SPEAKERS
CEO Spotlight
Puan Saliza Abdullah
Saliza Abdullah is the Managing Director and CEO of BG Capital Holdings Group of Companies, a 100% women-owned, integrated one-stop security and safety solutions provider, advocating sustainability and impact. Despite the pandemic, Saliza has successfully led her business organization to become the first Malaysian SME to receive The UN Women Asia-Pacific WEPs Award for the category of industry and community engagement in December 2020.
With 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, Saliza has transformed the family business from a single company into a group of companies with nearly 500 employees, celebrating their 30th anniversary on 22 January 2022. Saliza is also Founder of BGCH For The Community and author of an entrepreneurship book “Growing A Sustainable Family Business. Our First 30 Years. Values & Strategies for Entrepreneurs & SMEs.”
On a personal capacity, Saliza has received several entrepreneurship awards namely NCWO Young Entrepreneur Icon Award 2015, MSPC SME Icon Award 2017 and AWEN Outstanding ASEAN Woman Entrepreneur Award 2019. Saliza holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University (USA) and Master of Business Administration from Multimedia University with industrial training at Université de la Rochelle (France). Saliza is also a Certified Crime Prevention Specialist accredited by The Chartered International Institute of Security & Crisis Management (CIISCM).
Saliza currently serves as Deputy Chairman, Women’s Empowerment Action Committee, Leadership Cluster under the Ministry of Women, Family & Community Development; Deputy President of the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Malaysia (NAWEM); Vice President of the Malaysia Security Industry Association (PIKM); Industry Advisory Panel, Faculty of Management of Multimedia University; Project Advisor of L’OREAL-NAWEM Women In Business Social Enterprise; and alumna of ANSARA (MRSM Taiping) and East-West Centre Changing Faces, a leadership program funded by the US Department of States.
Mr Aizat Rahim
Aizat Rahim is one of the founders for Dropee.com, a B2B eCommerce solution provider that helps manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution businesses to adopt the right technology. Dropee is revolutionizing the way manufacturers, wholesalers & retailers manage their procurement, inventory, credit financing, warehousing & innovation solutions. They have been fortunate to be invested by top Government funds such as MAVCAP & Cradle. We are also invested by Y-Combinator, largest early-stage investor in the world.
Prior to Dropee, he was one of the founding partners for Job4Locum, a medical job portal company that was acquired by MIMS and founding partner of Infinite Ventures, a venture building company that was acquired by Kern (US) Technology.
With experiences covering across supply-chain, SME & Tech investment, Aizat is a strong advocate of entrepreneurship by investing in a few tech companies as an Angel Investor.
Ms See Wai Hun
See Wai Hun is the co-founder and CEO of JurisTech, a leading Malaysian-based fintech company, specialising in enterprise-class software solutions for banks, financial institutions, and telecommunications companies in Malaysia, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Holding a degree in Business Computing from the University of Winnipeg with Gold Medal honours, Wai Hun started her career with Ernst & Young (EY), consulting and implementing enterprise systems.
Seeing a gap in the market, Wai Hun seized the opportunity during the Asian financial crisis and co-founded JurisTech. As a visionary and a risk-taker, Wai Hun saw the future of fintech through the lens of artificial intelligence (AI) and took the bold move to build the capabilities ahead of time. As a result, JurisTech deployed their own proprietary AI in Financial Services as early as 2004.
In 2020, Wai Hun led the company to acquire iMoney, a leading personal finance company for consumers to learn about personal finance matters as well as compare and apply for financial and utility products. As the CEO of both JurisTech and iMoney, she believes that the two businesses are poised to shape and revolutionise the financial industry.
Wai Hun is a strong advocate for culture building and is very invested in her employees’ personal growth and career development. She was named Malaysia’s EY Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 and recently, SME Icon for 2021 MSPC (Malaysian Service Providers Confederation). She was also awarded an Outstanding Achievement award in the Female Entrepreneur of the Year category at the annual Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA).
Mr Wong Kah Meng
Co-founder and CEO, Funding Societies Malaysia
Kah Meng founded and leads Funding Societies in Malaysia, being the first and leading SME digital financing platform in the country since its inception in 2017.
Prior to Funding Societies, Kah Meng was a management consultant with global consulting firm Oliver Wyman, specializing in strategy development and risk management within the Financial Services industry, with experience across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Kah Meng is a CFA charter holder and holds a double degree in Finance and Actuarial Studies from The Australian National University.
Mr Mohamed Zakariya Othman
Mohamed Zakariya Othman specialises in facilitating the financial literacy for Professionals as well as Entrepreneurs and the SME Executives who are of the non-financial background. He strongly believes that financially literate professionals, business owners or entrepreneurs, are more likely to be fully in control of their divisions or business. Gaining an understanding of what balance sheets and profit & loss statements mean provides a clear view of the financial state of the business and subsequently facilitates smarter business decisions.
He is currently the General Manager and Head of Big Data Management at TFX Islamic, a fintech company that provides the supply chain financing platform for the Small- and Medium-Sized Entreprises (SMEs). Apart from providing credit assessments on companies seeking funding on the platform, he is also leading the data analytic team to conduct the full range of data analyses to provide clients with comprehensive and analytical insights from the huge database.
Mr Azlan Shah Alladin
Having had a decade of professional experience with Ernst & Young, Boustead Holdings and Neptune Orient Lines, Azlan founded Kelava in 2017 at home. His idea was to develop and introduce an ice cream product that is 100% plant-based to Malaysians, using a key ingredient that is close to their hearts: coconut milk. In 2021, Kelava was acquired by Berjaya Food.
A member of CPA Australia and a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver, Azlan enjoys the outdoors, reading and fitness.
Dr Hanafiah Yussof
Dr. Hanafiah Yussof is the Founder and Group CEO of Robopreneur Sdn Bhd, a pioneer and market leader in service robotics technology and solutions in Malaysia. Robopreneur has been involved in modernizing businesses and accelerating digital lifestyles in the country. With more than 20 years of experience in robotics research and development, Dr Hanafiah is a prominent figure for the adoption of robotics technology in businesses. Dr. Hanafiah have won several academic and business awards including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Award 2021 (top nominee in Technology Category). Dr Hanafiah started the business in 2015 as a Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) start-up company to commercialize his patented research on a Robotics Rehabilitation System for autistic children.
In 2018, Robopreneur developed the first humanoid robot in Malaysia named ADAM. Upon its success, Dr Hanafiah expanded Robopreneur’s R&D capabilities to offer robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) products and solutions for the digital transformation of commercial businesses and social enterprises.
Ms Melissa Sim
Melissa is a seasoned media specialist and CEO at AdEasy. This industry veteran started her career at UPD Outdoor, and move on to Media Prima Radio Network, before joining Trapper Media, the largest local media agency.
Melissa graduated from IACT, an industry college that sparked a passion for advertising and how it can drive brands and businesses forward. Coupled with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, Melissa left her media career of almost 10 years to start her own marketing communications agency, Bloc 48 in 2012. Being a small business owner gave her a fresh perspective on the need to empower new businesses with tools to build their brands and market themselves via advertising. That was how the idea of AdEasy first came about.
The concept of AdEasy was pitched and selected as one of the top 13 finalists at the inaugural Alliance Bank SME Innovation Challenge in 2013. AdEasy officially came to fruition in May 2017.
Info Talks
Mr Rizal Nainy
Rizal is currently the Chief Executive Officer for SME Corporation Malaysia, a Government Agency that is mandated to spearhead the development of small and medium enterprises, implement and monitor strategic SME programmes, coordinate SME programmes for Ministries and Agencies as well as being the Secretariat to National Entrepreneurship & SME Development Council (NESDC) chaired by the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Rizal graduated from Imperial College, University of London in Mechanical Engineering with First Class Honours, and then obtained the Master Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Charles Sturt University, Australia.
One of his primary responsibilities is to plan, implement, monitor and value-add strategic SME development programmes aligning with the 12 th Malaysian Plan, National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030 and Shared Prosperity Vision 2030, which will ultimately increase Malaysia’s GDP, exports and job creation. Collaborating with Ministries, agencies and strategic partners is one of his key tasks especially in the area of facilitating and developing SMEs. By reviewing and evaluating value-added initiatives, he will make sure more innovative and high growth SMEs will be formed especially under key programmes such as Programme for Enhancement of Strategic Industry and High Growth Enterprise (PRESTIGE), Inclusive Innovation, 1Innocert and National Mark of Malaysian Brand Certification programmes. Rizal has vast experience in business development, entrepreneurship, business advisory, economics and policy, international cooperation, coordination of SME programmes, 4th Industry Revolution, SME digitalisation
and e-Commerce.
Prior to joining SME Corporation Malaysia, Rizal has six years of strategic transformation experience under the Prime Minister’s Department to strategise and drive the National as well as State Government and Economic transformation programmes. He was assigned to several high profile projects such as Electrical & Electronics key economic area (particularly in LED, Semiconductor, Solar and Industrial Electronics), Innovation, Nanotechnology, Electric Vehicles, Rail, Smart Grid as well as carrying out Programme Management and Business Re-Engineering.
He helped to catalyse the transformation of Malaysia’s economy especially Electrical & Electronics being the leading export sub-sector by working closely with relevant stakeholders, developing the SMEs and setting precedents for economic efficiencies.
He has also 16 years of varied experience with Shell Company locally and globally, and held various positions in Strategy & Portfolio, Business Development, Sales & Operations, Network Planning, Project Management, Engineering, HSSE and Internal Audit within Shell Malaysia as well as Shell Asia Pacific. His professional expertise includes Oil & Gas Downstream Retail Business.
He has built strong professional networking with Ministries and Agencies, MNCs, GLCs as well as NGOs in assisting and developing the SMEs especially in the areas of Industry Revolution 4.0 and Digitalisation of SMEs in charting and aligning them towards the Megatrends.
Mr Mohd Redzuan Affandi bin Abdul Rahim
Mohd Redzuan Affandi Abdul Rahim is the Director of Digital Adoption Department with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). His key responsibility is to promote and facilitate adoption of digital technologies and digital solutions to benefit businesses and society. The task requires him to oversee the development and adoption of Sharing Economy models in Malaysia, addressing key enablers such as policies, standards and regulation, and facilitating eCommerce adoption which includes exporting of Malaysian products and services to strategic market. On Society Adoption, he oversee the ‘gig and freelance workforce’ development programme, and also programme to nurture local ‘digital entrepreneurs’. He is involved in few coordination committee on SME digitalisation and is currently the Vice Chairman for the Technical Committee (TC/C/9) on Sharing Economy in Malaysia. He also represents Malaysia at global level and is a member of the ISO/TC 324 Committee on Sharing Economy.
He holds a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Information System) from the University of Salford, United Kingdom and is also an ITIL certified individual. He is a member of the Internet Society since 2002 and was the Vice-President of the Internet Society – Malaysia Chapter (2019 – 2020). He is also a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and previously served as an Executive Committee of the IEEE Computer Society – Malaysia Chapter.
Parallel Breakout Sessions
Mr Chai Kien Poon
Country Head, Funding Societies Malaysia
Kien Poon, or KP, drives strategic business partnerships and initiatives in Funding Societies Malaysia, and manages day-to-day operations.
Prior to Funding Societies, KP was a Senior Manager with Securities Commission Malaysia, focusing on capital market development and regulation across various verticals.
KP is CFA charter holder and holds a degree in Economics from The London School of Economics and Political Science.
Puan Safura Atan
SAFURA ATAN is the Managing Partner of StratNaviGo Consulting PLT which focuses on Innovation and Entrepreneurialism. Our tag line is “Towards Actionable Strategies”
She was the former Head of the Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research (CEDAR) of SME Bank Berhad. She is currently the only certified FORTH Innovation Methodology Facilitator in Malaysia. FORTH is a proven end to end innovation and change management system from Netherlands. Safura has Certification in Professional Training and Facilitation from UMCEED.
She is also a Certified Coach from ITD World and a member of ICF. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting (UKM) and an MBA in Entrepreneurship (UiTM). She also has attended Symposium of Entrepreneurship Educator in Babson College in Boston, Design Thinking Workshop in Genovasi Malaysia (now known as d.school Malaysia), is a lifetime member of Design Thinking Association of Malaysia and recently a Growth Wheel© Business Advisor.
With more than 20 years in entrepreneur development ecosystem, she began her career as a Corporate Advisory & Monitoring Executive in Perbadanan Usahawanan Nasional Berhad. Prior to joining SME Bank she was with Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (TERAJU) and then Institut Keusahawanan Negara (INSKEN) where she developed and managed entrepreneurship learning and development programmes, while at the same time developed the new entrepreneurship roadmap for INSKEN.
She has coached multiple SMEs and entrepreneuers in starting, scaling and sustaining their businesses and facilitated in developing various entrepreneurship development programs.
Mr Arthur Lai
ARTHUR LAI is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) and is the former Chairman of the CIM Malaysia 2021-2022. With over 40 years of Sales & Marketing to C-Suite level experiences in the Asia pacific region working with multinational giants, he now shares his forte in Marketing and business & leadership experience to guide and coach businesses in Malaysia.
He has guided and coached in a wide breadth of industries. A few of his protégé went on to win prestigious awards. Presently he consults on Digital and Neuromarketing for business entities embarking on the disruptive technology channel and social media communications platform. He is also a trained and certified professional trainer and facilitator from the University of Malaya (CPTF).
Working in the Asian circuit when he was with Pemara Asia Holdings (an Australian packaging company), as the Group General Manager/Director where he revived the Vietnam manufacturing plant as well as led a team to spearhead the Indonesian market with the setting up of a manufacturing facility from scratch. He later coached a young managing director of PT. Wingley Setia Jaya in Indonesia who went on to be a prominent supplier in building industry.
Arthur also helped setup Bodibasixs Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, a local OEM manufacturer of personal care products at its infant stage. Thereafter, it has grown exponentially to a multinational entity with four manufacturing plants in Malaysia supporting exports all over the world.
Arthur believes that his mission today is to be a ‘mind-surgeon’, a ‘behavior specialist’ and a crusader to help bring out the genius-leader in every person who wants to achieve better performances and faster & smarter in their personal and business goals. A simple credo he lives by – “Being N.I.C.E. to enhance on one’s persona, is to adopt a delightful approach in everything we do and making everyone happy whilst doing it”. He was trained in; Post Grad. Diploma in Marketing (CIM UK), Post-Graduate Diploma in General Management (Berne), and Masters in International Marketing (UNC UK), among other professional certification relevant to his expertise.
Tuan Hj Hamdan Habibollah
Mr. Hamdan Mohd Habibollah hold a Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in year 1996.
He has been in banking industry since year 1996. He spent almost 10 years in Bank Pembangunan (BPMB) prior to the rationalization exercise between BPMB and Bank Industri & Teknologi which witnessed the establishment of SME Bank in 2006.
Since 2006, he has been assigned to lead various departments in SME Bank which include Credit Department, System & Method, Corporate Strategy, Entrepreneur Banking and Entrepreneur Development & Intervention. He is currently heading the Stakeholder Management function, mainly responsible to spearhead the structured engagement with various stakeholders especially the government and its agencies, GLCs, private and non-governments organizations (NGOs). At the same time, he is in-charge of reporting to various parties especially fund owners including BNM & MOF.
He has been entrusted to represent the Bank as the speaker in various forums including Global Islamic Finance Forum 2014 and Malaysia Halal Expo 2019; and also presenting to high level government meetings eg Economic Action Council in 2020. He is also a Certified Business Coach & Mentor (since 2018) and Certified Lead Assessor for ISO (since 2007).
