MIB Special Edition 2015

Message fromMinister of Domestic Trade,Cooperatives and ConsumerismMalaysia

T he aspiration of becoming a developed nation, depends on the success of the entrepreneurial task undertaken by all

Malaysian. The implementation of the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) put all of us into the clear roadmap in achieving high-income status by 2020. I am happy to learn that Malaysian Indian Business Magazine (MIB), a monthly publication, particularly on Eastern Management enabling Malaysian Entrepreneurs and Professionals progress towards achieving that vision.

Malaysia aims to be a leading Franchise hub in the region. As such, we encourage Malaysian to expand their participation in the franchise and cooperative sectors. The franchise industry is expected to contribute 9.4% to the gross domestic products by 2020. I wish Malaysian Indian Business community would be able to take the opportunities available within the sectors.

Congratulations to all MIB Entrepreneur Awards 2015 recipients for their achievements and contribution towards our economy. The recipients of MIB Lifetime Achievement Award 2015 and MIB Entrepreneur Awards 2015 are important assets to the community. They had substantially contributed not only from their personal wellbeing but through their hard work as well.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate IndianToday.Net Sdn Bhd, publisher of Malaysian Indian Business (MIB) Magazine on celebrating their 5th successful year of stimulating entrepreneurship among Malaysian, particularly within the Indian community. In addition to publishing, the company nurtures entrepreneurs and recognizes their contribution to the development of the nation.

I wish Malaysian Indian Business all the success in continuously stimulating entrepreneurship and to all present at the Gala Dinner cum MIB Entrepreneurs Award 2015 Ceremony, let us work together towards becoming a high income nation.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

YB DATO’ SRI HASAN BIN MALEK

Publisher

INDIANTODAY.NET SDN BHD (858997-V)(Wholly-owned by Charu Holding Sdn Bhd)

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EDITOR’S NOTE

HAPPY 2015! As we step into another new year, allow me to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all those have made

Malaysian Indian Business Magazine [MIB] to remain relevant for the last five (5) years. We would like to give a heartfelt thanks to YB Dato’ Sri Hasan Bin Malek, Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism for his kindness to officiate the Malaysian Indian Business Entrepreneur Awards 2015 [MIB-EA2015] ceremony. Taking the opportunity of our 5th year of stimulating entrepreneurship among Malaysian Indians, we thank all our advertisers, sponsors, subscribers, readers, article writers and members of MIB Team.

MIB adopts January as a month of Celebrating the Success of outstanding Malaysian Indian Entrepreneurs and Professionals who have shown excellence and outstanding achievement in their respective sectors. We congratulate all Inaugural MIB-EA2015 award recipients and wish them continuous success on their business journey.

This special edition of MIB took a look on the entrepreneurial path and traits of MIB-EA2015 award recipients and how MIBs oneness model guided them to continuously push forward to being exceptional in the competitive market. This special compilation should be part of every entrepreneur and professional reading material as it contains priceless true , practical sharing regardless how simple or complex they might be handy at a most critical time. Grab a copy, read them frequently and keep them safe for your future reference. The past year 2014 has been very challenging for Malaysian Indian Business Magazine as we set our prime focus into Eastern Management, a proud step forward. As for 2015, we had planned to continue bringing forward best of Eastern Management philosophies, including from Ancient Indian literature, Thirukural, Scriptures, the Bhagavad Gita and others. Support from members of business and professional community is paramount for us to produce more original and meaningful content including updated news and events. Sign up as our subscriber to have the one and only Malaysian Indian Business Magazine delivered to your doorstep.

BE KNOWN, BE DIFFERENT, BE SINCERE

Chairman & Managing Editor

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles published are those of the authors and do not necesarily reflect the views of MIB. While every reasonable care is taken in compiling this publication, MIB does not accept any liability whatsoever for possible errors, inaccuracies or omissions or the consequences thereof. The Publisher also accepts no liability in respect of the content of any advertisement in the magazine. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or republication of this magazine or any part thereof in any form whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

07 Enricos 'Patcha Tinne Manje Moodi'

09 Agenda Suria Communication Landmark Event Maker

13 Renowned Incubator Of Medical Practitioners & Professionals Thayananthen

15 Award Winning Beauticians & Cosmetologists S. Vasuthevan

19 MIB Planner 2015

21 Drilling To Success Dato’ Pannirselvam Manickam

23 Beauty Entrepreneur Extraordinaire Sanjana

27 Innovative & Quality Construction Projects Dr. Pushparajan Pillai

29 Wedding Designers For The Crème De La Crème Ramesh & Sriiya

33 An Icon In The General Aviation Industry Captain Earnest Koilpillai

35 The Inspired Modern Potter Arumugam Perumal

36 Skills The Main Commodity Exclusive With CM Vicknesvaran

41 Transforming Beauties With Its Holistic Approach Valli Maiyeel Nadaraju

43 Winning Marketing Strategy Dato' K. Elumalai @ Ganesh

44 Leadership Lessons From The Bhagavad-Gita: Part 6 The Art of Cultivation

47 Carving A Niche In The Advertising World K. Muthupandy

51 Foremost Quality Management Consultancy Raja Segar

53 Founder Of A Successfull Retail Store M. Kanagaratnam PJK, PKT

57 Look Exotic. Wear Exclusive Andrew Paul & Abdul Anuar

61 Home & Premium Caterer Yokitha Naidu

63 Boutique Private Banking & Finance Advisory Specialist R.V. Ganesh Prakash

67 The Non Quitter Subramaniam Kandasamy

69 Beauty In The Hands Of An Expert Selvarani

CONTENT

V. RajendranRAVIRAJ SDN BHD

Wholesale & Distribution - Dairy Products

Raviraj Sdn Bhd

It all started as Raviraj Trading in the dawn of 1989 to solely distribute Enrico’s range of food products to retail shops, restaurants and catering companies. Later, 8th

July of 1991, Raviraj Trading was incorporated into Raviraj Sdn. Bhd (RRSB), with Mr S. K. Sundaram appointed as it's Chief Executive Officer and two talented Directors, Mr. V.Rajendran and Mr. R.Ravindran, to whom all the credit goes for elevating the business into a celebrated height and they are supported by a strong team of sophisticated individuals to manage and run the company.

Along with Enrico’s, their distribution is also associated with Landgreen Spice Veg Products, that offers a variety of vegan food, from vegetarian mock meat to instant food along with pudding, crackers, cereals, noodles and fibre drinks. They have also entered to North India to get their hands on Kohinoor instant ready to eat meals, which are being distributed to various airlines for in-flight servings. RRSB is also certified with HALAL, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, MeSTI and have won multiple awards including Business Superbrands, the Golden Bull Award, HR Excellence Award and a few by Action International. The company credit their successes to their marketing strength, which stands from 36 distribution vehicles, 3600 retailers, experienced workers, outstanding public relations, and media marketing tools, road cruisers and endless supply of products.

As for their advertising campaign, it spans twenty years of colossal media advertising. For instance, they have sponsored ASTRO Vaanavil Talent Quest for six years continuously. They have also done radio advertising with THR Raaga and Sinar FM, to be exposed to the Malay community, and advertised in Saji and Cine Fashion magazines. They entered the local FELDA marts as well as the international MATRADE Trade Shows.

ENRICO’s Brand

Enrico’s have a long business history that dates back to more than 65 years ago to a trading outlet in Penang. It was founded in 1940, by Mr. M. Mooka Pillai, to distribute spices

and lentils, in Malaya. It was then taken over by K. S. Nathan as Nathan & Co. in 1960. He later renamed the company to Enrico’s Sdn. Bhd. which stands for “ENRIch COmpany” and developed the brand to a successful trademark. It was then licensed to Raviraj Sdn. Bhd. in 1999. Enrico’s range of products include ghee, milk powder, textured vegetable protein (mostly known as vegetarian meat), spices and tea. Their ghee, which is purchased from the well-known diary producer from New Zealand, Fonterra, is branded in two, most well-known Enrico's and the second brand Keywee. In addition, their Enrico’s Full Cream Milk Powder is bought from Fonterra as well. For their tea, which comes from Assam, India, are branded as Enrico’s Hi Top Tea. The Enrico’s Textured Vegetable Protein, comes under the brand Soyamate.

Enrico’s is highly advertised by their road cruisers crew that comes in two forms. The first is their Tea on Wheels mobile kiosk that delivers free Enrico’s Hi Top Tea, and the second is their sleek mascot, Ney Vande, a classic Volkswagen Beetle, highly modified with Enrico’s yellow and green paint scheme and logo, advanced In Car Entertainment and LED lightings.

Key TraitsTRAITS QUALITIES THAT SHOWS THE TRAIT

Variety of It started with spices and lentils, which slowly Products expanded to ghee and milk powder, and now it ranges from drinks, vegan food, millet products, and noodles, instant and read to eat food

Huge Marketing Their advertising is huge, especially with 6 yearsand Advertising of sponsorship for ASTRO Vaanavil Talent Quest, 2 Radio ads throughout the years, Magazine advertisings, and international MATRADE Trades Shows

Road Cruisers The Tea on Wheels mobile kiosk, delivers free Hi Top Tea, followed by their mascot that organize ground events for the public to win prizes and goody bags, all around Malaysia

Point-of-Sale Free food tasting, drink tasting andActivity promotions at various hypermarket, retailers, and stores, throughout the years

Sleek Mascot It’s an addition with two reasons, first, it’s an attraction, and second, it personifies the brand and the company, making it more friendly and approachable

'Patcha Tinne Manje Moodi'

07

MIB-Entrepreneur Awards 2015 Special Editon |

Jaggarao SimanchaAGENDA SURIA COMMUNICATION SDN BHD

Event Management - International

Jaggarao Simancha fondly known as Jag is the founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Agenda Suria Communication Sdn Bhd (ASC). Formed in year 2002,

ASC specialized in organizing shopping carnivals, trade fairs and exhibitions. He was the brain behind the successful brain behind Global Indian Festival (GIF), which attracted almost 50,000 visitors back in the year 2004. Beside GIF, ASC was also organize innovate and most successful Indian shopping events such as International Indian Shopping Festival, Indian Wedding Fair, Penang International Shopping Festival and Deepavali Carnivals.

GIF being dubbed the largest international Indian shopping festival attracted some 330,000 visitors in 2014 including international visitors from Far East Asia as well as Australia. The objective behind this innovative idea was to create a network among Indian traders and unite them under one roof. GIF helps to reveal new products to the market along with giving hopes to struggling businesses thus creating mutually beneficial relationship between traders and consumers. Jag serves the community through Malaysia South Asia Chamber of Commerce (MASACOM) which he co-found and currently serves as its Vice President.

Jaggarao, who cited Steve Jobs as his inspiration, is truly an innovative person with exceptional interpersonal skills. It was his sole idea to organize local and international Indian and non-Indian traders under one closed venue to expose their new products to the consumers. Jags vision was to take trade fairs beyond limitation, hence, targeting all the races instead of focusing on Indians alone. Beside that limitation, Jag also made trade fairs beyond festive season’s sales, to boost trades sales during the unproductive months such as June. Jags interpersonal skills are the building blocks of his businesses, because without communication skills, it would be an impossible task to bring all this traders under one venue.

He is also very passionate about his business and willing to take risk to see a brighter future. “Many local traders refuse to venture outside their shops; therefore, allocating

a large number of sales booths in an indoor venue such as shopping complex is a big risk, as the booths are usually expensive. Although Pakistani and North Indian traders agreed with idea, a lot of other international traders were hesitant as well. Organizing the fairs in the mid-year school holiday was a risk as well, but a massive crowd of hundred thousands of people showed up in the end,” Jag explained his risk factor to Malaysian Indian Business Magazine.

Jag’s very good with time management as well. Organizing big events like shopping festivals is time consuming therefore time management is an important quality to have in doing this business. He cited that time management will allow a businessperson to organize and prioritize the work effectively and a good option would be creating a to-do list or task list. With his time management skills, he is able to bring hundreds of traders in a designated venue before the due date with every preparation being done and completed.


Innovative Jag came up with the idea of trades’ fair and shopping festival to bring all the traders of local and international to promote and expose their products under one venue

Interpersonal Interpersonal skills such as communication Skills skill are very important in this business especially when it involves international participants from other countries

Taking Risk It is a risk to organize big events like trades’ fair or shopping festival as it involves large amount of money. It is also a risk to organize events on holidays such as school holidays. Jag somehow manages to overcome all that risk as the entire events turn out to be successful

Passionate Jag insists to work passionately as much as enjoying a hobby or pastimes, therefore doing it in a passionate way and working in a fun and enjoyable environments gives more success and victory

Time Jag also very good in managing time as heManagement able to bring in all the traders under one venue with all the preparation done and completed before the events due date

Agenda Suria CommunicationLandmark Event Maker

09


ThayananthenNEUROSET (ME) SDN BHD

Education - Recruitment

Renowned Incubator of Medical Practitioners &

Professionals

Mr. Thayananthen is the President and CEO of Neuroset (ME) Sdn. Bhd, which was formed in 2009, and a company that responsible for recruiting

students, that qualifies within the specifications or academic qualification imposed by Ministry of Education but failed to secure a medical seat in local universities, and assist them to pursue their medical degree in prestigious universities with lowest possible cost, such as Kursk State Medical University in Russia. The initial idea started in 1993 to assist his late brother Dr. V. Sathiananthen to pursue medical degree studies at a prestigious medical university.

The core idea of, students struggle in getting a medical seat at any prestigious university led to the formation of Magaram Enterprise in 1997. The formation consists of himself, his late father Dato M. Varatharaju, and, his late brother Dr. V. Sathiananthen. The management of Magaram took the first effort to make Kursk State Medical University of Russia to be recognized by Malaysian Government, comprising of the Malaysian Medical Council and Public Service Department. Their effort was effective as the Russian University was granted its recognition in 7th of August 2001.

Magaram’s intention is purely to provide opportunity to thousands of Malaysian students and students abroad to attain the medical degree or achieve their dream as a medical practitioner with lowest possible cost of fee structure. During the time Magaram, they did a huge favour to Malaysian Government especially to the Ministry of Health by reducing the ratios of doctor to patient from 1:800 to 1:400. This major contribution of Magaram solved the problem of acute shortage of doctors around 2004 and 2005. In 2005, they assisted 123 students with perfect score in STPM but failed to secure medical seats in local universities to pursue their medical degree at Kursk State Medical University of Russia.

Thayananthen expanded the business scope by forming the Neuroset (ME) Sdn. Bhd, in 2009, with Dr. S. R. Sen Gupta as Chairman and Dato’ A. Kohilan Pillay as Advisor and their mission is to promote Malaysia as an International Centre of Education Excellence. Therefore,

their ultimate goal is to promote tertiary education offered by Malaysian universities to Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Indian Subcontinent and other countries as well. They are also responsible to encourage Malaysian students to study medical and dental degree offered by Russian, Indian and Bangladeshi universities. As for Business Law, Engineering and IT degree, it will be United Kingdom.

Thayananthen, a Law graduate from University of London, initiated a new business venture, a joint project in Mauritius between Neuroset (ME) Sdn. Bhd. and a local university education opportunity for students from Africa. Him, who were born to Dato M. Varatharaju and Datin Ponnamah, currently undertake the responsibility as the President of Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur West and initiated “Charity Education Fund” to raise RM 250,000 in a year with a 10% of his contribution and also contributed to “Rotary Kasih”, a project by Rotary International District 3300.


Community He assisted thousands of Malaysian students Service who failed to secure medical seat to pursue their medical degree at prestigious universities with lowest cost and fee structure

Contribution promotes Malaysia as An Internationalto Education Centre of Education Excellence by promotingSector Malaysian universities in other countries

Contribution to The major contribution was reducing the ration Medical Sector of doctor to patient from 1:800 to 1:400 thus solving the problem of acute shortage of doctors in Malaysia during 2004 and 2005

Charity Work He is very active in charity work, besides being the President of Rotary Club, he has donated and participated in Cambodian Eye Cataract operation and Sri Lankan war victims’ Leg for Legless


13

S. Vasuthevan GREENO VALLEY MARKETING SDN BHD

Cosmetics - Ayurvedic

Greeno Valley Marketing Sdn. Bhd. was established in 1998 by Mr. Vasuthevan and his better half Mrs. Vijayakumari. Prior to establishing Greeno

Valley Marketing Sdn Bhd Vasuthevan who holds MBA (International Trade), held various key positions in Fortune 500 companies including at an American industrial conglomerate, TEXTRON.

In year 2000, the company signed an exclusive distribution agreement with the world’s pioneer and leading Ayurvedic cosmetic manufacturer, Shahnaz Husain and never looked back ever since. All 300 Shahnaz Husain Ayurvedic products was approved by Pharmaceutical Bureau, Ministry of Health Malaysia since it been manufactured according to ANAB Accredited ISO 9001:2008 International Quality Standard.

Greeno Valley Marketing Sdn. Bhd. was among the pioneer Malaysian Indian company to secure a Franchise license in 2011 from Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Malaysia with 9 franchisees under its umbrella.

“Our aims is not maximize profit by selling cosmetics but to create maximum benefit for consumers through the use of Shahnaz high quality skin and hair care skin care solution which is committed to the betterment of humanity and the environment through ayurvedic science,” Vasuthevan told Malaysian Indian Business Magazine. In Mid 2014, Greeno Valley Marketing Sdn. Bhd introduced FAIRNESS DREAM CREAM specially dedicated for Malaysian market manufactured Shahnaz Herbals. The Fairness Dream Cream made from pure plant extracts and essences address the need for a naturally fair and radiant skin. Natural ingredients namely saffron, honey, apricot oil, cucumber and lemon were uniquely formulated employing the latest scientific techniques in ensuring gradual lightening of skin colour.

Greeno Valley Marketing Sdn. Bhd Shahnaz Hussain Fairness Dream Cream makes the skin visibly fairer, giving way to a smooth and healthy skin, with an even and

flawless colour tone. Enriched with precious emollients and natural moisturizers, the cream not only removes tan, but also counteracts sun-damage and prevents moisture loss. Easily absorbed, it is suited to all skin types and leaves the skin soft, smooth and youthful. The ingredients of the Fairness Dream Cream have several other benefits, apart from lightening skin colour, it also detox and rejuvenate body cells from harmful free radicals ,oxidative stress and hazardous chemical found in today’s so called FAIRNESS CREAM that offers quick fix.

Vasuthevan has always looked ahead towards newer challenges incorporating unique ayurvedic innovations. His far sight, faith and dedication are something for all to follow. His vision of getting GREENO VALLEY MARKETING SDN. BHD. to reach even greater heights, he is indeed an inspiration to all.


Persistent It took three years for them to get 400 dealers around Malaysia, and they didn’t give up easily, as their patients played an important role in their business life

Time It was also time consuming as they wereManagement constantly traveling for marketing purpose and monitoring their outlets, therefore they had to manage the time cleverly

Interested It took almost years for them to be thoroughly successful in this industry as a franchisor; it was their interest in the business that kept them for such a long time without giving up or losing hopes

Hard Work They are dedicated and committed in the business as they were doing everything by themselves, from registering, advertising to marketing and taking care of every outlet

Trustworthy There will be a lot of agreements and signature exchange between the franchisee and franchisors, therefore they as master franchisors must be enough trustworthy to get the deal and contracts

Award Winning Beauticians & Cosmetologists


15

MONTH SUBJECT KEY FEATURES

Jan Recognition MIBEA 2015 Award Recipients and Chat with Government Officer

Feb Social Media Reach your market through cost effective social media strategies

Mar Logistics The growth of Logistics Industries in Asean

Apr GST What’s Next after GST?

May Branding Creating wealth through Intellectual Property

June Human A look into Human Resources trainings and policies Resource

July Capital Market The myth of getting public listed

Aug Government Effectiveness of Government policies in tackling Malaysian Indian Business or economy

Sept Innovation Readiness of Malaysian Indian Business to face borderless business world

Oct Banking Are Malaysian Indian under utilizing the banking facilities?

Nov Tourism Untapped Niche of Tourism

Dec MIB Maker Top 10 Malaysian Indian Business personalities of the year

2015Editorial PLANNER

Business NewsSubject MatterPersonalityEastern Management

AnalysisAdvertisementEvent Coverage


19

Dato’ Pannirselvam ManickamUSAE (M) SDN BHD

Engineering - Equipment Supply & Services

Drilling To Success

Passion and desire transformed a mechanic to be the first Indian successfully engaged in underground construction industry. Y Bhg. Dato’ Pannirselvam

Manickam, Managing Director of USAE (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. not just an ordinary businessman, he sets his mark on being the trailblazer of Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) technology, including trenching and micro-trenching in Malaysia since the year 2000. Beside above mentioned, he is responsible in making USAE (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd as distributor of state-of-the-art trenching equipment all over the nation.

He is the face of top-brands that specialized in HDD tools that revolutionized the underground drilling technology that lay cables and pipelines without the need of digging trenches. Some of the top-brands he represents are Ditch Witch, Charles Machine Works (CMW), Condux, Earth Tool Hammerhead Mole, Digital Control Inc (DCI), from USA and Australian Mud Company (AMC). Each of the company has different role in this underground drilling industry. USAE (Malaysia) is also responsible for the training programs and onsite training for customers to ensure complete support in handling the state-of-the-art equipment.

The new technology of HDD is widely used to mount telecommunication cables and gas pipelines in Malaysia. This technology captivated him to take a big risk and approached USAE head office in Singapore. His business plan and work experience actually helped him winning the dealership of the HDD cutting-edge technology by USAE, the leader in making trenchless drilling. “It’s very much environmental friendly and efficient, low on cost and one of the technologies that could actually drill under the river or railway tracks without traffics congestions,” Dato’ Pannir explained some features of USAE to Malaysian Indian Business Magazine.

Dato’ Pannir strongly believes that customer satisfaction is the only way in retaining them, therefore, his company adapted a customer-oriented approach by providing trainings, maintenances, repairs, and after-sale services

at any time in a week, including Sundays. He treat his customers as his own partners and offers assistance on calls, even on late nights. He offer attractive discounts to customers, as in return, they do all sales and promotes his equipment by spreading words around.

Dato’ Pannir and his crew attend training courses to keep up-to-date with the latest technology, as essential requirement as newer machines come with automation loading and cruise control. His dedication, hard work, and the 100% effort put in this business awarded him with RM 6.9 million of revenues as of 2012 and was recognized as top salesperson of the region during CMW Annual Business Conference in 2012.


Innovative Pannirselvam is credited as the trailblazer and the first to pioneer Horizontal Directional Drilling in Malaysia, as well as micro-trenching

Representing Representing a top brands is not an easy task the top brands as Pannir need to level up to the standard of that brands. He eventually attended training courses to be specialized in those brands

Up to date As HDD is a new technology in underground construction industry, Pannir had to be up to date with that new technology from A to Z

Customer Pannir treats his customers as his own partnersoriented and will be there to assist them with services onsite or offsite, even at late night

Dedication Pannir is a hard working businessman and put his 100% effort to run this business. His mobile can be reached at any time every day, including Sundays, for maintenance and repair and assistance, and this shows his dedication


21

SanjanaSANJANA FASHION SDN BHD

Beauty Care - Boutique

Beauty EntrepreneurExtraordinaire

Sanjana, an entrepreneur with a novelty thought is the brain and beauty behind the success of Sanjana Fashion Sdn Bhd, a one-stop centre for bridal care

and fashion tailoring. Established in mid 2005, Sanjana Fashion Sdn Bhd comprises of Sanjana Bridal Beauty Care, Sanjana Fashion Tailoring and the newly launched Boutique. She offers bridal beauty care, herbal treatments, custom-made tailoring, and wedding services.

A firm believer in intercultural work ethics, and the ability to think beyond cultural boundaries helped to shape her business journey. Her novelty thought of establishing a one-stop centre, from beauty care, herbal treatment, and custom-made tailor to wedding services, which includes, photography, decoration and Mehndi artworks elevated her business name. Besides bridal and fashion, her business centre act as an academy, offering bridal and tailoring courses. A full-time course takes between three to six months to complete while part-time courses take a year.

She never once failed to treat her customers from various profession including lawyers and doctors and racial backgrounds as them as part of her family. Her much dedication into customer service and customers’ satisfaction attracted customers from Singapore as well as retaining loyal ones that still prefer her touch for last eight consecutive years.

Her business career begins with much needed knowledge, as knowledge is crucial in business world. She had her proper studies in bridal care before actually venturing into

this industry. She pursued Advanced Diploma in bridal courses in India, after noticing a bridal course advertisement in a newspaper while working in Singapore. These sets of knowledge on beauty care nurtured the necessity skills that she needed in this business, as well as, developing her self-confidence and positive thinking towards the business. She know, if she is not sure what she is doing then she is not getting anywhere near success.

Besides being a beauty entrepreneur extraordinaire in this industry, she also acts as a key role model for the young generations, especially to girls working under her wings. She placed high priority of hiring girls and ultimately guiding them to start their own business. She knows that girls, especially Indians, faces many problems these days and do not have much chances or opportunity to prove them worthy. Therefore, being a key role model for them, she takes a huge responsibility in sculpting their future. Her inception into business world was unplanned, but her courage, adequate knowledge, and burning desires brought her success in this industry in such a short time.


Novelty It was her novelty thoughts of establishing Thoughts one-stop centre from beauty care & bridal fashion & tailoring, wedding services that elevated her business name

Intercultural Her idea of working beyond cultural boundaries Work Ethics and taking examples from other racial cultures such as Chinese and Malays, helped to shape her business journey

Excellent She offers excellent customer service as she Customer treats her customer as part of her family even Service when they are from different social status and racial backgrounds

Adequate She had proper studies and pursued Advanced Knowledge Diploma in bridal course that nurtured her skills, confidence, and positive thinking

Role Model She is a key role model to young generations as she give importance by hiring girls and guides them to start their own business


23

Dr. Pushparajan PillaiGERBANG BUMI DEWI SDN BHD

Construction - Building & Renovation

Innovative & Quality Construction Projects

Dr. Pushparajan Pillai is the founder of Gerbang Bumi Dewi Sdn Bhd (GBDSB), a construction company based in Johor Bahru, that act as a one-stop centre

for construction needs with five subsidiaries under them offering various services from civil, structural, mechanical, architectural, electrical, interior works, design, build and approval. Currently, the company is managed by the energetic husband and wife duo, Rajan Pillai and Sulosana (Tasha), and started handling projects from small scale to big for the last several years and this includes factories, hotels, houses, road works, bridges and schools.

His business venture begins in 1992, when he was still 18 and studying in Stamford College, Petaling Jaya, with his first company Thunderstorm Marketing, founded with a friend, and their foremost client was his own college. Business was good with an income of RM 200-300,000, but being young, they were still on the learning curve. One of the unnecessary risks they took was registering 13 individual companies under them, all in construction services. Upon completing college in 1997, Rajan Pillai returns to Johor and started the construction business and a restaurant. During the 1997 economic crisis, he abandoned the restaurant and focused on construction business alone.

Lesson learned including huge financial losses assisted Rajan Pillai to shape up his latest venture LDS Construction that employed 40 workers under them and registered with Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) under G7 category. The support from his wife, Tasha, a PhD holder in Sociology, has strengthened the company. Business expanded from 2-3 projects a year to 10-15 projects a year, thus, boosting the sales to 300 percent, a result of the last 8 years of efforts. In 2009, GBDSB was incorporated into a Sdn. Bhd and expanded their jobs to Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang.

GBDSB works in a very unique and customer friendly way in contrast to their competitions. One such way is that they’ll stick with the fixed price regardless of variation order in the future and that manner secured them sophisticated

customers who need reliable contractors. GBDSB also use current technology to easily interact with clients. Besides that, Rajan Pillai is very punctual in terms of payment and earned a good reputation among suppliers and workers and this positivity has led to securing bank loans.

Rajan Pillai, who mentioned Dato P. Kasi and Tan Sri A. K. Nathan as his role model, have big plans for GBDSB and one of it is to make GBDSB known nationwide by making it a huge one-stop centre that does not only gives construction needs but as well as interior designs, furniture and accessories. As for the future, he and his wife preparing their eldest son, Arawin Raj Pillai, now a Director of GBDSB, to take over their administration soon.


Hard Work Rajan Pillai credits, the increment of 10-15 projects in a year and the boosting of sales by 300 percent, to the last 7-8 years of massive efforts he put in this construction business

Team Work His wife, Tasha, strengthened the company, as he takes care of marketing and technical aspect while she handles the financial matters

Unique Rajan Pillai mentioned that GBDSB works in a unique way in contract to their competition, as they stick to the fixed price regardless of variation order in the future

Punctual in Rajan Pillai is very punctual in giving payments toPayment his suppliers and workers, and therefore gained a good reputation among them as well as secured loans from banks

Customer GBDSB is very customer friendly and easy to Friendly interact or discuss, and Rajan Pillai will go to work sites every day to meet the clients in person as he gives importance to them


27

Ramesh & SriiyaGANA CREATIONS SDN BHD

Deco & Event Planner

Wedding Designers for the Crème De La Crème

Gana Creations Sdn Bhd, the crème de la crème wedding designer was founded 15 years ago by Ramesh and Sriiya. Started as home business

operating on weekends as Gana Creations, later registered into Sdn. Bhd. in year 2004. The high end wedding designer company has worked on more than 1500 projects up to date. In the beginning, the pair started to offer photography, videography and venue along with full event management, but end up focusing on wedding decoration and designs in the later years.

Seremban born Ramesh enjoyed landscaping during his younger days, studied Electro-Mechanical and worked as Assistant Engineer for 3 years in Malacca. While his partner and wife, Sriiya studied Information Technology and worked in Singapore when an opportunity came when a friend asked to decorate for a wedding. Since then, they worked on wedding decorations on weekends at Malacca and thus was born Gana Creations. The happy couple Ramesh and Sriiya opened a branch in Seremban at a shopping complex, followed by another branch in Petaling Jaya when they got a project in Kuala Lumpur.

As a high end wedding décor meeting clients’ demands and expectations is their utmost priority. Their clients include Malaysian Chinese and Malays; and also from India, Thailand and UK who view Malaysia as unique destinations to hold wedding ceremonies. Some of their memorable clients are Tan Sri AK Nathan, Datuk Dr. Hj. Mohamed Haniffa as well as celebrities such as Sushmeetha, Ram THR, Geetha THR and celebrated film-maker Barathi Raja. Ramesh and Sriiya even decorated a private jet for a client who wanted to have their registration while flying high from Singapore to Subang. They earned the recognition as an innovative wedding designer and always on the constant look out for fresh ideas. Ramesh and Sriiya are an ideal example of team work. Their success is credited to their cooperation and mutual understanding. Sriiya, who is excellent in interior decoration, takes care of internal design, flower detailing, and colour harmonization. She also takes care of the administration thus giving Ramesh to fully concentrate on

production and marketing. He also alluded that patience is the most important thing in this business as they meet different clients with different opinions, perspective and personalities. They need to deal with requirements and expectations and create a positive tone among the clients.

Besides that, Ramesh and Sriiya are known for their punctuality. They do numerous corporate events such as annual dinners, theme parties and festival dinners. Every event is a big event for their clients, and a moment to cherish forever, therefore everything should be on time and run smoothly without hassles. Some are open minded and some are inflexible, therefore they have to cope with all kinds of clients. They need to make sure that everything is ready before the big events. Success does not come easy; Ramesh and Sriiya have given their 100% efforts for Gana Creations.


Innovative They are known to be innovative as they are up to date with current design and constant lookout for fresh ideas

Customer They work with various clients with different Oriented perspectives, from different races and different countries, and they are able to set the positive tone around them

Team Work Their successes are credit to team work and mutual understanding as both have different role in designing, administration, production and marketing. They are able to separate the tasks between them very well

Patience They work with various clients, some are flexible and some not, but they are able to work with patience to meet their clients need and expectation

Punctual They need to be punctual and make sure everything is in order and be on time to avoid hassle in the last minute as clients are always concerned about the events

Hard Work They left their normal 9-5 jobs to fully focus on the business. Having done more than 1500 event decorations with an average of 100 events per year shows that they have put 100% effort and their hard work in it


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Captain Earnest KoilpillaiNASH AEROSTAR SERVICES SDN BHD

Aviation - Maintenance Services

An Icon in the General Aviation

Capt. Earnest K a self-made successful entrepreneur in corporate aviation industry founded, Dnest Aviation Services Sdn Bhd the first and the largest

in Malaysia to cater private and corporate aircrafts services. He is solely responsible for pioneering Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) in Malaysia when it was relatively non-existent back in the mid 90s. In 30 years of dedicated service, he has bought and sold 30 aircrafts for different people, relying only on networking contacts he had made in this industry. He sold his company in 2012 to a Malaysian public for an acceptable profit and became advisors to AJ Aeroservices and NASH Aerostar Sdn Bhd.

Capt. Earnest Koilpillai grew up in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur joined Royal Malaysian Air Force in 1974 as a pilot in transportation department. He continued his services there for eleven years. He later joined private aviation industry by piloting private business jets for corporate companies namely MEC, Country Heights, Lowyat Group and Berjaya Group. He decided to venture into Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) when most Malaysian private aircrafts depended on Singapore for aircraft maintenance and parking services. He bought Airfoto Sdn Bhd, company that specialized in aerial photography, from a friend with intention to open aircraft maintenance centre and renamed is as Dnest Aviation Services Sdn Bhd in 1990.

As the founder of Dnest Aviation Services Sdn Bhd , Capt. Earnest has very clear vision of being a one-stop centre

for aircraft maintenance including, hangar and fuel supply, repairing, painting, overhaul and immigration clearance. Eventually, his FBO became the largest FBO in Malaysia, catering the needs of regional corporate jets as well as overseas clients such as Bombardier Aerospace, Executive Jet, AgustaWestland, Metrojet, and Macau Jet. The company grows from just two aircrafts in a small hangar in Subang Airport with a land leased from Malaysian Airports Bhd to a 100,000 sq ft of parking spaces, that could accommodate up to 30 private jet aircrafts including Boeing business jet.

His hard work and tireless effort eventually paid off as his revenue increased to RM 1.2 million per month. He received Emerging Indian Entrepreneurship award in 2004, Business Excellence Award by Malaysia Canada Business Council in 2006 and Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Entrepreneurs’ Excellence award in 2008 for his contribution to the general aviation industry.

Capt. Earnest mentioned three important work ethics that needed in this industry, interest, punctuality, and dedication. There is many opportunity for young pilots and engineer but should only join if there is interest and not because for its highly paid salary. Flying is for dedicated people, sometimes pilots needs to fly in a formation on training, if one does not feels like flying for that day, anything could get wrong on that day. One small mistake could send your career tumbling down. Lastly, being punctual is the most important aspect because every repair and maintenance for private jets should be done before the flying schedules.

The Fixed-Base Operator industry in Malaysia still fresh and lots of room for growth as blossoming business of aircrafts market and more private corporate owns private jet for business purposes. Malaysia offer the cheapest FBO in this region and with rapidly upgrading of airports such as KLIA and Senai International Airport there will be a lot more to offer. The third reason is the massive jobless young pilots and engineers searching for better job opportunity. Capt. Earnest K is ready to help the future generation since the commercial business of FBO will be better in the future.


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Arumugam PerumalARU ENTERPRISE

Manufacturing - Pottery

The Inspired Modern Potter

Mr. Arumugam Perumal is the successor of Aru Enterprise, a 100 years old pottery family business located in Kuala Selangor. They are one of the

experts in clay products and are much in demand, as their products are sought after by all the races in Malaysia - the Indians, Malays and Chinese.

Previously they were only used to make food related clay products such as ponggal pots and thuwalak but now their products have diversified to include an array of clay products such as tandoori pot, curry pot, ponggal paanai, nei vilaku, agal vilaku, statues, undiyal (money box), full sets of catering pots and also uri pot specially for the Muslim friends.

The business was initiated in the early 1920s by his grandfather Vengadasalam, and then given to his father Perumal in the 1950s and then passed down to him for the past 30 years. Since it is a family run business, his wife, his son and his younger brother are all involved in Aru Enterprise. During the early days, all the products are made by traditional skills with the production of 70 pots per day, and now Arumugam made a few innovations and installed moulding machines, which do the 80% of their works and produce 300 pots per day.

There’s not much competition in this business as there are only seven big players of potteries in Malaysia - five in Selangor and two in Perak - as it needed vast experiences and skills to venture in this field, that either been cultivated over time or handed down the generations. It is the weather that brings the biggest challenges as they need an uninterrupted supply of sunlight for the products to dry and rainy season poses threat as it will delay the drying process. Shortage of workers and getting a regular supply of skilled talent poses the second challenge for them to expand their productions. This also led to the difficulty to deliver the orders taken, especially during the festive seasons, such as Ponggal and Kartighai but the advantage in this business is that they don’t need much advertising as they are already in demands. Arumugam yet credits BABA Products (M) Sdn. Bhd. for inspiring him to advertise their products through

pictures on their delivery trucks, an essential marketing technique with value for money.

Discipline, dedication and full commitment are the key to success in this field as the scopes are bigger with lots of demands, plus clay products are only done by Indians alone therefore it gives a huge opportunitiy for those who gets in this business.

Arumugam has already been selling clay products to Sarawak and have demands from Singapore; therefore he always spends his time doing research to improve and make more innovative and attractive products. Aru Enterprise might be in traditional business with many challenges but they are already in the roadmap to great successes in the future.


Diversifying Used to make pots for ponggal and thuwalak Products but now have diversified to include an array of clay products from cooking pots to catering pots

Innovations Gone are the days of making pots with traditional skills, the introduction of moulding machines has increased the production of pots to 300 pots a day and do 80% of their daily works

Less There is not much competition in this field as it Competition needs skills and knowledge cultivated over time or handed down generations

Niche The demands are huge with fewer suppliers, clay products are always sought after eventually

Huge The business of clay products poses a huge Opportunity business opportunity. Aru Enterprise has already been selling to Sarawak and has demands from Singapore


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MANUFACTURING SUB-SECTORSElectrical and Electronic; Metal Product; Mineral Product; Food and Beverages; Transport Equipment; Plastic; Wood & Wood based and Cork; Machinery; Industrial Chemicals; Paper and Pulp; Iron and Steel; Rubber Product; Furniture and Fixtures

SERVICES SUB-SECTORSEnergy; Hypermarket/Supermarket/Departmental Store; Direct Selling; Commercial Land Transport and Railway Transport Services; Warehousing Services; Port Services; Hotel Industry; Freight Forwarding; Shipping; Air Transport; Tour Operating Business (In-bound only); Postal or Courier; Telecommunication; Research & Development; Engineering Support & Maintenance Services; Security Services; Computer Services; Advertising; Private Hospital Services; Higher Education; Training; Gas, steam and air-conditioning supply; Water treatment and supply; Sewerage; Waste management and material recovery services; Food and beverage services; Production of motion picture, video and television programme; sound recording and music publishing; Information service; Tourism enterprise; Building and landscape services; Event management services; Early childhood education; Health support services Franchise; Sale and repair of motor vehicles; Private broadcasting services; Driving school; Veterinary services

MINING & QUARRYING SUB-SECTORSPetroleum and gas extraction;Mineral and stone quarrying

PEMBANGUNAN SUMBER MANUSIA BERHAD (545143-D)

Call 1-800-88-4800 or email to [email protected] www.hrdf.com.my

2

3823

CHECK YOURREGISTRATION

STATUS TO AVOID PENALTY.

REGISTER WITH PSMB NOW.

MIB recently had an inspiring interview with Mr. CM Vicknesvaran, CEO of Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) or Pembangunan

Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB), an organization under the Ministry of Human Resources. First of all, MIB congratulates Mr. CM Vicknesvaran on his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of HRDF on 1st November 2014.

"When HRDF was founded in 1993, there was a study on training institutes, and the result showed that Malaysian companies are not doing enough training," as a result the Government decided to start a training fund focusing on Malaysian SMEs, that’s HRDF, and it works by taking 1% of the salary as a levy being paid to the fund, which can be utilized later for future trainings. He added, “For example, if a company pays RM 10,000 as levy, they can take back the whole RM 10,000 to be utilized for trainings”. As for

the additional benefits, Vicknesvaran states, “There are no additional funds but SMEs have a few incentives, where the Government has allocated including free courses being given to them”.

Today, there are 14,000 companies and around 2 million workers contributing to HRDF, and they can utilize the money whenever they want to conduct training, subject to fulfilling our conditions. Citing a study by the World Bank, that found SMEs contributing to HRDF have performed well with a significant of increase in terms of productivity and profitable revenue. The newly minted CEO illustrated the woodcutter's story “one keeps cutting, another one sharpens the axe, and the one that sharpens the axe cuts more trees,” to the role of HRDF of trying to inculcate a similar culture by sharing their knowledge forcefully.

EXCLUSIVE WITH CM VICKNESVARAN: SKILLS THE MAIN COMMODITY

| MIB-Entrepreneur Awards 2015 Special Editon

A cross-reference with Chamber of Commerce found that only 30-40 Malaysian Indian owned companies contribute to HRDF. When HRDF officer visited those companies, none has utilized the money well; therefore HRDF had to teach them to use the money. Now, after almost 5 years, the awareness has increased, and the utilizing rate has gone up to 80%. He added, “Another thing is, if you look at skills perspective, an experienced economist from IMF, who predicted the 97 crash, said in 20 to 25 years, the main commodity will be skills, not crude or palm oil but skills, and the country with skilled workforce will lead the economy. There are no particular skills as every worker from the lowest position of to the highest CEO, you need skills, it doesn’t matter which field or sector, in whatever you do, you need skills, this is something I learned while I was with Jobstreet”

During his younger days Vicknesvaran went to Sekolah Rendah Jalan Pasar and SMK Cochrane, Jalan Pasar, Kuala Lumpur. He worked with a construction company for two years upon graduating with Bachelor Business Administration majoring in Marketing from UKM. His working life continued at RICOH, a company that specialized in photocopy machines. This is where he gained vast skills and sales experiences and also developed confidence, as he was put in a month of classroom trainings, teaching how to do sales, demo, as well as technical aspects. He was there for 3-4 years before moving to Sharp, where he did networking for 8-9 years. From there, he went to a petroleum company with 70 engineers under him, and then to Jobstreet before getting an opportunity at HRDF.

Being an Indian, does not matter or hinder him from getting the support from the system, as hard work and skills are the most important, “When I worked in Sharp, it was a Japanese company with Chinese bosses, many people said I won’t get promotion, but as far as I know, I had the fastest promotion and biggest salary jump, you just need to put in extra hours and mix well with others, something most Indians won’t do, then you show the leadership qualities” and he adds, “ I always do my best and never complaint because that is a learning curve”.

In another 5 years, Malaysia will reach 2020 as a high income nation, and HRDF plays a big role for that, and he said, “the Governments has fantastic plans, the implementation being done, and the money is being poured, but my personal view is that private sectors are not following”. He explained that in 1997 his salary was RM 2000, and now a fresh graduate will get the same amount, but the productivity increased by 26% from 1997 to 2014, Consumer Price Index (CPI) went up, inflation happened, but private sectors are not giving

the additional pays by giving lame excuse of low quality graduates.

He then recounts his experiences, “When I’m with RICOH, they didn’t expect me to come with all the skills, and they put me in a month of classroom trainings. So you need to mould the staff as you want. You cannot train each graduates into specific skills, but once they come into a company then they can be trained accordingly”.

While HRDF plans to expand their coverage to more than 63 sectors, the Government wants the HRDF to expand to the people as it is the only agency which gives training that impact and gives benefit to the productivity as well as income. They are also taking additional responsibility by giving a value added to the levy and creating awareness to business owners.

He then said, “If you ask me, my ultimate goal is to see the dissolution of HRDF, because our role is to make sure training happens, but our role is only achieved the moment there’s no need of us, which means the industries do the trainings without being forced, which happened in many countries before, and for that we are creating awareness and publicity relatively more than last time as we want to inculcate the culture of training among employers and employees”.

As for the Indian business community, he thoughtfully said two things. First, he said for the Indian business training providers to follow HRDF standards and give more certificate programs and technical base programs , secondly, he asked to the Indian business owners to check if they are liable and invest in HRDF for trainings and benefits as there are lots of incentives coming up in the future.


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Valli Maiyeel NadarajuAMAYURA'S BEAUTY & SPA

Beauty Care - Beauty & Spa

Transforming BeautiesWith Its Holistic Approach

Ms. Valli Maiyeel Nadaraju is the founder of the well-known Amayura’s Beauty & Spa, formerly known as Mayura Bridal & Beaty House, a professional

and acclaimed beauty and bridal business opened in 2003, with a portfolio of to over 200 collective beauty and bridal works under them. Ms. Valli, as she is more known as, is from Penang and the third child born to Mr. Nadaraju and Mrs. Veediamah. Upon completing SPM, she went to work as a receptionist, before following her elder sister to Kuala Lumpur in 1997.

There, she worked as a management assistant for 3 years, before deciding to enter the Indian beauty industry that specialized in facial treatment and bridal make up. From there, she made her first step by taking up Bridal Make Up course as a part-timer and then widened her knowledge by taking Beauty Therapy and Salon Management course in India. She made her major breakthrough debut in 2003, when she did the beauty treatment and bridal make up for her sister’s wedding and since then been collecting customers' testimonial from Malaysia, India, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Amayura’s Beauty & Spa was an idea ever since she was young, and she is really passionate and worked hard into making it a reality. In those days, she would be preoccupied with homemade facials and constantly reading books and magazines on beauty tips. When she realized her desire, she didn’t hesitate to join Aspra Bridal & Beauty Academy in 2002. Each and every aspect has helped her to grow a lot of potential in providing the first class quality service, for her customers. The industry has changed radically in 10 years, most customers are up-to-date, therefore besides offering common services such as facial treatments, bridal make-up, treading, waxing and body treatment, she has updated her salon to offer Laser treatment, LED light therapy and DNA facials, to maintain her customer loyalty. The big advantage of Amayura’s is being well-placed in Little India, Brickfield, easy to locate, and crowds on weekends and festive seasons. These factors helped in increasing the revenue by 10% annually and repeat. Beauty industry is highly

challenging and competitive, and running a beauty spa as a single woman is even more challenging to compete with the newcomers. Hence, discipline, dedication and hard work are much needed to cope with customer satisfaction. Besides that, they advertise the promotions once in three months through flyers and Facebook. Customers are always right, therefore she will, offer discount voucher or complimentary beauty services when she receive complaint. The barriers are strong but with proposal of new products and a branch in Klang ,she plans to never give up.


Up To Date Besides offering common services such as facial treatments, bridal make-up, treading, waxing and body treatment, they also update to offer new developments such as Laser treatment, LED light therapy, and DNA facials

Strategic Being based on strategic location, it is easy to Location locate and helps to attract crowds on weekends and festive seasons

Apologize Customers are always right, she offers complimentary beauty services and discount vouchers when there's a compliant

Competitive She is highly competitive as she can handle the business independently on her own and maintain the loyalty of customers even when there are so many newcomers

Dedication She put her thoughts into reality and makes it successful for more than 10 years with 200 bridal make-overs alone shows her hard work and dedication


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Dato' K. ElumalaiOM GANESH ENTERPRISE SDN BHD

Wholesale & Distribution - Prayer Items

Winning Marketing Strategy

Dato' K Elumalai or Ganesh as his close friends call him is the Chairman of Om Ganesh Enterprise Sdn Bhd, a company that focus on agarpathy business.

He is the founder of Ganesh Group of Companies. It consists of several businesses ventures, among them are Om Ganesh Enterprise (Malaysia), Om Ganesh Enterprise Sdn Bhd, Om Ganesh Enterprise (Singapore), Sawerigading Blasting & Painting and Natures Essence Sdn Bhd. Om Ganesh also extended their business into the plantation of broadbeans or in tamil “Avarakkai” due to the high demand among consumers. Being able to lead multiple businesses at a time makes him a business strategist, and a game changer with a vision ahead of times.

Ganesh as mentioned is a business strategist as he able to sense and turnaround his business from verge of bankruptcy to one of most profitable agarbathy ventures in Malaysia.

The venture commenced under brand names such as Ganesh Puja, Ganesh Chandran, and Jai Ganesh Puja with most of the packaging printed the picture of Hindu god, Lord Ganesha. The agarpathy did not do well in the Indian market; therefore, he thought to change the whole game. Upon thorough consultation with his Managing Director, he created a new fragrance under a new brand name Miracle. Miracle and remove all religions marks to expand the agarpathy market to the other races. Devoting time on research and development made Miracle a winner in the agarpathy market.

Just like any other successful businessperson, he is a risk taker as well. Ganesh started the agarbathy business in the mid 2009, although business was not doing well and on the verge of bankruptcy, he insists on trying again. Coming up with a new marketing strategy, he took risk giving out 5 million sticks free at a cost of to RM 300,000. His company distributed free samples in temple booths all around Malaysia and two sticks in each Tamil newspaper. Miracle agarpathy went on to become the most sought after product, and due to the success; he introduced 7 Miracle with addition of six more fragrances. Being ready to fail was a big risk, but failure was not an option for him.

There is no limitation in business for him, and he was ready to venture into anything. Getting involved and grabbing attention is a way of self-marketing and he is a good example of that. His involvements in international trade fairs show 7 Miracle being marketed in Singapore as well as entering Thailand. Although the focus of Ganesh is Miracle agarpathy, he never hesitates to ventures into other business such as Natures Essence or the cultivation of Avarakkai plant. His involvement in such businesses brought unintentional attention to him. He might be new to this agarpathy businesses; compared to other agarpathy business; however, Ganesh and Om Ganesh are here to stay and make the future.


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THE WAY OF ACTION

Everything comes to us…if we create the capacity to receive it. Isn’t that a wonderful recipe for success? Tagore was not making it up. Like Krishna (or perhaps because of him), the distinguished Bengali poet-laureate understood that, before we can achieve majesty we need to deploy some conventional assets that will assist us in doing so.

That’s the secret of all secrets, in business and in life; creating the circumstances that allow us to receive the benefits we deserve. To achieve this, the Gita contains a model confidence-building measure, probably the best method known to literature, ancient or modern.

In this article, we talk about the way of action and how it is a useful as a ‘pivot’ to help reorient oneself and how it is useful in ignoring the signals of fear and how action is the keystone to building recognition.

“Na me paarthaasti kartavyam trishu lokeshu kinchana;

Naanavaaptam avaaptavyam varta eva cha karmani.

There is nothing in the three worlds I need to do,Nor is there anything I need to achieve and

yet I act.”

Bhagavad Gita 3:22

Anchoring | Cultivation | Majesty

Vedantic Management:Leadership Lessons from the Bhagavad-Gita

Part 6 - The Art of Cultivation‘Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it’

~ Rabindranath Tagore


This is an exquisite verse, because it describes the personality of its speaker and is at once also a subliminal lesson in the why we should act. Let’s leave aside the issue of the personality of the speaker for a moment, only because it is beyond the scope of this article. Still, Krishna’s genius is his eminence. Most people understand this verse in the religious context only, but I urge you to look behind the veil of its plain meaning.

In this verse Krishna is effectively saying that if you don’t act, nothing changes in the Universe. No cosmic disorder will result. No special vulnerability will surface. In other words, if you don’t act…life goes on. In fact he’s more specific. He says he doesn’t need to act either. Nevertheless the cosmic law keeps turning as it were. As such, there’s nothing he or Arjuna (read ‘all of us’) need specifically do for the Universe. But act we must, because action is crucial for us to achieve for ourselves and for transcending our otherwise mundane existence.

We act for ourselves. If we do not, we squander all possibilities of ‘creating the capacity’ to receive anything we want. Starting to make sense?

But Krishna has to act, because action begets action. In another verse, he says

“Yadi hyaham na varteyam jaatu karmanyatandritah;

Mama vartmaanuvartante manushyaah paartha sarvashah.

If I don’t act, or keep occupied so as to set an example,

Humanity would foolishly follow me into darkness.”

Bhagavad Gita 3:23

So Krishna acts to show us the value of acting. Not only does he recommend action, he suggests transparency in action. In this way, his intentions are clear, and people, both intelligent and foolish can follow. If we don’t act, darkness and despondency become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Notice how people who are unmotivated to act always feel down or have some pessimistic excuse for being, well let’s not mince words, lazy? Let me make this very clear, there’s no chicken or egg argument here; lack of action leads to despondency in the first instance and not the other way around. After that it becomes a vicious cycle.

Lack of action legitimizes hostility, jealousy, aggression and mistrust. These things disorient us, as human beings, and leave us outside the circle of achievement. Acting provides a pivot or method of rebalancing us when we’re out of sorts with the world. How can it do that? Simple, it is by action and action alone that we obtain recognition.

Recognition is the world’s way to telling you that it sees you and hears you. Without this, we are crippled at an atomic level. The laws of the Universe thus affect the elements that make up your body and consciousness.

Action is also very useful in ignoring the signals that fear radiates. Fear tends to immobilize us and arrest our thoughts. Action is the natural response to fear. Action at its very fundamental level involves movement, simple and steady. That’s why we (sometimes) run when we’re afraid. We’re biologically designed to act. It goes without saying that acting/movement promotes health and wellbeing.

Of course action can be subtle, like that of the lion crouching in the scrub, stilling its breath, patiently waiting for its prey to come into striking distance.

Leaders act. You remember the definition of a leader; it’s someone who has followers. Krishna describes his quandary as a leader of humanity in the Bhagavad-Gita. His explanation is intellectually simple, as people follow him, he must act. And, he must act properly. Now let us think about where Arjuna is stood when he is gripped by fear and indecision; in the midst of the armies arraigned for battle on Kurukshetra (the famed battlefield). In fact, it was Arjuna’s (symbolic) function to begin the battle by sounding his conch horn. What did he do instead? He froze. And against that terrifying immobility that he was experiencing, Krishna was urging him to act; to fight.

LEADERSHIP• by Anand Naidu


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“Mayi sarvaani karmaani sannyasyaadhyaatma chetasaa;

Niraasheer nirmamo bhootwaa yudhyaswa vigatajwarah.

Sacrificing all that you do to me, with your mind focused on the Self, Free from hope and

egoism and mental anguish, fight!”

Bhagavad Gita 3:30

If management has no human values, it fails as a discipline. In fact, nearly every undertaking that lacks human values will fail. So the administration of management requires a background of knowledge (being the basis upon which anchoring takes place), the ‘play of commonsense’ and lastly, the majesty of commonsense.

Our sense of recognition comes acknowledging that the science of management and leadership requires a certain minimal amount of care and attention. Care and attention represent the necessary action that we must take to achieve our goals. Enthusiasm for the care and attention will give us recognition for our actions.

In fact, in lauding the yoga of action, Krishna is praising work. Good old fashioned, work. Of course it makes perfect sense because work (as action, meaning right action), increases order, cleanliness, peace, punctuality, rhythm and a positive environment. For every kind of ‘outer’ problem or difficulty, action is the answer to obtaining the result, which among other things, is proper recognition for what we do and who we are.

Krishna’s discourse implies that Arjuna has the ability to overcome his grief and fear. Sri Aurobindo put this another way when he assured us that people have the ‘power to exceed’ themselves. I might add, we have the power to exceed ourselves, despite ourselves. We have the power therefore to become a more profound version of ourselves, of becoming ineffably better, of tapping into the splendours of the spirit and overcoming our common intelligence. At that point, we will have the capacity to receive the recognition due to us.

Anand Naidu is a Malaysian-born barrister and law lecturer based in Melbourne. He is also the Deputy President of LawHelp Australia, a not-for-profit legal advice bureau based in Melbourne. Anand has had a long association with the teachings of Hinduism and is currently preparing a series of seminars based on drawing leadership and management principles from Hindu teachings.

[email protected] +61 425 627 116

LEADERSHIP


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K. MuthupandyAMBI AGENCY ADVERTISING SDN BHD

Advertisement - Creative

Carving A Niche in the Advertising World

Ambi Agency Advertising Sdn Bhd is a professional media advertising company founded by K.Muthupandy and his brothers, K.Thirunavukkarasu

and Datuk Dr. K.Mathavan in 1999 with just two customers in their portfolio. Now, together with its sister company, Rhythm Heights Corporation Sdn Bhd, they have 50 prominent clients in their portfolio with 15 expertise workers under them. A major breakthrough arrived when NTV7 approached them and gave two hours of slot time called Spice of India to broadcast then famous Indian serial “KasalavuNesam”, directed by K.Balachander, and sponsored by Alagappa Flour Mills Sdn Bhd. They bought the rights for the serial for advertising purpose; and now they are the leading media buyers for Astro.

The success of Ambi Agency Advertising should be credited to their prolific creativity. This media advertising company would not have run for 15 years without its creativity. K.Muthupandy as the main creative input, grows up adoring the Indian cinemas of the 80s, and was always full of passion to make a movie. He and his brothers owned video library and shops in KL, but when the viral media piracy terrorized their business in 1997, their business got slower and K.Muthupandy turn to media advertising as a last resort. His passion for film making helped him really well because advertising does not vary much from movie making, as media advertising consists of script writing and composing jingles,.

They poses the precise knowledge of media advertising, as they need to convey the description, price and the message of a product in such a short time. They tend to work closely with each client, and research meticulously for every product given. They also find the right audience targets for certain specialized products. Besides that, they also recommend the best idea and share knowledge with the clients, as to keep the ads in their budget while maintaining the high quality. Their qualities in advertising are so capturing, that clients who left them initially returns eventually. In these 15 years, they have done a successful work of 150 media advertisings, 650 episodes of drama, 1000 radio jingles, the

famous local film title “Uyir”, and the music video of DiGi “Oliperuvom” which got into Malaysian Book of Records for the most number of singers.

K.Muthupandy makes sure that he is competitive among the other rival advertising companies, to be the best in these 15 years. Most of the qualities mentioned, such as creativity, precise knowledge of advertising, and returning clients drives them to be competitive. Some other factors that keep them motivated are the actual diversity of an advertising company. Beside television ads and radio jingles, Ambi Agency also provides video production, event management and outdoor advertising with various options such as billboards and mobile cruisers. He stated that television ads and radio jingles only contribute 50% of the revenue while the other 50% is contributed by the billboards, mobile cruisers and outdoor and events advertising. Many of young generation ventured this business but none last long enough to make name like K.Muthupandy.


Creative There are no advertising without creativity, as you need to convey every detail of a product in such a short time. K.Muthupandy as the main creative input has been credited for writing the script and jingles

Precise With 15 expertise workers working under them, Knowledge they have the precise knowledge of media advertising to come up with functional and well- designed ads that actually works

Customer It is his code of moral to grow up with clients Oriented toward success. He works closely with them in an interactive discussion giving ideas, advices to maintain their budget and the quality as well

Competitive He is very competitive as he constantly in search for new ideas to be on the market for 15 years. Some of the ideas are the various options of advertising offered such as billboards, mobile cruisers and outdoor and event advertising

Diversifying He is very diversifying as he ventured into video production, event management, local movie and dramas, and music videos through sister company to broaden his business horizons


49

Raja SegarQS CERTIFICATION SDN BHD

Services - QMS Certifications

Foremost Quality Management Consultancy

Rajasegar, Director of QS Certification Sdn. Bhd founded the business in 2011 to represent QS Zurich AG, Switzerland, which was accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Service

(SAS) and is a foremost quality management consultant that improves company images through quality work delivery such as employees’ high morale, wastage reduction, and systematic documentation. Prior to QS Certification, he worked as a lead ISO Auditor in another company for three years. Therefore, his vast experience in QS Certification is a result of his working experience as quality control and quality assurance [QA/QC] for the past 15 years since 1990.

According to Raja Segar, a lot of SMEs especially those belonging to Malaysian Indian needs to seek quality management beyond ISO 9001 certification, and yet most of them lack of awareness and does not understand the importance of being recognized by ISO 9001 or the long term benefits that can be gained by any business through the quality management system. While that is a major issue among Indian SMEs due to lack of awareness, there are also other issues in QS certification such as the expanding demands of ISO 13485, CE MARKING, GDP, ISO 22000 and HACCP for medical industries.

His self-confidence drives and navigates him through most obstacles as there are no proper mentors to guide the Indian community in regards of quality management system. At present, he is in need of some qualified auditors and other recognized accrediting body to issue the quality management certificates. Besides that, he provides free guidance to Indian SMEs that looks forward to get certified with quality management system, and this is due to fact, in terms of quality management, businesses are competing with businesses that already been certified, in contrast to the conventional way of businesses our ancestors did long ago.

Raja Segar also constantly is in an effort to create awareness as most Indian SMEs tends to ignore the importance of quality management system and prefer not to learn the importance of such certificates. For example, those in food industries crucially needs to have ISO 22000, GMP and HACCP to explore the oversea market such as China, Australia or Europe. He is also in an attempt to change the negative mindset of Indian business owners that believes the process cost high and waste of time. Regardless of those facts, his company has a long list of clients standing from other races.

As an emerging entrepreneur, his business is still in the growing process with attention given to food industries and medical industries, which requires consultation on ISO 22000, GMP, and HACCP for food industries, and ISO 13485 and MDD certification for medical industries. It is safe to say that it’s the industry knowledge and experience of quality management system that contributed to his successes. Besides that, he also mentioned that public relations and self-discipline are necessary as well. As the foremost quality management system, the core proficiency of QS Certification will be to assist businesses to continuously produce quality outputs.


Industry Knowledge gained from the past working Knowledge experience as lead ISO Auditor as well as being in quality control and assurance (QC/QA) for the past 15 years

Self It is his self confidence that drives and navigatesConfidence him through obstacles as there are no proper mentors to guide Indian SMEs in terms of quality management system

Awareness He takes responsibility to create awareness among Indian SMEs of the importance of quality management system as most of them tends to ignore the importance completely

Changing He is also in an attempt to change the negative Mindsets mindset of Indian business owners that believes the process cost high and waste of time

Free He is willing to give free guidance to Indian SMEsGuidance that looks forward to get certified with quality management system


51

M. Kanagaratnam PJK, PKTB. MATHAVON STORES

Retail - Trading

Founder of a Successfull Retail Store

M. Kanagaratnam PJK, PKT is the founder of B.Mathavon Stores Sdn. Bhd. that revolutionized the customers experience since 1978. He was born in April 1951 and

grew up in Kupang Estate in Baling, Kedah together with eight siblings. His parents were struggling rubber tappers and financially. wasn’t much of a help to his studies, therefore he decided to work at 11 years old for RM 30 per month. As soon as he was over with Standard 6, he went to work in India Store located in Market Street of Penang; he was then called back to Kupang Estate by his parents, where he did odd jobs by selling spring hoppers “Idyappam” and cutting grass.

Later on, he went back to work at Ramasamy Store in Market Street for seven years until 1977 for an income of RM 240 per month. It then when he got married to Mdm. Lacheme Yalumalai, who is from Kupang Estate as well. The thought of doing business came to him after the birth of his first son, K. Nadarajan, when he wanted to provide the best for the family. With a little bit of discussion with a friend and a little bit of luck, he took over a portion of India Store and initiated B. Mathavon Stores. His wife supported him completely, being with him through good and hard times.

And now he, together with his two sons K. Nadarajan and K. Saravanakumaran, owns and runs a few shops in Market Street, Penang. B. Mathavon Stores specialises in wholesaling and distributing stainless steel and brassware from India to the shops in northern Malaysian regions. They also distribute grinding stones that are used in to prepare traditional Indian cooking. Besides that, they also market the F&N Diaries-Magnolia Milk to shops in the northern regions and are the distributing agents for Thurga’s prayer items, which include the agarpathy, prayer oil and sambrani.

Furthermore, they are the sole importer and distributor of the National Award winning Royal Sandal Saffron Soap of Andhra Pradesh to Singapore and Malaysia. The latest addition is the telecommunication outlet that provides prepaid, top ups, and broadband services especially Hotlink. Besides giving out affordable price and having dedicated employees, Kanagaratnam attributes excellent customer services for their successes, as they have about 300 loyal customers under them and 5000 customers in their database.

The endless support and loyalty is a direct result of their close attachment with customers, as they organize lucky draw and coloring contest events for the customers. They also personally give greeting cards, calendar or promotion brochure to their customers on festive seasons. In addition to all that, K. Nadarajan also follows the delivery van to visit their customers once or twice in a month, and unload products for them, as this gives him the opportunity to meet the customers personally and get to know their requirements. B. Mathavon Stores came along a hard way since 1978 but surely is here to stay to give a lot more to the north Malaysian regions.


Excellent Kanagaratnam acknowledges excellentCustomer customer services as the main reason ofServices successes as they work closely with their customer that depends on them

Diversify He expanded his business into telecommunication services such as prepaid, top ups, and broadband services, as well as prayer items like agarpathy and sambrani

Follow Up Visiting customers by following the delivery van and unloading the products for them, or sending greeting cards and calendars, allows them to get in personal touch with the customers

Teamwork There is no way to manage and handle 300 customers from different parts of northern regions of Malaysia without the efforts of great teamwork from all the staffs

Affordable His business offers the most affordable and Price reasonable price for all the customers under them


53

Andrew Paul & Abdul AnuarAKSAYA SDN BHD

Marketing - Online Sales

Look Exotic. Wear Exclusive.An Insight Into The Origin Of

Aksaya Fashion

Aksaya Fashion is an online fashion boutique founded and managed by Aksaya Sdn. Bhd since January of 2010. Their Directors are none other than the dynamic duo Andrew Paul

and Abdul Anuar. Their product includes hand-picked and custom-made designer sarees, one-minute sarees, Bollywood celebrity apparels, designer salwar suits, printed sarees, designer lacha, exclusive wedding lehenga cholis, sherwanis and many more. The initial idea to start a fashion boutique came upon a thorough discussion and research that showed ethnic Indian wears as a popular wears among Malaysian Indian, especially those in Johor that goes to Singapore to shop for Indian wears.

Before Aksaya Sdn. Bhd, both Andrew and Anuar worked as Business Development Managers in the Hotel industry in Singapore. They gained vast experience from the hospitality and business development industry. Initially Aksaya Fashion planned to sell sarees from various part of India like Bombay and Rajasthan but improved in months with both Directors been involved in the designing of various Indian outfits. Soon, Aksaya was designing their own wedding outfits for customers with Andrew sketching the designs. The heaviest wedding outfit designed by Andrew was 10KG with a long trail.

There’s lots of factors that contribute to make Aksaya Fashion different from other saree manufacturers, and one of them is Aksaya being based on online platforms that offers the widest variety of popular and trendy Indian ethnic fashions. Therefore, as the boutique being an online business, able to update people with current trends and designs in Indian fashions through their Facebook page. People can also stay connected with their new apparel collections, latest promotion, festive sales and discount through their website, www.aksayafashion.com. One of the benefits that their online customers can enjoy is the FREE DELIVERY service they offer through online purchases.

Within the four years of business journey, Aksaya Fashion had already been known for their excellent Customer Service and their original Quality Apparels. The former is due to the fact of their large amount of recurring regular customers up to now. Aksaya is also known for selling original Quality Apparel that is made from genuine quality materials unlike duplication and is the first Indian boutique in

Malaysia to win the Asia Honesty Enterprise Award continuously for two years, which increased its reputation, thus qualifying its name as one of the best Indian clothing markets in Malaysia.

Andrew and Anuar faced many problems through this business journey, but nothing stopped them from making them move forward, and they are constantly finding ways to elevate in the business world. They have extended their fashion apparels to boutique owners all over Malaysia by providing business to business and with their supports, Aksaya is currently supplying fashion apparels to nine other boutiques. Aksaya also actively participates in big expo such as the International Indian Shopping Festival organized by Agenda Suria Communication in Penang, Johor and KL since 2013 and always continues to success at greater heights in near future.


Custom-made Founders involved in designing and sketching Designs outfits for customers according to their needs

Online Beside boutiques, Aksaya also focus on onlineMarketing business that keeps the people up to date with current trend in Indian fashion and keep them informed on new apparels, latest promotion and sales

Quality Aksaya sells original Quality Apparel that madeMaterial from genuine quality materials which won them the Asia Honesty Enterprise Awards continuously for two years

Business to Aksaya start providing business to business toBusiness other boutiques to extend their business and now they have 9 other boutiques supporting them

Participation Besides Business to Business, Aksaya activelyin Expo participates in big expo such as International Indian Shopping Festival in all 3 locations of Penang, Johor and KL since 2013


57

Yokitha Naidu GIANT CATERERS SDN BHD

F & B - Local Cuisine

Premium Caterer

Restoran Giant Caterers Sdn. Bhd. is a top notch catering service provider initiated by Mr. S.S. Naidu back in 2002 supported by his 27 year old daughter,

Ms. Yokitha Naidu that takes care of the sales and marketing. It was started as traditional catering servicing mainly aiming at Malaysian Indian community, before blooming into a big player of Food & Beverages (F&B) in Johor providing home, industrial and premium catering service that includes wide range of services from food catering to event management.

Giant Caterers is described as one of the first to pioneer catering industry in Johor Bahru regions, with exceptional capability of catering for 5000 people or five events at a time while offering a wide range of food selections prepared by qualified skilled chefs from North and South India. The sustainability and the success of Giant Caterers is to be credited to their quality service as this is indicated by the satisfied and returning customers as they also implemented money back guarantee policy in case of food poisoning.

In order to overcome the challenges the company expanded into multiracial catering that offer variety of intercultural cuisines. Realizing huge potential in industrial catering as Johor is becoming a commercial hub for oil & gas, education and medical sectors. They targeted the industrial catering services that comprise of mid-range to high end services that gives him better profits, as it includes setting up main kitchens and service kitchens according to customers need and limitations. The company’s new initiatives paid off as they managed to supply catering services for big corporates such as Ranhill, Halliburton, Monash University, Marlborough College, V.S Industries Sdn Bhd along with high profile personality, such as Former Chief Minister of Johor, Tan Sri Dato' Haji Abdul Ghani Bin Othman. Their biggest achievement including catering for 4000 people for an event organized by Nepal Embassy spearhead by Ms Yokitha and 5000 people for a temple consecration ceremony.

Ms. Yokitha Naidu, a graduate with a Master’s degree in Economics supported by experienced Catering Management staffs makes a great team in modernizing the business

by introducing new dishes and entering the high level marketing. They utilize new age techs such as Facebook, emails and telemarketing to create networks among younger generations and corporate clients in order to maintain their excellent customer services. When the business gets stiffer, especially with the new coming caterers, they developed a selection of strategy such as hiring North Indian chefs that prepare authentic North Indian cuisines. She also hires single mothers as part-timers to work under them as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and in returns, she gets catering contact and contracts from various NGOs.

The company founder Mr. Naidu is a multitasking man with ambitious vision, as he wants his legacy to be continued for generations to come. He took the first step by hiring a business consultant to turn his ambitious vision into reality. As for Ms. Yokhita, her future plans are to hire multinational chefs to deliver a large variety of F&B services and start franchising as she saw lots of potential in it.


Multitasking It certainly needs a little bit of multitasking especially when you are managing, marketing, and catering food for 5000 people or 5 events at a time, and Yokitha Naidu never fails to show her multitasking skills

Diversify Diversified into multiracial catering that offers intercultural fusion cuisines and also magnified his traditional home catering into industrial and corporate catering services

Team Work Although multitasking is essential, dividing works between them from management, marketing and handling operations also shown to be beneficial to company at times

Excellent Their excellent customer service, which includes Customer money back guarantee policy in case of food Service poison, is indicated by returning satisfied customers

Socially They hire single mothers as part-timers as a part Responsible of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)


61

R.V. Ganesh PrakashMORTGAGE GURU SDN BHD

Finance - Banking & Financial

Boutique Private Banking & Finance Advisory Specialist

R. V. Ganesh Prakash is the Executive Director and the Head of Retail & SME Banking Advisory Division of Mortgage Guru Sdn. Bhd. It is a firm

providing solutions and guidance to all the topics related to mortgage and SME loans through private banking services for businesses in Malaysia. Currently, they are offering their services to three kinds of client, the Income Earners, the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs, and the High Net worth Individuals and their firm have been successful get funding for multi million ringgit projects.

His father, who was into business after spending his 20 years in the insurance industry, was very strict. He wanted him to be a doctor, but Ganesh was already planning to be a lawyer. After completing his school years, he was sent to London to pursue law and just when he was about to graduate, the 1998 financial crisis hits the country affecting his father’s business, and this leads to him cancelling the CLP in Malaysia and also attending the graduation in London as Pound Sterling was six times higher than Malaysian Ringgit at that time. Ganesh, who refused to be sad by that, was already planning his next agendas positively.

His first agenda was to start up his own business, but realizing that he was lack of experience at the time decided to attend interviews and get a job in a bank. He secured an Executive post in Mortgage Business with the Citibank, and impressed the bank by elevating to Assistant Manager in 23 months. It didn’t stopped there as he was constantly climbing the corporate ladders going through various Management and Credit departments before settling down as a Head of Mortgage Business in Citibank’s’ new branch at Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, Cheras.

Banking & Financial Advisory firm was the concept running through his mind ever since the first time he met Alex Lim, the Deputy Managing Director of Great Vision Group of Companies, one of the well-known financial advisory companies in Malaysia with total investment of RM 600 million. Ganesh was given to take over the Asset Lending Division after 8 months of casual meet ups. He then

branched out to Penang, Kota Kinabalu, and Johor Bahru, at where a total of more than 500 advisors were divided into, to double the booked loan within a year.

At the age of 37, his concept of Banking & Financial Advisory firm finally changed into a vision of private banking services, which is the one thing the Great Vision Group of Companies neglected to offer. Mortgage Guru Sdn. Bhd was then established with the permission of the directors from former company and the help of networks and foreign bank contacts he gathered throughout the decades. Now they have about 26 workforces under them that expertise in various banking and financial advisory subjects and 90% of their clients are the existing clients they have known for years. His vision never stops here as his future agenda includes opening Mortgage Banks in Malaysia.


Optimistic Failing to secure a medical seat, failing to continue his CLP in Malaysia or failing the first interview never stopped him from thinking the next step and visualize his bright future

Hard Work From elevating to Assistant Manager in 23 months and then settling down as Head of a Branch to establishing own firm, that’s a pure hard work there

Self- Awareness He truly aware of his strength and weakness, which actually helped him in makinghis decisions, such as from choosing law before medicine and getting a job instead of venturing into business without experience

Well – Planned Everything he does, he makes sure he plans them well before actually carrying out the plans, as establishing banking & advisory firm, to private banking services, everything was well- planned

Loyalty From Assistant Manager, to various Management and Credit departments and finally the Head of Branch, he was faithfully working under Citibank although a lot of good offers came from other banks, it’s one thing that every businessperson needs


63

Subramaniam KandasamySC SOUTHERN TOURS & TRAVEL SDN BHD

Tourism - Tours & Travel

Mr. Subramaniam Kandasamy is the Founder and Director of SC Southern Transports Agency initiated in 2001 and was incorporated into SC

Southern Tours & Travel Sdn. Bhd. in 2009. Subramaniam, a bus driver ever since he was exposed to job world and ventured into business in 1999, but it was met with failure as he lack of knowledge about the industry and lack of proper documentation. He left everything, and went to Canada to gain more knowledge about tours & travel management. He worked there and went to class on free time. He was still a bus driver, upon returning with additional knowledge, yet it took him few years before he ventures again.

Since 2009, they only specialized in local tours, mainly in the inbound tourism and organize tours anywhere within Malaysia as limitation set by the authority. Almost 90% of their businesses is made through inbound tourist from India, through their own staffs in Chennai promoting Malaysia as well as giving them the opportunity to help Indian tour guides and ground workers.

The main challenge is, being 100% Indian based company in Malaysia, as there were no financial aids from banks or business support from Government sectors. Huge competition from financial strong Malays and Chinese counterpart always push them to look out for new ideas to remain competitive within the industry. Even winning the heart of local Indians to choose them as their tours & travel agent always a battle.

As part of business development, they have created a website and active in online marketing including social media with dedicated staffs taking care of them. The Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents (MATTA) identified South India as a potential market assisted SC Southern Tours & Travel Sdn. Bhd as they too promote Malaysia aggressively. The company also provides Malaysia tour packages for locals through Tamil newspapers, though operating from Johor. For all the efforts made, they won the Best Travel Agent award from Johor Tourism Awards being the first Indian company to do so.

Subramaniam is very active in community services as well, a chairman of Parents and Teachers Association of SJKT Pasir Gudang put most of his efforts into providing educational books and materials for children with financial difficulties and this includes giving his 10% profit from the business to education development of younger generations. He also expressed his desire to be a mentor for young Indians who wants to be successful in this industry as most of their trainees are non-Indians. As for the future, his plans are to include outbound services as they are only providing inbound services for now. It may not be easy to be 100% non-bumiputra owned inbound tour operator license but he is definitely up for the challenges.


Leadership He is a mentor and his strong desire to guideQuality more young Indian trainees that wants to be successful in tours and travel business sector shows his strong leadership quality

Industry He failed once, but he went as far as to work inKnowledge Canada to gain knowledge and experience for 19 years before he ventures again in the industry

Trying Again Risk is inevitable in business world, but failing once doesn’t mean the end of the world. He knows he needs to try again harder with proper knowledge and documentation, therefore, he accomplished well

Regional Office Setting up a regional office in Chennai, India makes it easier to promote and market the tours and Malaysia and also the inbound tour activity, thus improving the popularity and income

Online New ideas needed to compete within theMarketing industry, and one of them was to create a website and marketing through online. It will be easier for inbound tourist to check on the promotions and festive tours

Community He serves the community well by being the Service Chairman of Parents and Teachers Association in a Tamil school, and thus contributing 10% of business profits to help the children with financial difficulties

The Non Quitter


67

SelvaraniLAVANYAA GLOBE BEAUTY & ACADEMY

Beauty Care - Academy

Beauty in the Hands of an Expert

Lavanyaa Globe Beauty & Academy a multiple award winning beauty salon, established by Madam Selvarani in 1998. She currently manage the business

assisted by her two daughters, Raathiga Rani and Sharmila Rani. Madam Selvarani, from Teluk Intan, Perak shifted to Kuala Lumpur in 1967, spent her childhood studying at St. Theresa Convent and later at SMK Bangsar. She started her career in beauty industry as a part-time job in the early days for extra income, before started her own beauty salon in Bangsar. It was later expanded to Puchong with an addition of beauty academy.

Beside, offering basic services such as haircut and wash, blowing and hair treatments the salon offers services such as facial, threading, waxing, bridal makeover completely with Mehendi artworks and Saree draping. In addition to all that mentioned, her Puchong based beauty salon act as a beauty academy as well, as she started giving short courses since 2008. Meeting new people is exciting but it is those graduating ceremonies that keep the salon interesting.

Madam Selvarani alluded that it was her passion contributed in establishing her own beauty salon. During younger days she offer beauty services generously for her neighbours, friends and relatives around. She then took short courses in hair dressing and makeup once she learned of her talent. Highly inspired by their mother, her daughters Raathiga, a B.Sc. in Biomedical graduate, manager of the salon, while

Sharmila, who owns Diploma in Beauty and Health, takes care of customer needs. Her students also do their practical and industrial training under their supervision.

Madam Selvarani makes sure that they are well-planned and punctual in dealing with the clients as each of them has different needs and opinions. Beauty industry is a wide industry, therefore they have keep up-to-date with modern trends and fresh styles as modern makeup, hair dos, and accessories have evaluates a lot. Besides that, a lot of brides these days are extremely stylish and dare to experiment with new styles. In keeping up trend they read and attend professional classes to ensure effective creativity flow and maintain good relationship with clients.

In the constantly challenging and competitive to be noticed as the best in beauty industry, this mother-daughter combo keeps themselves busy with loyal and new clients by sponsoring movies, placing cover advertisements, providing celebrity makeover, conduct promotions through wedding magazines and social networking sites such as Facebook.


Passion Offered generously beauty services for the people around her. Continuous development by taking courses, attending conferences and teaching others

Creative Read, attend more professional classes to be top of the latest trends and fresh styles to ensure the continuous creativity flows

Organized She makes sure that everything is well- planned and punctual to satisfy the needs and expectations of the clients, especially the brides

Competitive She does a lot of promotions, community programs, sponsorship and celebrity makeover to be the best among others in highly competitive beauty industry

Interpersonal She has good interpersonal skills with the clients Skills and students and maintains a good relationship with them


69

Dr Prema Lata PonnusamySINAR IDEAL KINDERGARTEN

Education - Pre-school

Dr. Prema Lata founded Sinar Ideal Kindergarten in 2006 to provide pre-school education to children in a lovely and caring environment. Sinar Ideal

Kindergarten started with only 25 students now grown into 100 students and Dr. Prema needs to equalize the capacity in one session as there’s child care centre as well. The versatile kindergarten with multi-racial students practices English as teaching medium while the mother tongue of each children being taught as a compulsory subjects. Children are evaluated with 40% academic achievement and the rest based on performance and characters to identify problems as well as students progression.

Dr. Prema, a PhD holder, the eldest of four siblings was born to Mr. Ponnusamy and Mdm. Sellamah. At 18 she began to teach at Tots Dale Kindergarten and Convent Kindergarten around 1992 and 1993. Thereafter she earns income by working at Public Bank in the morning, as a cashier at a restaurant during night and a home cleaning services during weekends until 2006, the year Sinar Ideal was initiated. She’s highly inspired by her mother, Mdm Sellamah, whom received “Anugerah Ibu Tunggal” from Johor’s Menteri Besar.

Sinar Ideal employs dedicated multiracial teachers with diploma and degree holder that are creative, intuitive and a great listener. Their teachers can handle noisy classroom with energetic children without any problems, able to cope with children with emotional problems, reading problems, low self-esteem, fear of schools and even psychological problems. The administrations are managed by her sister Prem Sutha as this enables her to focus on quality of teaching. Being different from others, they emphasis on discipline, work ethics and the teachers are trained to deal with all kinds of situation.

The greatest challenges in running a kindergarten are the parents as some have problematic characters and some have narrow mentality and are difficult to communicate at times. However, they try harder to have direct communication and counseling with parents as it is an effective method to

keep up with students’ progress. One thing that satisfies her is the method of shaping students to become talented children while nurturing leadership quality and confidence as every kid in Sinar Ideal can give multilingual speeches on stage perfectly without hesitations.

Many Indians have ventured in this industry but they only focus on Indian students unlike Sinar Ideal which has multiracial students with 50% being Chinese. She credits her success to her commitments, and hard work in providing the ideal learning environment. Besides kindergarten, she’s pretty much busy and committed to the society being secretary and committee member to various well-known Clubs and Associations. Her future plan is to implement Information Technology based lessons in her kindergarten and opening up a private primary school.


Multi-Racial Sinar Ideal consists of multi-racial students and teachers with 50% of students being Chinese.

Trained Their teachers are diploma and degree holdersTeachers and are trained to deal with all kinds of situation; this includes patiently handling noisy classroom with energetic students as well as problematic students.

Team Work Perfect team work between teachers and administration enable effective focus on teachings, dealing with parents and focus on quality improvement.

Communication Sinar Ideal ensures direct communication and counseling with all parents from time to time as it is an effective method to keep up with their children’s progression.

Highly Dr. Prema is highly committed with her desire toCommitted shape every student into talented children and better individual and be a responsible adult in the society in the near future.

Nurturing Kids in a Lovable Learning

Environment


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