AMBCQ Christmas Party: 3rd December 2010



Kiong introduces John and Catherine Mickel to the crowd



We had a rather excellent Christmas Party this year - our theme, Straits Settlements and Malayan British Colonial-Style Christmas Dinner.  In keeping with the theme, we had a combination of Malaysian and British fare, decorations that invoked the old country as well as the tropics, and our guests in an array of formal costume, with black-tie and top hats as well as batik shirts, ball gowns as well as cheong sam and kebaya.  Thank you very much to all the attendees who made an effort to look the part - you did a fantastic job!

Kiong, Heidi and Simon

Guests enjoyed champagne, wine, spirits and other refreshments under the marquee were there was plenty of catching up and relaxed conversation.  The smorgasbord of Malaysian and Bristish food including two enormous Christmas cakes, was in the 'hut' which was decorated with an oversized Indonesian mask and two Christmas trees.  The marquee was decked out with Christmas bunting, baubles, and tinsel, and we had peacock feather runners and baubles on each table.  To top off the colonial feel to the evening, we had all white tablecloths and chair covers decorated with silver sashes.  The weather even assisted with the threat of Malaysian-style sudden downpours!

Thanks must go to the following people for the invaluable help they provided:

• Lilian and Kim Chan who donated their time to cook for the event. Apart from roast pork and crackling, they provided our 50 plus guest with a delicious British, Malay, Indian, Chinese and Straits Chinese (Nyonya) feast of asam fish, chicken curry, vegetable curry, tapioca crisps, rice, sago kueh and two big lovely Christmas cakes

• Lai Peng Chan, and Aileen and Eric Williams, Lilian and Kim Chan for their assistance over several days with child minding, lawn mowing, setting up the marquee on the weekend, and the setting up on the night itself

• CH and Lyna Chen for their generous donations to the raffle on the night - including a bottle of mango wine, a bottle of champagne, and a Georg Jensen box

• Little Mae Lyn Foong for doing such a great job as a raffle ticket seller (she raised over $200 dollars)

Cr Julian Simmonds and Maddy

• Damien and Tamara Foong for also donating a hamper on the night

Thank you also to the Speaker of the Queensland Parliament the Hon John Mickel and Catherine Mickel as well as Cr Julian Simmonds for taking the time from their very busy schedules to come to our humble function.

We’d also like to thank those from outside the AMBCQ who supported the event, including Elfi Massey-Valazza and John Massey from the Australian Council for Europe and family, Grace Tan and Sam from the Singapore Business Council of Australia, and Anthony Lin and Yuen-Yuen from the Taiwanese Friendship Assoc of Qld.

The full pictures of the night have been uploaded to Facebook – I believe you can look at the pictures without having to be a member of Facebook if you click on the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53947827929&v=photos#!/photo.php?fbid=476918344014&set=a.476918314014.259605.580164014

Drawing the raffle - Sim, Grace, John, Bryan and Sue in the foreground - Shona in background

    

Kathy and Rose

Kiong, John and Catherine Mickel, Ilkka (hiding) and Shona

Finally thanks to all AMBCQ members for making this such a fantastic year. To all members, friends and supporters, AMBCQ wishes you a Happy Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!

Simon, Kim, Lilian Elfi, Heidi, Lai Peng and John

Photos from MIDA Delegation and Blue Gulabi Dinner

The MIDA Delegation visit earlier this week was a great success.  Thank you to all those who participated, and also to all our members who supported the networking dinner on Monday night.  We had a great turnout of almost 30 people - it was a wonderfully warm and friendly reception for our guests.  Special thanks of course to Gomerthy of the Blue Gulabi for allowing us to use her restaurant and organising the catering so quickly.  The Blue Gulabi is located at 803 Stanley Street Wooloongabba (there is parking underneath the Coles shopping centre).

 

Jerome, Clem and Kiong



Rose, Bee Vian and Azian from MIDA, KL and Sim



Everyone enjoying the food and networking at the Blue Gulabi

Gomerthy, AMBCQ member and owner of the Blue Gulabi, with Kiong

The MIDA team - Bee Vian, Azian, and Norzita from KL, with Consul Khairdduin, Director MIDA Sydney

The MIDA team visiting SJCM, Cleveland

MIDA Delegation: Dinner at Blue Gulabi 22 November 2010

As a follow-up to Minister Mustapa Mohamad, Malaysian Minister for International Trade and Industry's visit in early October, MIDA sent a team of experts from its headquarters to meet local Queensland businesses looking at investing in Malaysia.  The team were accompanied by Consul Khairuddin, Director MIDA for Australia and the Pacfic, who came up from Sydney to meet them, as well as our own AMBCQ President, Kiong Chan.  The group arrived on Sunday night and have met with a number of businesses over the last few days in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.  Consul Khairuddin and the team will be flying on to Sydney this evening to do more follow-up meetings in Sydney. 

The AMBCQ hosted a networking dinner event with the group on Monday evening, at the Blue Gulabi, owned by our AMBCQ member and supporter, Gomerthy Chendi.  Gomerthy and her staff put on a wonderful Malaysian inspired dinner, with curry, rendang, pickle, and other dishes.  Many members and supporters were very keen to talk to and connect with the team, and we had a good turn out of over 30 people.  Thank you to all those who supported the event.  Given that it is so close to the Christmas season, and there are many other commitments and demands on everyone's time, it was great to have this strong turnout for our Malaysian guests, and also help raise some money for the AMBCQ coffers. 

Thank you very much to Kiong and Consul Khairuddin for doing the groundwork to prepare these meetings, and also many thanks to Gomerthy for putting on such a great dinner at very short notice.

Event catch-up:11 November 2010

There has been a lot going on over the past month since the Malaysian Trade Minister's visit to Brisbane.  This is a short summary of events.

16th October 2010: Butterfly Ball

The annual Butterfly Ball was held at the Hilton with Sami Lukas as the MC and a special performance by Katie Noonan.  The Butterfly Ball raises money for the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital BRAIN project (Brain Reseach Advances in Newborns) and it was a very moving night.  We had four members of AMBCQ attend, and some of our supporters are heavily involved in the Butterfly Ball, including our AMBCQ patron Dr Peter Yeoh OAM and his wife Alice.  To find out more about the BRAIN project click here: http://www.rbwhbutterflyball.com/brain_project.html

19^th October 2010: Meeting at DFAT Headquarters with DFAT and Malaysian negotiation team re MAFTA

Kiong was invited by AMBC National to participate in this round of negotiations which were taking place in Canberra.  There were several dozen senior Australian DFAT, Malaysian MITI and industry representatives in attendance.  While in Canberra, he also caught up with several diplomats and other contacts. 

26th October 2010: Premier's Deepavali Celebrations

Shaeed, Aashmita, Lai Peng and Kim



Shaeed, Aashmita, Gomerty, Mandy, Jerome, Lai Peng, Shona with Ilkka and Lilian with Ilmi



AMBCQ was invited to participate in the Premier's Deepavali Celebrations for the Indian community, which was held on the Speaker's Green at Parliament.  We were invited to put forward some names, and about 20 of our members and supporters attended the function.  It was quite a big turnout, of several hundred in attendance and it was a nice evening to catch up with many contacts in other organisations.  The function was also attended by the Indian High Commissioner. 

27th October 2010: Inaugural Australia-Japan Annual Dialogue with Hon Alexander Downer and His Excellency Mr Shigekazu Sato, Japanese Ambassador to Australia

We were very lucky to be invited along to this function by Elfi Massey-Valazza and John Massey of the Australian Council for Europe.  Although it was nominally regarding Japan-Australia relations, the two speakers did touch on many regional and international issues, especially regarding the rise of China and the perception that China-Australian relations have been elevated to the detriment of many other relations.  It was also very interesting to see the trade figures for Asia put into perspective. 

30th October to 2nd November 2010: Trip to Malaysia

Kiong had a short trip to Malaysia, which was supported by AirAsia.  He caught up with many important contacts while in Malaysia, including MIDA and MATrade officials, MABC, journalists, and AirAsia.

4^th November 2010: AMBCNSW Information evening in Sydney. 

AMBCNSW organised a special hook-up with the Australian High Commission in KL.  The event was in a way intended to relaunch AMBCNSW which has been low key for sometime.  There was a good turnout of about 20 people, and Kiong gave a presentation, as did Consul Khairuddin from MIDA.  We also agreed later on to organise some joint AMBCQ/AMBC NSW events in Sydney, starting with perhaps either a Christmas function or Chinese New Year, or both.  Khairuddin has agreed to the use his office for any AMBC functions to support the branch.

6th November 2010: Deepavali Celebrations with the Tamil Association of Qld


Rose, Debra, Lai Peng, Amelia, John-Paul, Kiong and Dr Nava




There were about 800 people in the crowd!  They had to turn away a couple of hundred.

 As we do each year, we joined our friends in the Tamil Assoc for their annual Deepavali celebrations.  Over 800 people were at the event this year (apparently they had to turn away another 200 who wanted to attend).  AMBCQ had two tables at the event and we hosted Cr Julian Simmonds, the newly elected Brisbane City Councillor for Walter Taylor Ward. 

1st October 2010: Ministerial visit by Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohd, Malaysian Minister for International Trade and Investment

I am afraid things have been very busy for us this last month and I have not updated the blog as often as I should.  The most significant event of course was the Ministerial visit by Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed, the Malaysian Trade Minister.  Below is the email that Kiong sent to all AMBCQ members after the event.
__________________________________________

Dear AMBCQ colleagues,

Following from the Minister’s and AMBC National’s joint Business Roundtable Meeting and AMBC Luncheon in Sydney (Wednesday 29th September), I am happy to let you know that Minister Mustapa Mohamed’s joint AMBCQ Brisbane Business Roundtable Meeting (Friday 1st October) was a great success. As you know, I was greatly privileged to be invited to co-chair the meeting with Minister Mustapa. The Minister appeared very happy and volunteered to stay much longer than he originally intended. During the meeting, the Minister said that he was delighted with AMBCQ’s explanations on why Malaysia was THE place to go for business and investment, and asked if he could have a copy of my notes, which I later provided to him via his Senior Private Secretary. All the senior Malaysian government officials were delighted with the great success of the Brisbane Roundtable Meeting.

I was also very surprised and greatly honoured to be invited for a second (unscheduled) one-on-one private meeting and tea with the Minister after the conclusion of the Roundtable Meeting. The Minister’s aides and various officials informed me that this was not the usual practice, and that it signalled that the Minister was extremely pleased.

The roundtable meeting lasted till 10.30, 30 minutes more than originally planned. I left the venue at 11.15am, after the second private meeting with Minister Mustapa, and following farewells and well wishes to officials etc. Several times during both the one-on-one meetings the Minister pledged to provide strong support for AMBCQ, and he also emphasised this to his departmental staff.

Minister Mustapa also informed his staff that he regarded the activities that have been carried out in Queensland as ‘National Service’, a point he made in both the one-on-one meetings and in the roundtable meeting. I agreed to continue to collaborate very closely with him and with MITI, MIDA and Matrade.

The success of the meeting did not come by accident. The three weeks of planning and organising that took place prior to the Roundtable meeting was meticulous. It was carried out through three places:

• MIDA’s office in Sydney
• AMBCQ’s Secretariat in Brisbane (as per AMBC convention the state secretariat is provided by the state president’s firm, in Queensland’s case via Paradigm Infinitum)
• MIDA’s Temporary Secretariat in Brisbane (run by Jaswant Singh who flew in from KL and the MIDA team at Marriott Hotel Brisbane)

The Minister had requested to meet with firms from a very specific and narrow list of industries. Consul Khairuddin, Shona and I had done a great deal of research to identify suitable candidates for the meeting. All three of us then vetted each one of the firms, and issued invitations, organised follow-ups and requested confirmations. Shona and I spoke to all of the invitees, and even drove around to met with several attendees in Brisbane and the Gold Coast in the two weeks prior to the meeting to ensure that AMBCQ understood the position and the interests of all attendees in order to maximise the effectiveness of the Roundtable Meeting. AMBCQ had put an enormous amount of effort into the Minister’s visit, and I appreciate Shona’s efforts in the last three weeks - all the late nights and long hours has paid off.

I am very happy that the event was very successful. Due credit must go to MIDA, MITI, Matrade and in particular to our close friends and colleagues in MIDA - Jaswant Singh and Ahmad Khairuddin Abdul Rahim, and the permanent and temporary staff of MIDA and Matrade for all the work that has been done.

To those AMBCQ members whose firms met the requirements specified by MITI for the meeting, and were consequently able to be at the meeting – William Tan, Yvette Baxter, Damien Foong and Tamara Foong (through Veronica Parkin and Karl Sawyer), Clem Grehan, Shona Leppänen-Gibson, Lucas Follbring and John-Paul Langbroek (and his staffer Kevin Martin), thank you very much.

Hopefully this will lead to greater Ministerial activity in Queensland.

Kind regards,

Kiong

Delegation, dinner, Ministerials - it's all happening!

It has been a very busy week for AMBCQ - and it's only Thursday!  Monday we hosted a delegation of approximately 30 or so teachers and students from Sekolah Menengah Sultan Abdul Halim Jitra Kedah.  This is an elite school (and was a leading rugby school in Malaya), and the students and their teachers were very impressive.  We held a Malaysian style open house with beef rendang, nasi kunning, fresh vegetable achar, chicken curry, satay and bandung (a rose flavoured milk drink).  Guests were treated to prime Australian meat that was sourced from the top meat suppplier in Queensland, and fresh Australian grown vegetables.  In accordance with the dietary requirements of all but three in the delegation, the meal was halal. Thank you very much to the AMBCQ members who supported the event and also helped out on the night.  I think the students and their teachers had an enjoyable evening and went away with a positive view, although their visit was very short.

On Tuesday we were very happily reunited with Jaswant Singh, former Director of MIDA, Sydney.  Jaswant had spent three years in Sydney ending in November of last year, and he had a fantastic reputation during this time as a very switched on and effective consul for investment.  He is currently in Brisbane helping to set up and manage the joint AMBCQ/Ministerial Business Roundtable with Malaysia's Minister for Trade which will take place on Friday.  We had a very enjoyable dinner with Jaswant on Tuesday evening at Landmark restaurant and it was wonderful to catch up with him.

Yesterday the Malaysian Minister for International Trade and Investment, Datuk Seri Mustapa was in Sydney for the Forbes CEO Conference.  AMBCQ was invited to attend a luncheon in Sydney at the Shangri-la Hotel hosted by AMBC in honour of the Minister.  Our National President Larry Gould introduced the Minister, who spoke about his view of trade and investment between Malaysia and Australia, in the wider context of the deepening education, defence, and personal ties that the two countries have developed over the years.  At the luncheon we were very privileged to be seated with Datuk Noharuddin Nordin, CEO of MATRADE, who was very good company and discussed at length with the guests issues in MATrade including a likely restructure, the sharpening of policy and the implementation of policy on the ground.  It was also a pleasure to catch up with the AMBC national executive and AMBC executive director Colin McKenzie, who is always a wealth of knowledge and ideas. 

Friday is of course the Ministerial roundtable here in Brisbane which the AMBCQ is co-hosting.  While there have been events in the other states, we have not had this level of visit since 2007.  We have been very busy with this meeting, helping to organise some of the logistics and also recommending businesses for involvement.  Although the industries targeted on this very brief trip to Brisbane are highly specific, we hope that this meeting will be a precusor to more delegations from Malaysia and also pave the way for our own delegations to Malaysia next year.

AMBCQ Strategic Planning Day, 25th September 2010

On Saturday, a small group of dedicated AMBCQ members gave up their time to be involved in a strategic planning workshop.  Many thanks to all present including Doug, Bryan and Sue, and Maxwell, Kiong (and myself) for the day.  The workshop ran from 9:30am through to just after 3:30pm and was held at Christies Corporate. 

As all members will be aware, AMBCQ has experienced a lot of growth over the last four years, since the organisation was reactivated in September 2006.  We have gone from a zero base to being the largest and most active chapter of the AMBC in Australia, with over 50 members.

As Kiong and I do this sort of thing for a living through Paradigm Infinitum, we led the session and used a lot of Paradigm Infinitum's strategic analysis tools for strategic planning workshops.  We started with an historical overview of the development of AMBCQ, our relationship to MABC in KL and AMBC national and the other state bodies, and some recent developments.  We also reviewed our mission and vision.  We then undertook a stakeholder analysis, mapping the environment in which AMBCQ operates and its links to various organisations and bodies.  We also analysed the impact that some of the stakeholders have on AMBCQ.  Following this, we did a PESTEL analysis, looking at the political, economic, sociocultural, technical, environmental and legal factors which are currently impacting on the AMBCQ.

After a break for quick and tasty lunch at Oriental Corner, just down the street, we reconvened and performed a Futures Analysis and talked about possible futures for AMBCQ, what we might face in the near future and how we might deal with these issues.  Finally, we did a SWOT analysis, taking onboard all that we had looked at from the other methods of analysis into account, and from this we gleaned insights into various threats and also numerous opportunities for AMBCQ.

From all the analysis, we then had a little time to talk about the priorities, challenges and opportunities AMBCQ is currently facing, or will face in the near future.  As we only had a few hours, we will reconvene online to get into actually planning our future strategies, and action planning, and all present committed to continuing the strategic planning via email.  After all that intensive work, we went to the Hilton and rewarded ourselves with afternoon tea.

It was an invaluable day, and it is always important to have input from members, old and new, and the new perspectives and ideas they were able to put forward.  I believe it was a crucial exercise that will help make the future for AMBCQ more sustainable in the long run.

We will continue to work on the strategic plan and hope to have it finalised by mid- to late October.

Merdeka Dinner and Meeting, 31st August 2010

AMBCQ had a nice low key dinner as well as a meeting for AMBCQ members and friends to mark Merdeka.  Merdeka commemorates the anniversary of the independence of Malaya on 31 August, 1957 (Malaysia itself, only came into existence in 1963 when four separate countries being Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak amalgamated as equal partners) and is seen as one of the important national days of Malaysia.

The dinner was held at Yahoo Chinese Restaurant - we were introduced to Yahoo and its proprietors Yvonne and Pat last week when the Malaysian Trade Consul Mr Ong was visiting Brisbane.  I don't think it is an overstatement to say that everyone was blown away by the food!  This place, hidden away on Loganlea Rd in Waterford is a genuine eating treasure.  The fish head curry is AMAZING, the butter oat prawns are perfect, the kangkung was just right, and everyone tells me that the pork belly was fantastic.  Also the desserts were great - I had coconut custard which was nice, but Kiong had sago pudding that I loved!

It was a nice mix of old members and new members, plus some of our key supporters, like our patron Dr Peter Yeoh OAM and Alice Yeoh, and CH and Lyna Chen.  Thank you to all who came along!  And thanks to Yahoo (who are also new members of AMBCQ!) for the delicious feast and their hospitality. 

http://my247.com.au/brisbane/Yahoo-Chinese-Malaysian-Restaurant.11288

Malaysia Kitchen Programme, August 2010

Mr Ong, the Malaysian Consul for Trade, recently came to Brisbane to promote the Malaysia Kitchen Programme.  The object of this programme is to promote Malaysian food around the world, and by extension, to promote Malaysia as a tourist destination, and Malaysian food products.  The programme is modelled on a scheme the Thai government used and has been in existence since 2006. 

It is a very interesting programme, and Mr Ong was accompanied by Ms Susila Devi, a Senior Director from MATrade, and Mr Zulkipli Md Yunos from EXIM Bank, which is adminstering the loan portion of the scheme.  For Malaysian restaurants here, the scheme offers promotion and support through its website, where Malaysian restaurants can include their listing, its promotional materials and Malaysia Kitchen events.  For those Malaysian restauranteurs here who still have Malaysian citizenship, it gets even more interesting because there are substanial amounts of low-interest capital available to them to open new restaurants, expand, or renovate. 

There are a lot of Malaysian restaurants in Australia - Ms Devi said there were more here than anywhere else in the world (except Malaysia).  At the very least, Malaysian restaurants should endeavour to list on the Malaysia Kitchen website and from there look to other assistance and support they can receive from the Malaysia Kitchen programme. 

The Malaysia Kitchen website is available via http://www.malaysiakitchen.my/

AMBCQ Australia-Malaysia Ball 2010

Shona and Doug

As anyone who was there will tell you, our annual Australia-Malaysia Ball was a wonderful success.  We had almost 180 people in attendance including 13 politicians, our AMBC National President Larry Gould,  consular and community representatives for Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, India, EU and elsewhere.  It was at Landmark restaurant at Sunnybank and everyone as always was very happy with the food!

This year, we had a special 'kiddies corner', so that guests with children had somewhere for the kids to go and play with other kids.  They also had little presents and games, and were looked after by two babysitters.  I think the kids had as much of a party as the rest of us!

Here are a few photos from the night - thanks to Lucas Follbring for being our photographer; it's not an easy job, circulating all night, getting everyone to look in the same direction at the same time, and capturing the feel of the event.  If you want to see all the photos, you can also have a peek at our album on picasa.  http://picasaweb.google.com/111507723744456797456/AMBCQBall2010# 

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We had a surprise presentation for Dr Peter Yeoh OAM.  Dr Yeoh was the inaugral President of the AMBCQ and is our patron.  He had already made an enormous contribution to Malaysia when he migrated to Australia in the 1980s - through his company YCL, he had built much of KL, and introduced new building techniques and innovations into the marketplace.  He and his wife Alice have also done an extraordinary amount of charity work over the years and given very freely of their time, money and networks to support many causes.  This year is the 25th anniversary of his family's move to Australia; it also coincided with him receiving the Order of Australia Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours.  So we had a 'this is your life' moment, with a powerpoint presentation, a speech about his life, and a special crystal award to commemorate the occasion.  It was a surprise for him, which was fun.  For me personally it was a very happy moment, because Uncle Peter and Auntie Alice have been mentors to Kiong and I, and the community and charity work they have done has left a very strong impression on us. 

The guys from QLM

Our sponsors this year were:

• Cr Graham Quirk, Deputy Mayor of Brisbane City Council, providing sponsorship through the Lord Mayor's Suburban Initiative.  Cr Quirk wasn't able to there on the night, but he has supported us and helped us in so many ways from the start.
• Air Asia for 6 return tickets to KL via the Gold Coast - this is the third year Air Asia has sponsored the Ball and we are very grateful for their support.
• Project Success International and Doug Wheeler and Associates.  Doug has been involved with the AMBCQ for about two years now, and he has gone out of his way so many times for our group.  Not only did he provide sponsorship, he also provided the sound system and music for the night, as well as free dance lessons!
• Paradigm Infinitum - that's us!  Kiong and I always put a lot into the Ball, I know Kiong took several weeks off our normal work to concentrate on organising everything. 
• Lai Peng Chan - providing sponsorship for the raffle and our special 'kiddies corner'
• La Peau Beauty Therapy - providing generous and much coveted raffle prizes
• Bec Carpenter from Ten FM for a fun Tenterfield gift pack

As usual, free dance lessons for all!

And on the night we got a few extra raffle prizes, a signed 'ABC of Feng Shiu' book from Debra Jarvis who was a guest on the night, and now an AMBCQ member, and a $500 Daniel Alexander make-over certificate!

We also had an article about the Ball released through Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency.

Malaysian Business Community In Queensland Honours Yeoh

MELBOURNE, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- The Australia Malaysia Business Council, Queensland chapter (AMBCQ), has paid tribute to its patron, Dr Peter Yeoh Tiong Yong, and his wife Alice for their 25 years' service to the Queensland community.

AMBCQ senior vice president, Shona Leppanen-Gibson, delivered a tribute speech highlighting the significant events in Yeoh's life at the annual Australia-Malaysia gala ball in Brisbane.

A special commemorative crystal award was presented to Yeoh by Peter Slipper, parliamentary secretary to former Prime Minister John Howard.

Yeoh received the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to business and to the community in Queensland from Queen Elizabeth in June.

He is the younger brother of Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay.

Meanwhile, AMBCQ president, Chan Wai Kiong, praised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his efforts to maintain the harmonious ties between all Malaysians, and also between Australia and Malaysia.

"The presence of 13 Australian politicians at the AMBCQ event showed how important the bilateral relationships between Australia and Malaysia is regarded by the Australian government, the Queensland community and the City of Brisbane," he said.

Chan said the presence of so many politicians at one event was uncommon in Queensland, and marked the high regard in which the Queensland chapter of AMBC was held by all levels of government in Australia.

Under the guidance of Chan and Leppanen-Gibson, the Queensland's chapter has become one of the largest in Australia after only three years.

The event was also attended by many Queensland business executives, industry leaders and the new AMBC national president, Larry Gould, and consular and community representatives for Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, India and EU.
-- BERNAMA

Here's the original of the article:
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=518702

Visit to Malaysia, May and June 2010

During May and June, Kiong and I were in Malaysia for three weeks, part business, part AMBC, part family and a little tiny bit of holiday in between!  The three weeks were very, very busy, but some of the AMBC-related highlights included:

• MABC (Malaysia Australia Business Council) Networking night at the Australian High Commission on the 27th May (this is a monthly event and turns up a large and enthusiastic crowd).  The night we were there coincided with the arrival of the  Australian High Commissioner Designate to Malaysia, His Excellency Mr Miles Kupa.  Although he did not attend the function, the Australian High Commission does play a very active support role for the MABC, and was represented by Acting Australian High Commissioner Mr Craig Chittick (pictured with AMBCQ President, Kiong Chan).
• Super Networking night with special guest speaker Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala, who is Minister without Portfolio in the Prime Minister's Department and CEO of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit.  Datuk Seri Idris is the former CEO of Malaysian Airlines, credited with saving the organisation from bankruptcy, and was hand picked as a Senator and a Minister by Prime Minister Najib.  The event was organised by AMCHAM, the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce, and was co-hosted by several other national chambers and business councils including our counterpart, the Malaysia AustraliaBusiness Council (MABC).  Datuk Seri Idris Jala was a fantastic speaker, but unfortunately due to the format of the evening, the event was a little too noisy at times.  Nonetheless, he has some very radical plans for Malaysia's police, the education system, and public transport, which will be interesting to see how they are implemented.
• MABC Dinner in KL with Australian Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr as the special guest speaker.  Minister Carr spoke on "Innovation, Investment and the Global Financial Crisis". The Malaysian Minister for Energy, Green Technology and Water, YB Dato' Sri Peter Chin was also present at the event.
• We also met with many of our special guests from last year's AMBCQ Ball, including Citizen Nades, Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, Mohd. Zulkifli (Zul), and Steven Gan.  We were very privileged to enjoy a tour of Media Prima with Zul, who is now a host of Malaysia Hari Ini (Malaysia Today) which screens on TV3.  We also visited Steven at Malaysiakini which was very interesting; although Steven is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the one of the world's most successful online news portals, he doesn't have his own office, but sits right in amongst all the journalists. 

Over the last few years, the AMBCQ have developed a very good working relationship with our counterpart in Malaysia, the MABC and it was wonderful to catch up with their Executive Director, Christina Huang, who has become a great friend, as have Melissa and Sharon from the Secretariat. We also enjoyed a visit to their offices in Petaling Jaya.  It was also great to catch up with MABC executives, including Datuk Peter Tan, Ir Adrian Yong, the newly appointed MABC Chairman Michael Halpin of Multiplex and Vice-Chairman Leigh Howard of Talent 2.  Wee Keat Chan, former AMBC National President, and a key member of AMBCSA, was also in KL at the time and we enjoyed meeting up with him as well.

The MABC is a very vibrant and dynamic organisation, as can be read from the calibre of its events in this short span of time.   It is a great asset for them to have the Australian High Commission to support them, and they work in very well with the High Commission and the other chambers and business councils.  We always feel invigorated after visiting KL and meeting with the MABC - they achieve a lot and have a very successful organisation.  There is much that we here in Queensland can do to emulate their success.  http://www.mabc.org.my/

Photos from top: Kiong with Craig Chittick, the Acting Australian High Commissioner; our very good table at the Senator Kim Carr event; and Kiong and I with Malaysia Hari Ini (Malaysia Today)TV host Mohd Zulkifli on the Malaysia Hari Ini set at TV3.

The Resources Super Tax: Bad News for Queensland and Malaysia

As some of you may know, Petronas, one of Malaysia's biggest companies, has been partnering with Santos for sometime in a joint venture project to develop liquefied natural gas near Rockhampton.  Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's recent statements regarding a 'super tax' on foreign mining profits may be putting a dampener on that, as well as any future Malaysian investment in the mining industry.  Even Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has expressed her concerns about the tax in relation to the LNG project.  We hope that the Queensland Goverment will do more to convince the Australian Government that their proposal will have serious consequences for the Queensland economy.

The AMBCQ has concerns that this additional tax on the mining sector will result in a significant reduction in the competitiveness of Australia as an investment destination for mining and resources.  Countries such as Canada would have less than half the tax compared to Australia if this proposal were to be implemented by the Rudd Government.

This proposal has brought about a level of uncertainity to the whole industry.  Petronas' joint venture partner Santos has announced that it is putting on hold its final investment decision, a move that will be harmful to Australia and Malaysia bilateral trade and investment.  The following are a couple of articles regarding the fall out from the proposal, particularly from the perspective of the joint venture. 

Super tax bad news: Santos
MATHEW MURPHY
May 7, 2010

OIL and gas producer Santos says it may delay a final investment decision on its $8 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Queensland until it understands the full impacts of the government's resource rent tax.

At its annual general meeting in Adelaide, Santos said it was still hopeful of announcing a new customer from its LNG joint venture with Malaysia's Petronas despite uncertainty hanging over the industry from the announcement on Sunday of a 40 per cent ''super profits'' tax to be levied on the industry from 2012.

''It is difficult to regard the tax proposals as anything other than bad news for the resources sector and the thousands of Australians who work in it,'' Santos chief executive David Knox said.

Santos chairman Peter Coates chimed in, saying people outside Australia have already started questioning the proposal. ''The whole issue lacks clarity. We need clarity to make investment decisions and until [the tax situation] is clear we are going to see investment paralysed,'' he said.

For the rest of the article, go to:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/super-tax-bad-news-santos-20100506-uh19.html

Bligh wants changes to resources tax
DARREN CARTWRIGHT

May 7, 2010

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh wants changes to the new Rudd government resources tax to protect fledgling mining industries.

Ms Bligh told reporters she will next week express her concerns to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Treasurer Wayne Swan in relation to the taxing of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.

The federal government plans to impose a 40 per cent tax on mining firms' so-called "super" profits.

"I will be talking directly with the prime minister and the federal treasurer," Ms Bligh told reporters in Brisbane on Friday.
"The mining industry is not only important to Queensland it's important to the whole economy and it's too important not to get it right.

"I am looking for some changes to these proposals. LNG is too important for us to get wrong.

"I want to make sure Kevin understands, in no uncertain terms, just how important it is to get parts of this package right."

For the rest of the article, go to:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/bligh-wants-changes-to-resources-tax-20100507-uj6d.html

New Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia

The following media release is from the Foreign Minister, the Hon Stephen Smith's office.  http://www.foreignminister.gov.au/releases/2010/fa-s100505a.html

Diplomatic Appointment - High Commissioner to Malaysia


Media release

5 May 2010

Today I announce the appointment of Mr Miles Kupa as Australia’s High Commissioner to Malaysia. Mr Kupa replaces Ms Penny Williams who has been High Commissioner since March 2007. He is expected to take up his appointment later this month.

Malaysia and Australia have a strong, modern and diverse bilateral relationship, with active and cooperative relations across a broad range of sectors. These include trade and investment, education, defence, counter-terrorism, law enforcement and tourism. More recently, cooperation has expanded into new areas including countering people smuggling, sport and a joint teacher training program in Afghanistan.

Some 20,000 Malaysians study in Australia annually and people-to-people links are underpinned by a strong network of Malaysian alumni of Australian educational institutions dating back decades.

Australia and Malaysia are seeking to forge even closer trade and investment links through the negotiation of a free trade agreement. These talks will build on the successful conclusion of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and its entry into force at the beginning of 2010.

Since 2005 the Australia-Malaysia Institute has also fostered closer people-to-people links through a broad program of visits, cultural exchanges and cooperative activities.

Malaysia is Australia’s eleventh largest two-way trading partner, with total two-way trade in 2008-09 valued at $14.68 billion, an increase of 4.6 per cent on the previous year. Malaysia is the fourteenth largest investor in Australia ($10 billion at the end of 2008) and Australian companies are increasingly looking at Malaysia as an investment destination.

Mr Kupa has extensive experience within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently a Deputy Secretary, a position he first took up in 1999.

Mr Kupa has previously served in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as head of the Foreign Affairs Branch and was chief of staff to the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Overseas, Mr Kupa has served as High Commissioner to Singapore, Ambassador to Thailand, Ambassador to the Philippines, Ambassador to Iraq, deputy head of mission in Jakarta, with earlier postings in Egypt, France and Thailand.

Mr Kupa holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree from the University of Melbourne. He is married with one child.

Mr Kupa speaks Indonesian, Thai and Malay.

Global competitiveness: Malaysia set to be among top 20

The following article is from Business Times Malaysia (http://www.btimes.com.my/).  Consul Khairuddin of MIDA Sydney kindly sent us the article. 

2010/04/21


THERE is no reason why Malaysia cannot move up the competitiveness ranking globally to be among the top 20 countries, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said yesterday.

In the latest global competitiveness report 2009-2010, Malaysia is 24th among 133 countries.

The 23 countries that are ahead of Malaysia are mainly developed countries which include Asian countries such as Singapore (3rd), Japan (8th) and Taiwan (12th).

"With the launch of the Government Transformation Programme and the New Economic Model, there would be radical changes to propel the country to be among the most competitive globally.

"We are not there yet but we will be with all the goals set forth, Malaysia can be in the top 20s in a couple of years along with productivity enhanced through innovation and creativity," Mustapa said at the launch of the two-day 52nd Asian Productivity Organisation (APO) Governing Body Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

He said future growth for the country must come from higher productivity, nurtured by more innovative processes as well as supported by strong private investments and talents.

Among the regional APO member countries, Malaysia's productivity level was US$12,793 (RM41,065), Thailand US$4,596 (RM14,753), China US$3,734 (RM12,023), the Philippines US$3,192 (RM10,246), Indonesia US$2,471 (RM7,931) India US$2,051 (RM6,583).

Mustapa said the gap in productivity level between the developed countries and member countries indicates that there is potential for growth and the initiatives by APO will augur well to ensure development.

"Malaysia will continuously strive to enhance productivity growth through talent development, adoption of sophisticated technology, higher innovation capacity and capabilities as well as higher value creation through intensified research and development," he explained. - Bernama

Cr Graham Quirk's 25th Anniversary Dinner, 19th April 2010

Since the AMBCQ began in 2006, Cr Graham Quirk, Councillor for MacGregor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Brisbane, has been very supportive of our organisation, and has been at each one of our annual fundraising balls.  He has also been instrumental in organising sponorship for our activities from the Brisbane City Council and other support.  So when we received the invitation to help celebrate Cr Quirk's 25th anniversary in office, we did not hesitate to support Cr Quirk.  We certainly weren't the only ones who felt this way, as there were over 300 people there on the night, held at Michael's Oriental at Eight Mile Plains. 

There were many political heavyweights there on the night, including Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, who paid a very sincere and strong tribute to Cr Quirk, the leader of the opposition in Queensland and fellow AMBCQ member, John-Paul Langbroek MP, many Brisbane City Councillors, a number of former state and federal MPs, Senator Brett Mason, former Lord Mayor Sally-Anne Atkinson, and even Mayor of Ipswich, Paul Pisasale (a former AMBCQ president during the 1990s).  And there were a great multitude of community groups, like ourselves, business people and other supporters present as well.

As part of our contribution to the night, the AMBCQ also donated a special auction item.  Cr Quirk, as anyone who has seen him in action will attest, is a fabulous auctioneer/entertainer, and it is always a real treat to see him in action.  And the crowd too was certainly keyed up to provide their support - there were many a good-humoured duel on the night between rival bidders.

The auction item that the AMBCQ donated was a reproduction of a 19th Century (1888) aerial view of Brisbane City showcasing all prominent buildings of the time. The reproduction was crafted by a Brisbane based master craftsman, Edwin Clark, and the mounted and framed picture included the signatures of Deputy Mayor Graham Quirk and Lord Mayor Campbell Newman. Accompanying the reproduction is a kit that includes a key that lists all the major streets and 30 prominent landmarks of Brisbane in the 19th Century, as well as reproductions of an 1882 Street Plan and 6 illustrations of various landmarks in Brisbane in 1886.  We thought it was quite a unique item, linking Cr Quirk and Lord Mayor Newman with the city they have both dedicated themselves to.  We certainly had some fun before we handed the item over for auction, using the key to pick out buildings and other landmarks. 

We were also presently surprised when the auction item did so well for Cr Quirk, with even the Lord Mayor putting in a bid, until it was finally sold for an extremely good sum after yet another bidding war.  There were some really interesting auction items on the night including a pair of autographed speedos worn by Tony Abbott, and a helmet autographed by Lord Mayor Newman from the Clem 7 Tunnel project, plus rock samples from the tunneling work.

It was a great night for Cr Quirk and a very enjoyable night for the AMBCQ members who attended, as well as a great night for networking and making our presence as the AMBCQ known. 

Lunch with British High Commissioner, the Rt Hon Baroness Amos, 16 March 2010

AMBCQ was invited to a luncheon reception for the new British High Commissioner, the Right Honourable Baroness Amos by our friends from ACE (Australian Council for Europe).  Appointed to the House of Lords in 1997, she was the Secretary of State for International Development and the Leader of the House of Lords from 2003-2007. 

Representing AMBCQ at the luncheon were Kiong Chan, President, Shona Leppanen-Gibson, Senior Vice-President, and John-Paul Langbroek, the State Opposition Leader (and AMBCQ member).  We had the opportunity to catch up with Elfi Massey-Vallazza, our host and President of ACE, and also with Greg Vickery, former Honorary Consul for Indonesia, as well as many other currently serving consuls. 

Baroness Amos has been in Australia since October last year, and she spoke extensively about the relationship between Australia and Britain, not only in terms of our historical links, but our ongoing trade and business relations as well.  It was also interesting to hear a few insights about her time as a senior leader in the British Labour Party under then Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Dinner with Johor Port Logisitics, 3 March 2010

Last week, the AMBCQ played host to executive members from Johor Port Logistics (JPL), a prominent Malaysian firm.

The evening was a fairly informal affair with Hanifah and Susan from JPL.  Held at the COTAH training restaurant at Southbank Institute of Technology, we all had a three course meal including some delicious desserts.  It was lovely company and I think we all really enjoyed the conversation as well - plenty about life in Malaysia and Australia, the rainy weather!, things to see and people to meet in Brisbane, and the Socceroos!

It is always a pleasure for the AMBCQ to host visitors from Malaysia.  We were especially pleased to host visitors from Johor - the southern most state in peninsular Malaysia.  Much like Australia or Queensland, the political and business environment in Malaysia tends to be very centralised on the capital.  We feel that this is something that Queensland suffers from as well - there is so much business being done in the regions, yet their input and significance is often overshadowed by what is happening in Brisbane.

Johor has the distinction of being cheek-to-cheek with Singapore, so much so that our guests came via Singapore rather than KLIA. And Singapore being the largest regional port and very well planned infrastructure to support logistics, certainly is tough to compete against.  But cost savings and the abundance of space for the industry in Johor are competitve advantages.  It was very interesting to have a different perspective on business in Malaysia and I think we all enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Susan and Hanifah and JPL.

First Visit to Brisbane by Consul Khairuddin, Director MIDA, 26 February 2010

On Friday we were very pleased to welcome Consul Ahmad Khairuddin to Brisbane for the first time. Khairuddin is the Head of MIDA (Malaysia’s Industrial Development Authority) in Sydney, Consul Jaswant Singh’s replacement. David Goodwin, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Qld (CCIQ) hosted the AMBCQ and Consul Khairuddin at their offices at Industry House, Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill. David is also a co-owner of Interport, a major logistics company based in Brisbane and a board member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

A range of issues were discussed, including the current bilateral relations between Australia and Malaysia, the current competitive advantages and differences between Malaysia and Singapore, and other regional centres, the use of Malaysia as a hub for a number of industries, and other various issues.  It was a very valuable meeting and a good opportunity to speak to Khairuddin about issues in trade and regional relations.

We also hosted Consul Khairuddin on Saturday and brought him for a quick visit to the Gold Coast.  Unfortunately the weather was terrible and rather than show off our wonderful weather, we were pelted with heavy rain!  But we did enjoy a nice lunch across from the beach at Surfers Paradise before bringing him back to Brisbane to catch his flight back to Sydney.

As many people will know, Consul Jaswant Singh had an excellent reputation among AMBC members across Australia and is credited with helping make Australia the largest foreign investor in Malaysia.  He has left very big shoes to fill, but Kiong and I have absolute confidence that Consul Khairuddin will do an equally excellent job in developing and maintaining the strong investment and trade ties between our two countries.  In fact Khairuddin has gotten off to a flying start and has been highly impressive.

Publishing Australia Networking Evening, 23 February 2010

Yesterday Kiong had a call from our AMBC counterpart from the NSW chapter, Bill Wilkinson.  Bill asked us if we would like to go along to an event being hosted by a friend and colleague of his in Brisbane on Tuesday night at the Jade Buddha at Riverside for Publishing Australia.  Basically a networking evening for those in the printing and publishing industry.  He invited us along because he thought that Paradigm Infinitum's extensive networks could be of interest to members of Publishing Australia.  We agreed to go along, although we had a lot on our plate this week, and we were glad that we did. 

It was a very vibrant networking evening with a good bunch of people.  Although we don't work in the area of publishing or printing ourselves, we do have an interest in media more generally.  From the perspective of our own business, it was also interesting and I have to say inspiring to hear about new developments in the printing industry and the possibilities that brings for advertising, promotion, and also training materials as well.  There were quite a few people up from Sydney and we met quite a number of people that would never otherwise have met, and really enjoyed the opportunity.  However, neither we nor the organisers were impressed by the service offered by the staff of Jade Buddha - while it has nice decor, it was noisy, and the staff were exceedingly inflexible, non responsive and slow with orders.  We were shocked by what we saw and felt bad for the organiser who does not live in Brisbane and thus could not check out the place first.  Note to self, not a venue for AMBCQ functions!

On a positive note, we met some great people and hada rally nice time.  To our colleague Bill Wilkinson, President AMBC NSW, we thank you!

Singapore Business Council of Australia Chinese New Year Dinner

The Singapore Business Council invited the AMBCQ to their Chinese New Year dinner on Saturday, 20th February.  We took a table and had a fun time - it was squeezing room only at Aspley Oriental but it was a very nice dinner, lovely company and a fun night.  The lion dance was done by Khuan Yee lion dance group and it was very good.  The lions got around the whole restaurant and everyone was encouraged to get up on their chairs and feed the lions with red packets!  Then after the ang pau feeding frenzy and the "choy ching" (picking of the green) we were treated to a 'drunken lion', which was something new for me, watching the lion staggering around with its eyes shut before it hit the floor!

We have a good relationship with the SBCA - they are a really nice bunch and they are also good supporters of the AMBCQ.  We always enjoy attending their functions and they often do something a bit fun and different - at their national day event, they had an art competition; for Saturday night, they had a scavenger hunt.  Our table didn't win that, and we didn't have any luck with the raffle either, but maybe next time!

Windows on Europe Film Festival Launch!

On Friday night Kiong and I were very lucky to be invited along to the Windows on Europe Film Festival launch at the Dendy Cinema, Hamilton.  The event was organised by our friend and counterpart from the Council for Europe, Elfi Massey-Vallazza and as usual, Elfi did an amazing job - she once again sourced the most incredible venue at Gianni's overlooking the river with a wonderful view of the Gateway Bridge and portside.  I always pick up something new for our own events from her!

The evening was hosted by Mr John Richards, representing the Delegation of the EU in Australia and New Zealand, along with the Dendy Cinema.  The festival will be continuing until the end of February with films from around Europe. We were also very lucky to be able to see a movie as well (when you've got small kids, these opportunities are few and far between).  Spain holds the current presidency of the EU so "Hector", was chosen.  It was quite a charming film - about a teenage boy who is taken in by his auntie's family after his mother's death, and the tug of war when his long estranged father wants to be involved in his life.  It was an enjoyable evening and we must really thank Elfi and the Council for Europe for their hospitality.

For more on the Windows on Europe festival, click here: - http://www.dendy.com.au/event_detail.asp?Event_ID=468

Welcome to the Australia Malaysia Business Council (Qld) Inc blogsite (AMBCQ)!

The AMBCQ is a highly active organisation with a strong membership base. We have launched this blogsite because we wanted to keep our members informed about events and opportunities and also to promote our organisation to others. Being a non-profit organisation, we wanted to maximise our impact while minimising costs, and at the same time, we also needed a format which is very fast and responsive because we are so active!

We are a bilateral organisation recognised by both the Australian Government and the Malaysian Government. The AMBCQ is affiliated with the National AMBC, the state chapters (New South Wales/ACT, Victoria/Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia) and our sister organisation in Malaysia, the MABC (Malaysia Australia Business Council).

Since 2006, when the AMBCQ was reactivated after a period of dormancy, we have regularly organised functions and participated in many forums, as well as helping and advising Australian and Malaysian businesses and individuals in all aspects of business promotion and facilitation. Our membership comprises a cross-section of business interests from large corporations to small and medium sized enterprises.

In three short years, we have become the largest and most active state chapter in Australia!

So why join the AMBCQ? Well, we offer:

• An apolitical nature and bipartisanship approach
It is our policy to engage both sides of politics both here in Australia and also in Malaysia and as an organisation we have developed strong support across the political spectrum.

• Networking
Our members come from a wide range of industries and many different backgrounds with varying business interests. They also bring to the AMBCQ their own networks as do the various state chapters and our counterparts in Malaysia.

• Opportunity
As we are recognised by both the Malaysian and Australian governments, we are privileged to be involved in many highly sought after events, such as trade delegations and ministerial visits. In 2009 the AMBCQ hosted, contributed to or was represented at over 100 events.

• Not just Malaysia
Many of our members have links and business interests in Malaysia, but also in the wider Asian region. Additionally, you will find that Malaysia is an excellent base for working in and doing business with Asia in general.

• Social
We wouldn’t be a Malaysian affiliated group if we weren’t interested in socialising! Any excuse for a meal, a drink and a get-together we will certainly take up, and with the Malaysian and Australian calendars combined for special occasions (Australia Day, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Merdeka, Christmas etc etc), you won’t be short of social invitations!

The principles of the AMBCQ are to:
• Promote trade, industry, and development.
• Facilitate liaison and cooperation for the benefit of all.
• Act as a forum to foster understanding and better relations between our countries.
• Disseminate information of interest and enhance communication between groups.
• Work in partnership with associated organisations.

In 2009, Australia was the biggest source of foreign direct investment in Malaysia. Malaysia is Australia’s eleventh largest trading partner, with total trade in 2008 totalling $15 billion. Australia’s major exports to Malaysia include resources such as coal, copper and aluminium, agricultural goods such as milk and wheat, as well as educational services. Malaysian exports to Australia include crude petroleum, computers, telecommunications equipment, integrated circuits, and furniture. In 2005, Australia and Malaysia began negotiating a Free Trade Agreement to further our trade and business relations. The latest round was held in August 2009 and both governments are committed to finalising a high quality and comprehensive agreement.