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UMW'S Multi-Talented Director

It’s been 25 years and I could easily work another 25 and not feel it,” says Suseela Menon, executive director of UMW Corporation. She has had a hectic day, but still looks fresh and glamorous. When told this, she modestly says, “must be the makeup!” When I met her, Suseela was scheduled to fly to New Zealand the next morning for three days for a series of meetings, and then spend two days in Sydney for more meetings. When she lands back in Kuala Lumpur, she would have to be present at the launch of UMW’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) book. “About 400 to 500 people would be coming for the function and, yes, I have to make a speech,” she says. It’s a hectic schedule she has become used to. “It’s been like that for the past couple of years.” It’s a long way from her idyllic childhood as the daughter of a planter. “I grew up in a very green environment. A planter’s house would typically be surrounded by lots of land and trees. I was born in Malacca, and my father got transferred to Johor, Pahang and then Selangor.” Suseela spent her school years in Johor.

“I had a wonderful childhood, which I appreciate now. We didn’t know what town life was like till I went to my classmate’s house in the city. My siblings and I had each other for company, played rounders, explored the forest and did not have to worry about being kidnapped even though we lived in a very secluded area. There were no distractions like malls, cyber cafes and computers.” The reality only sank in when she left school. She went to London at 16 to do her A-levels. Then it was for further studies at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in London. “The ICSA qualification applies to a broad spectrum of careers, especially in the corporate world.” Suseela is the face of MAICSA’s (Malaysian Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators) success story. She appears in their media ads. “I only had two years of full-time education supported by Dad. After that I decided to get a job and did my studies part-time. I did work related to my studies. This is because when you come back to Malaysia, they will always expect you to have experienceand paper qualifications.” Her work experience stood her in good stead as she got a job as assistant company secretary with Tractors Malaysia on her return, after which she was promoted to company secretary. Then she got head-hunted by UMW, where she assumed the post of group secretary.

Today, she holds the position of executive director and is responsible for the group’s secretarial division, public affairs, corporate communications and branding divisions, the IT division and the corporate governance, website and investor relations functions. She also sits on a number of boards in the UMW Group, and various committees, taskforces and advisory bodies. Her job entails extensive travelling as UMW has a presence in 13 countries.

Prima’s Donnas

They are not primadonnas but much like the first ladies of opera, who command the stage and the name from where the word is derived, this quartet is the toast of the broadcasting industry. Nurul Aini Abu Bakar, Airin Zainul, Lam Swee Kim and Farah Ezrin Mohd Rashidi are the most precious girls of the country’s biggest media corporation, Media Prima. Within the terrestrial TV stations they helm – TV3, ntv7, 8TV and TV9 respectively – their voices carry far and wide. It may be coincidental that they’re all women, and that these GMs report directly to the CEO, but there’s no second-guessing their calibre and why they are where they are today. No song and dance here. No drama. No theatrics. For them, it’s just hard, passionate work that has got them there. And when someone says, “the show must go on”, it’s probably they – the real stars – who make things happen.