Chen Chow: Business

Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts

Saturday, March 28, 2009

The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) Business Conference 2009

The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR), a student-run organization at Harvard University, extends a special invitation for your students to participate in the HPAIR 2009 Business Conference. For almost 20 years, HPAIR has organized the largest Harvard student-run academic and business conferences at Harvard and in Asia annually. We draw approximately 700 undergrad, graduate, and working professional delegates from top institutions around the world, in addition to professors from the Harvard Business School and leaders of various corporations around Asia.

This summer, HPAIR will host the Business Conference “Braving New Frontiers: Tomorrow’s Ventures Today” in Tokyo, Japan from 6th to 9th August 2009. Attracting hundreds of talented students and young professionals, our conference provides a comprehensive analysis of the current and future developments of economic trends in Asia. Our forum for discussion provides opportunities to engage and interact with leaders from around the globe to gain knowledge and insight into a broad spectrum of industrial development and advances. Our goal is to offer a rigorous academic program and continuous forum of exchange to facilitate discussion about the most important issues relevant to the Asia-Pacific region.

The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR), a student-run organization at Harvard University, extends a special invitation for your students to participate in the HPAIR 2009 Business Conference. For almost 20 years, HPAIR has organized the largest Harvard student-run academic and business conferences at Harvard and in Asia annually. We draw approximately 700 undergrad, graduate, and working professional delegates from top institutions around the world, in addition to professors from the Harvard Business School and leaders of various corporations around Asia.

This summer, HPAIR will host the Business Conference “Braving New Frontiers: Tomorrow’s Ventures Today” in Tokyo, Japan in August 2009. Attracting hundreds of talented students and young professionals, our conference provides a comprehensive analysis of the current and future developments of economic trends in Asia. Our forum for discussion provides opportunities to engage and interact with leaders from around the globe to gain knowledge and insight into a broad spectrum of industrial development and advances. Our goal is to offer a rigorous academic program and continuous forum of exchange to facilitate discussion about the most important issues relevant to the Asia-Pacific region.

For more info, go to here .
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Monday, January 19, 2009

Peak Time - Business Competition in Europe

Thanks to Xianjin for highlighting this!

"Peak Time is the biggest business competition in Europe, attracting over 1600 participants from 47 countries in 2008. Participants will compete in engaging rounds of real-world business simulations and case studies prepared by McKinsey&Co to vie for a place in the grand finals in Riga, Latvia. Application is free and the preliminary rounds are conducted online. For more information, one can visit Peak Time

I took part last year and was fortunate to reach the grand finals in Riga, where my team emerged amongst the top 10. However, I was informed that there are no Malaysian students taking part this year and it's pretty disappointing considering there is very active participation from students from NUS, NTU and SMU. In fact a Singaporean team won in 2007 and two Singaporean teams reached the finals in 2008."

If you want to learn from Xianjin's experience, do post your questions here, and I'll let him know. This competition would be a great exposure!!!

Requirements to apply:

1. All team members should be undergraduate students (MSc. MBA and etc. students are not eligible to take part in the competition).
2. There can be no more than 2 students in a team who have already participated in the Peak Time finals.
3. Organizers of previous years’ Peak Time are not allowed to apply.

Application Deadline is 5th February 2009 6am

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Chen Chow's Other Posts
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Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share

Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Curriculum of Various Top MBA Programs

Attended INSEAD MBA talk this evening and it was a good exposure to learn a bit more about their MBA programs.

Nevertheless, I don't think I will ever be able to spend such a big amount to go to top business school. INSEAD's tuition fee costs 50,000 Euro, and that is not including living expenses etc. They are expecting the entire cost to be at least 70,000 Euro. That's about RM340,000. Compared to Wharton's tuition fee and living cost, that would be USD160,000 for 2 years, which would be RM570,000.

If I were to ever go to Business School, it would be for the experience there and learning exposure.

Curious to see what the curriculum for each of the top Business schools, I try to find out the curriculum for 11 top Business schools - Chicago, Columbia, Harvard, IMD, Insead, Johnson, Kellogg, London Business School, Sloan, Stanford, Wharton.

For this post, I haven't done any analysis to find similarity and differences of each program, so that to see what stuff I should learn for professional development. Guess reading through books and those free lecture notes would be the best way. :)

The core courses for each university is as follow. This is just for reference. For updated curriculum, do refer to their respective website.

Chicago

Financial Accounting
Microeconomics
Statistic
Financial Management
Human Resources Management
Managerial Accounting
Marketing Management
Operations Management
Macroeconomics
Strategic Management
Managerial and Organizational Behavior
Organizations and Markets
Leadership Effectiveness and Development

Columbia

Corporate Finance
Financial Accounting
Managerial Statistics
Marketing Strategy
Managerial Economics
Operations Management
Strategy Formulation
Leadership Development
Global Economic Environment
Decision Models
Managing Marketing Programs
Organizational Change
Power and Influence
Social Networks & Social Capital
Operations Strategy
Performance Management
Game Theory and Business
Global Economic Environment II: Business Cycles and Financial Market
Strategy Structures and Incentives

Harvard

Finance 1
Financial Reporting & Control
Leadership & Organizational Behavior
Marketing
Technology & Operation Management
Business, Government & the International Economy
Strategy
The Entrepreneurial Manager
Negotiation
Finance II
Leadership & Corporate Accountability

IMD

Accounting
Economics
Entrepreneurship
Finance
Marketing
Operations Management
Leading People in Organizations
Innovation & Product Design
International Political Economy
Strategy
Organizational Leadership

Insead

Financial Accounting
Financial Markets & Valuation
Leading People & Groups
Prices & Markets
Uncertainty, Data & Judgment
Corporate Financial Policy
Foundations of Marketing
Leading Organisations
Managerial Accounting
Process & Operations Management
Strategy
International Political Analysis
Macroeconomics in the Global Economy

Johnson (Cornell)

Microeconomics for Management
Financial Accounting
Marketing Management
Statistics for Management
Managerial Finance
Strategy
Managing Operations
Managing and Leading in Organizations

Kellogg (Northwestern)

Leadership in Organizations
Accounting for Decision Making
Mathematical Methods for Management Decisions
Business Strategy
Finance 1
Marketing Management
Statistical Methods for Management
Microeconomic Analysis
Operations Management
Values and Crisis Decision Making

London Business School

Business Statistics
Career & Professional Skills Development Programme
Decision & Risk Analysis
Discovering Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
Finance
Financial Accounting
Global Leadership Assessment for Managers
IT for Business Value
The Language Programme
Management Accounting
Managerial Economics
Managing Organisational Behavior
Marketing
Operations & Technology Management
The Second Year Project
Strategic Problem Solving
Strategy
Understanding General Management
Understanding the International Macroeconomy

Sloan (MIT)

Economic Analysis for Business Decisions
Data, Models and Decisions
Leadership and Personal Effectiveness Coaching
Communication for Managers
Organizational Processes
Team Project - Special Seminar in Organization Studies
Financial Accounting
Finance Theory or Marketing Management

Stanford

Critical Analytical Thinking
Ethics in Management
The Global Context of Management
Managerial Finance
Managing Groups and Teams
Organizational Behavior
Strategic Leadership
Data Analysis & Decision Making
Finance
Financial Accounting
Human Resources
Information Technology
Managerial Accounting
Marketing
Microeconomics
Modeling for Optimization & Decision Support
Non-Market Strategy
Operations

Wharton (UPenn)

Management Communications
Ethics & Responsibility
Foundation of Teamwork & Leadership
Management of People at Work
Government & Legal Environment of Business
Managerial Economics
Statistics for Managers
Decision Models and Uncertainty
Competitive Strategy
Global Strategic Management
Corporate Finance
Macroeconomic Analysis and Public Policy
Financial Accounting
Managerial Accounting
Operations: Quality & Productivity
Operations: Supply Chain Management
Marketing Program Design
Marketing Strategy

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Chen Chow's Other Posts
Subscribe to Chen Chow's blog

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share

Feel free to quote any post within my blog, as long as you link it back here. Sharing is always a good virtue. :)

Thursday, January 08, 2009

INSEAD MBA Talk - 13th Jan, 6:30pm

Calling all MBA aspirants in KL.

INSEAD is doing a MBA Information Session on:-

Date:- 13th Jan 2009
Time:- 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Venue:- Park View 3, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, KL

RSVP: Click Here

Do spread the words around.
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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Subscribe to my blog

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Nanyang MBA Program

Nanyang Technological University's Nanyang MBA Program would be having an information session on:-

DATE : Saturday, 10 January 2009
TIME : 2.30pm
(Registration starts at 2pm)
LOCATION : Marriott Hotel, Ballroom III, Level 3
320 Orchard Road, Singapore 238865

There will be a briefing by MBA Program director, as well as interaction with faculty, alumni and current students.

For further details, go to Nanyang MBA's website .

Deadline for 2nd round of applications for 2009/10 program is 15th January 2009.

For enquiries, please email: nbsmba@ntu.edu.sg or call +65-67906183

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Insead Knowledge

For all of you who are interested in Economics, Business, Finance etc, do check out INSEAD Knowledge.

It just gave out the list of Top Ten articles for 2008. Do check it out here .

Do check out Knowledge At Wharton too.

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Monday, December 08, 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

JobStreet.com Ranks 19th Most Valuable Brand in Malaysia

JobStreet.com again defies the odd to become the first online company to be awarded the prestigious 4As and The Edge Top 30 Most Valuable Brands in Malaysia Award.

This is definitely a significant breakthrough for JobStreet.com, to be able to squeeze into this list of Top 30 and not only that, it actually managed to win the 19th position! That's fantastic news, and it is great that the hard work by entire JobStreet.com and also all the 5 Million job seekers registered in JobStreet.com, are recognized!

JobStreet.com brand equity is being valued at RM391 Million, which is about the same amount as its market capitalization! That's awesome!!!

Some of you might be wondering where would Air Asia be placed? And interestingly enough, Air Asia is ranked no. 21, and that means JobStreet.com does beat Air Asia in the brand value!

The full list of Top 30 Companies are as follow:-

For full news article, do read here from The Edge

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26-11-2008: Maybank is M’sia’s most valuable brand for 2nd year running
by Emily Tan, Kathleen Tan & Aznita Ahmad Pharmy

PETALING JAYA: For the second year running, Maybank has been ranked as Malaysia’s most valuable brand with a brand value of RM9.3 billion in a valuation study commissioned by 4As (the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia) and The Edge.

The Malaysia’s Most Valuable Brands (MMVB) 2008 study, conducted by leading brand consultancy Interbrand, also ranked Public Bank, with a brand value of RM6.8 billion, as Malaysia’s second most valuable brand, followed by CIMB, with a brand value of RM6.3 billion.
The three banks, together with Genting (RM4.5 billion), Parkson (RM4.2 billion), and Celcom (RM3.9 billion), make up the six most valuable brands. All six had a brand value that exceeded US$1 billion (RM3.6 billion) each.

The total brand value of Malaysia’s 30 Most Valuable Brands was RM61.8 billion, up from RM56.6 billion last year.

The top 30 brands were honoured at a gala event here last night. The guest of honour, Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, handed out the awards.
“Brand valuation is a step in the right direction. Brands build trust. With the economic situation, branding has become even more important,” said Amirsham.

According to the study, despite a small drop of 3% in value, Maybank still tops the league table. Its acquisition in Indonesia has not affected the results as the study was based on year-end 2007 financials.

Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, president and CEO of Maybank who received the award last night, said he was happy with the ranking even though the brand value had decreased slightly. “So as we move forward locally, we will aim for the Maybank brand to be recognised, not only in Malaysia, but also in the Southeast Asian region.”

On the other hand, CIMB’s mergers and acquisitions in 2006 and its unifying brand strategy saw its brand value jump 83% to RM6.3 billion from RM3.4 billion last year, the highest increase among the top 30.

“This is a testament to our investment over the last year, We will continue with our long-term strategy as it has proven effective,” said Effendy Shahul Hamid, head of group corporate communications, CIMB Group.

The brand value of DiGi, which moved up one notch from No 10 last year, grew 35% despite a highly competitive and licence-restricted marketplace, said Interbrand in a press release issued yesterday.

Maxis is not in the rankings this year as it has been delisted from Bursa Malaysia. One of the criteria for MMVB is that the brands must be owned by listed companies as the study is based on publicly available information. Brands must also be consumer-facing and Malaysian-owned or originated.

National icon Proton saw the biggest fall in brand value of 37%, causing it to drop from No 23 last year to No 28 this year. The study noted that Perodua’s brand value now stands at more than 15 times that of Proton.

Interbrand’s methodology values brands in the same way that other corporate assets are valued, on the basis of how much the brands are likely to earn for their owners in the future. “Interbrand uses a combination of analysts’ projections, financial reports, and its own analysis to arrive at a net present value of those earnings,” said Interbrand group CEO Jez Frampton.
Interbrand noted that global turbulence roiling the markets had not fully impacted, except for falling margins and the increase in provisioning in general. The brand risk factor has also increased, it added.

4As president Datuk Vincent Lee said the study put Malaysia among the few Asian countries that currently recognised the value of brands as business and economic assets. “It helps the growth of business and celebrates the true heroes of economic value generation, the brand builders of a nation,” he added.

Ho Kay Tat, managing director and editor-in-chief of The Edge, said the study “creates a platform for discussing the role of brand-building, ensuring business health and earnings continuity”.

“Through all this (economic turmoil) it has been very clear that brands are a powerful driver of recovery. Fundamentally, brands are there to enable consumers to choose. They mark out one offer from a company from somebody else’s. They are the reason why people will buy, and the reason why people will repurchase. They are a driver of demand,” said Frampton at a press conference earlier.

This year, three new brands made it to the top 30 — Sin Chew (No 27), Jobstreet.com (No 19) and Ogawa (No 29). Jobstreet.com is the first online brand to make it into the list.

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Monday, October 20, 2008

Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2008

Today, had the chance to attend Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2008, and I would say that it is really an eye-opener.

The list of speakers are definitely fantastic. Kudos to Khazanah Nasional for that success.

Today, it started with Welcoming Remark by Tan Sri Md. Nor Yusof, Board Member of Khazanah Nasional.

And then, it was the opening address by YAB Dato Seri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

After which, it is the 1st Session, which focused on Macro and Markets, with the title "Surviving Now: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Financial Universe". The speakers in this session are:-
1. Dato' Ooi Sang Kuang, Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia
2. Dr. Simon Agus, CEO of DSGAsia, Hong Kong
3. Brad Bourland, Chief Economist, Jadwa Investments, Saudi Arabia
4. Stephen Hagger, Country Manager and Head of Equity Research PASEAN, Credit Suisse, Malaysia.

The chair for that session was Datuk Ranjit Ajit Singh, Managing Director of Securities Commission Malaysia.

For Luncheon Address, it was by Dr. Stephen Roach, Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, with a title of "Looking Beyond the Crisis: Pitfalls in a Post-Bubble World". The chair for this session is Tan Sri Dato' Dr. Lin See-Yan, Chairman and CEO of LIN Associates and Member of the Economic Council, Malaysia.

For the afternoon session, it is on the theme of Leadership and Culture and the title is "Stress Test: Managing in Turbulent Times".

The speakers include:-
1. Dr. George Kohlrieser, Professor of Leadership & Organisational Behaviour, IMD and the author of "Hostage at the Table".
2. Tharuma Rajah, Managing Director of Hay Group South East Asia.
3. Dato' Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, President and CEO of Maybank.
4. Dato' Seri Idris Jala, Managing Director and CEO, Malaysia Airlines.

This session was chaired by Dato' Zarinah Anwar, Chairman of Securities Commission, Malaysia.

Tomorrow (or rather later today, since it is past midnight now), would have the session on Competitiveness and Development. The title is "Shifting Sands: The Long View".

The speakers include:-
1. YB Dato' Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of Agriculture & Agro-Based Industry, Malaysia.
2. Dr. Danny Quah, Professor of Economics and Head of Economics Department, LSE.
3. Dr. Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, Executive Director, Khazanah Research and Investment Strategy, Khazanah Nasional.
4. P. Gunasegaram, Managing Editor, The Star publications.
5. Dr. Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the Europe and Central Asia region and irector of the World Development Report 2009, The World Bank and co-author of East Asian Renaissance.

This session would be chaired by Datuk Dr. Zainal Aznam Yusof, Distinguished ISIS Fellow, member of The Economic Council Working Group, Malaysia.

For Luncheon Address, it would be by Datuk Seri Panglima Andrew Sheng, Board Member of Khazanah Nasional.

It is chaired by Ben Chan, Executive Director and Head of Beijing OFfice, Khazanah Nasional.

For Session 4, it is on Firms & Transformation. The title is "Where the Tire Hits the Road: What It Means for Firms".

The Speakers include:-
1. Jonathan Davidson, Director, McKinsey & Co, London.
2. Iqbal Khan, Founder and CEO of HSBC Amanah and CEO of Fajr Capital, London.
3. Dato' Seri Nazir Razak, Group CEO of CIMB.
4. Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman of DBS Group Holdings, Singapore.

This session is chaired by Tan Sri Dato' Azman Mokhtar, Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional.

Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar would summarize the forum and then it is closing by YB Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, 2nd Finance Minister and Board Member of Khazanah Nasional.

It has been an exciting day today and hopefully would be an exciting day tomorrow too! A lot to learn from those experts and it is great to get the opportunities to learn from those who have been there and done that.

Woul try to share some of the learnings here!

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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Accenture has Record Revenue, EPS, Booking, Operating Income, Cash Flow

Time flies (I know this is so cliche), and it is about 5 months since I left Accenture. A few days ago, I walked back into Accenture's office for the 1st time since I left to meet with HR folks there, on behalf of JobStreet.com . The feeling is so special. A place that is so familiar. Nothing much changed, especially in the setting of the office etc.

Lots of memory I had in Accenture, and to be frank, I missed the people there. The camaraderie that I had there, is definitely something that I enjoy thoroughly. The caring nature of people, especially since we are from the same age group.

And today, I woke up to see that Accenture share price went up from 37.17 to 39.55. That's an up of 6.4%. It is due to record breaking revenue, booking, margin etc for Accenture for 4th Quarter of this fiscal year (June to August 2008) and also for the entire financial year (September 2007 to August 2008). Looks like my friends in Accenture would be having a great bonus this year! I know Accenture's bonus may not be fabulous, but would be better. :)

For me, not too bad too. 50 cents of dividend per Accenture share. That is a rise from 42 cents for 2007, 35 cents for 2006 and 30 cents for 2005. Not a lot for me, but at least it is showing that Accenture is growing. That's like interest of 1.25%.

For full results of Accenture's financial results, go to here

Some parts of it is quoted below.
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NEW YORK; Sept. 25, 2008 — Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reported strong financial results for the fourth quarter and record results for the full 2008 fiscal year, ended Aug. 31, 2008, including its highest-ever annual revenues, earnings per share, bookings, operating income and cash flow.

For the fourth quarter, revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) were $6.00 billion, compared with $5.11 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007, an increase of 17 percent in U.S. dollars and 10 percent in local currency. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.67, compared with $0.50 in the same period last year, an increase of 35 percent. New bookings for the quarter rose to $7.67 billion, a quarterly record. Operating income for the quarter grew 22 percent, to $785 million, and operating margin expanded 50 basis points compared with the fourth quarter last year.

For the full fiscal year, net revenues were a record $23.39 billion, compared with $19.70 billion for fiscal 2007, an increase of 19 percent in U.S. dollars and 11 percent in local currency. Diluted earnings per share for the full year were $2.65, compared with $1.97 in fiscal 2007, an increase of 35 percent. New bookings for the full year reached an all-time high of $26.79 billion. Operating income for the full year grew 21 percent, to $3.01 billion, and operating margin expanded 20 basis points compared with fiscal 2007.

The company also announced that its Board of Directors has declared an annual cash dividend of $0.50 per share, an increase of $0.08 per share, or 19 percent, over its previous annual dividend.

William D. Green, Accenture’s chairman & CEO, said, “We’re very pleased with our strong fourth-quarter and full-year performance, which demonstrates our ability to deliver outstanding results, even in challenging economic conditions. We had record bookings and maintained our focus on operating discipline. We generated significant cash flow, we have no debt, and our balance sheet is rock-solid. We continue to return cash to shareholders through our fourth annual cash dividend and the repurchase of $2.3 billion of our shares during the year.

“We have continued confidence in our business, given the momentum we have from our fourth-quarter and full-year performance. With the uncertainty in the economic environment, we are even more focused on closely managing our business — through careful planning, operational discipline and superior execution — to ensure that we continue to perform and deliver value to our clients and shareholders.”

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Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Friday, September 19, 2008

JobStreet.com - Forbes Asia "Best Under 1 Billion" List

There are 24,155 public listed companies in Asia Pacific region, which has sales of below USD1 Billion.

Of these 24,155 companies, a total of 200 companies were selected by Forbes, as under Forbes Asia 4th Annual "Best Under 1 Billion" list.

Malaysia ranked number 7, in terms of ranking based on number of companies qualified under the list. China is first with 88 companies, followed by Japan 23 companies, India 22 companies and Singapore 14 companies. Malaysia has 13 companies falling under the list.

One of the Malaysian companies, who made it last year, as well as this year is ----- JobStreet.com .

It is amazing to see my company being selected among these top 1% of companies. That is definitely testament to JobStreet.com's ability to continue perform and grow.

For full article, do go to NST .

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SINGAPORE, THURS:

Thirteen Malaysian companies made the Forbes Asias fourth annual ’Best Under A Billion’ list, according to Forbes, the US-based publisher of the leading Asian business magazine.

The companies are CB Industrial Product, Coastal Contracts, Efficient E-Solutions, ETI Tech, Grand-Flo Solution, Hai-O Enterprise, I-Power, JobStreet, Notion Vtec, Pintaras Jaya, Plant Offshore, Sarawak Oil Palms and Success Transformer.

Malaysia was also ranked seventh in terms of the number of companies represented on this years list, Forbes said in a statement today.

The list features the best 200 companies from among 24,155 listed firms in the Asia-Pacific region.

Forbes said those with less than US$1 billion in sales were vetted for consistent growth of both sales and profits over three years.

The Malaysian companies on the Forbes list dealt in a wide range of products and services, from rechargeable batteries, industrial tools, marine vessels, online recruitment, information technology solutions and multi-level marketing to palm oil and construction services for the oil and gas industry.

The net income of the companies ranged between US$2 million and US$33 million with a market value of between US$15 million and US$341 million.

They also recorded sales of between US$17 million and US$132 million, Forbes said.

Forbes explained that more than a quarter of last years companies made the list again with consumer technology, commercial real estate, clean energy producers and business services sectors leading the way.

All the companies on this years list increased sales and profits despite major indexes in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Australia falling by more than 20 percent over the past year.

The greater China region outperformed the rest of the Asia Pacific with the most number of firms, with 88 on the list, followed by Japan (23), India (22) and Singapore (14).

The full list will appear in the Sept 29 issue of Forbes Asia magazine. It will be available in newsstands this week.

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Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Telekom Malaysia got Letter of Award for High Speed Broadband Project

After a couple of details, the Government of Malaysia has finally awarded the High Speed Broadband Project to Telekom Malaysia.

The full news quoted from The Star is here

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KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd has received a letter of award from the Government to implement the RM11.31bil high-speed broadband (HSBB) project.

TM said on Tuesday the project would be carried out in collaboration with the Government to deploy the access, domestic core and international networks to deliver an end-to-end HSBB infrastructure.

“The total cost of the HSBB investment for a period of 10 years is RM11.31bil whereby the Government will be investing RM2.4bil and the remaining RM8.91bil from TM,” it said.

TM said with the acceptance of the letter of award, the company and the Government would sign a formal agreement based on mutually agreed terms and conditions in due course.

It added that more details and relevant information would be announced when the HSBB agreement was signed.

On May 15, TM said it was pleased to learn the Government has approved the pertinent details and broad implementation strategies for the HSBB roll-out plan.

The plan was a key initiative in the effort to widen broadband penetration in the country. The HSBB coverage is expected to be available across 1.3 million premises.

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Click here to read more of Chen Chow's posts

Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Monday, July 07, 2008

JobStreet.com acquired 20% of Innity

JobStreet.com , the company that I worked at, had just made acquisition of shares of Innity .

It is definitely great to see JobStreet.com , keeps on its aggressive mode, despite current financial instability in the region. Am sure after the financial instability in the region, JobStreet.com would be getting even stronger in the region!

Innity was just listed on 23rd June, and it is a company that focused on online advertising.

The press release is at here

The press release is reproduced below:-
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Date: 04 July 2008

Acquisition of 25,250,040 Ordinary Shares of RM0.10 each in Innity Corporation Berhad

1. INTRODUCTION

The Board of Directors of JobStreet Corporation Berhad (“JCB” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that JCB had acquired 25,250,040 Ordinary Shares of RM0.10 each (the “INNITY Shares”) in Innity Corporation Berhad (“INNITY”) representing 20.07% of the entire enlarged issued share capital of INNITY at a total consideration of RM7,322,796 (“Acquisition”), details are as set out below:-

Announcement Details :

Date of acquisition Number of Ordinary Shares of RM0.10 each Circumstances by reason of which acquisition has occurred
30 June 2008 3,310,000 Private placement of new shares
30 June 2008 2,979,000 Bonus issue
30 June 2008 319,100 Acquisition from the open market
1 July 2008 5,278,064 Direct business transaction
1 July 2008 78,600 Acquisition from the open market
2 July 2008 3,489,176 Direct business transaction
2 July 2008 24,400 Acquisition from the open market
4 July 2008 3,771,700 Direct business transaction
4 July 2008 6,000,000 Direct business transaction
TOTAL 25,250,040

The total number of 11,964,764 Ordinary Shares of RM0.10 each in INNITY acquired by the Company from 30 June 2008 to 1 July 2008 for a total consideration of RM3,454,158, as disclosed above, has been included in the announcement released to Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (“Bursa Securities”) pursuant to Paragraph 9.21 of the Listing Requirements of Bursa Securities on 2 July 2008 (Reference no: CC-080702-65068).

The total number of 13,285,276 Ordinary Shares of RM0.10 each in INNITY acquired by the Company from 2 July 2008 to 4 July 2008 for a total consideration of RM3,868,638, as disclosed above, has been included in the announcement released to Bursa Securities pursuant to Paragraph 9.21 of the Listing Requirements of Bursa Securities on 4 July 2008 (Reference no: CC-080704-64433).

2. INFORMATION ON INNITY

INNITY is incorporated on 6 March 2007 having its registered office at Level 14, Uptown 1, No. 1 Jalan SS21/58, Damansara Uptown, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan. INNITY was subsequently converted into a public limited company on 26 March 2007 and eventually listed on the MESDAQ Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 30 June 2008. The principal activities of INNITY are in the provision of technology-based online advertising solutions that facilitate the publishing of online advertising using an in-house developed technology platform. The current authorised share capital of INNITY is RM25,000,000 divided into 250,000,000 ordinary shares of RM0.10 each and its paid-up share capital is RM12,582,128.70 divided into 125,821,287 ordinary shares of RM0.10 each.

For the financial year ended 31 December 2007, the proforma consolidated profit after tax of INNITY is RM2.51 million and its proforma consolidated net assets amounted to RM7.4 million.

3. VENDORS’ ORIGINAL COST OF INVESTMENT

As the details of the vendors are not make known to the Company, therefore the Company would not be able to provide the original cost of investment to the vendors of the INNITY Shares.

4. ASSUMPTION OF LIABILITIES

JCB will not be assuming any liabilities, including contingent liabilities and guarantees arising from the Acquisition.

5. SOURCE OF FUNDING

The Acquisition was funded by internally generated funds.

6. RATIONALE OF THE ACQUISITION

The Acquisition will enable JCB to indirectly participate in the growth of the online advertising markets in Malaysia and in the region.

7. EFFECTS OF THE ACQUISITION

The Acquisition will not have any material effect on the earnings per share, net assets per share, gearing, share capital and substantial shareholders’ shareholding of JCB for the financial year ending 31 December 2008.

8. DIRECTORS’ AND SUBSTANTIAL SHAREHOLDERS’ INTEREST

None of the Directors and/or major shareholders and/or persons connected with them have any interest, direct or indirect, in the Acquisition.

9. STATEMENT BY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors of JCB, having taken into consideration all aspects of the Acquisition, is of the opinion that the Acquisition is in the best interest of the JCB and its subsidiaries.

10. APPROVALS REQUIRED

The Acquisition is not subject to approval of the shareholders of JCB and any relevant government authorities.

11. PROSPECTS OF THE ACQUISITION

The outlook for the online advertising market in Malaysia remains positive. The online advertising market is expected to grow from its current size of RM32.2 million in 2007 to RM269.5 million in 2012, registering a CAGR of 52%. The online advertising market in Malaysia is experiencing tremendous growth due to huge demands, and will remain a high growth market for the foreseeable future. Reasons for this include the government’s drive to increase internet and broadband penetration, changing dynamics in consumer purchasing behaviour, marketers demanding more accountability for their ad spending, the various features and options unique to online advertising and the ability to facilitate targeted marketing.

(Source: INNITY’s prospectus dated 4 June 2008)

12. RISK FACTORS

INNITY is subject to risks inherent in the advertising industry which include amongst others, competition, technological changes, shortage in skilled professionals and economic, political and regulatory risks. In addition, INNITY’s profitability may also be affected by many factors including increasing operating costs, competition, security and systems disruption and loss of technological superiority over its competitors. Any changes involving these factors may have a material adverse effect on INNITY’s business, operating results and financial condition.

The Company’s investment in INNITY’s shares is subject to risks inherent in the investments of quoted securities. The trading price of INNITY’s shares could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to factors such as actual or anticipated variations in its quarterly operating results, announcements of technological innovations or new services by INNITY or its competitors, changes in financial estimates by securities analysts, conditions or trends in the online advertising industry, changes in the market valuations of other similar companies, announcements by INNITY or its competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments, additions or departures of key personnel, sales of its shares or other such securities in the public market and other events or factors. Market fluctuations, as well as general political and economic conditions such as recession or interest rate or currency rate fluctuations, may also adversely affect the market price of INNITY’s shares.

13. DEPARTURE FROM THE SECURITIES COMMISSION’S GUIDELINES ON THE OFFERING OF EQUITY AND EQUITY-LINKED SECURITIES

The Board of Directors of JCB is not aware of any departure from the Securities Commission’s Guidelines on the Offering of Equity and Equity-Linked Securities in undertaking the Acquisition.

This announcement is dated 4 July 2008

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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Maybank attempts for 30% stake in Pakistan Takaful company

Maybank continues its aggressive acquisition trend.

This is quoted from Reuters .
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KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Malayan Banking Bhd (MBBM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research), the country's largest in asset terms, plans to buy a 30 percent stake in Pak-Kuwait Takaful Company Ltd, the Malaysian lender said on Wednesday.

Pak-Kuwait Family Takaful is in the process of applying for license from the authorities in Pakistan to operate the family takaful (Islamic insurance) business, it said.

It is a joint venture between Pak-Kuwait Investment Company Private Ltd, Allied Bank Ltd and Saudi Pak Industrial and Agricultural Investment Company Limited, Maybank said in a statement.

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TM International now with big stake in huge telco in India

Telekom Malaysia International (TMI) is making further inroads in India.

Quoting from Reuters

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NEW DELHI/KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Reuters) - Malaysia's TM International (TMIT.KL: Quote, Profile, Research) will pick up around a fifth of Indian mobile operator Idea Cellular (IDEA.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), bolstering its presence in the world's fastest-growing mobile market, after a takeover of a smaller Indian firm in which it held a stake.

Idea, India's fifth-largest mobile operator, said on Wednesday it will buy a 40.8 percent stake in smaller rival Spice Telecom (SPCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) for 21.76 billion rupees ($508 million).

TM International's 39.2 percent stake in Spice will be converted into Idea shares, and it will pay 72.9 billion rupees ($1.7 billion) for a preferential allotment of 14.99 percent. TM International is a unit of Telekom Malaysia (TLMM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research).

India's mobile market is the world's second-largest after China and foreign firms are keen to enter the market. Last year, Vodafone Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) paid $11 billion for a controlling stake in the No. 3 cellular operator.

"We have a 39.2 percent stake in a company which (covers a) population of 80 million. Now we will have an around 20 percent stake in a company which has 700 million," Yusof Annuar Yaacob, group chief financial officer at TM International, told Reuters in Kuala Lumpur.

"For us, it's a much better position to move forward with our business," he said, adding the deal was expected to be completed by April 2009.

Idea, along with TM International, will make a mandatory open offer for another 20 percent of Spice at 77.3 rupees per share, the same price it will pay Spice's founders for their stake. The price is a 42 percent premium to Tuesday's close.

Spice shares, which listed last July, surged 33.1 percent to a record close of 72.35 rupees in a market that rose 0.8 percent.

MINORITY PARTNER

Idea said TM International would remain a minority partner.

"We have a very clear understanding. Telekom Malaysia will not go above 20 percent. So there is a cap there. They have one board seat," Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla told a news conference.

Idea, part of the Aditya Birla Group, operates in 11 of India's 22 telecoms circles or service areas, and has approval for the other 11.

It said the deal gave it ready-made entry to the Punjab and Karnataka circles, which account for 11 percent of the Indian market, and the TM International investment would support its aggressive growth plans.

"It takes Idea very clearly into a very high-growth trajectory and into the big league," Birla said, adding Idea planned capital expenditure of 100 billion rupees over the next two years.

Idea also said would use the Malaysian firm's 3G expertise.

A combined Idea-Spice would have more than 30 million subscribers. Bharti Airtel (BRTI.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) is India's top mobile operator with 64.4 million subscribers at the end of April, followed by Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) with 47.4 million.

Vodafone-controlled Vodafone Essar has 45.8 million subscribers and state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam has 41.3 million. Idea is buying its stake from Spice's founders, the Modi family, who said TM International had been pushing for the deal.

"The deal has been the brainchild of Telekom Malaysia," Spice Chairman Bhupendra Kumar Modi told NDTV television.

"They are the one who wanted stake in an all-India company. It was Telekom Malaysia who put all the puzzles together to make the deal happen."

Idea Cellular shares ended up 2.9 percent at 102.05 rupees, while TM International shares were suspended from trading in Kuala Lumpur ahead of the announcement.

DSP Merrill Lynch acted as the financial adviser to Idea, and Lazard was the financial adviser to TM International. Enam Securities and Lehman Brothers advised the Modi family. ($1=42.8 rupees) (Additional reporting by Rakesh Sharma and C.J. Kuncheria in NEW DELHI and Narayanan Somasundaram in MUMBAI; Editing by John Mair and Lincoln Feast)

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Sime Darby New COO & CFO

New appointments for Sime Darby.

Copy from The Star
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KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd has appointed Datuk Abd Wahab Maskan as group chief operating officer (COO) and Tong Poh Keow as group chief financial officer (CFO) effective Tuesday.

Abd Wahab was the senior executive vice president, property division of Sime Darby prior to his appointment as COO. As the group COO, he would support the president and group chief executive in the day-to-day operations of the group.

As for Tong, she was the chief financial officer of the plantation and agri-business division prior to the latest appointment. In her new capacity as group CFO, she reports directly to the president and group CEO.

Sime Darby said Abd Wahab, 57, would be mainly responsible for all the group’s operational matters, ensuring key performance indicators and merger synergies were achieved.

It added the departments -- group shared services, group procurement, group risk management and group information technology -- would come under the group COO.

“Managing directors of the respective divisions will report to the group COO on operational matters and will continue to report to the president and group CEO on strategic, business development and human resource matters,” it said.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

USC-alumni Nasarudin takes over as CEO of Naza

Nasarudin, an alumni of Class of 2005, University of Southern California, has been appointed CEO of Naza, to succeed his late father, Tan Sri Nasimuddin S.M. Amin.

Nasimuddin’s widow Puan Sri Zaleha Ismail said the appointment was in accordance with the wishes of her late husband.

While I do not know him personally, Syamsul , who was my housemate at Bricksfield was studying at USC with him. Dyna, a colleague when I was at Accenture knew him too.

All the best to Nasarudin in bringing Naza further ahead.

For full quotation, go to The Star

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KUALA LUMPUR: S.M. Nasarudin S.M. Nasimuddin, the second son of the late Tan Sri Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, has been appointed Naza Group of companies group executive chairman and chief executive officer effective immediately.

In a statement yesterday, Nasimuddin’s widow Puan Sri Zaleha Ismail said the appointment was in accordance with the wishes of her late husband.

Nasimuddin, the founder and head of the diversified Naza Group of companies, passed away on May 1.

S.M. Nasarudin S.M. Nasimuddin
Nasarudin, 25, is believed to be one of the youngest CEOs of a privately held group estimated to be worth billions of ringgit. The group is involved in the automotive, manufacturing, property and food franchising business.

The bachelor joined his father’s company after graduating with a business economics degree from University of Southern California in the US in 2005.

Before Nasimuddin’s death, Nasarudin was CEO of Nasim Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary that holds the local Peugeot franchise.

He also headed NZ Galaxy, a Naza company which designs body kits for Naza vehicles as well as provides design services to non-Naza companies.

Nasarudin has also been given the responsibility of running Naza’s food and beverage division, NZ Diners.

In an interview with StarBiz a few weeks before Nasimuddin’s death, Nasarudin said he went through management trainee programmes ”just like anyone else” although he was one of the chairman’s sons.

“There was no special treatment from my father. I had to start from the bottom like everyone else. Being his children means that his expectationof us is high.

“I had to learn everything and know the responsibilities of every department. My father wanted me to know the whole works so nobody could lie to me later on,” he had told StarBiz then.

He admitted that growing up with powerful cars from his father’s showrooms whetted his appetite for speed.

“I like to drive fast but know that there’s no point getting into an accident. Driving fast cars gives me a rush. That’s the best part of driving,” he said.

Meanwhile, Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) managing director Datuk Syed Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar said it was a “good move” by the group to appoint a successor so quickly.

“No one is better equipped than the son to carry on the legacy left behind by the father. Nasimuddin is blessed with children who are involved in the business.

“The group can start moving forward as there is now a leader to drive the growth of the business,” he said.

Malaysian Automotive Association president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said it was right that Nasimuddin’s son should take over the family business and continue the good work Nasimuddin started.

“Nasimuddin was an icon in the automotive industry. He built up the Naza empire from scratch.

“It will not be easy for his successor initially but the group has a strong management team,” she added.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia president and chief executive officer Peter Honegg said: “We will continue to support the group and look forward to building on the close relationship we enjoyed with the late Tan Sri.

“We are happy that they have now appointed a successor and that the business can run as usual.”

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McKinsey & Company - KL & Singapore Office

Obtained this McKinsey & Company's recruitment drive through my Cornell email.

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McKinsey & Company
Summer event – KL or Singapore

Would YOU like to be part of this team?

"Working on the transformation of the biggest state-owned enterprise in my country, with support from no less than the president of Indonesia".. 1st year Analyst, Jakarta

"Some of the best people I've worked with combining incredible IQs with a genuine commitment to sharing knowledge, and of course a huge heart and concern for others".. 2nd year Analyst, Kuala Lumpur

"Being part of a team who presented to one of the world's biggest logistics firms, that they needed to buy 25 wide-body aircrafts in the next 10 years. Hey, that was MY analysis!"... 1st year Analyst, Manila

We are looking for high-achieving South-East Asians interested in joining our offices in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore as Business Analysts.

We invite you to find out more about working with us. Meet our partners and consultants at our local offices to find out more about consulting as a career with the world’s leading consulting company in a rapidly growing region.

1. Summer Information event will take place between 5:00pm - 7:00pm on Friday 5th September, 2008 at either:
Kuala Lumpur : Level 57, Tower 2, Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC 50088
Singapore : 3 Temasek Ave #18-03 Centennial Tower,Singapore 039190

2. Coffee Chats @ Kuala Lumpur’s In-Office Fridays, between 4:00pm – 5:00pm on either Fridays: 27th June, 25th July, or 22nd August.

If you are graduating in 2009 or 2010, please email your CVs to
si-recruit@mckinsey.com, by 30th June, 2008, quoting your office & event of preference

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Got Selected for HPAIR Business Conference 2008

I blogged about Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations here and here .

I applied for HPAIR 2008 Business Conference and just found out that I was successfully selected to attend the conference! Yay! Really miss those days where I get to attend tons of conferences! Would definitely want to make full use of it!

The application for HPAIR 2008 Business Conference in Kuala Lumpur is still open, so definitely hope to see many of my blog readers would try your luck to apply for it here

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Monday, April 14, 2008

Harvard Project for Asian and International Conference in KL for 2008

Another important conference for many youth/students to attend.

Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) would be held for the first time in Malaysia. The HPAIR Business Conference 2008 would be held from 14th to 17th August 2008, while HPAIR Academic Conference 2008 would be held from 21st to 24th August 2008.

So, do sign up at the website above. It would be great opportunity.

For the Business Conference, among the list of speakers:-
H.E. Kevin Rudd (Prime Minister of Australia)
Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah
Datuk Seri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak (Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia)
H.E. James Keith (US Ambassador to Malaysia)
Datuk Tony Fernandes (Founder and CEO of AirAsia)
Datuk Seri Shazzali (CEO of Celcom)
Shirley Chen (Managing Director of China Investment Corporation)
Tan Sri G. Gnanalingam (CEO of Westport)
Wang Jun (Special Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank)

For full list of speakers, go to here

Deadline is 15th April. Do try your best to apply!

For students, the participation fee is USD300, whereas those who are working, participation fee is USD350. You can apply for financial aid too!

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Would encourage any of my blog readers to share with me any event that you come across. As long as the event/activity/initiative is education/charity/youth oriented and is not-for-profit, I would be more than happy to post it to share!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Monday, January 19, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Monday, December 08, 2008

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Monday, October 20, 2008

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Friday, September 19, 2008

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Monday, July 07, 2008

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008

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