In the afternoon of Tuesday, 14 May, AMCHAM held its Members’ Briefing at the AMCHAM Executive Office. The session started out with the Executive Director, Siobhan Das detailing the recent events at AMCHAM, as well as informing the members of the upcoming events of the coming months and plans to strengthen the CSR segment in AMCHAM.

One of the more notable moments of this session were the departures of Economic Counsellor, Nat Turner and Senior Commercial Counsellor, Catherine Spillman from the U.S. Embassy. Both of them touched on current issues affecting the business world for both local and international such as market barriers and intellectual property rights.

Members were given the opportunity to gain insights on some government-related affairs/news from the U.S Embassy as well as Malaysia. The subject of SST was touched briefly. The event closed with a casual networking session for members to interact with one another.

On Thursday, 30 May, the 3rd installment of AMCHAM’s Digital Transformation Series took place. The topic was on ‘Building Malaysia’s E-Commerce Sector’. Over 40 members turned up, eager to learn about the latest initiatives of Malaysia’s government to develop the policies & infrastructure for a vibrant e-commerce ecosystem.

Ms. Elleney Merynda Wasli, Principal Asst. Director of the newly-created Digital Economy Division at MITI shared an update on MITI’s strategic direction regarding the digital economy & the development of e-commerce in M’sia.

Ms. Stephanie Wong, Head of Business Development – Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) from MDEC explained how MDEC’s DFTZ has been designed to enable seamless cross-border trade for e-commerce vendors & platforms, some of whom have established themselves within Malaysia as hubs for ASEAN or the wider Asia-Pacific region.

Peter J. Berinus Agang, Head of Legal Metrology & Hire-Purchase Unit, MTDCA, spoke on the importance of developing consumer trust to support the growth of e-commerce & provided an explanation of M’sia’s existing regulations relating to consumer protection for online transactions.

A Q&A session took place shortly after allowing attendees to dive deeper on the subject of e-commerce & the regulations.

1.How would you describe your management style?

I am a people-oriented business leader who enjoys challenging the present to build for the future. My leadership style can best be described as authentic, transparent and result driven. I will give immediate and frank feedback while maintaining a constructive and inspirational atmosphere. Connecting with customers and employees comes naturally.

2.Who inspires you the most and why? How have you incorporated that into your daily life?

I am inspired by Barack Obama.

• His strong belief and conviction in what is right
• His message of including all citizens instead of excluding and polarizing groups
• His strong communication skills
• His positive can-do mentality and focus on change

I try to be an inspiring leader by listening to all employees and giving them an opportunity to participate and be engaged. I am very approachable and we have an open office so it is easy to communicate.

My presentation skills are certainly not as good as Obama but I am working on it!

As a leader, we need to stay positive and convinced that we can find a solution together for any problem at hand. Sometimes I am good at it but we are all human so I think I still can improve that part as well.

3.How do you see your organization changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating/being a part of that change?

We have made some big changes in the way we operate in the last 2 years. We have moved to an aligned distribution model with selected professional distributors and premium retailers. We cleaned up our product portfolio, introducing fresh new patterns with excellent consumer benefits regarding safety, comfort, fuel consumption and performance.

In the coming years, we will see new investments in our plant, preparing ourselves for higher performing tyres. New generation cars made in Malaysia will need even better tyres going forward and we want to be ready to support them. We also will invest in our brand to maintain high awareness amongst consumers in Malaysia.   

4.Tell me about an accomplishment or a memorable incident that shaped your career.

I always remember the first time I became a manager where I was responsible for a small team. I was unfortunate to be appointed in the middle of some big organizational changes and I was not prepared to plan for success and stand up for myself to demand certain conditions to be met. I was understaffed, had to work with new underperforming systems and processes and worked with a new boss who was not able to cope with the pressure from his boss. I was almost losing my job due to some big mistakes that were made. I learned that I should not blame the environment but start looking at myself first: what could I have done differently? How could I have avoided this from happening?

From that moment on, I will never blame the environment for not achieving what we committed to do and I also like my team to not do that. I don’t like the ‘victim’ attitude. We are all able to shape our own destiny as long as we stay proactive, plan well and communicate to all stakeholders.  

5.What would we be surprised to learn about you?

That I like to play the piano and take lessons to learn to play better? I am not a good player, but I enjoy music and I enjoy doing something completely different. Something creative.

6.What book are you reading or podcast you most recommend?

I like to read history books. I also read fiction but this one was something I found really interesting. The title is ‘Why the west rules – for now’ written by Ian Morris. It is published in 2010 and it analyses the different cycles of welfare between East (mainly China) and West (Europe and later, of course, the U.S.). It goes back to the start of humanity until very recent history. It is obviously quite relevant to the current political situation between China and the U.S.  

7.What do you do for fun?

I play the piano, hockey and sometimes go out for a hike. I have a family with three children and spend quite some time with friends socializing.  I read books and listen to music. I also like to go to the movies with the family. We like to travel and explore beautiful places in Asia. We have been to many different areas in Malaysia. It is such a beautiful country. We love the food and the culture!

FireEye is the intelligence-led security company. Working as a seamless, scalable extension of customer security operations, FireEye offers a single platform that blends innovative security technologies, nation-state grade threat intelligence, and world-renowned Mandiant® consulting. With this approach, FireEye eliminates the complexity and burden of cyber security for organizations struggling to prepare for, prevent, and respond to cyber attacks. FireEye has over 7,900 customers across 103 countries, including more than 50 percent of the Forbes Global 2000.

FireEye Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd was incorporated since 21 March 2016.

FireEye Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd has no subsidiaries and we have seven employees based in a co-sharing office in Co-Labs @ The Starling Mall.

FireEye would like to be connected with the associated bodies in Malaysia that can support our expanding business plans and we found that AMCHAM could be a strong bridge for us today and many years to come. Malaysia has been identified as a go-to market with bigger business opportunities to tap. We are a small and feisty team in Malaysia. Our team is more focused now to fill in the gaps by putting ourselves out there through various marketing channels and we want to work hand-in-hand with AMCHAM to take our business connection to another level.