Entrepreneurs are all about firsts, and the most important is you making a great first impression – on investors, customers, new team members, and strategic partners. Poor first impressions can be avoided, but I’m amazed at the number of unnecessary mistakes I see at those critical first introductions, presentations, and meetings.
The key message here is “preparation.” People who think they can always “wing it,” bluff their way past tough questions, or expect the other party to bridge all the gaps, sadly often find that what they think is a win, is actually a loss which can never be regained.
We’ve all met people that we instantly like because of a great first impression, and want to do business with. Here are some common sense things that they do and you can do to maximize the first impression that you impart in any business environment or discussion:
Dress appropriately from the perspective of the person you are trying to impress. This one is so obvious that I hesitate to mention it, except for the fact that I see it ignored so often. Maybe you love wearing Hawaiian shirts to work, but when you visit a traditional banker to close on a loan, it will be worth your time to put on a solid shirt and jacket.
Always research the person online before a first meeting. In today’s world of LinkedIn and Facebook, there is no excuse for not recognizing a person as you meet them for the first time, and knowing their accomplishments, if not their interests and academic background.
Google the organization and the role they represent. It’s polite to ask a professional you just met about their company affiliation, but it’s much smarter to ask them about a current issue, making it clear that you already know a good bit about their company, and their role in that company.
Find a common business link or friend to warm up the connection. The best introduction to a new customer, or potential angel investor, is a warm introduction from a common friend, rather than a cold call. In my opinion, this approach will double or triple your probability for success, no matter what the transaction.
Be prepared to concisely state your key objective. Before the other party has to ask, you should look for an opportunity to net out what you are here to accomplish, and even have a couple of questions in mind that you would like to get answered. Think of it as not forgetting to ask for the order.
Know a lot, but don’t flaunt it. Some people do all the right legwork, but then kill themselves by appearing arrogant or obsequious in the way that they can’t stop talking about everything that they know. When you meet someone new who is important, your first words after “Hello” should be a question rather than a long personal dissertation.
Be positive, courteous, on time, and attentive. We have all met people who, when asked “How are you?” provide a long litany of their latest woes, or a diatribe on current political issues. Obviously, being late to your own meeting, or appearing distracted or uninterested, will also leave a bad first impression. Smile and relax.
ARE you driven by a desire for instant gratification? Today, it has become a norm to splash the cash on ourselves, and it seems to be getting harder to keep in check the urge to spend and spend.
Unfortunately, current gain may mean future pain unless we are in control of our expenses. The good news is that it is possible to stay in charge if we know how to change our behaviour and what tools we need to do the job.
Falling prey
When the latest gadget or fad is in town, our lives seem to turn unbearably dull until we go out and get a piece of the action for ourselves.
We see others enjoying their iPads or Galaxy Note, and feel so left behind because we don't have one ourselves. A few months ago, we had barely spared a thought on it, but for some strange reason, it suddenly feels like we just cannot function without having one. So, before we can check ourselves, we've gone and bought one too, although we may not really know what we want to use it for, except endlessly checking our Facebook accounts.
That is just one among the many temptations around us that are competing for our hard-earned money. Media messages of dream getaways fuel our desire to go to enchanting overseas locations, and we can't wait to blow a small fortune on a holiday it has to be next month or we could almost burst.
Advertisements sell us the idea that we deserve to live a privileged existence, no matter what our station in life. We indulge in fine dining at the drop of a hat. When the stress of our jobs gets to us, shopping comes to the rescue in the name of retail therapy.
No wonder we find that there's a big hole in our pockets. For those of us who have become used to living life large, it may seem strange that not long ago, that was far from the norm. Just one generation earlier, it was quite usual for people to save patiently towards their financial goals, i.e. to delay gratification until they had the money to spend.
KUALA LUMPUR: She was furious to find her son at a cybercafe, engrossed in his game, when he was supposed to be at rugby practice in school.
But what shocked Zaridah Abu Zarin, 39, even more was seeing children, some as young as four, completely absorbed in playing online games.
Moved by what she saw, Zaridah decided to set up a centre with her business partner, Michelle Wong, to help youths and children overcome their addiction to Internet games for free.
“There were also four children, squeezing in one seat, just so that they could share the computer in the cybercafe,” said the KidQ daycare centre director at Bandar Sri Damansara here.
Wong, who is also a director at KidQ, said the centre, named “U”th Community Centre, that started yesterday, would be a place for children to participate in enjoyable and productive activities.
"There's more meaning to life than going to the cybercafe. One of our immediate steps is to conduct an intervention for children addicted to the Internet at cybercafes.
"Since we run a daycare centre, we have the facilities to allow youths and children to conduct activities," said the 47-year-old.
The lawsuit charges the defendants with failing to disclose "a severe and pronounced reduction" in forecasts for Facebook's revenue growth in the run-up to Friday's IPO.
Facebook shareholders have sued the social network, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and a number of banks, alleging that crucial information was concealed ahead of Facebook's IPO.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan this morning, charges the defendants with failing to disclose in the critical days leading up to Friday's initial public offering "a severe and pronounced reduction" in forecasts for Facebook's revenue growth, as users more and more access Facebook through mobile devices, according to Reuters, which cited a law firm for the plaintiffs. (The case is Brian Roffe Profit Sharing Plan v. Facebook, 12-04081.)
Earlier this month, Facebook updated its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission to say that the shift to smartphones and other mobile gadgets is cutting into the prices it can set for advertisers, which would in turn hurt the company's revenue. In March, the social network had 488 million monthly average unique users of its mobile products, out of a total of just over 900 million registered users.
The plaintiffs charge that the changes to the forecast by several underwriters of the IPO were only "selectively disclosed" to a small group of preferred investors and not to the investment community at large. "The value of Facebook common stock has declined substantially and plaintiffs and the class have sustained damages as a result," the complaint says, per the Reuters report.
Facebook Inc and banks including Morgan Stanley were sued by the social networking leader's shareholders, who claimed the defendants hid Facebook's weakened growth forecasts ahead of its $16 billion initial public offering.
The defendants, who also include Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, were accused of concealing from investors during the IPO marketing process "a severe and pronounced reduction" in revenue growth forecasts, resulting from increased use of its app or website through mobile devices. Facebook went public last week.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday, according to a law firm for the plaintiffs. A day earlier, a similar lawsuit by a different investor was filed in a California state court, according to a law firm involved in that case.....
NEW YORK (Reuters): Claims by four of Wall Street's main market makers against Nasdaq over Facebook's botched IPO are likely to exceed $100 million, as they and other traders continue to deal with thousands of problems with customer orders.
A technical glitch delayed the social networking company's market debut by 30 minutes on Friday and many client orders were delayed, giving some investors and traders significant losses as the stock price dropped. The exchange operator is facing lawsuits from investors and threats of legal action from brokers.
Four of the top market makers in the Facebook IPO -- Knight Capital, Citadel Securities, UBS AG and Citi's Automated Trading Desk -- collectively have probably lost more than $100 million from problems arising from the deal, said a senior executive at one of the firms.
Knight and Citadel are each claiming losses of $30 million to $35 million, potentially overwhelming a $13 million fund the exchange set up to deal with potential claims.
Nasdaq also has to contend with the outside prospect that it could lose the Facebook listing entirely after having just obtained it.
Facebook shares ended regular trading on Thursday up 3.2 percent at $33.03, about $5 short of their offering price. Action on the stock, however, has essentially become secondary to the fallout from the IPO -- its price, its size, its execution and questions about selective disclosure of its financial prospects.
Regulators including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin are now looking into how the IPO was handled. The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is also reviewing the matter....
Actually, however, the news is even worse: No one is going to invest in Facebook shares today if its price will be 30% lower in five years. So, in order to entice someone to invest in it today, Facebook needs to offer a handsome return. Assuming that its five-year return is equal to the stock market’s long-term average return of 11% annualized, Facebook shares currently would need to be trading at just $13.80.......
The money manager mentality also meant that VCs became risk averse
KUALA LUMPUR: An expert on venture capitalism is of the opinion that the venture capitalist model is broken.
NOT BEYOND REPAIR: Green believes that the VC model is broken but it can still be fixed.
Jordan Green, chairman of the Australian Association of Angel Investors, said the latest generation of VCs has not been delivering results.
"Up until the mid-90s, VCs could reap a double digit return on investment on the companies they invested in," he told Bytz on the sidelines of the Asian Business Angel Forum (ABAF) 2012 here.
Green said today's VCs fail to do better than their predecessors because of their money manager mentality, and they aren't capable of advising entrepreneurs on how to viably commercialise their products.
"Venture capitalism predicated on the idea that people in the VC firm would be able to help the startups they invest in to grow effectively. But you need to have business experience to do this, " he said.
According to Green, many of today's VCs have the academic qualifications but not the experience of having run a business.
This situation arose when VC firms started to institutionalise, to give themselves bigger funds to work with, he said.
However, as the establishments got bigger, there was not enough qualified people with the right business experience to hire.
"As a result, those without any entrepreneurial skills could not properly help the startups move forward," Green said.
"And the money manager mentality also meant that VCs became risk adverse and would only fund startups when they started being profitable. This created the 'VC gap.'"
The gap is where entrepreneurs have difficulty getting funding between starting up and starting to show profitability - the period when VCs are most needed.
Green believes investing in a business requires empathy, and is not merely an intellectual exercise.
Malaysia is moving in the right direction by starting angel investor networks because this will give startups here an alternative to VCs when they need funding for their fledgling products and services, he said.
"Angels are actually replacing the VCs of yore. They are the experienced business people who can advise entrepreneurs on how to bring their products to greater heights," Green said.
Most entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time trying to come up with radically new products.
Why? Because they don’t think they can.
They believe that because they’re in an old, conservative industry, they have no chance of coming up with anything new and different.
They feel that everything has been invented. That there’s no new way to do business or design a product or service.
There’s a good reason they think this: in many industries there has indeed been very little change. But just because the industry hasn’t changed, it doesn’t mean it can’t.
And those that have the courage to come up with revolutionary new products are often rewarded with millions in additional profits for their efforts.
Here is a new example of just such a breakthrough.
You couldn’t get a more boring, staid industry than the envelope business. There’s basically been no change in the design of an envelope for 80 years!
But suddenly along comes Flavorlopes: fruit flavored envelopes!
They solve a real problem – people hate licking envelopes. Now with Flavorlopes you can enjoy licking envelopes with the following flavors: Apple. Cherry, Grape, Orange and Strawberry.
Bang. Just like that, an industry is changed.
Now I’m the first to admit this is not a product breakthrough of the magnitude of the personal computer or the disposable pen. But hey, it’s not a bad effort for the envelope business.
LinkedIn once again proved it's not Facebook: The business networking site reported that sales nearly doubled from a year ago, led by a huge increase in revenue for its job posting services.
LinkedIn Earnings: Revenue Up 89% YoY
LinkedIn has released its Q2 earnings report. Revenue is up 89% year-over-year at $228.2 million. Net income, on the other hand, was down to $2.8 million for the quarter, from $4.5 million the same period last year. The company beat Wall Street expectations.
During the quarter, the company launched its iPad app, redesigned LinkedIn Today, released targeted status updates and follower stats to companies with active profiles, and completed the rollout of Talent Pipeline.
“LinkedIn had a strong second quarter with all of our key operating and financial metrics showing solid performance,” said CEO Jeff Weiner. “Our ongoing investment in product innovation drove healthy engagement as measured by unique visiting members and member page views, and our three revenue streams all experienced significant growth.”
Here’s the release in its entirety:
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE:LNKD), the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, currently with more than 175 million members, reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012:
Revenue for the second quarter was $228.2 million, an increase of 89% compared to $121.0 million in the second quarter of 2011.
Net income for the second quarter was $2.8 million, compared to net income of $4.5 million for the second quarter of 2011. Non-GAAP net income for the second quarter was $18.1 million, compared to $10.8 million for the second quarter of 2011. Non-GAAP measures exclude tax-affected stock-based compensation expense and tax-affected amortization of acquired intangible assets.
Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $50.4 million, or 22% of revenue, compared to $26.3 million for the second quarter of 2011, or 22% of revenue.
GAAP EPS for the second quarter was $0.03; Non-GAAP EPS for the second quarter was $0.16.
“LinkedIn had a strong second quarter with all of our key operating and financial metrics showing solid performance,” said Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn. “Our ongoing investment in product innovation drove healthy engagement as measured by unique visiting members and member page views, and our three revenue streams all experienced significant growth.”
Second Quarter Financial Details and Operating Summary
Hiring Solutions: Revenue from Hiring Solutions products totaled $121.6 million, an increase of 107% compared to the second quarter of 2011. Hiring Solutions revenue represented 53% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2012, compared to 48% in the second quarter of 2011.
Marketing Solutions: Revenue from Marketing Solutions products totaled $63.1 million, an increase of 64% compared to the second quarter of 2011. Marketing Solutions revenue represented 28% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2012, compared to 32% in the second quarter of 2011.
Premium Subscriptions: Revenue from Premium Subscriptions products totaled $43.5 million, an increase of 82% compared to the second quarter of 2011. Premium Subscriptions represented 19% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2012, compared to 20% of revenue in the second quarter of 2011.
Revenue from the U.S. totaled $147.3 million, and represented 65% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2012. Revenue from international markets totaled $81.0 million, and represented 35% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2012.
Substantial inflows and outflows of investments expected for this year
GEORGE TOWN: Despite the global economic crisis, property investments coming into the country and going to overseas this year are expected to increase substantially.
The recently introduced 10% stamp duty for foreigners buying properties in Singapore has increased the attraction of Malaysia as a property investment destination.
Property investments flowing to Melbourne, Australia, are expected to increase between 15% to 18% this year from RM125mil in 2011, thanks to new housing loans for the Australian market recently introduced by Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank).
Property Talk International Sdn Bhd managing director Steven Cheah said that foreigners showing interest in Malaysian properties had increased significantly this year, compared with the last three years, due to the recent 10% stamp duty introduced in Singapore for foreigners buying homes.
Tang: ‘Investors from China are big time property purchasers in Singapore.’ Tang: ‘Investors from China are big time property purchasers in Singapore.’
“The other reason is that Kuala Lumpur still remain as one of the few South-East Asian cities with attractive property prices.
“Compared to Jakarta, the price for a prime residential in Kuala Lumpur is about 15% lower.
“The buyers are from Indonesia and China and they show preference for Iskandar, Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur.
“Indonesians prefer Iskandar because it is close to Singapore,” he said.
The Indonesians and China buyers generally go for properties priced between RM600,000 to RM1.5mil in Iskandar and Kuala Lumpur, while in Penang they go for RM1mil above homes, according to Cheah.
The additional direct flights from Jakarta to Penang by Air Asia had also fueled the interest from Indonesia for Malaysian properties, Cheah added.
This year, Property Talk expects to sell about RM55mil worth of properties located in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang, compared with over RM20mil achieved for 2011.
“Over the past three months, we have sold over RM25mil worth of properties, comprising 35 residential homes located in Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar, Johor Baru.
“We expect to sell another RM30mil worth of properties, comprising 30 to 40 homes, from Iskandar, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang via three more property exhibitions in Jakarta jointly organised by Malaysia Property Inc and private developers before the year ends,” he said.
Chinese-language search engine Baidu has decided to try and capture the massive mobile internet market in China by launching its own mobile browser, Baidu Explorer.
China’s biggest search engine launches its own mobile browser, Baidu ExplorerBaidu Campus, Beijing, China. Image by hwanghsuhui, via Wikimedia Commons
Chinese-language search engine Baidu has decided to try and capture the massive mobile internet market in China by launching its own mobile browser, Baidu Explorer.
Baidu is already the dominant search engine China, which has 538m online users, but with 388m of these users accessing the internet via mobile phones, the company needs to tap into this vast market.
Other mobile products from Baidu include a mobile operating system that appears on low-cost smartphones the company produces with its manufacturing partners. But, with Baidu Explorer, it hopes to reach other smartphone users. The target, according to Reuters, is to have Baidu Explorer downloaded by 80pc of Android users in China by the end of this year.
Though there is already strong competition in the mobile browser market, Baidu claims its browser is 20pc faster than its rivals based on internal tests. It also has strong HTML5 compatibility and users can run HD video through the browser without having to download additional apps or software.
Baidu is already the dominant search engine China, which has 538m online users, but with 388m of these users accessing the internet via mobile phones, the company needs to tap into this vast market.
Other mobile products from Baidu include a mobile operating system that appears on low-cost smartphones the company produces with its manufacturing partners. But, with Baidu Explorer, it hopes to reach other smartphone users. The target, according to Reuters, is to have Baidu Explorer downloaded by 80pc of Android users in China by the end of this year.
Though there is already strong competition in the mobile browser market, Baidu claims its browser is 20pc faster than its rivals based on internal tests. It also has strong HTML5 compatibility and users can run HD video through the browser without having to download additional apps or software.
Hopes for 80 per cent penetration by year-end
China’s search-and-plenty-more giant Baidu has flagged a $US1.6 billion cloud investment. The investment, announced with a minimum of detail by CFO Li Xinzhe, will go towards building data centres and hiring staff.
The Chinese search firm also announced the launch of the Baidu Mobile Browser, which it says is designed to compete with Chrome and Safari. It claims a 20 percent performance boost over its rivals based on internal testing.
Briefing Asian journalists last Friday (August 31), Baidu said its mobile browser can play high-definition video without plugins or extra supporting software, according to Reuters.
THE year 2012 has been labelled “the year of shame'' for the banking industry.
It doesn't matter that such nasty name-calling refers more to the problems at British banks.
Whatever happens in London is bound to attract world interest as it is a major financial centre vying for top spot with New York.
When scandals fall in thick, the tarnish on the banks there becomes even more significant.
To make matters worse, it is now apparent that the Libor interest rate rigging problem is more widespread than originally thought.
Innovation practitioners know that they should not listen to the experts who approach life with rigid blinkers that prevent them from visualising anything outside their conditioned minds.
Invention vs innovation
TAKING a leaf out of what our Prime Minister wrote in this space two weeks ago, innovative thinking is undoubtedly a significant driver in propelling the nation’s economy to new heights. It is imperative that Malaysians embrace a culture of innovation.
But let’s take a step or two back, before we can begin to move forward. It is important to pin down exactly what innovation means. Several readers have asked me if innovation is the same as invention, especially after reading about Malaysian researchers winning awards for their inventions. In fact, although they may appear similar at first glance, upon closer inspection both are very different indeed.
If you make something unique or original, that’s an invention. Whether the invention has value or not is immaterial. This is why we see whacky inventions like toothbrushes for dogs or a clip-on fan on chopsticks to cool down noodles. Both these examples are unique and original but offer little value to most citizens.
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Ten months after S P Setia Bhd unveiled its succession plan, head honcho Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin has announced his intention to resign as president and chief executive officer.
Also quitting the company is chief financial officer Datuk Teow Leong Seng.
Liew’s departure was expected by industry observers but Teow’s resignation came as a surprise as he was named deputy chairman in the property player’s succession plan earlier, analysts told StarBiz.
Liew would leave the property giant on April 30 while Teow would stay on until July 31.
Liew and Teow would continue to be involved in the Battersea Power Station project in London until September 2015 given the prominence of the international project.
Liew would also remain managing director for Qinzhou Development (M) Consortium Sdn Bhd, a Sino-foreign joint venture company to develop the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park in the republic until the same period.
It is also speculated that present chief operating officer Datuk Voon Tin Yow, who was appointed the company’s acting president and chief executive officer, might also resign later.
In a statement, S P Setia said Voon’s appointment would be effective from May 1, 2014 until April 30, 2015.
Voon would be supported by executive vice-president Datuk Khor Chap Jen who would be appointed acting deputy president during the same period, it said.
S P Setia chairman Tun Zaki Tun Azmi said: “Whilst the board and I are greatly saddened by the departure of Liew, Teow and Lee, we are confident that the group will continue to be in steady hands under Voon and Khor.”
Observers expected its biggest owner Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) to take more proactive measures in managing its talents as well as setting the company’s direction going forward.
It was earlier reported that Datuk Jamaludin Osman of I&P Group Sdn Bhd – PNB’s property arm – was among the candidates tipped to take over Liew’s stewardship. There were also talks of a possible asset injection by PNB into S P Setia.
Liew said: “Given the solid footing which the company is on, I believe the time has arrived for me to step down after 18 years as CEO.
“With my children all growing up and starting out on their own career paths, I am looking forward to spending more time with them, mentoring and guiding them.”
Liew’s eldest son, Tian Xiong, is a major shareholder and director in Eco World, another property firm set up by former S P Setia top brass.
S P Setia fell five sen to close at RM2.88 while Eco World was up one sen to RM4.15.
Analysts said the market has priced in Liew’s retirement from S P Setia and they expected the company’s operation to remain intact for the time being.
Bloomberg data showed that its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) was 13.4 times compared to 16.06 times currently. Its average P/E ranged from 17 times to 20 times from financial year ended Oct 31, 2011 (FY11) to FY13.
Liew is instrumental in growing S P Setia from a RM200mil entity in 1998 into a multi-billion ringgit international property company.
With him at the helm, S P Setia achieved sales of RM8.24bil in FY13, almost double from what it registered in FY12.
The group has 4,782 acres of undeveloped land bank worth RM102bil while its unbilled sales stood at RM9.6bil as at FY13.
- Contributed by Ng Bei Shan The StarBiz/ANN
Who’s who in Eco World
Fresh from graduating as a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University late last year, Liew Tian Xiong, 22, is not short of persuasive skills that a sales person possesses as he introduces EcoSky to StarBizWeek when we visited Eco World Development Sdn Bhd’s sales gallery.
In fact, one of the key performance indicators he has to meet, is to sell off 30 units of its KL project, EcoSky, which will then determine whether he gets his bonus.
Besides sales and marketing, he is also involved in project planning, land acquisition and liaising with land consultants.
Asked on people who influenced him, the affable young man says: “I have probably learnt from my father throughout my whole life. He taught me to keep my head down and listen to people, and to keep asking questions.”
He says he has learnt from both CEO Datuk Chang Khim Wah and COO Datuk S. Rajoo and what he is going through, is essentially a fast track management training programme.
Chang says: “There is a lot of things (for him) to learn. He’s doing groundwork like sales and marketing, planning and reading legal documents although he is holding the director’s card.”
“Tan Sri Liew (Kee Sin) told me that I can scold him (Xiong). I was scolded by Tan Sri Liew back then, so it’s pay back time now,” Chang jokes.
However the relationship among the management team when StarBizWeek met up with them is warm and fervent.
Chang quips: “We even play futsal with him (Xiong)… ”
The experienced management personnel like Chang and Rajoo had known each other for about two decades, but Xiong, at his tender age, seems to be gelling well with them.
Xiong’s younger brother, Tian Rong, 20, is also with the company as a contract staff. He is pursuing an economics degree from University London College and is having a stint in the company.
The man who helms Eco World, Datuk Chang Khim Wah, 50, joined S P Setia in 1994 and had been there for about 20 years. Prior to that, he was a consultant engineer in Australia. He was one of the members instrumental in setting up S P Setia’s Johor Baru division and went on to set up an office in Singapore and Jakarta.
He concedes that the team has S P Setia’s DNA in terms of team effort and competitiveness. His relationship with Liew was depicted as an understanding that required little words.
“We don’t speak long sentences (but) we understand each other,” he shares.
Chang’s counterpart, Rajoo, 50, assumes the position of COO in Eco World. He spent his first seven years in S P Setia in the Klang Valley helping the development of Bukit Indah Ampang and Pusat Bandar Puchong
and subsequently in some of the township developments in Johor where he then worked closely with Chang.
After that, he was overseeing S P Setia’s projects in the northern region for seven years and had carried out 13 projects with a gross development of more than RM2bil in the Pearl of the Orient.
Heah Kok Boon, 46, the chief financial officer of Eco World, is a chartered accountant who has over two decades of experience in the field of corporate finance, corporate fund raising, investments, merger and acquisition as well as other finance-related areas.
He was with S P Setia’s corporate affairs department for six years prior to his current role.
When introducing the major shareholders behind Eco World, Chang says Leong and Rashid are the two major shareholders.
“These two names are more than enough (for Eco World’s credibility),” Chang says, joking that Xiong has no shares in the property outfit.
One of its major shareholders and directors, businessman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaf, 65, was trained as a legal practitioner from Middle Temple London.
He was chairman for the board of S P Setia Bhd from March 12, 1997 until Oct 25, 2012.
Another director, who is a corporate figure, is Datuk Eddy Leong Kok Wah, 58. He holds a master of business administration from University of Hull, United Kingdom, and is also a member of Institute of Bankers (UK). He has an extensive career in the banking industry and is currently an executive director of Salcon Bhd and also sits on the board of a few other companies. He was in S P Setia’s remuneration committee from Sept 21, 2005-Feb 28, 2013.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has delivered a keynote speech, mapping out the direction for cooperati…
New bank underscores BRICS unity
The BRICS New Development Bank was established Tuesday with an initial capital of $50 billion shared equally by the five BRICS countries. The Contingent Reserve Arrangement was also launched with an initial fund of $100 billion. The development bank’s headquarters will be in Shanghai. Its first president will be from India, the first chair of the board of directors from Brazil and the first chair of the board of governors from Russia. The bank will have an African regional branch in South Africa.
The idea of a BRICS bank was first mooted by India. The five countries reached a consensus at last year’s BRICS summit and the bank has been launched this year. The fast pace and its implications have created waves in the West. This landmark event shows that BRICS countries have turned from a forum to an entity and may signal a new beginning for global strategic trends.
The five emerging powers from four continents have formed a financial group. Prior to that, the world’s financial power was held firmly by Americans and Europeans.
Without exception, Western opinions have all been centered on the deep-rooted discrepancies among the five BRICS nations. They didn’t expect that the wishes and ability of the five countries to overcome these discrepancies were so strong.
Has the world’s financial pattern changed? We cannot say this yet, but the old pattern in which the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund dominated the field will face competition from now on.
The BRICS bank not only forms a new financing channel, but also will display the democracy and equality that the old financial pattern lacks most.
Western opinions have tried to drive a wedge among BRICS countries and have speculated about China’s hegemonic ambition to dominate the institution. The successful launch of the bank has dealt a heavy blow to them.
Western elites have expressed opinions on emerging countries with a biased mentality, which makes their views detached from reality.
That Shanghai is chosen to site the bank headquarters is good news. Shanghai is becoming a new geographic and financial center in the 21st century. It unites the development momentum of the whole of China and is a major international metropolis in the Western Pacific. It is bound to be an outstanding host city.
On the other hand, the opening of the BRICS bank will provide a new driving force for Shanghai.
China’s reform and opening-up in the past 30 years have created huge potentials for this city, while the stage where it can display its strength is relatively small. The BRICS bank is a timely opportunity which will broaden the scope of Shanghai and boost its influence.
China is the most outstanding country among all the emerging powers. The launch of the BRICS bank with Shanghai as its headquarters is a testament to China’s national strength, diplomatic capabilities and strategic position. The confidence of all the emerging countries will be boosted. The five nations used to be earthen BRICS, and with the development bank, they will truly become gold BRICS.
Source:Global Times Published: 2014-7-17
BRICS Agree on $50 Billion Bank With Something for Everyone;
Photographer: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images
Leaders of the five BRICS nations agreed on the structure of a $50 billion development bank by granting China its headquarters and India its first rotating presidency. Brazil, Russia and South Africa were also granted posts or units in the new bank.
The leaders also formalized the creation of a $100 billion currency exchange reserve, which member states can tap in case of balance of payment crises, according to a statement issued at a summit in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Both initiatives, which require legislative approval, are designed to provide an alternative to financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, where BRICS countries have been seeking more say. The measures coincide with a slowing of economic growth in the five countries to about 5.4 percent this year from 10.7 percent in 2007, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
“The BRICS are gaining political weight and demonstrating their role in the international arena,” Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said after a signing ceremony.
Until the eve of the summit, India and South Africa had vied with China to host the headquarters of the bank, dubbed the New Development Bank. The administration of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave in after it was reminded that his country’s previous administration had agreed to Shanghai as the bank’s headquarter, according to an Indian official, who requested not to be named because the talks were not public.
Shared Out
Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters that the BRICS decided in favor of Shanghai because the city offers better infrastructure, opportunities to capture private funding, and is home to more investors than the competitors.
Each member country got something out of the deal. The first chairperson of the Board of Governors will be from Russia, while the first chairperson of the Board of Directors will be Brazilian. South Africa will establish an African regional center for the bank, which may not get off the ground for another two years, according to Carlos Cozendey, secretary for international affairs at Brazil’s Finance Ministry.
Unlike the IMF and World Bank, which are managed by Europeans and Americans, the BRICS bank “is quite democratic,” Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters.
Each member country has the right to withdraw different amounts from the joint currency reserves, according to a statement from Brazil’s central bank. China can withdraw half the amount it earmarks or $20.5 billion. Brazil, Russia, and India may withdraw the same amount they commit or $18 billion, while South Africa can tap $10 billion, twice its contribution.
“It’s a type of insurance policy, speculators looking for weaker countries without backup, will run because those countries will have sufficient solidity to face a currency problem,” said Mantega.
Aiding Development
The BRICS have evolved from the original term coined in 2001 by then Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economist Jim O’Neill to describe the growing weight of the largest emerging markets in the global economy. In 2011, South Africa joined to give the BRICS a broader geographic representation.
Even with slowing economic growth in BRICS countries, there are still plenty of opportunities for business, and the newly-created development bank will help those opportunities become reality, said Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, chairman of Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau SA.
“The bigger the financing possibilities, the bigger the chances of implementing projects,” Gerdau told reporters at the summit.
The biggest winner among the BRICS and its newly created bank may be South Africa, as it stands to gain financial expertise, investment and trade, said Colin Coleman, the Johannesburg-based head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in sub-Saharan Africa, who attended the BRICS Business Council meeting.
Greatest Benefit
“Arguably we have the greatest amount to benefit because we’re partnering diplomatically and otherwise with some of the world’s most important emerging-market economies,” Coleman said in a phone interview.
While BRICS trade ministers in a joint communique yesterday said that member countries stood by the World Trade Organization’s Bali agreement, Brazil’s Trade Minister Mauro Borges said he understood India had certain concerns about its implementation and that the BRICS countries didn’t intend to forge a common stance on the issue.
BRICS share of world exports rose to 16 percent in 2011, from 8 percent in 2001.
Russia also proposed at the summit in the northeastern coastal city of Fortaleza the creation of an Infrastructure Fund during the summit, Kirill Dmitriev, chief executive officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, told reporters today. The fund could start up as early as next year, he said
.- By Raymond Colitt, Unni Krishnan and Arnaldo Galvao Bloomberg
The Chinese government has issued a white paper on the arbitration ruling. It contains more than 20,000 Chinese characters and says the Philippines' territorial claim over part of the Nansha Islands, is groundless from the perspective of either history or international law.
Full Text: Chinese version;English version;French version
BEIJING, July 13, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 13, 2016 shows the white paper titled "China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea" issued by Chinese government in Beijing, capital of China. "The Philippines' territorial claim over part of Nansha Qundao is groundless from the perspectives of either history or international law," said the document issued by the State Council Information Office on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)
BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government on Wednesday issued a white paper to expound on its position, which calls for settling relevant disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea through negotiation.
"It is the Philippines that has created and stirred up trouble," said Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin at a press conference held Wednesday to introduce the white paper.
"Violating bilateral consensus in recent years, the Philippines has repeatedly taken moves that complicate and intensify relevant disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea," he said.
The white paper, titled "China Adheres to the Position of Settling Through Negotiation the Relevant Disputes Between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea," was published one day after an award was issued in arbitration unilaterally initiated by the previous Philippine government.
China's banking regulator issued tough new rules on Wednesday to tighten regulation of the country's $60 billion peer-to-peer lending sector, which has been dogged by scandals and fraud.
The measures mark the latest attempt by China to reduce risks to the world's second-largest economy by cleaning up the its rapidly growing but loosely regulated online financial sector.
Peer-to-peer lending (P2P) platforms will not be able to take deposits, nor provide any forms of guarantee for lenders, according to a joint document issued by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), Ministry of Public Security, Cyberspace Administration of China, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The regulator said some P2P firms were running Ponzi schemes and raising funds illegally, and said it would bar firms from 13 "forbidden" activities.
Under the new rules, P2P firms would not be permitted to sell wealth management products which are popular with many Chinese investors, nor issue asset-backed securities, and must use third party banks as custodians of investor funds, the regulator said.
With the wisdom of hindsight, I am now able to advise my children on their decision making process on whether they should be a corporate suit or to go on their own. My only guidance to them is whatever choice they make, just ensure their actions are productive and contribute towards the well being of the economy. Don’t be lazy, do good where you can and be as good as you can be. Then start a family. Circle of life starts again.
The only career that I totally discouraged my children from is the job of a politician. Good politicians are hard to find nowadays. Since integrity left the politicians, good virtues and honesty followed. What is left is a shell of a conniving and corrupted politician using whatever means they can to stay in power supposedly representing the people’s interest.
All over the world, the politicians together with religious and racist bigots have caused total mayhem to our daily lives. People are divided by race, religion and skin colour. Nothing makes sense anymore. Throw in lots of money into a politician’s hands and we have absolute corruption across the ranks. Cash is king. Everybody can be bought. And I mean everybody.
What is really sad is the complete breakdown of morality and integrity of the human politician. Where he suffers no shame when he is openly corrupted. When he can sleep well even though he has done many evil things destroying the moral fabric of the society which he swore to protect. I have nothing but despise for these toxic politicians.
The few genuine politicians who stand up their grounds to all are few and far between. Eventually, they too will engulfed by the all pervasive influence of corruption.
To the younger generation joining the working community, my only advice is to pick a job that fits your personality and your skill sets. Make sure you enjoy the job. Get some proper working experience under your belt and you can evaluate your options in a more leisurely way.
You will know when there is a calling for you to become an entrepreneur. You will be unhappy with your job, your bosses irritates you, there is a burning desire that has just lighted up in your belly, a brilliant idea suddenly appeared and you feel that you are now ready to be an entrepreneur. Are you?
From experience, it takes a long time for an entrepreneur to make big fortune. If you do not have the patience, I recommend you a job that makes money faster than an entrepreneur.
Be a politician.
China's Tiangong-2 space lab blasted off on Thursday, marking another milestone in its increasingly ambitious space program, which envisions a mission to Mars by the end of this decade and its own space station by around 2020.
In a cloud of smoke underneath a mid-autumn full moon, Tiangong-2 roared into the air at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi desert, on the back of a Long March-2F T2 rocket at 10:04 p.m. Beijing Time.
The Long March-2F T2 is a two-stage launch vehicle that uses four strap-on boosters during its first stage.
About 20 minutes later, the mission was declared a success.
Tiangong-2 separated from the rocket and entered the preset orbit 575 seconds after blast-off, a statement from the mission control read.
While in space, the 8.6-tonne Tiangong-2 will maneuver itself into an orbit about 380 kilometers above Earth for initial in-orbit tests. It will then transfer to a slightly higher orbit of about 393 kilometers above Earth's surface.
Later, the Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft will carry two astronauts into space to dock with the lab. The astronauts will work in the lab for 30 days before returning to Earth.
It was a case of chin up, chest out at the recently concluded CIFIT in Xiamen, with the doors swung wide open to foreign sophisticated industries and its private industries poised to venture out.
China’s economic growth may be slowing down after three decades of high growth, but the 19th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) held at Xiamen from Sept 8 to 11 showcased a “new China” that is confidently restructuring its economy in response to global challenges.
CIFIT 2016 themed “New Concept, New Development: Towards a new world of open economy” clearly signified China’s readiness to embrace reforms, after it has sailed through the exciting period of opening up in the 1980s-1990s, and the 2008 crisis that hit its industries badly.
A new China will discard China-made cheap and low-quality industrial products, and counterfeits – rampant at the beginning of the opening-up and even to this day, but will want to see quality enterprises that can compete internationally with high-end goods and services, such as those provided by Huawei, Lenovo and Haier.
The financial crisis of 2008 and China’s disappearing demographic advantage, as well as external trade friction, have forced industries and the economy to go for structural changes. Slower economic growth backed by quality investments is to be the new norm.
