The British Malaysian Society

Newsletter – Spring 2018

EVENTS Thursday 5 April Joint event with the Malayan Volunteers

Group, a talk on the history of the Malayan

Volunteer Forces.

Venue: Malaysian High Commission

Time: 12 noon to 2.30pm. Tuesday 24 April

UK and ASEAN lunchtime Panel Discussion,

a joint event with the University of

Nottingham, featuring a panel of

distinguished experts.

Venue: White & Case offices in London.

Time: 12 noon to 2.30pm.

Thursday 21 June

BMS AGM & President’s Reception

Venue: Oriental Club, London

Time: 6pm – 8pm

Late June Eid celebration dinner

Venue: Satay House

Early July

Presentation by Ashly Nandong, BMS

scholar, at the Prince’s School of

Traditional Arts, Shoreditch.

Subscriptions and membership cards

2018 subscriptions were due by 31

March. All those individuals who had

paid by this date should have received

their membership cards. If you believe

you have paid but have not received

your card(s) please let the Treasurer

know at: membership@thebritishmalaysiansociety.org

Although we had two fewer events in 2017 they were all well attended. Two of the highlights were the 60th Anniversary Merdeka Concert held in October in the City of London and the Christmas Reception and Celebration of Merdeka held in December at the House of Lords. The Society continues to enjoy excellent relations with both the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian High Commission in London and this enhances our main mission of promoting bilateral friendships between our two countries. HE Vicki Treadell, British High Commissioner in Malaysia, gave a stimulating talk at the Inner Temple in September and HE Dato’ Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi again hosted events at the Malaysian High Commission.

The Society’s privacy policy As you may be aware new data protection regulations come into force in May this year. Accordingly, we need to formally advise members of our privacy policy. The only personal information we collect and hold about members is the information you provide to us when you apply to join the Society. This comprises your name, email address, postal address and telephone contact numbers. We will never provide our membership lists or any of your personal details to any third parties. We hold your contact details solely to be able to provide details of the Society’s events and other events which may be of interest to you. If we are approached to advertise a third party event this will be relayed to members by us only if it is considered relevant and of possible interest. If you have any questions about this policy please contact us at: membership@thebritishmalaysiansociety.org

A Commonwealth Big Lunch, as part of the

CHOGM 2018 events, was held at the Malaysian

High Commission on 23 March. It was a joint

event between the BMS, the Sarawak

Association and IoD City.

It was a celebration of the Commonwealth and

the great part that HM The Queen has played as

Head of the Commonwealth. This lunch was to

celebrate that connection.

Over 60 members and guests attended the

event including the Malaysian High Commissioner, HE Dato’ Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi.

HE Dato’ Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi addressing

guests

Talk by Rt Hon Mark Field MP

on UK-Malaysia Relations

From left: Neville Green, Anthony Cooper, BMS

Chairman, Mark Field MP and Mei Sim Lai, BMS

Deputy Chairman.

The Rt Hon Mark Field MP, Minister of State for Asia

and the Pacific, gave a wide ranging and interesting

talk on “UK-Malaysia relations” at Portcullis House,

Westmonster, on 15 March.

His talk included current Malaysian politics, trade,

bilateral issues and education. He also took questions

from the audience of over 60 guests.

He tweeted (about BMS) “A vital institution for

supporting relations over the last 35 years”.

The Rt Hon Mark Field has been the Member of

Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster

since 2001. He has a special interest in economic

affairs, foreign trade and international aid.

Commonwealth Big Lunch at Malaysian High Commission

From left: Dato' Anthony Cooper (Chairman of BMS), Allen Lai (UKABC) Dato' Mohammad Faiz Azmi (Chairman of PwC Malaysia), Tony Collingridge OBE and Trevor Wicks (DTI)

Tony Collingridge said that Malaysia was not far from achieving its Vision 2020 goals, and the economic indicators showed the country to be in good shape. Consumer demand was the key factor in economic growth, but as a small country Malaysia relies heavily on trade. Trade between UK and Malaysia is expected to reach US$10.7bn by 2020. On the political front he noted that PM Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak presented a bold approach ahead of GE 14.

Continued on page 2, column 1 .

At our Annual Dinner in October, generously hosted again by the Inner Temple, we were fortunate to have Lord Powell, BMS Vice President, as our Guest Speaker. Lord Powell has close links with Malaysia. For 2018 the Executive Committee, with the full support of our President, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, has planned another full programme of events. We started the year with a topical business talk by Tony Collingridge, and we had our Chinese New Year lunch on 27 February. This is my fourth and last review as I will be retiring as Chairman at our AGM on 21 June, when Mei Sim Lai will succeed me. I plan to continue a close relationship with Malaysia during my Presidency of the Sarawak Association.

Chairman’s Review

Chinese New Year Lunch

BMS held its annual Chinese New Year

Celebratory lunch at Maxmini Restaurant on 27

February.

About 30 members and friends attended the

function, on a cold and snowy day.

Talk by Tony Collingridge, OBE “Prospects for the Malaysian

economy, trade and investment in 2018”

ato

launch

line

AMEU hosts Financial Technology

(FinTech), DEFINETECH

The Association of Malaysian Economics

Undergraduates (AMEU) held their first

ever Financial Technology (FinTech)

event, DEFINETECH, at Malaysia Hall,

London, on 10 February.

The event was aimed at providing

students with a comprehensive picture of

the role of technology and its related

industries in the larger economy.

Participants had the privilege of hearing

from BMS member Simon Gilbert, the

Founder and Managing Director of

Elmore Insurance Brokers Limited, who

shed some light on the emerging threats

that the financial industry faces as it

continues to evolve digitally and the

growing importance of cyber insurance

for companies..

AMEU is a professional non-profit

student-run organisation for aspiring

Malaysian undergraduates studying

economics or economics-related pursuits

in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Manchester Intellectual

Debate 2018 The Manchester Intellectual Debate 2018

(MID) was held in Manchester on 3 – 4

March.

The MID competition had two

categories, Malay and English, both in

Asian Parliamentary style.

A total of 250 students and 10 guests

from various organisations attended the

closing ceremony of the event.

There were 5 teams for Malay Debate

Category, 6 teams for English Debate

Category and a total of 16 public speaking

contestants.

This year, MID not only received

participants from UK and Ireland but also

from India and France which reflects its

goal to become a hub for intellectual

discourse amongst Malaysian students in

the UK, beyond the horizon of Malaysia.

MID 2018 was supported by Biro

Pelajar Luar Negara and other agencies.

The British Malaysian Society was a

bronze sponsor of the event and BMS

Deputy Chairman Mei Sim Lai attended

the event on the final day.

_______________________________

Continued from Page 1

Prospects for the Malaysian economy, by

Tony Collingridge

In ASEAN, Malaysia plays a major role

and is also an important member of the

Commonwealth.

Tony was formerly UKTI’s Director of

Trade & Investment in Malaysia. He was

appointed as Director Malaysia for the

Commonwealth Enterprise and

Investment Council (CWEIC) in

November 2017.

The event was held at the offices of

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLP on Thursday 4

January.

UKEC-Graduan - The Malaysian Careers Fair 2018

Over 30 Malaysian corporates exhibited

at the UKEC Graduan Careers Fair, at

Royal Lancaster Hotel, on Sunday 25

March, including a number of corporate

members of BMS. An estimated 4,000

students attended the Fair.

The Malaysian Careers Fair 2018 is a

platform for Malaysian students in the

UK to network and potentially secure

internship, placements and job

opportunities with leading Malaysian

companies.

HE Dato’ Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi, Malaysian

High Commissioner, (third from left) with

BMS members at the BMS booth. He also

went to booths of other exhibitors after

launching the Fair.

The Graduan Careers Fair was organised

by United Kingdom & Eire Council of

Malaysian Students (UKEC).

BMS set up a booth at the fair to raise

awareness of the BMS amongst students.

JOIN US FOR THE PAWA

WALK 2018 Join the PAWA Walk team to raise funds

for teenage girls’ education in Asia at the

Super Heroes Run at Regents Park on

Sunday 13 May at 11am.

It is just £25 to register (under 8s are

free) and this includes a PAWA Walk

T-shirt. http://pawa-london.org

PAWA organised a Panel Discussion

“Women in Film: Challenges and

opportunities behind the camera”, for

Women’s International Day, at Nehru

Centre on 16 March.

(From left) Sangeeta Datta, writer/director,

Taiwanese director Jenny Lu, Kamalakshi

Mehta, PAWA management committee

member/writer and Bernard Chauly,

Malaysian film director

PAWA also had a booth at WOW

(Women of the World) at Southbank

Centre on 8 March.

BMS now has Facebook and Twitter. Now social media users can click on to BMS

Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/

thebritishmalaysiansociety1983 Twitter: @BritishMsianSoc

Produced and edited by The British Malaysian Society www.thebritishmalaysiansociety.org

Malaysian King receives Honorary

Fellowship from Oxford's St Cross College The Sun Daily March 1, 2018

The Yang di-

OXFORD: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia,

Sultan Muhammad V, has been awarded the Honorary Fellowship

of the St Cross College of Oxford, United Kingdom.

He received the fellowship during an induction ceremony in St

Cross College, cementing his place in an international network of

14 Honorary and Domus Fellows of the college.

St Cross College Master, Carole Souter, presented a medal and

certificate of fellowship to the King, witnessed by the college's

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson, and its academic

staff.

Sultan Muhammad V was educated at Oakham School in

Rutland until 1989 and pursued his education in Diplomatic

Studies at St Cross College in Oxford, as well as Islamic Studies

at the Oxford Centre until 1991. – Bernama

http://www.thesundaily.my

BMS Deputy Chairman Mei

Sim Lai OBE DL wins

Outstanding Contribution

Award at the Chinese Business

Leaders Awards

Many congratulations to our

Deputy Chairman Mei Sim Lai

OBE DL on winning the 2017

Outstanding Contribution Award

at the Chinese Business Leaders

Awards at the National Portrait

Gallery, organised by Sino Pro

and sponsored by PwC.

Mei Sim Lai (centre) with the Rt

Hon The Lord Mayor Alderman

Charles Bowman , PwC Partner (right) and Minister Counsellor

Jin Xu, Economic and Commercial Section, Chinese

Embassy in London

The award recognises Mei Sim‘s

work over many years on many

public, business, City and

voluntary/charitable

organisations. She has been

one of Her Majesty The Queen‘s

Representatives in London since

2006 and has responsibility for

the London Borough of Brent.

Join BMS

Whatever your connection to

Malaysia there is likely to be

something for you within the

society, especially for those who

have lived or worked in

Malaysia. If you have an

interesting item of news or

something else to contribute,

please send your contribution to: newsletter@

thebritishmalaysiansociety.org

Sarawak CM Abang

Johari receives courtesy

call from BMS chairman

Abang Johari (centre) together

with Anthony Cooper (left) and

Jason Brooke during the

courtesy call.

KUCHING, Malaysia, 27 Jan:

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi

Abang Johari Tun Openg

received a courtesy call from

BMS chairman Dato’ Anthony

Cooper, accompanied by Jason

Brooke, at his office in Wisma

Bapa Malaysia.

An Evening with Bruce

Parry ‘Voice from the

Forest’ The Sarawak Association

organised the event at St

Ethelburga's, Bishopsgate, on

Thursday 22 March.

Bruce Parry was in

conversation with Jason

Gathorne-Hardy about his latest

film documentary, Tawai,

interspersed with clips from the

documentary. Tawai, is the

word the Penans use to describe

an inner feeling of connection

to nature.

Bruce Parry has an affinity

towards understanding the heart

of our collective human

conscience.

In his latest work he travelled

through the jungles of Borneo

through to the tributaries of the

Amazon in search for answers

and adventure.

Many BMS members also

attended the event.

The Yang di-Pertuan

Agong (King), Sultan

Muhammad V

receives the

Honorary Fellowship

of the St Cross

College of Oxford,

from the Master of

the College, Carole

Souter, March 1,

2018 - Bernama