as pure implementer of Civil Service Bureau’s rules and regulations into a human capital developer working to change MOW into a leading professional organisation.

His enormous achievement is in implementing the Management Development Planning Study. He has contributed to its successful implementation and its continuous roll-out and improvements covering Strategic Review – Diagnostic and Analysis of MOW, Organisational Manual, Business Architecture, Analysis of Human Resources Requirements, HR Policy and Procedures, Performance Appraisal System, IT Goals & Strategies, Project Management, and Project Cycle and Work Procedures.

This “Contribution to HR Community” Award recognises Ms Siti Aishah Md Lassim’s contribution to the HR community.

Ms Siti was the Executive Vice President and Head of Maybank Group. She was also the Vice President and Head of Performance Management before taking up her present position. As a HR professional, she has contributed to developing HR systems for Malaysia’s largest bank, Maybank and the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Malaysia Securities Exchange).

Siti headed the Human Resource of about 24,000 employees of the Maybank Group in the ASEAN region and in China where she worked with the Group CEO to develop and execute the Human Capital Agenda of the Maybank Group covering Organisational Development, Talent Management, Rewards & Recognition, Industrial and Employee Relations, HR Systems and Shared Services.

Among her recent achievements, Ms Siti Aishah led Maybank to win the Prime Minister’s Best Workplace Practices Award. She also led Maybank to win the Outstanding Malaysia HR Achievement Award, the National Award for Accounting Best Practice (NAFMA) and was a team leader for Performance
Management Section. In addition, she was recently elected as the Chairman of the HR Networking Committee of the Malaysian Banking Institute (IBBM)

This “Contribution to HR Community” Award recognises Mr. Josef’s work in Human Resource development since 1980.

Mr. Josef Bataona is the Director of Human Resource & Corporate Relations in Unilever, Indonesia. He joined Unilever Indonesia as a management trainee in 1980 and has since moved up to occupy various positions within the company including a three year stint with Quest International as Regional HR Manager for
Asia Pacific.

He has taken special efforts in coaching and training students on Leadership Development Programmes at CCL Colorado, USA and in San Diego, USA fully recognising that it is the students who form the nucleus of a future society. Mr. Josef Bataona’s work in Unilever and human capital development work in Indonesia earned him the “HR Executive of the Year”. 2008, from the Human Resources Practitioners Group.