Changing the Third World Mindset

Signing of MOU between SMR and PPM, witnessed by the former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

The former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad delivered a powerful closing key note that kept the entire 800 strong audience spell bound. It was one of those rare Asia HRD Congress events that drew maximum attendance for the closing ceremony. Tun’s key points of raising the competitiveness of Asia, lifelong learning, the need for rooting out corruption and the need for public: private sector cooperation resonated exceptionally well with the audience. The Q & A session saw Tun in his usual straight to the point style.

I had the honour of chairing Tun’s session with Bapak Cosmas Batubara. Tun Dr. Mahathir’s session was the highlight of Asia HRD Congress. Synopsis and details at www.hrdcongress.com

Asia HRD Congress Awards

Nine outstanding Asian HRD personalities were honoured in Jakarta. In introducing the 2006 award winners, Tuan Haji Zulkifly Baharom, the Chairman of the Awards Committee detailed the accomplishments of each of the personalities. Their visionary thinking and executional excellence has differentiated the award winners from their peers. In the round table discussion with the delegates, the award recipients shared their insights. Listed below are the 2006 award winners:

1)	Contribution to the Community Dr. Roberto F. De Ocampo, President Asian Institute of Management, Philippines
2)	Contribution to the Organization Dr. Kamal Khir, Director Institut Bank-Bank Malaysia, Malaysia
3)	Contribution to the Organization YBhg. Dato’ Jamaludin Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer Maxis Communication Berhad, Malaysia
4)	Contribution to the Organization Mr. Irvandi Ferizal, Human Resources Director TNT, Indonesia, Summitmas 1 21F1, Jl. Jend Sudirman Kav. 6-62, Jakarta 12190, Indonesia
5)	Contribution to the Organization Mr. Loh Meng See, Senior Vice-President of Human Resource, Singapore Airlines Limited, Singapore
6)	Contribution to the Organization Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Hamid bin Pengiran Haji Mohammad Yassin, Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei Darussalam
7)	Contribution to the Organization Mr. S.K Jain, Executive Chairman Petroleum India International, India
8)	Contribution to the Organization Mr. Ebrahim K. Al Dossary, Executive Adviser to the Board/CEO Bahrain Society for Training & Development, Kingdom of Bahrain, The Arabian Gulf
9)	Contribution to the Organization Mr. Tonny Warsono, MM, HR & Development Director PT Wijaya Karya, Jl. D.I. Panjaitan Kav. 3 & 4, Cawang Jakarta Timur, Indonesia

For details of the Asia HRD Congress 2007 awards, please email khiem@hrdcongress.com.

SMR News

I struggled through the Asia HRD Congress due to a very bad back that virtually immobilized me. My Japanese chiropractor worked on me conscientiously for over two weeks to get me up and moving. The ATP programme in Jakarta was attended by about 37 participants. I had to be there for day one with Karen and Subra running the remaining days due to my health.

We are still looking for talents to cope with the expansion plans of the company. Below is the list of job positions available:

	Head of HR Outsourcing		Customer Service Executive
	Consultant - Human Capital		Sales and Marketing Manager
	Finance Manager		Sales Executive
	Accounts Assistant		e-Business Manager
	Executive Assistant to CEO		e-Learning Executive
	Training Specialist		Dot NET Programmers
	Writer / Copywriter		Web Designers
	Instructional Designers		Software Development / Project Manager

Please email me or Mr. Robert Lim, Director of Operations for more details. You may also click here for job details.

Have a great month ahead and will be in touch in June.