Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Khazanah Nasional ( Malaysia's Money Pot)
Khazanah
Nasional www.khazanah.com.my
Khazanah Nasional is the
investment holding arm of the Government of Malaysia and is empowered as the
Government's strategic investor in new industries and markets. As trustees to
the nation's commercial assets, Khazanah’s main objective is to promote
economic growth and make strategic investments on behalf of the Government
which would contribute towards nation buildings. Khazanah is also tasked to
nurture the development of selected strategic industries in Malaysia with the
aim of pursuing the nation’s long-term economic interests. Khazanah has
investments in over 50 major companies, both in Malaysia and abroad, and our
companies are involved in a broad spectrum of industries. Khazanah is also the
key agency mandated to drive shareholder value creation, efficiency gains and
enhance corporate governance in companies controlled by the government,
commonly known as Government-Linked Companies, or GLCs. I wanted to list all of the various
purposes, missions, and descriptions of Khazanah due to the pervasive nature of
this organization that touches so many aspects of economic development not only
in Malaysia but all around South East and South Asia.
I was able to visit Khazanah
Nasional in Penang and meet with the new Director of Khazanah Research and
Investment Strategy, Hamdan Abdul Majeed.
Hamdan is also a new Eisenhower Fellow and I am proud to call him my fellow
colleague. He and I had a great conversation, one of the best during the
Fellowship. Hamdan is in charge of the Think City initiative coming out of
Malaysia. The Think City model is a special project established by the Khazanah
Nasional to implement and manage the George Town Grants Programme. The Board of
Think City as been local subject experts and representatives from Khazanah
Nasional Bhd. It is led by the
Chairperson, Dr. Anwar, The main purpose of Think City is to drive urban
development in Malaysia.
As Director of the Think City intiative,
Hamdan proclaims that we should shift between competition between cities versus
competition between Countries.” Another
focus that Hamdan is proposing is that Cities should focus on attracting talent
as well as capital. When this happens
“cities, people, and economy, are what will position Penang and Malaysia, as a
destination and world developed place to be”.
Ultimately, broadband will be considered an important part of this
process, particularly mobile broadband, espoused Hamdan as well. In addition, most devices that will be
utilized will be niched to the user experiences versus the market dictating the
use of the devices. Website: http://www.thinkcity.com.my/
Ultimately, Think City, as
well as EF Mr. Majeed, have big plans to make Penang a technology and economic
development hub. With its inherent
ability to galvanize labor, be progressive in technology development, and understand the
delicate nuances of its role and place in the global economy, with Khazanah
behind this effort, I have no doubt that this idea will become a successful reality.
Thank you Hamdan. Look
forward to seeing you in Philadelphia in 2012!
Cheers!
B
The Blue Mansion (Penang)
The Blue Mansion http://www.cheongfatttzemansion.com/
I ended up staying at the historical Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, otherwise known as the Blue Mansion located in Georgetown, Penang. Built in the 1880s, the magnificent 38-room, 220-window Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was commissioned by Cheong Fatt Tze, a local merchant trader who left China as a penniless teenager and ended up as ‘the Rockefeller of the East’. The mansion blends Eastern and Western designs, with louvred windows, art nouveau stained glass and beautiful floor tiles, and is a rare surviving example of the eclectic architectural style preferred by wealthy Straits Chinese of the time. The house sits on the ‘dragon’s throne’, meaning that there is a mountain (Penang Hill) behind and water (the channel) in front – the site was chosen for its excellent feng shui.
This was one of the highlights of my trip to Penang. To reside at a such an iconic location such as this, surrounded by all of the history, spirits, beauty, and mystery of this house was amazing. Loved it.
Penang.....A Pleasure
Penang is a
state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the
northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Highly urbanized and industrialized, Penang is one of the most developed
and economically important states in the Country, as well as a thriving tourist
destination. The population is also highly diverse in ethnicity, culture, and
language. It is also widely recognized as the most socially progressive state
in Malaysia.
While in Penang
I had the wonderful opportunity to have Dr. Anwar Fazal, EF circa 1975, not
only personally show me around and tell me all about Penang, its history,
culture, people, etc…but Dr. Fazal also gave me life lessons that will last a
lifetime as I continue my journeys, professionally and personally. Just a little bit about Dr. Fazal, he is an
academic, historian, advocate, world health leader, just to name a few titles.
He is clearly one of the most passionate people I have met in some time. His
website is www.anwarfazal.net; Also visit www.rightlivelihood.org. I LOVED
meeting him and having his insight and zeal as my guide into the pleasures and
history of Penang.
One of the
first things that I learned about Penang from Dr. Fazal is that “Penang is
great for the small things”. Meaning
that many treasures are either made, developed, from, or created in Penang, but
they are small things…nonetheless important to the process or the role of its
derivation. Very interesting concept that I kept seeing reiterated over and
over as I got to know this small island. Dr. Anwar and I spent hours taking long walks
all around Georgetown, city of Penang proper. We ducked into small cafes and
had teas, coffees, Penang delicacies. He
“schooled” me on life, health, South East Asia, politics, food, etc… I felt
like I was a student, willing and eager to learn everything that I could. Something that we spoke about was also the
history of the Eisenhower Fellowship and the politics of President Eisenhower. It
was very cool to learn more about the namesake of organization that I now was a
member of and belonged. One of the
famous quotes that he shared with me stated by President Eisenhower was this
“The greatest danger that we face in the US is the military industrial
complex”. Had you asked me the
significance of this quote before my Fellowship I would have had some
challenges giving a substantive response. However, after traveling to South and
South East Asia I have a totally different view on this statement. One of the things that I learned about the
US, being outside of the US, is just how powerful our lobbyists are to
creating, cutting, pushing, manipulating, deciding, etc….private sector and
government legislation, not just about military expenditures, but about mostly
everything…that includes the controversial healthcare issues, gun laws, defense
spending, even telecommunications. I know that this may be very known to many,
and it was known to me as well, but when you travel so many of these truths
take on such a new awareness.
Thank you Dr. Anwar. Some of the greatest lessons
learned all year were with you.
B
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Meeting Singapore Eisenhower Fellows....
EF's Phillip Yeo and Ms. Lim Soo Hoon
One of the highlights of my trip was meeting several of the key Eisenhower Fellows in Singapore. On my first night I had the upmost pleasure of meeting with Fellow Eisenhower Colleagues, Philly Yeo, Chairman of the Spring Singapore and “ unofficial “godfather and icon” of technology development in Singapore and Ms. Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary within the Singapore Prime Minister’s office.
It was truly wonderful to meet them and learn more about the Country, its initiatives, and how the Eisenhower Fellowship again spreads it wings across the globe.
Mr. Yeo, who is now my new hero and “I want to be like him when I grow up” model, has a joy to meet. Mr. Yeo has basically been the catalyst for the creation and growth of many if not all of the Singapore technology parks, policy agencies, investment arms, innovation incubators, etc… I mean this man has done it all, and he not only creates this magic in Singapore but in India and Africa as well. Not that many people can say that they are offered permission to go into India and Africa and create, develop, and build the model and the infrastructure to spur technology. I LOVE IT!
Although was a bit challenging for Ms. Soo Hoon and myself to get in a word edge wise, (smiling) , it was wonderful and inspiring the passion and wisdom come from Mr. Yeo.
Best part of the meal, Mr. Yeo ordering Shark soup for the three of us….Note: Shark soup is actually illegal and banned from many restaurants in the US and in Asia. He loved this fact. Was proud and excited to order and offer me the opportunity to try it.
Thank you Mr. Yeo and Ms. Soo Hoon for an evening of delicious conversation and Singaporean delicacies.
EF David Lim
David Lim was a 2002 Eisenhower Fellow and the the Minister for Information, Communication, and the Arts from 2001-2003. The Ministry’s primary mission is to To Develop Singapore as a Global City for Information, Communications and the Arts, so as to build a creative economy, gracious community and connected society with a singaporean identity rooted in a multicultural Heritage.
I had the pleasure of having lunch with Mr. Lim along with several of his protégées who are also young mobile application developers. I loved this meeting because this was the first time I met young developers in Singapore and Mr. Lim was the perfect person to facilitate such a great conversation and introduction to this added component of my explorations in Singapore. The company that these young men formed is called SmooV, http://www.corporate.smoov.me/ and basically has created an agnostic platform for mobile devices and its consumers to utilize and download mobile applications and other integrative mobile developments. Again, the investment in platforms is seen again.
The Founders are probably in their late 30’s and very excited to sign on with David and his team for investment. When I met with them it was clearly a business meeting and although I was “crashing”, it was eye opening to see business done, in this type of fashion with these type of young developers.
After the meeting, Mr. Lim drove me to my next meeting and we had a very good conversation about Singapore, South East Asia, South Asia, and US relations. Again, very insightful conversation and one that will be remembered.
Since my began these travels, one of the main joys has been the ability to meet Fellows all around the world, gain their perspective, enjoy their intelligence and conversation, and apply their knowledge of the world to my own budding sensibilities, business acumen, and professional and personal development. Every person met, every conversation had, has opened up my eyes, ears, and heart to a new way of thinking , interacting, and conducting business.
Thank you David for a wonderful lunch (Now a big fan of Laksa soup), and for the wonderful introduction to Singapore’s newest and hottest geeks ;-)
B
Technology and Innovation Hubs In Singapore....
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Singtel Innov 8 http://innov8.singtel.com/
While in Singapore I also met with Edgar Hardless,
Managing Director of Investments for Sing Tel Innov8. Sing Tel is one of
Singapore’s major telecos and also has a division called “Sing Tel Innvo8”,
which main purpose is to create new revenue streams for Sing Tel in the areas
of gaming, mobile apps, social media, and e-commerce.
Meeting with Edgar was again, very eye opening and
informative. First, the offices were amazing. Very high-tech, colorful, new,
and had all of the nuances to spur “innovation and imagination”. During our
meeting Edgar explained how one of
Innov8’s mission is to provide value and a richer customer experience
for its subscribers. One way that they do this is to look for platforms to
deploy and offer access to various applications. For instance, in Singapore
there is a 200 Million fund that just invest in platforms. Yes, Just platforms.
In addition, all of the mobile applications that have obtained investments
are apps specifically tailored to users, ie…e-health, and e-education.
Edgar also spoke about Innvo8’s middle mile network and
how there is major investment to upgrade and keep current on technologies so
that all of the feature phones, applications, and platform deployments will
be sustained and will grow for the users. One statement that struck a cord in
my conversation with Edgar was this “our Networks are our greatest strength,
but also our greatest weakness”. So
true. As many know, Wilco also has
been working to upgrade and improve our infrastructure for our own
marketplace. The expense to do this is
great. BUT, in order to provide the best services for your customers and stay
relevant within the marketplace, it has to be done. So, the search for investors, ideas, and
innovative ways to make implement and deploy our own middle mile, is one of
the main reasons why this Fellowship occurred and why speaking with
individuals and organizations such as Sing Tel’s Innov 8 and others, has been
so helpful.
Ultimately, I loved how Innov 8, like the MDA, was so
entrenched in building the IT and technology eco system in Singapore. I know
that many in the US have opinions on government intervention and
participation with these types of initiatives. There are pros and cons. But I
will say, a “pro”, is that when the Government does have a stake in the
development of innovation and programs to spur growth of technology and IT,
the speed of development is definitely quickened and the success and rate of
return strategically investment as well as financial investment, is seen and felt within the economy moreso
by the people rather than just large corporations.
Innov8 holds a start-up weekend where they provide a boot
camp weekend for mobile developers to create and pitch their applications to investors
and Sing Tel execs. The event takes place in the Spring and the Fall of each
year. I was extended an invitation. Hope to make it sometime soon. http://innov8.singtel.com/
Thank you Edgar! Great work.
B
When I first decided to come to Singapore, one of the main
organizations that I wanted to visit was the A*Star Institute for Infocomm
Research. The organization is funded
by the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Commerce. The
Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for
fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant
knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14
biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering research
institutes, and six consortia & centres, located in Biopolis and
Fusionopolis as well as their immediate vicinity.
A*STAR supports
Singapore's key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and
industrial capital to its partners in industry. It also supports extramural
research in the universities, hospitals, research centres, and with other
local and international partners.
An additional
primary purpose of A*STAR is to develop technology that will be
deployed and integrated within
Singapore’s fiber network. This was
why I specifically wanted to meet with this very interesting group.
During my meeting I learned that A*Star is working on
numerous Fiber to Home technologies, platforms, and services for Singapore
consumers, some of which could do very well in the US marketplace. Some of these services included video and
surveillance products, interconnections of appliances and devices, smart
meter technologies, and the use of “White Space” ( unused spectrum /
bandwidth for TV) in order to foster advanced use, metering, and deployment
of high end technologies.
This was one of the most informative meetings I had in
Singapore. I literally felt like I was in a technology candy store.
Everything being developed is amazing and could benefit not only Singapore consumers,
but US consumers in MANY ways.
Throughout many of the countries I visited these services are merely
value added offerings for the consumer. Although the US is of course developing
and offering these services as well, unlike in South East Asia, we will not
see these technologies in large numbers until the private sector is ready to
deploy and scale. In Countries like Singapore, since the government does have
a stake, these technologies are offered and utilized by consumers more
quickly and affordably.
All in all, my visit to A*Star increased my opinion that
Singapore is very progressive and ahead of the pack, in regards to broadband
development, deployment, and usage by its citizens. One has to admire and greatly respect a
Country such as Singapore, that caught on early and was able to capitalize
its competitive edge; The Edge being the realization that the diffusion of broadband in Singapore has to be
seen against the backdrop of its overall economic development goal of being a
first-world nation. Now of course size has much to do with the rapid
speed of this deployment, however, the early vision of the use of broadband
to empower and educate its citizens, provide the platform for innovation
within every industry, and spur massive amounts of economic growth for the
government and its people, has to be noted. http://jiad.org/article41
Please Note
(#Justsaying): In a 2011 World Broadband Rankings report, The
United States, where just 60 percent of households had broadband as of last
year, ranked 19th and falling…. The survey of 58 countries by Boston-based Strategy Analytics. Five
of the top 10 countries or territories in the survey were in Asia and the
firm predicted the broadband subscriber base in the Asia-Pacific region will
grow on average by a further 15 percent a year between 2009 and 2013. Strategy Analytics said South Korea's
highly urbanized population and its government-backed broadband policy
accounted for its high rate of broadband penetration. Singapore ranked second on the list with household broadband
penetration of 88 percent, followed by the Netherlands (85 percent),
Denmark (82 percent), Taiwan (81 percent), Hong Kong (81 percent), Israel (77
percent), Switzerland (76 percent), Canada (76 percent) and Norway (75
percent). http://www.worldbroadbandfoundation.org/content/america’s-broadband-ranking-declines-again-19-and-falling
My Last meeting
in Singapore was with the IDA. As the Chief Information Officer for the
Singapore Government, IDA is responsible for masterplanning, project-managing
and implementing various infocomm systems and capabilities for the
Government. It oversees IT standards, policies, guidelines and procedures for
the Government, and manages the infocomm security of critical infocomm
infrastructure.
As already mentioned, Singapore sees the importance of infocomm as an
engine of growth for the economy. The building of a vibrant infocomm
ecosystem is key to supporting the vision of An Intelligent Nation 2015
(iN2015), A Global City, Powered by Infocomm.
For this last meeting, I was told to meet in the bottom level of
Singapore’s underground Shopping Mall and transit System. At first, I thought
this was a peculiar place to meet to discuss policy, broadband, etc… However,
when I arrived I got it. The meeting place was the location of the model for
the Singapore public to view, get information, and seek any knowledge of
Singapore’s Next Generation Fiber Broadband deployment infrastructure. I
thought to myself “This was great”.
One this type of public display of governemtn money offers 1) transparency,
2) a way to really understand what the government is doing and will provide
for Singapore citizens, and 3) it is located in a place that is easily
accessible to the public. If only we had more of these models in the US.
During the meeting, it again was stressed that through building the
Singapore ecosystem, three strategic thrusts have been articulated, namely
encouraging sophisticated demand for infocomm, fostering the creation of
innovative services and knowledge capital, and strengthening Singapore as an
economic hub. Innovation is key to each of these thrusts, and IDA will
continue to encourage innovation and seed more opportunities for the creation
and adoption of innovative solutions
and services.
Ultimately, IDA, like our own US Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), plays four key roles in driving Singapore's transformation into an
Intelligent Nation and a Global City through infocomm.
1) IDA aims to build a vibrant infocomm ecosystem by attracting
multinational corporations and innovative foreign companies to Singapore to
complement local infocomm enterprises and start-up companies;
2) One of IDA's key responsibilities is creating a conducive,
innovative, and competitive infocomm environment that is both proconsumer and
pro-business. As the telecommunications regulator, IDA puts in place policies
and regulatory frameworks to ensure free and fair competition in the telecoms
market in Singapore so that consumers of infocomm products and services
benefit from greater choices;
3) IDA also seeks to build a Next Generation National Infocomm
Infrastructure to meet the needs of the government, businesses and people.
The wired component of the infrastructure - the Next Generation Nationwide
Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) - will deliver ultra-high broadband at
speeds of up to 1Gbps and beyond, to all homes, offices and schools while the
complementary wireless component - the Wireless Broadband Network - will
offer pervasive connectivity on the move;
4) Lastly, IDA promotes the adoption of infocomm technology as a key
enabler to enhance Singapore's economic competitiveness. It works with both
public and private organizations to spearhead the strategic use of infocomm
in the various sectors such as education, healthcare, manufacturing,
logistics, tourism, transport, entertainment and finance.
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