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Ghazalie Abdullah
President, IABC Malaysia Chapter
2004, 2005 & 2006
PRESIDENT'S REPORT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2005
ACTIVITIES
During the year 2005, the IABC Malaysia Chapter Board met on 10 occasions to discuss, plan and conduct activities for its members.
To elevate the role of communications in Corporate Malaysia, an IABC Malaysia Silver Quill Awards 2006 competition was organized to recognise examples of excellence in business communications. The President was invited by IABC world headquarters in March 2005 to participate and experience the organization of a full Gold Quills Adjudication in San Francisco so as to be equipped for the organization of the Malaysian awards for the competition of 2006 and the Asia Pacific adjudication in February 2006. Earlier in February 2005, the IABC Secretary was also invited by the Asia Pacific Region Coordinator for the Gold Quills to participate in the learning process of adjudication in Melbourne.
With the learnings in place, the call for the 2006 entries in Malaysia began in October 2005 (simultaneously with world level). The competition saw 27 entries, an increase of 10 over the previous year 2005.
To assist the competitors, a “How To Create An Award Winning Entry For The IABC Silver/Gold Quills 2006” workshop was organized at the Boulevard Hotel in Mid Valley City Kuala Lumpur on 14 November. IABC Gold Quill Winner Ian Gan, IABC Silver Quill 2005 Chief Adjudicator Sharifah Rozita Syed Sulaiman and IABC Gold Quills World Final Judge Ghazalie Abdullah were there to conduct the workshop attended by 12 members and non members.
On 10 October, the IABC Malaysia Chapter through Tengku Marina Badlishah organized a Majlis Berbuka Puasa at Rebung for about 20 members. The event provided an opportunity for the members to get-together for relief from the workplace.
In conformance with IABC’s ideals to elevate communications through knowledge and skills building, a few professional development programmes were organized. To help in identifying the needs of members, an informal dip-stick survey was undertaken to gather views on professional development. There were 11 respondents to the survey and the findings proved helpful.
A “Digital Disruption” workshop was organized on 13 October. The workshop steered by Treasurer Ian Gan attracted 25 participants and was sponsored by Malaysia Airlines with a Majlis Berbuka Puasa for the participants.
During the year, a number of IABC scholarships were awarded by IABC world headquarters, the Asia Pacific region and the Malaysia Chapter. The scholarships were for the Leadership Institute 2005 in Seattle in February attended by the Vice President Nur Amielia Mira, the World Conference in Washington DC in June also by the Vice President and the Leadership Institute Melbourne from 7-8 November 2005 attended by IABC member Shameem Abdul Jalil. Regional Director Tengku Marina Badlishah also attended the LI Melbourne.
For the LI Melbourne, the scholarships were restricted to IABC members in all countries in the Asia Pacific Region (except Australia where they have a separate scholarship scheme) who intend attending the LI and who:
--- were current fully paid members of IABC
--- were IABC leaders, or are on the leadership track, or are considering taking on active Chapter or Region volunteer leadership roles
The AP Region offered 6 scholarships of US$700 each for all countries except New Zealand. 2 scholarships valued at US$400 each are on offer for New Zealand members.
The Malaysia Chapter was also an endorser to a few communication conferences and seminars. With this arrangement, IABC MC members were able to enjoy a 20% discount on fees. All promotions on endorsed conferences and seminars were disseminated via email blasts and published on the Malaysia Chapter website.
During the year, a residential communications workshop for June was proposed but this did not materialize due to prohibitive costs. The Bill Crain seminar in November and a Communications Survival Guide workshop for December were called-off as these did not have sufficient take-up.
During the year under review, we had two executives working for the secretariat. In January 2005, we appointed Noor Yusdiana Mohd Yusof. She was with us till the middle of the year when her law exams then took priority. From October, we had Vivette Chong to assist the secretariat as a part time executive working from home. Vivette helped with organising the Digital Disruption workshop and the preliminaries with the IABC Malaysia Silver/Gold Quills, and was with us until 31 December 2005.
Membership Health
As at 31 December 2005, there were 32 members in the IABC Malaysia Chapter. Earlier in the year, the IABC Malaysia Chapter was honoured with an award for the best membership growth in Asia Pacific in 2004. The award was received on behalf of the Malaysia Chapter by Nur Amielia Mira during the LI Seattle.
Resignations
During the year, we received Board resignations from Sharifah Rozita Syed Sulaiman, Faridah Zainal, Ian Gan, and Nur Amielia. On behalf of the remaining members of the Board, I wish to record my sincere appreciation to all of them for their contributions to the Malaysia Chapter.
Appreciation
I would like to place on record my sincere appreciation to all the volunteers in the 2004/2005 Board, to Rasila Hamzah who is retiring and look forward to installing the 2006/2007 Board. My thanks also go to all the members who have supported the IABC brand and its activities.
Ghazalie Abdullah
President, IABC Malaysia Chapter (2004 & 2005)
31 March 2006
PRESIDENT'S REPORT FROM IABC MALAYSIA CHAPTER
SECOND QUARTER (1 April - 31 July 2004)
UPDATES :
The period under review (April - July) saw two main activities organised by the IABC Malaysia Chapter. In May, the IABC Kuala Lumpur Seminar was organised at the Istana Hotel and elicited an attendance of 17 participants, 15 of whom became new members to IABC. In July, the IABC Malaysia National Conference 2004 was organised at the Nikko Hotel Kuala Lumpur. It was officiated by the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia, Dato' Mah Siew Keong. There were 70 attendees and 10 volunteer students from the Taylors College. IABC Chairman David Kistle and IABC Asia Pacific Region Director Bish Mukherjee were also present. Fifteen speakers presented a myriad of papers at the conference entitled "Best Practices For Effective Business Communication".
MEMBERSHIP HEALTH
As at 31 July 2004, there were 61 members in the IABC Malaysia Chapter.
FINANCIAL HEALTH
As at 31 July 2004, the financial status of the IABC Malaysia Chapter stood at RM66,723-63 (USD17,331-00). The Malaysia Chapter had no term deposits during the period under review.
OUTLOOK
FUTURE PLANS
The IABC Malaysia Chapter will be embarking on the inaugural IABC Malaysia Gold Quill Awards. Plans are underway for the competition to be launched in September 2004. The roadshow seminars will also take place.
OVERALL SELF RATING
Barring any circumstances beyond its control, the IABC Malaysia Chapter is confident it will grow to a membership exceeding 80 active members in September when all fees of the IABC Malaysia National Conference are received from corporate participants. Twenty new members are expected to be signed up while 10 are expected to be renewed. A drive to boost membership via the global membership promo waiver of the USD40-00 admin fee in September will also be undertaken to increase membership numbers.
Mention of thanks must be made of the effort by board members Nur Amielia Mira, Rasila Hamzah and Sharon Ong as well as volunteers C K Wong and Mohd Sharifuddin Abdul Rahim towards the success of the IABC Malaysia National Conference 2004. Thanks must also be extended to Saadiah Badrudin for TNB's generous cash sponsorship of RM15,000-00 (USD3,897-00) and Tengku Marina Badlishah for Nestle's cash and kind sponsorship of RM10,000-00 (USD2,598-00).
Other volunteers and sponsors are also gratefully acknowledged.
Ghazalie Abdullah
President (2004/2005)
International Association of Business Communicators - Malaysia Chapter
PRESIDENT'S REPORT FROM IABC MALAYSIA CHAPTER
FIRST QUARTER
(1 January 2004 - 16 April 2004)
UPDATE :
The year 2004 at IABC Malaysia Chapter began with a half-day seminar "The Things That Keep Us Awake At Night" presented by IABC Director Bish Mukherjee and Arizona State University PR Director Wilma Mathews at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel Kuala Lumpur on 15 January 2004. The event drew an attendance of 14 participants.
In February 2004, the IABC Leap Year Membership Promo was promoted through the email. While it drew interest, it only saw one new member promptly taking advantage of the promotional rate at USD104-00 within February. Five others joined later to include one revived member who each paid at the normal USD164-00 rate .
February also saw then President-elect Ghazalie Abdullah invited to speak at the LI2004 in Atlanta. Ghazalie also participated in the IABC Think-Tank session.
On 22 March 2004, the IABC Malaysia Chapter held its 6th Annual General Meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. The new board members elected to serve a two-year term are -
President Ghazalie Abdullah (Webmaster) - ghazalie@gra-pr.com
Vice President Nur Amielia Mira bt Abd Karim (Professional Development) - nuramielia@iabcmalaysia.com
Secretary Yvonne Chan - yvonne.chan@citicorp.com
Treasurer Sharon Ong - sharon@amcham.com.my
Committee Members (5) -
1. Tunku Azudin Shah (Special Events) - kudin888@tm.net.my
2. Saadiah Badrudin - saadiah@tnb.com.my
3. Sharifah Mohd Ismail (Membership Development) - sharifah@iabcmalaysia.com
4. Rasila Hamzah (IABC Accreditation) - rasila@bsn.com.my
5. Tengku Marina Badlishah (IABC Regional Board Activities) - TengkuMarina.Badlishah@my.nestle.com
Auditors (2) -
1. Aisha Rashid - aisha@samaneapr.com.my
2. Lilian Yong-Babani - lilian.yong-babani@my.standardchartered.com
Malaysian PR icon Datuk Paddy Bowie gave a talk on Communications In The New Millennium to members and guests at the AGM.
Membership Health as at 16 April 2004 for the IABC Malaysia Chapter saw an increase to 42 members reflecting a growth of 20 per cent over 35 recorded earlier on 1 January 2004.
The Financial Health as at 16 April 2004 was RM34,945-77 (USD9,076-82). This did not include RM2,565-00 (USD666-23) in advance deposits placed with four hotels for the roadshow seminars which have been deferred to September so that the chapter is able to focus on the National Conference scheduled for 20-22 July 2004.
OUTLOOK :
IABC Malaysia Chapter has three major programmes for the year 2004 to build the brand, value, membership and funds for the chapter. They are -
1. Best Practices For Effective Communications Conference 2004 including an IABC Accreditation Workshop - scheduled from 20-22 July 2004 at the Nikko Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
2. Malaysia IABC Gold Quill Awards Competition 2004/05 - proposed launch in October 2004
3. IABC LI Malaysia - proposed on 26 November 2004.
Malaysia's economic outlook is expected to grow at 6.0 - 6.5 per cent. This augurs well for professional development as companies return to investing in their human capital. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the IABC Malaysia Chapter is expected to do well in this climate - raising the IABC brand, value, membership numbers and funds.
VOTE OF THANKS
At this year's AGM, the IABC Malaysia Chapter recorded a vote of thanks to Immediate Past President Tengku Marina Badlishah for her exemplary services during her two-year tenure as President from 2002-2003. The meeting approved a token of appreciation by way of a scholarship grant of USD1500-00 to facilitate her attendance at the IABC LA Conference 2004. As always with such grants, the recipient has assured that IABC Malaysia Chapter members would benefit from her learning. The grant would be expended from the IABC Malaysia Chapter treasury.
OVERALL SELF-RATING :
The overall performance of the IABC Malaysia Chapter for the first quarter of this year under review is best described as good. The election of new board members has brought on fresh insights and enthusiasm.
Ghazalie Abdullah
President (2004/2005)
International Association of Business Communicators - Malaysia Chapter