Air Asia Launch for Sydney

Since 2008, the AMBCQ and Air Asia have had a really good working relationship. They have been our one consistent and loyal sponsor since that time, sponsoring each of our annual Australia-Malaysia Ball. It's a good fit - Air Asia's Australian arm is based here in Queensland, and it is a young and dynamic business, constantly changing, expanding and looking for new opportunities. The AMBCQ too, is young and dynamic, being the largest and most active of all the AMBC chapters. We also, I believe, share the principle of inclusiveness - "now everyone can fly" is Air Asia's motto, and they achieve this by keeping costs low. For us, unlike the many exclusive 'boys clubs'  are still prevalent in business circles and politics, AMBCQ is an inclusive organisation, and we encourage all to join. This inclusiveness is also practised in AirAsia X, with the airline having a female Chairman, Tan Sri The Hon. Rafidah Aziz.

As strong allies of AirAsia X, we were invited to go down to Sydney for the launch of the Sydney-KL route yesterday, 17th January. This route has been a long time coming but the airline persisted and with it and eventually they won their prize - approval to service the KL - Sydney route. It will be a great boost to many Malaysians living in Sydney, students especially, and to Australians and others doing business in Malaysia, and Asia generally, as well as to Sydneysiders living in Malaysia.

Arzan Osman Rani, the charming and dynamic CEO of Air Asia, flew down to Sydney to launch the new route and to speak to journalists at the press conference.  The launch was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay.  Also there was our good friend, Stuart Myerscough of Air Asia Australia, as well as the indomitable Tan Sri the Hon. Rafidah Aziz, the former long serving Malaysian Trade Minister and Chairman of AirAsia X. And of course the ubiquitous red clad Air Asia X stewardesses made their iconic presence known.

According to Kiong, the launch was a great success.  Arzan surprised the crowd by disappearing part way through the press conference to return dressed as a Bondi life guard. After a light lunch and refreshments overlooking the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, the participants and journalists were whisked away by bus to Bondi beach itself for some publicity shots. According to Kiong there was a good contingent of Malaysian and Australian journalists present and Air Asia got a good hearing.

Fielding some interesting questions from the Australian media, Azran took it in stride and easily explained the logic behind AirAsia X's decisions and business model.  Most of you will know that Air Asia is expanding here in Australia, but has recently cut its routes to Europe. It won't be the only airline to do so, as a number of Chinese airlines also look set to cut European routes. The emissions taxes that the EU will be imposing on airlines is another prohibition and barrier to an already embattled industry. The questionable way that the EU is calculating the tariff rate also disadvantages airlines and travellers who fly direct long-haul flights.  Since September 11 2001, the airline industry, and the tourism sector have taken hit after hit, not just here in Australia but elsewhere as well. Other factors such as the economic crisis in Europe, the security of oil supplies and the cost of fuel have also had a significant impact on the aviation industry.  The EU tariff comes on top of these other factors.  It will be interesting to see how other regional airlines deal with the EU tariffs - further economic decline and increasing cost structures may well mean even fewer flights to Europe. It may well mean more resources put into the Asia Pacific as a marketplace. AirAsia X looks set to continue to develop its already impressive presence in the Asia Pacific to service the burgeoning markets and the large populations in ASEAN and North Asia.

First Post for 2012

Well, the last few months of 2011 went by in an absolute blur for me and I unfortunately didn't get a chance to update this blog for a quite while. But never mind - it's never too late to get up to date!

2011 was a strange year - with the floods starting off the year, plus all the other disasters around the world, the first half of the year seemed surreal. One disaster after another in increasing ferocity - but of course, you cannot get worse than a tsunami, earthquake and nuclear disaster. That was just awful. Then we got to the halfway point and it was as if we were collectively trying to cram a year's worth of activity into the last 6 months of the year. And I don't mean AMBCQ particularly, but more so as a collective here in Queensland. Anecdotally, many people seemed to be experiencing the same effects. The Year of the Rabbit was supposed to gentle and sweet - as I am a rabbit myself, I was looking forward to some good times. That was not to be - Year of the Rabbit 2011 was out to savage us all.

After a much needed break over Christmas and New Year, I am very much looking forward to a fresh start. One good thing about last year was that it has helped refocus my own efforts on being more prepared, staying positive, and finding a better work-life balance.

In the next few weeks, we have dragon boating, Chinese New Year, our AGM and Australia Day events coming up. It should be busy, but lots of fun. But first, a quick recap of the last few months.

Recap of September-December 2011


AMBCQ Malaysia Australia Dinner, Sponsored by Griffith University SEET

On 30th September 2011, the AMBCQ hosted its inaugural Malaysia-Australia Dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur attended by 85 distinguished guests. This is the first time the AMBCQ has hosted an event outside of Australia. It would not have been possible without the sponsorship and cooperation of Griffith University's Science, Engineering, Environment and Technology (SEET). The event allowed the AMBCQ and Griffith University to engage many stakeholders in Malaysia and share some of achievements of AMBCQ.

Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, myself and Kiong Chan, President AMBCQ
presenting Professor Loo with a plaque to commemorate the occasion

It was also an opportunity for AMBCQ to honour Professor Yew-Chaye Loo, Foundation Chair of Civil Engineering at Griffith University and the Director of Internationalisation for SEET. Professor Loo was born and raised in Malaysia, completed his university studies in Taiwan, Thailand and Scotland, and is a leading figure in engineering. Earlier in 2011, Professor Loo was honoured by the Chinese Government as one of the world's top 10 Enterprising Pioneers of Chinese Descent. It was a unique opportunity to honour Professor Loo in his country of birth, among his peers, media, Government representatives, and old friends as well.

Griffith University SEET had been in Malaysia on a delegation to engage with Universities, Government Departments and other stakeholders in Malaysia. SEET has many of Griffith University's best performing research centres, and Griffith University currently ranks in the top 10 research universities in Australia.

Pat Yeoh, Malaysia Australia Alumni Association, Professor Dato' Dr Mohd Jamil Maah, Vice-Chancellor of
University of Malaya, YBhg. Dato' Prof. Dr Rujhan bin Mustafa, Director General of Ministry of Higher Education 

Some of the guests at the dinner.

Professor Loo talking about some of the research work going on at Griffith University.

Other Meetings in Malaysia, September and October 2011

Any visit to Malaysia is also always an opportunity to engage with colleagues, businesses, Government representatives and media. And this visit, though hectic, was no exception. We had quite a few meetings and events, including attending the Malaysia Australia Alumni Council Gala dinner (the MAAC President is Pat Yeoh, a Brisbane girl), the Malaysia Australia Business Council Annual Ball, the Malaysia Australia Business Council monthly cocktail party, and a Hash House Harriers event hosted at the Guiness Brewery. We also had a visit to Malaysian Parliament where we were hosted by the Hon Teresa Kok MP, and met up with a number of MPs, including Nurrul Izzah Anwar, Tian Chua, and Tony Pua, amongst others. We also had meetings with Dato' Jabar, CEO of the Selangor State Investment Corporation, Datuk Seri Azman Ujang, former Bernama CEO, and Mohd Zulikifli, General Manager of Alt Media and current host of TV3's Malaysia Hari Ini (Malaysia Today).

In Malaysian Parliament, Kiong, Nurrul Izzah MP, Tian Chua MP, Teresa Kok MP and me.

Parliament was particularly a highlight for me. As many of you will know, I used to work in politics, and I worked in Parliament House in Canberra on a number of occasions. Although I have been to Malaysian Parliament before, it was on a project and I was focused on the project itself, not the Parliamentary experience. This time, we were able to take in the sights and procedures in Parliament with a bit more discretionary time. It was very interesting for me to see and experience the differences between the Malaysian system and the Australian system. I would have to say that the Australian system is incredibly well resourced compared to the Malaysian system - I was aghast to find out that Malaysian backbenchers don't have their own offices! Instead they share resources within their Party rooms. And this goes for all sides of politics.

Ministers however, do have their own offices - thank goodness or they really couldn't do their jobs! You can imagine a Minister's responsibilities are so much more onerous. It was also great to sit in on Parliament for part of a session. You may guess that I was completely lost because I have very limited Malay (I'm one of those people who always understands the written word much better than the spoken when it comes to languages). But again, it was very interesting the differences in how the Malaysian system is conducted compared to the Australian system.  

Deepavali Dinner, October 2011

Every year the AMBCQ attends the Tamil Association of Queensland's (TAQ) Deepavali dinner. We first starting engaging the TAQ in 2008 when we held our AMBCQ Ball with the theme "The contribution of people of Indian descent to Malaysia".  The TAQ provided a very gifted young dancer to entertain on the evening, and also bought a table at our event.  Since then, Dr Nava, President of the TAQ, has become a very dear friend to us, and always looks after the AMBCQ with a good table, right at the front. Our kids always have a great time watching the performances, which range from very traditional dances, children's dances, and some Bollywood style dancers and songs. And all of us who go along from AMBCQ enjoy the food, company and family atmosphere of the event. Hopefully next year even more of us can go along.

AMBCQ Christmas Party, December 2011

AMBCQ has a reputation to uphold when it comes to Christmas parties. It's almost always our last event of the year, and a good time to unwind, catch up with friends, and enjoy ourselves in a relaxed atmosphere. Last year, we had a colonial theme. This year, we were in the Cambridge Room, a private room at the Pig and Whistle at Indooroopilly. Given our surroundings, we decided to go with a Best of British theme. And quite a few of our guests joined in the fun of the evening and dressed up for the occasion.

Despite the fact we were running a bit late with the invites out this year, we still managed to get a crowd of around 40 along for the night.  Cr Julian Simmonds dropped in, as did Cr Steven Huang - they've both been solid supporters of AMBCQ.

Some of our guests - Brisbane City Council student ambassadors, Ming, Christine,  Matt (who is dressed as
Patsy Sloan, from Absolutely Fabulous), and Doris, with AMBCQ member Michael.
This photograph is courtesy of Anthony Byron, who took a few fun portrait shots of some of our guests.

It was a really great party and a really fun atmosphere. You better come next year!

There were plenty of other events during the last part of the year. We attended Christmas parties for a number of organisations and businesses, including AMBCQ sponsor Air Asia, and AMBCQ member Comscentre. There were a number of political functions, and there will no doubt be quite a few early this year, as elections at both the State level and Council level loom. Cr Steven Huang, a strong supporter of AMBCQ, hosted a dinner with Prof Clive Palmer as the special guest speaker, which was a particular highlight.

We also attended a number of functions with the Australian Council for Europe. We have a very strong relationship with ACE, and Elfi Massey-Valazza, President of ACE, and John Massey, Patron, have been great supporters of AMBCQ and we have a mutually beneficial working relationship. We've attended quite a few events hosted by ACE this year, including events with the Brazilian Ambassador, the Pakistani High Commissioner, and the Polish Ambassador, amongst others.

At the ACE Christmas party.

Well, looking back at those couple of months, we still did quite a lot. It just all felt a bit muddled. It is nice to be starting a fresh new year feeling fresh as well. Hopefully the Year of the Dragon will bring better luck to us all.