This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises Dr. Wilson Tay’s contribution to the Malaysian Institute of Management in developing the Human Resource Planning and Development.

A respected corporate and professional management leader, Dr Wilson Tay is also a well-recognised educator. He has risen through rank and file positions from manager to general manager and corporate chief executive in a career period spanning over 35 years in Australasia and Malaysia.

Over the last 15 years, he has been involved in organisational turnaround, organisational development, performance management, entrepreneur development, executive coaching and business advisory assignments.

Being a strong advocate of the development of human capital in the country, he is actively involved with various ministries and government agencies that look into initiatives to uplift the capability of Malaysian’s human capital. He actively speaks and delivers presentations on strategies for development and managing human capital through various speaking platforms all over Malaysia as well as overseas. Through a regular column published in The Edge paper and his book publication titled “CEO Paradigm: The Management Leadership Insights” he shares his thoughts, insights and wide experience on management leadership topics.

This “Contribution to the Organisation” Award recognises Datuk K.Y. Mustafa’s contribution and commitment to the State Government of Sabah in its human resources planning and development.

Mr.K.Y.Mustafa having joined the State Government of Sabah Public Service as an Executive Officer on 21st June 1974 and attained the peak of his civil service career when he was appointed the State Secretary/Secretary to the Cabinet on 24th April 2000. With his appointment he introduced the State Public Service Vision, “To transform Sabah into a prosperous, knowledgeable and civil society”.

He has been involved with the development of Information Technology and the State Network, Sabah.net in 1997, and also provided guidance for the development of a very effective State Government Human Resource Information System (SM2) in 2001.

With a few State officers he spearheaded the “Reinventing Government Movement” in 1999 to help transform the State Public Service. Reinventing Government is an ongoing endeavour, and is the Sabah State Public Service philosophy.

In 2002 and 2003, the Sabah State Public Service embarked on the “Succession and Management Planning Programme”, aimed at preparing second level officers for future leadership positions in the State Civil Service. He was actively involved with the teaching and learning programmes. The Succession Planning Programme places high importance on New Knowledge and Skills, covering Reinventing Government, Learning Organisation, IT, Leadership and Integrity. This “Training for the Future” addresses Future Issues, and prepare “Leaders of the Future” 

His own quotation ‘in reality the Vision is the Horizon; always in sight but never possible to touch. Yet it provides guidance and a continuous challenge’ aptly describes his personality and endeavours.

This contribution to ”the Organisation” award recognizes Mr. Mohammed Zainalabedin’s contribution to the Organisation.

Mr. Mohammed Zainalabedin, who has been with Zain  Bahrain since its operations started in the Kingdom in 2003, is known for his dynamism and his analytical approach to making the telecoms giant one of the technology leaders in the region.

By combining a dramatic series of technology firsts with a clear emphasis on customer service, Mr. Zainalabedin has built Zain Bahrain into one of the best operations of the Zain Group.

He was chosen earlier this year as one of the Top 40 most influential telecoms leaders of the Middle East by the prestigious industry journal Global Telecoms Business.

His most recent initiatives have been to build the team around the theme of ‘Lead The Beat’ to establish Zain Bahrain’s continued leadership position and encourage the ‘Zayinha’ initiative that sees Zain employees interacting with the public and spreading the company’s core values of Radiance, Heart and Belonging.

While inspiring his team to offer the best products and services and boost numbers, Mr. Zainalabedin has also ensured that Zain Bahrain employees get the best training to do their work well and maintained 89% Bahrainisation levels in Zain Bahrain.

Above all, Mr. Zainalabedin has made sure that Zain Bahrain retains its influential position as market leader and built very good relations with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). With a third mobile entrant coming to Bahrain shortly, Mr. Zainalabedin put into action a very successful strategy to expand Zain Bahrain’s portfolio into broadband and fixed wireless services.

Prior to joining Zain Bahrain, Mr Zainalabedin had gained almost ten years of experience in the IT field working for companies such as International Turnkey Systems where he held the position of the core banking group manager in the banking group. 

Mr Zainalabedin holds a BSc Hons in Computer Engineering from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. 

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.

Citi Malaysia's franchise has prospered together with the nation and is almost 50 years old. During this period, Citi has grown in terms of scope, scale and efficiency. Our success depends on every employee being given a chance to succeed.

The Talent Management process is conducted at every level within the organisation. Employees who demonstrate the three key essentials - Ability, Aspiration & Engagement - are identified and groomed. Coupled with rigorous on-the-job exposure and challenges, employees are encouraged to leverage on its global resources and network to gain competitive advantage. Their limits are stretched to ensure that they will be ready to face more senior positions, locally and abroad.

A wide range of initiatives have been developed, from fostering flexible work strategies to providing work life programmes to assist employees in achieving productive and rewarding careers. Supported by pillars defined by our Shared Responsibilities, we promote respect, empowerment, knowledge, innovativeness, mobility, growth and friendship.

Citi hires and develops best-in-class individuals. We work at giving them the best banking experience and developing them into respected professionals. We focus on stretching the limits, and as such, we are known as the University of Banking.

At Citi, we Build Talent For the Future.

Emirates is the world-renowned international airline of the United Arab Emirates, based in the awe-inspiring city of Dubai. In operation since 1985, Emirates Airline Group specialises in offering a diverse array of state-of-the art airline services. Serving 100 destinations in 62 countries and six continents.

Wholly owned by the government of Dubai, operating out of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, the airline has excelled through innovation and the boundless energy of its 30,000+ staff, as they pursue the highest standards of customer care & who strive to meet the diverse needs of a continually expanding clientele.

Beginning his association with the airline in 1992 as Personnel Manager, Mr. Abdulaziz Al Ali has worked diligently to acquire his extensive skills and expertise in his field. Currently serving in the position of Executive Vice President - Human Resources since July 2003, prior to taking over this position, he was Director Human Resources since 2002 and Head of Human Resources since 2000.

Working closely with of his HR direct subordinates, being a key facilitator in pulling all divisions of the airline together to work as one cohesive unit. Responsible for directing the overall company HR strategy to maintain a highly motivated work force both in the UAE and overseas stations ensuring that the corporate purpose and overall business objectives are achieved.

Ensuring that corporate goal of nationalisation is achieved, with a focus on retention of UAE Nationals through relevant mechanics to reflect the needs of the Nationals. Oversee the overall Company Recruitment and Selection, testing strategies to ensure that an economical and fair policy is adapted for a stable and well motivated work force both in the UAE and overseas.

He joined the company as Management Trainee in 1986 and subsequently moved to the position of Assistant to Company Secretary in 1988 and then Administration Services Manager in 1990. In 1991 he was appointed Recruitment Manager and 1992 Personnel Manager.

Abdulaziz Al Ali graduated with a BA Honours degree in Mathematics from Colchester University in England in 1983 and earned a post graduate degree MSc in Mathematics (1986) from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA.

Born in 1974 in India, Mr. Amit Lohia has a graduate degree in economics and finance from the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania from the batch of 1995. He has been a senior executive in the Group since 1996 and has worked in various roles.

Mr. Amit Lohia took over the Indorama Group at the age of 30 in July 2004 and when he took charge as the Group Managing Director. The group valued at USD 600 million. With his sheer HR driven policies and practices, he has grown the group to USD 3 billion as of date, in about 3 and a half years.

During the course of the last 3 and a half years, Eleme Petrochemicals, a loss making public sector in Nigeria was acquired by Indorama and under his leadership and with the same human resources that the group inherited, he turned around the company in less than 3 months and made it profitable. Even while 14 of the key executives, including the Managing Director, Vice President Operations and 4 General Managers being abducted, not a single employee left the company. Instead, all of them believed in his vision and leadership and stood by him and ensured the start up of the plant within a month of the abduction and are running the company in full swing.

After he took over as the Group Managing Director, he brought in some extremely employee sensitive practices, which has ensured that the employee turnover has been less than 2 %, whereas the industry standards have been above 7%.

He took charge of another large Public Sector, the Shebin Elkom Textile company in Cairo in Egypt and has set the ball rolling towards its turnaround with the same set of employees, by motivating them to deliver.

The global standards for productivity in the spinning industry has been USD 6 per spindle. When he took over, the productivity was at USD 4 per spindle within the Indorama group. Without changing any people, he has achieved a record breaking productivity of USD 12 as an average in all the plants and USD 14 in the Sri Lankan operations. This has been accomplished by his belief in empowering his team members and motivating them in the right manner.

His leadership has seen a new PET plant built in Alabama in the US and this has spiraled the group as the largest producer of PET in the world. The feather in the cap has been the acquisition of the Prestigious Eastman Chemicals company in Netherlands recently and the turnaround process has started.

One of the keys of his leadership has been, that he has retained the same set of people and driven the group successfully to grow by leaps and bounds. His HR philosophy is to create, "The Place of Work a Place of Joy" and drives HR himself by making HR report directly to him.

MIMOS Berhad (MIMOS) is Malaysia's national R&D center of excellence in information and communication technology. It was established in 1985 and since its inception has contributed to the national ICT strategic policy planning and the development of Malaysia's knowledge economy.

Human capital development (HCD) is accorded the highest priority as the key enabler to achieving MIMOS vision of becoming a Premier Applied Research Centre in Frontier Technologies. Four innovative HCD initiatives have been introduced to leverage on human resource as a vital strategic asset. These are:

• A Performance Culture Based on Leadership Core Values
• Human Capability and Capacity Development Programme
• Workforce Process Improvement Programme
• Balanced Work-Life Development

Performance Culture Based on Leadership Core Values
Eight Leadership Core Values were identified as the building blocks of the new MIMOS culture with Uncompromising Integrity as integral to the practice of the remaining seven work values.

A comprehensive and intensive implementation programme was drawn up to develop this culture, beginning with the MIMOS Code of Ethics.

Code of Ethics, awareness seminars and hands on workshops were held to develop action plans for translating the leadership core values into everyday behaviours.

The action plans were evaluated in a Leadership Core Values Convention and the top three teams were recognized. Efforts are rigorously underway to ensure full implementation of the action plans across the organization.

Human Capability and Capacity Development Programme
Human capability development programme is aimed at enhancing the domain expertise and competencies of the workforce to attain the desired level of becoming experts. To bridge this gap, MIMOS has leveraged on the highly acclaimed People-Capability Maturity Model® which is accredited by Carnegie Mellon University. This comprehensive methodology amongst others comprises 3 key components namely "competency based development framework", "succession planning and career development" and "performance management framework". MIMOS is targeted to achieve Level 3 accreditation in 2008.

In the competency based development framework, key competencies for achieving superior performance are identified and development programmes are formulated to develop capabilities, knowledge and expertise of the employees. One such unique initiative is the M*STAR (MIMOS Strategic Training Advancement & Recognition) programme. The individual succession plan and career development pathways formulated constitute a powerful incentive for superior performance and talent retention.

Subsequently, the Performance Management Framework is used as an enabler to track and promote continuous workforce capability and capacity improvements.

Giant started in 1944 by the Teng family in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Dairy Farm International (DFI) acquired Giant in 1999. Today, Dairy Farm is primarily into retailing, with a almost 400 stores comprising of supermarkets, hypermarkets, Guardian pharmacies (health and beauty stores) and Cold Storage supermarkets. The Group commands a leadership position in many key Asian markets and has upheld its principles for quality products, business integrity and commitments to the community.

Giant is the first retail company born in Malaysia. Our core principle is to offer a wide variety of products at the lowest prices possible. In year 2003, DAIRY Farm acquired 34 Tops supermarkets in Malaysia from Royal Ahold. The Tops supermarkets were re-branded as Giant and Cold Storage.

Giant has introduced its own retail training center and the first of its kind in this country. It was then launched by the then Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn at Giant Hypermarket in Subang Jaya in year 2002. Known as Giant's Center of Retail Excellence, currently it has 12-fulltime trainers and trained more than 14,000 staff. The objective of the center is to act as a developmental and skills resource for Giant and its group of companies to strengthen the foundation of their retail workforce. It's also to develop training programmes for both manpower and the use of equipment to complement current and future needs, thereby becoming the pioneer to transfer technology in terms of skills development in the retail industry as well as to continuously train staff towards upgrading their standards of performances.

The courses range from one day to six months and consists of 70 per cent on the job / practical modules. There are soft skill courses, such as management courses and self-development, and operational skill courses such as butchering, food handling, retail merchandising and etc. Apart of that, Center of Retail Excellence has also embarked in conducting training programmes for Governmental organisation namely Petronas and FAMA.

In 2007, Human Capital Development has conducted 123 training modules with the total of 942 sessions where attended by 11,115 pax. This includes skills and operational skills programmes.

In addition of conducting trainings, Human Capital Development Department has been entrusted to manage Giant's succession planning and talent management programme. As at to date, we have successfully trained 60 retail managers and 400 management trainees. Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs have endorsed Giant's talent management program.

Mr. Agung Adiprasetyo, graduated from IKIP Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta in 1982, and holds a Master degree in Business Administration and a Magister Management PPM Institute Of Management, Jakarta. He began his career with The Kompas Morning Daily as an advertising manager in 1984 and several other positions till 1998 where he took up the position of Business Director. In 2006, he was appointed CEO of Kompas Gramedia.

In the beginning of his career as the CEO of Kompas Gramedia, he redefined Kompas Gramedia Corporate Identity and Goals by composing Kompas Gramedia Vision Statement which is:"To be the biggest, the best, integrated and spreaded in South East Asia through knowledge base industry to create well educated society, enlighten and respect to cultural differences and social welfare." This Vision Statement is to strengthen the goal of Kompas Gramedia to go to South East Asia in 2020.

A new tagline, "Enlightening People" and logo for Kompas Gramedia were introduced to strengthen the Corporate Identity. Not only tagline and logo, the company values is redefined also, the 5Cs which stands for Caring, Credible, Competent, Competitive, Customer Delight.

Mr. Agung Adiprasetyo also does some major improvements in management, especially in the Human Resources, Advertising, Circulation, and Financial sectors. Moreover, he proclaimed the year of 2006 to 2008 as Human Resources year in Kompas Gramedia. His vision in Human Resources Development is to create individuals to be a high achiever person, a competitive person, a positive thinker, and has the "can do" mentality.

Major improvements in Human Resources Management that Mr. Agung Adiprasetyo does are: First, he pushes an aligned employee individual vision mission with corporate vision and a transparent employee performance evaluation to increase their productivity and sense of competition by implementing the Balanced Score Card (BSC) and Performance Management System (PM) with Individuals Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

Second, he organises the Kompas Gramedia Management Trainee Program, Management Development Programme for supervisors and staffs, Middle Management Development Programme for the middle managers, and Executive Development Programme for the Board of Directors. These programmes are in purpose of employee development and to search the best among the best. Third, he adopts a modern Human Resources Management by implementing a job evaluation, competitive reward system and fair assessment for all managers in all Business Units.Fourth, he encourages competition and sense of achievement by setting a high target for all BUs to be achieved.

Last, he decides to implement the ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning). Particularly, one of the modules is the HCM (Human Capital Management) module to improve Kompas Gramedia Human Resources Management Systems.

The Contribution to the Organisation Award recognises YBhg. Datuk Syed Abdull Hafiz for his contributions to people development in Perodua.

YBhg. Datuk Syed Abdull Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar educated in the English College (now Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar) in Johor Bahru and later, Victoria Institution, KL pursued a Bachelor of Economics degree, majoring in Business Administration and graduated from University Malaya in 1981. He commenced his working career at ESSO Malaysia that led him to head several business divisions in ESSO and later at UMW. His exemplary performance resulted in his appointment as Managing Director of Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd. in December 2004.

In the short period of his arrival at Perodua, YBhg. Datuk Hafiz's wide experience saw him driving and challenging the status quo and pushing Perodua to be the number one automobile entity in the country both in terms of revenue and production in Feb 2006.

He has championed Human Capital Development plans with committed execution and passion. YBhg. Datuk Hafiz's contribution to people development has produced significant results for the company.

YBhg. Datuk Syed Abdull Hafiz was instrumental in the development of 3 key initiatives which were the AMP or Accelerated Management Programme, the MDP or Management Development Programme and the Early Entry Leadership Programme, together with other Executive, Clerical and Technical development programmes.

A believer of life long education, YBhg. Datuk Hafiz, an avid book reader himself, has tried, and succeeded, in instilling the reading habit in Perodua Sales by emphasizing the reading of new books and setting of book reading targets. He has initiated and promoted various new ideas for young executives.

The Contribution to the Organisation Award recognises Mr. Francis G. Estrada for his contribution to Executive Education.

He has dedicated himself to the realisation of his vision of making the Asian Institute of Management a catalyst for Asian regional integration; and for sharing with his organisation his experience in regional finance as Chairman, General Partner and co-founder of Equity Managers Asia, Inc. (Philippines), as President and Chief Executive Officer of William E. Simon and Sons, Asia, as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Asian Oceanic Group, and as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of P.T. First Indonesian Finance and Investment Corporation.

The Contribution to the Organisation Award recognises YBhg. Dato' Ahmad Pardas Senin for his steady determination and enduring resolution to develop people in the UEM Group.

YBhg. Dato' Ahmad Pardas, the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of UEM Group, Malaysia's leading conglomerate in infrastructure development and preferred nation building partner locally and globally, is a visionary corporate leader of great distinction.

He has developed a talent creation machine that not only benefits UEM but also the entire nation. A pragmatic and open person who sees people development as the core of human dignity, he has successfully brought changes across UEM Group through the introduction of innovative systems and processes that have positively impacted overall employees' productivity and company's bottom line.

UEM Group's value creation strategy focuses on productivity of resources, business growth and expansion, people and organisational development, enhancement of systems and processes, and improvement of image and perception as elements of its organisational culture. The main thrust of this strategy is to create a leadership-centered culture throughout the Group, one that emphasizes the importance of having effective leaders at all levels of the organisation who will drive performance to the benefit of all stakeholders.

YBhg. Dato' Ahmad Pardas welcomes the opportunity and challenge to orchestrate this fundamental shift in how the organisation viewed its most important resource. The "Five Point Focus Value Creation Strategy" as it is known, has now touched the lives of 21,000 UEM Group employees.

As "chief people advocate" in UEM Group, YBhg. Dato' Ahmad Pardas has opened the minds and hearts of aspiring leaders throughout the organisation.

The Contribution to the Organisation Award recognises Dato' Azman for his innovative contributions in people development that has had a lasting impact on organisations.

YBhg. Dato' Azman Hj Mokhtar was appointed Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional Bhd., the strategic investment arm of the Government of Malaysia, in June 2004. A central tenet of Dato' Azman's personal and managerial philosophy is to constantly develop human capital and to raise knowledge capacities both within Khazanah as well as in his community activities.

During the past three years at the helm of Khazanah, Dato' Azman has successfully implemented various HR initiatives that were able to attract and sustain a highly talented team of professionals who are dedicated to contribute their collective talents towards excellence in their fields and most of all towards nation building.

Dato' Azman strives to build Khazanah and its companies as knowledge and learning organisations. His own CV testifies to his personal commitment to lifelong and holistic learning, having graduated with a diverse set of qualifications.

Dato' Azman has also relentlessly dedicated time and energy to ensure that human capital capacity and capability building programmes would benefit society at large. In this regard, his work and achievements are most evident in these four areas:

1. Driving corporate social responsibility in schools:
   Project PINTAR (Promoting Intelligence, Nurturing Talent and Advocating Responsibility)(November 2006 - Current)
2. Reforming education:
   Cluster School Project (February 2007 - Current) and Project Sayong
3. Developing leaders:
   Orange Book or GLC Transformation Initiative 8 (Dec 2006 - Current) and the Leadership Development Circle (LDC) (June 2007 - Current)
4. Raising national knowledge capital and building international linkages :
   Khazanah Merdeka Series (June 2007 to 2008), MINDA (December 2006 - Current)

Dato' Jamaludin Ibrahim is the CEO of Maxis Communications Berhad, not only Malaysia's number one mobile operator, but also a company that has diversified overseas by acquiring telecommunication companies in Indonesia and India. Dato' Jamaludin is not your typical CEO. With an extensive IT background and the experience obtained from IBM and Western Digital, in the 8 years he has been at the helm of Maxis, Jamaludin has taken his company to great heights. Motivated by his strong sense of responsibility and driven by a deep desire to challenge the boundaries of excellence, Jamal, as he is often referred to by friends and collleagues, has managed to raise the bar and taken Maxis beyond ordinary levels of corporate achievements.

Perhaps one of the major reasons for Jamal's phenomenal success is his passion for people that has led to Maxis being benchmarked against some of the best human capital development practices of top corporations and is being progressively and constantly improved.

Jamal is also the recipient of numerous awards. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Services to the Mobile Telecommunications Industry by Asian Mobile News, Singapore (June 2004), and named Malaysia's CEO of the Year 2000 by American Express Corporate Services and the Business Times (November 2001).

Under Jamal's leadership, Maxis was among the Best Employers in Malaysia in 2003, the Company bagged four awards at FinanceAsia's Annual Regional Best Managed Companies Awards Presentation in 2004 and was placed second best in the "Best Managed Company Overall" lists. More recently, Maxis was listed in Forbes 2000 Leading Companies in the World, awarded Mobile Operator of the Year by the Asian Mobilenews Awards 2005 and a host of other significant accolades.

While focusing on Maxis' investments overseas, Jamal is now riding on a change management mode across the board in Maxis. The changes to be put in place, some of which have already been implemented in stages, will see a more exciting, ever-vibrant Maxis, an operation that all those who are associated with it will find refreshing, engaging and profitable.

Irvandi Ferizal is a Industrial & Organizational Psychologist from Padjadjaran University-Bandung, who believes people development area as his career.

With more than 16 years experience in human resources area, he started the career in the largest pharmaceutical company in Indonesia-Kalbe Farma as Human resources officer. After 1 year joined, in age 25 years, he was promoted He left Kalbe in mid 1996 to have the multinational experience in TNT Indonesia, started as Training Manager for Express business. After one and half year joined, he was promoted as Country Human Resources Director for Express and Logistics business, as part of Senior Management Board, until now.

A few milestones was achieved, such as Investor in People (IIP) certification (from UK) in 2002 as the first and only company in Indonesia implement it, The 2nd Best Company in Employee's Program & Facilities in Greater Jakarta (2004) from Jakarta Governor, Bipartite Award for Excellence Industrial Relation from Indonesia Vice President - Jusuf Kalla (2005); and the last one achieved the Employer of Choice Award (2006) from HAY Consultant & Swa Magazine. He also key instrument in driving the company to move forward for ISO 9001 certification ad OHSAS 18001 for Health & Safety. Lastly, in the TNT Senior Management Conference April 2006, he awarded for "Orange-Inside" directly from CEO TNT Worldwide-Mr.Peter Bakker, as the only 2 people got this prestigious chance.

He was the Vice Chairman from Indonesia Association of Human Resources (AMSM), and the main guest speaker in various conferences & seminars. Irvandi joined the Executive Human Resources-International Program from Michigan University, Business School, and certified as Workplace Assessor from Australian Institute of Management.

Mr. S. K. Jain, Executive Chairman, Petroleum India International (PII) has transformed PII into a much sought after Technical, Managerial and Human Resource services and consultancy the organization in the Oil & Gas Sector globally. Before his appointment at PII, Mr. Jain was Head of Human Resource development function with Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), a fortune 500 company, in the midstream and downstream petroleum business. He has also held executive positions in materials, engineering, projects and operations in BPCL.

His cross-functional and HRD experience has reinforced the PII credo "Expertise through Experience", in an ever changing global environment, operations in over 40 countries. PII projects and assignments although technical in nature continue to be 'people centric':

• Complete Competency Assessment and Training Needs Identification for Oman Refinery Company, Oman.
• In Madagascar, after successfully taking over of the Solima refinery, achieved the turnaround successfully at one-third the cost estimates submitted by the World Bank.
• Dismantled the Al-Khafji refinery in Saudi Arabia and shifted to Yemen in 4 months and the capacity is revamped to 45000 barrels per day (BPD) from earlier 19000 BPD.
• Dismantling, shifting and rebuilding 20,000 BPD refinery on East Coast of Yemen and revamp the same to 40,000 BPD.
• Successful takeover and turnaround of the National Oil & Chemical Marketing Company (NOLCHEM), Nigeria as part of the Privatization of the Nigerian Downstream Oil Sector.

Under the dynamic leadership, PII specializes in turning around sick refineries by adopting low cost proven technologies and motivating and upgrading skills of human resources.

Ebrahim Al Dossary is considered as one of the role models in Bahrain for his initiatives, dedication and untiring commitment towards his involvement in pursuing to develop and enhance HR and best Management practice.

Being the founder of Bahrain Society for Training and Development (BSTD) that is considered as the leading HR Society not only in Bahrain but the Arabian Gulf Region. After building and equipping BSTD, he became the Chief Advisor to the Board. BSTD is affiliated with International Federation for Training and Development Organization (IFTDO) based in Geneva of which he is now the Chairman Elect.

Ebrahim Al Dossary is also one of the founders of Bahrain Management Society and former Vice President. He is also one of the founders and current Vice President of Arab Management Association that is based in Egypt.

Having said all the above, it is just obvious that he is carrying all these important posts voluntarily despite of his very busy schedule as a Senior Official at the office of the Bahrain Prime Minister's Court.

This is purely due to his genuine commitment towards anything related to HR.

Tonny Warsono, the awardee of the agent of change in HR Development of Professor Dr. A.M. Kadarman, SJ AWARD 2006 conferred by School of Business PPM and PPM Alumny, started his career in PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA) in the operations function in 1982.

Along the way of his career to the President Director position of PT WIKA Intrade, one of WIKA's subsidiary companies, his passion to learn about people kept enriching him in the field of HR practices.

In 2002, when he was promoted to the position of HR and Development Director of WIKA at the holding company, he began to make an improvements in management concepts, particularly in HR areas. The Balance Scorecard which centered on People, Occupational Health and Safety Management, 5R are part of his contributions to improve management performance.

In the HR areas, his vision to develop a self-motivated and caring employee brings him to make the Competency-Based Human Assets Management System, known as WIKA CBHAMS. He also implements the Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) method, MBTI (Myers Brigss Type Indicator) as well as the Talent Management System in developing people.

His endless endeavour to create the excellent human resources has brought about many changes in WIKA as well as to the HR society. His achievements and contributions are recognized and awarded by WIKA and by the Public as well.

The Awards he accepted, inter alia: The Best Human Capital Management Award in 2005 by Business Review, the Most Caring Company (MCC) Award in 2005 by DuPont, the Profesor Dr. A.M. Kadarman, SJ Award category the Agent of Change in HR Development in 2006, The Greatest Inspirator by WIKA in 2006, and again in 2006 he is secondly awarded The Best Human Capital Management Award in 2006 by Business Review.

Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Abd Hamid Yassin is currently Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office of Brunei and the Chairman of Royal Brunei Airlines. He began his career as an Education Officer when he first joined the Brunei Darussalam's Civil Service on 6th August 1979 after he graduated with a Bsc. in Science from Salford University, United Kingdom. He furthered his studies by taking Diploma in Education from University of Singapore and MBA from University of Exeter.

During his career as a civil servant, he has been promoted to a number of positions and transferred to various government agencies prior to his current position.

Pengiran Dato Abdul Hamid has brought in fresh new perspectives to the way people learn. It was with his outstanding leadership and support that the ASEAN - EC Centre in Brunei Darussalam organized two outstanding conferences - The Knowledge Management Conferences and the International HRD Conference in Brunei. Both the conferences facilitated the exchange of knowledge so vital for the development of the human capital in this country.

The numerous speakers from a variety of countries together with the diversity of participants furthered the cause of learning with the strong support from His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzadin Waddaulah, and the Government of Brunei Darussalam.

Pengiran Dato Abdul Hamid has steadfastly promoted the need for people development on a continuous basis as he strongly believes that human capital will provide a strong competitive edge for his growing country.

Prior to 1990, Mr. Loh Meng See has served the Co-operative Movement for the past 15 years. In 1984, he was appointed Director of Keppel Group Co-operative Credit Union Ltd. Subsequently he has held the position of Chairman of the Membership Committee in the Keppel Group Co-operative Credit Union Ltd since 1986.

He was involved in the formation of the Singapore Credit Co- operative League Ltd (SCOPE). Upon the registration of SCOPE, he was appointed as its Chairman, a position which he holds till today.

He represented Singapore in various Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU) meetings, seminars and conferences held locally and overseas.

In 1993, SCOPE, together with SNCF and ACCU, organised the International Symposium on the theme " Challenge of the Co-operatives in the Next Century" in Singapore. This was attended by more than 200 Co-operative leaders from all over the world. Mr Loh, as Chairman of SCOPE, initiated this and successfully orchestrated the activities.

His stature in Singapore in both the government and private sector, commitment to the cooperative movement and his well-thought ideas is well-known to both local and overseas cooperative leaders. Because of this, the Singapore movement has earned the respect of many overseas co-operatives.

For his unstinting efforts and his commitment and dedication to the co-operative movement, SNCF is pleased to award him the Rochdale Medal.

An industrial engineer with a Ph.D. from the renowned Indian Institute of Technology, Ganesh invested in people and developed two world class companies in the field of IT Education - NIIT and APTECH. He expanded operations to 52 countries, grew revenues 50 times and got the company listed on the London Stock Exchange, creating huge value for employees, shareholders, and the organization.

Today, he runs a company renowned for Business Process Outsourcing and which is among the top 25 software exporters. He is in an industry that relies heavily on growing competent people. He has done just that while winning the hearts of his employees.

The award for contribution to an organization went to Mr. Shunsuke Koyama, Managing Director of Kobe Precision Technology Sdn Bhd in Penang, for establishing Self Directed Work Teams - a proven process that transformed his organization with the spirit of ownership, resulting in better quality, productivity, and results.

Tn. Hj. Ishak Hashim holds a Master of Arts Degree in Education from Stanford, USA. He has worked with many corporations in various capacities including that of Director of HR and Corporate Affairs with Boustead Holdings Berhad and General Manager of Corporate Services with Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad.

Since 2001, En. Ishak is the Executive Vice President of Corporate Services with Affin Bank Berhad. As a practitioner of HR, he is also affiliated to Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management and is serving in the capacity as Chairman of the Court of Fellows. He also served as President of the institute. He was also a Council Member the Malaysian Association of Productivity.

En. Ishak is renowned for his passion in developing people. His initiatives has proved beyond doubt that Human Resources Development can contribute to an organization's competitive edge.