Public Forum On Outlooks For Sibu - Part 5

Tan Kee Hian called Sibu a slumberung giant. This gives a glimpse of hope - Sibu, after all, is not that dead hopeless!

In 1960s China was branded as a sleeping lion by U.S. Uncle Sam then cautioned against the wake -up of this Middle Kingdom and geared its foreign policies guardung against the rise of China in power. Today China is in a position to balance the world power.

Kee Hian then charted a few potentially viable areas that Sibu can venture into.

1. Tourism

(I agree with Tan Kee Hian. This aspect of potential has been very much untapped. We
have had a lot of lip-service thus far, but there is little concrete progress. Sibu is good only
as a stop-over town now for European tourists.)

2. Education

Invest in education to churn out skilled human resources, especially on vocational/technical
aspects. Sibu needs the drive of this group of human resources in the impending
challenging era.

Having a university in Sibu is a prestige, but there is insufficient market for it.

3. Centre of excellence for services

Sibu has potential to venture into knowledge-based industry.

4. Industralised and scientific agriculture

Agriculture is our hope since Sibu has vast land resources. But smallholders wouldn't help
- go for industralised and scientific agriculture.

5. Value-added downstream industries

Develop value-added downstream industries for exports to generate more revenue. Tan
Kee Hian quoted a few thought-provoking cases in Thailand.

To sum up, knowledge, services and value-added downstream industries have potential to be the core of Sibu's economy in time to come.

The king of fruits - durians. The durian season is on now in Sibu. The photo is by courtesy of Liong.

Public Forum On Outlooks For Sibu - Part 4

Undoubtedly, confronting Sibu is a challenging era. Just look at the ageing population and you would concur that what lies in front is a really taxing time.

Although Tan Kee Hian has been away for a lengthy period of time, his sentimental ties to the hometown are intact. As such, he has never stayed out of touch with Sibu.

Through his personal observations, Kee Hian noted a few salient features of Sibu.

1. Sibu is very much like a slumbering giant. This sounded pretty critical, but it served perfectly well as a wake-up
call to all Sibuians. We really have to wake up to it!

2. Sibu is caught in a vicious downward spiral. Simply put, Sibu is on a continuous downtrend. This is quite
shocking, but, nonetheless, it is a hard fact.

One contributing factor is the serious exodus of people and businesses which together make Sibu much less
promising. As a result, the core competency of Sibu is losing value.

3. Sibu is also caught dwelling on excessive focus on hardware. The software aspect has been prioritised low. To put
simply, sustance has been neglected and there is overly attention on form (style).

The point being hit at is that the non-productive investments in Sibu outshine those of productive nature.

Economically speaking, non-productive investments have little value in terms of returns.

4. In theory, public investments generate private investments. However, in Sibu, the public investments have
not been an effective catalyst. This, in part, is due to the lethargic recovery of private investments.

The picture shows the mighty Rajang River. The photo is by courtesy of Steve Ling.

Public Forum On Outlooks For Sibu - Part 3

The picture shows a section of the audience. Photo: Terrence Tan of MPI

When touching on his planning for retirement as a side note pertinent to the theme of the evening, Tan Kee Hian said Sibu flashed over his mind as an obvious choice. The speaker seemingly was not cracking a light joke to amuse the audience - in act, he succinctly said it all out about Sibu's predicament. Sibu - a retirement town. Well said!

Kee hian then posed to the audience: What does Sibu stand for? This was pretty down-to-earth, but it made everybody scratch his head. Simply put, the speaker called on the audience to identify the strengths of Sibu.

Yes, to critically look at Sibu, we have to know precisely what we have to offer. In other words, don't dwell on and indulge in "sexy" ideas, as Kee Hian pointed out later.

Before coming to Sibu's potentials, the speaker opened the session to the floor to feedback with the challenges facing Sibu.

1. Uncertain employment prospects.

(I agree - uncertainty is the killer.)

2. The previous growth areas have now entered "sunset" industry style.

(One notable industry is timber.)

3. How to achieve sustainable growth in tourism?

4. Sibu has geophysical constraints.

5. The worsening brain drain.

Sibu is really caught in this sort of developmental predicament which drains younger groups away. This is the gist of Sibu dilemma!

Public Forum On Outlooks For Sibu - Part 2

Mr. Tan Kee Hian sharing on his global journey. Photo : Terrence Tan of MPI

Tan Kee Hian kicked the evening off with a brief run-down on his academic pursuits and global journey which are impressive and extensive.

Kee Hian's resume would easily take any aspirants to great admiration. Winning a Shell Scholarship to Imperial College, UK would raise the eyebrows of a lot of people undoubtedly. Getting into the prestigious Harvard School of Business for MBA has long been the dream of a lot of business students or executives. And Kee Hian did it all with flying colours!

The speaker sought to address the audience that breakthroughs in pursuits are not impossible so long as you are committed to unlock your mindset. In a wider perspective, this criterion applies equally to Sibu, a place which is buzzing with frustration now.

In his extensive global journey, Kee Hian has wonderful exposures which have earned him valuable personal treasures. He shared the lessons learned which are thought-provoking.

1. Hold on to our basic values (for example, trustworthiness).

(I fully agree with Mr. Tan on this human value point.)

2. Accept some handicaps or a reality that there is no level playing field, if you come from Sibu.

(A good point - we have to be realistic.)

3. Simply go forth - "The world is your oyster."

(Be more globalised in outlook!)

4. Be inspired - Trust your instinct and judgement.

5. There is absolutely no substitute for diligence and perspiration.

These 5 pillars have taken Kee Hian to greater height in his personal pursuits and earned him rich returns. He challenged Sibuians to tread along the line to lift up Sibu.

The picture shows The Rejang Esplanade, Sibu.

Public Forum On Outlooks For Sibu - Part 1

Mr. Tan Kee Hian speaking at the forum. Picture: Terrence Tan of MPI.

MPI organised a meaningful public forum on Oct. 25 at 7:15 pm in its Lecture Hall 1. The guest speaker for the evening was Mr. Tan Kee Hian, a widely acclaimed specialist in strategy and innovation.

Through the initiation of Mr. Daniel Ngien, the Deputy Chairman of SMC, Mr. Tan, an authentic Sibu guy, generously consented to shed some light on the outlooks for Sibu from his very personal and professional global exposure.

Kee Hian's impressive profile, the very profoundly relevant topic and my sheer concern for Sibu took me in a flash of a few seconds to make up my mind to go for it.

Tan is a no nonsense Sibuian. He has thirty years behind him in advising corporations and governments globally on strategy and innovation developments. Simply put, Kee Hian is no small player in its strictest sense.

You may ask: Is his expertise in global arena relevant to Sibu? Broadly speaking, yes.

Seriously, a two-hour forum was too swift for Kee Hian to focus on anything specifically. I sat through the session with my eyes glued to the speaker. What kee Hian propounded generally was a conceptual framework on outlook for Sibu, serving to provoke deep thinking of the dear Sibuians.

Yes, thinking - this is precisely what the people in Sibu have to invest in to help themselves out. You have got to have mindset change fundamentally in order for Sibu to spur on growth and breakthrough, Kee Hian posed a challenge to Sibuians.

Throughout the forum in his eloquent address with humours, Tan Kee Hian expertly linked his global experiences to the theme. Geographically, cities quoted by Kee Hian may not be comparable. But conceptually in terms of strategy and innovation, the cases are undoubtedly good to spur on thinking.

The Economist - Timely Coverage On The World Economy

The Economist is perhaps one of the best periodicals I have ever come across. Its in-depth, balanced and independent views are an invaluable source of reference on economic issues of world concern.

When the whole world is still in cold chill over the recent financial meltdown, The Economist timely came out with a comprehensive report on the world economy.

The report touches on the re-regulation of the world finance, the real lessons from volatile commodity prices, the cause of today's mess, the role of emerging economies in changing the shape of global finance and the shift of the world balance.

The above issues are pertinent to all of us. What we are experiencing would definitely go into history to be remembered as a turning point in the world economy.

Global Financial Crisis - What Has Gone Wrong?

Following the outbreak of the global financial crisis, the worst since the great depression in 1930s, capitalism has been under attack.

What is capitalism? It is simply a system that embodies economic liberty. This system has proved its worth for billions of people over the past century and a half. Look at China, it adopted market capitalism to transform the nation into a rising emerging market within quite a short span of time. And, of course, there are numerous other new emerging markets that benefited from the system.

Capitalism has always engendered crises, and always will. It is certainly not perfect. For all its flaws, it is the best economic system man has invented yet.

What has to be held in check is the way we manage capitalism. If we let the system go unregulated like what had taken place in USA and some other industralised nations, then crises of equal or even more serious magnitude would be bound to happen over and over again. Malaysia is of no exception!

Let's not blame the market capitalism. Rather, we have to keep the people in check.