Event Test

PORT KLANG: Informants have been assured of protection under the whistle-blowing policy launched by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat for the Port Klang Authority (PKA).
Ong said he hoped the people would come forward to offer information on malpractices, misuse of power or corruption without fear of reprisals with the policy in place.
“We will implement the policy first with PKA and this will be followed by other port authorities,” he said after launching the policy aimed at ensuring good governance and transparency for the PKA and Port Klang Free Zone Sdn Bhd, the operator of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) on 21 January 2010.



Independent members: Ong (right) presenting a letter of appointment to Nik Mohd Hasyudeen. Looking on (from left) are Ng, Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Paul Low and PKA chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng.

Informants are encouraged to lodge complaints or offer details on fraud to the Whistle-Blower Committee set up by the PKA or via the website www.wbs.pka.gov.my.
The whistle-blowing policy will be extended to other agencies under the purview of the Transport Ministry soon.
Besides the policy, other measures would be implemented by the PKA to help the port authority re-establish its image and credibility, said Ong.
The policy was one of the proposals made by the PKA’s ad hoc committee on corporate governance chaired by Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan.
“The policy gives protection to the provider of information and, as such, I hope the people will come forward without fear of reprisals over their action,” Ong said.
Ong also announced the appointment of Datuk Ng Mann Cheong and Nik Mohd Hasyudeen Yusoff as independent board members of the PKA. The other independent board member appointed earlier was Datuk M. Rajasingam.
Ong wanted board of directors of all port authorities under the ministry to have independent directors making up one-third of the board as soon as possible.
The ministry sent circulars on the directive to the port authorities in December last year.
“We are serious about it, we walk the talk,” he said.
As reported by the Star, 22 January 2010

 

Should our education system cater for our immediate needs or prepare our future generation for future challenges?

That was one of the issues raised by Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak, the Vice-Chancellor of USM at a forum on sustainability at the 8th Asian Academy of Management International Conference on 18 December 2009 in Kuantan. He argues that education is about preparing for the future so that we could continue to enjoy meaningful life. In doing so, leadership of universities should stand up and do the right thing rather than conceding to the demands from politicians and industrialists who may not have our long term interest in mind.

Tan Sri Dzulkifli also makes a point about the need to address the sustainability issues and ensuring a mode balance distribution of wealth among the world's population. At the end of the day we need to re-learn to be human.



As a co-panellist, Nik Mohd Hasyudeen Yusoff, the CEO and Thought Leader of Inovastra, discusses his perception about business and the need for business to add value and manage the changing environment. According to Nik, the collapse of the global financial system was mainly driven by greed and the only way forward is to address this issue. However, developed countries do not want to accept the fact that we have ignored the fundamentals of being human.



Nik also touched about form over substance, that we are obsessed to demonstrate conformance and missing the meaning of our effort. By sharing how different institutions react to change, Nik strongly proposes for a meaningful civil society to be nurtured in Malaysia to provide a check and balance against business which may not be concern about our long term sustainability.
 

Change is something that scares a lot of people. It also does not make sense when people are comfortable with the present status.

As a country, we are losing our competitive edge quickly and competing in knowledge-driven economy requires different sources of competitiveness and human resource. As the services sector becomes more prominent in driving economic growth, the competition in getting the right brain as source of competitiveness would be more intense.

These are some of the issues highlighted in the presentation made by Nik Mohd Hasyudeen Yusoff, the CEO and Thought Leader of Inovastra, who was the key note speaker at the forum on Innovation and Change for Business Sustainability organised by the Graduate School of Business, Universiti Sains Malaysia at the university in Penang on 10 December 2009.

Other panellists are Professor Chris Patel from the Department of Accounting and Finance, Macquarie University, Australia;Krishna Singh, Director of Strategic Programs, Service Science, IBM Almaden Research Center, Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, Executive Chairman, Tien Wah Press Holdings Berhad and Dr Zinaida Fadeeva, Director of Strategy, United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Japan.

Somehow accountants in practice take regulation seriously. What more when regulation created opportunities for them to provide services be it audit, tax, insolvency or secretarial services. That is why when there are proposal to amend regulations, this group of professionals would normally pay serious attention to the possible changes although the change may occur a number of years down the road.

These were the issues that were discussed during a forum with the theme Effective Regulation & Sustainable Operationsorganised by the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) on 11 November 2009 for the practitioners. Nik Mohd Hasyudeen Yusoff, the CEO and Thoughts Leader of Inovastra, was invited to be the moderator. The panellists were Billy Kang, Council member of MIA, Jennifer Lopez, Head of ACCA Malaysia and Dr Cheah Foo Seong, Chief Technical Officer of Tricor.

 


While certain risks were identified with changes in the company laws, for example, opportunities are aplenty as well. Jennifer suggested that accountants consider training as one options to expand their firms. Changes in accounting standards, for example, means companies need to build capacity and ensure their staff are competent to handle new financial reporting standards.

Billy reminded auditors to educate and convince their clients to see value from audit. Otherwise, clients would not appreciate the value of audit and would be very hesitant to pay audit fees.

Dr. Cheah shared his experience in providing services to corporate clients. According to him, accountants need to be innovative and provide services beyond the ones which are triggered by regulation.

Nik Hasyudeen suggested accountants to shape their future without waiting for the laws to be amended. If accountants are working on their practices rather than in their practices, they would be able to spot opportunities faster or identify risks that are forthcoming. This requires a shift in mindset.

Eventually practising accountants have to create value out of the services provided to clients rather than relying on regulation to drive their practices forward. This is quite challenging for some as being in a closed profession, regulation has provided accountants with monopoly over certain services such as auditing.