MEET THE TEAM
The Faces of Our Organization
TAN SRI MOHD SHERIFF BIN MOHD KASSIM
Chairman & Director
Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff started his government service in the Kedah Civil Service in 1963 and then opted into the Malayan Civil Service in 1964. He became Director General of the Economic Planning Unit in 1989 and later Secretary General Ministry of Finance. After retiring in 1994, he was appointed as Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional until 2003. He was chairman of several companies including Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and PLUS Berhad. He served as the President of the Malaysian Economic Association. Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff is a founding member of G25 Malaysia, a civil society organisation involved in promoting tolerance and moderation on race and religion, and in strengthening the institutions of governance for a democratic, united, and prosperous Malaysia.
DATIN NOOR AZIMAH BINTI ABD RAHIM
Director & Treasurer
Datin Noor Azimah is an accountant by profession. She has worked in Bank Negara, Price Waterhouse and Rashid Hussain Securities subsequently obtaining a post-graduate Certificate in Financial Planning (CFP). She opted to leave the corporate arena to raise her children and be involved in matters of education having held the positions of PTA Chairperson of SK Bukit Damansara, and Vice-Chairperson of SMK Seri Hartamas. At the height of the debate on the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English in 2008, Datin Noor Azimah, along with a team of like-minded parents, founded the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE), a national society, to defend and ultimately ensure that “pupils are to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents”, as stated in the Education Act 1996.
TAN SRI DR YAHYA BIN AWANG
Director
Born into an influential family of doctors and politicians in 1950, Tan Sri Dr Yahya Awang is arguably the country’s most prominent cardiothoracic surgeon.
Tan Sri Dr Yahya Awang is known for performing two coronary artery bypasses on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1989 and 2007, and played an instrumental role in establishing the National Heart Institute (IJN) in 1992. It was there that he achieved a major landmark in Malaysia’s healthcare when he successfully performed the country’s first heart transplant operation in 1998.
DATO DENNIS IGNATIUS
Director
Ambassador Dato’ Dennis Ignatius is a career foreign service officer who served in London, Beijing and Washington before being appointed ambassador to Chile [with concurrent accreditation to Ecuador, Columbia and Peru], Argentina [with concurrent accreditation to Uruguay and Paraguay] and Canada. He retired in 2008 and is currently a political affairs columnist and commentator.
He is diplomatic adviser to the First Step Forum [a Helsinki-based human rights NGO] and member of the Advisory board of the IMAN foundation [a London-based non-profit organization promoting inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue to counter extremism].
LOONG CAESAR
Director
Loong Caesar is the Managing Partner of Raslan Loong, Shen & Eow and has been a practising lawyer since 1985. He is a graduate of the London School of Economics (LSE), University of Cambridge and the Middle Temple Inn of Court. He has been enrolled as a Barrister of the Middle Temple, and admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya as well as the Supreme Court of Singapore. He has extensive work experience in all areas of corporate and commercial law including mergers and acquisitions, investments, capital markets and securities, listings, corporate banking, structured finance, infrastructure projects, corporate reconstruction and succession planning. Loong Caesar has served on many boards of public companies and non-governmental organisations including Boustead Holdings Berhad, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, WWF, the European Union Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and industry (EUMCCI), the World Entrepreneurs Organisation (WEO) and Ally Law. He is currently a board member of Mulpha International Berhad, the Malaysia Australia Business Council and Badan Warisan Malaysia amongst others.
TAN SRI DATUK YONG POH KON
Director
Tan Sri Datuk Yong is currently the Chairman of Royal Selangor International Sdn Bhd and AYER Holdings Berhad, a Director of RAM Holdings Berhad and a few private companies. He is also a Past President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). He has served in the past as a Board Member of Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, and the Employees Provident Fund. He also served as Deputy Chairman of the National Education Advisory Council.
Tan Sri Datuk Yong graduated with First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Adelaide in 1968.