The multi-award winning musical is the creative genius of director Joe Hasham and two die-hard musical fans, Lim Chuang Yik and Teng Ky-Gan. Together with musical director Llew Marsh and choreographer Lex Lakshman Balakrishnan, they have combined talents and efforts to bring back the musical back to life.

Broken Bridges’ clever formula of combining Broadway style music with a  true-blue Malaysian story won the hearts of many and paved the way for other Malaysian musicals. With 21 catchy tunes, colourful characters and heartwarming story, get ready to be entertained from start to end.

“It is a tragic drama of a free-spirit trying to prove himself worthy of his father’s and his community’s approvals. He almost gets what he wants,” said Tria Aziz, who plays Mak Ton in the musical.

Multitalented Tria (Adam The Musical, Shout!The Mod Musical 2010, 1Sex1Money1Scandal) revealed that her character, Mak Ton is one of the gossip-mongering aunties who help in turning the whole community into the main antagonist of the play.

“I consider her quite unique as she is a Malay woman who is trusted and accepted by the Chinese folks of Ipoh. She is a conniving woman, but she makes fun of herself too,” added Tria.

Set in 1950’s Ipoh, the protaganist Ming (Jon Chew) dreams of a bigger and better life beyond Ipoh, while his best friend Leong (Ho Soon Yoon) is perfectly content with small town life. Ming wants to chart his own destiny but his father, a quintessentially Chinese towkay, Wong (Colin Kirton) has his own plans for him including an arranged marriage and a coffee shop business.

The musical uncovers two universal questions that we encounter “So what’s wrong with the old ways?”, and “So what’s wrong with the new ways?”

Tria believes the old-fashioned ways are predictable and safe, but as a bit of a rebel, there is a part of her who wants to challenge anything that represents rigidness. She believes that as she becomes older, she wants to be right in the eyes of God and that believes that He too likes changes.

“Mak Ton sets the rules of the game, she embraces anything that fits her agenda. In this drama, she appears as a staunch traditionalist but at the beginning, she applauds Ming for bringing changes and new ideas to the old town. She is a pretentious cat but a funny one lah,” said Tria about her alter-ego.

Tria has done quite a bit of research to be part of the musical. She read about Ipoh history to get an idea how people back then interact with one another, what kind of business they did, and what kind of aspirations they had as it was post independence. She also watched old P.Ramlee’s movies to see how women back then move.

“It would be interesting if I can get into a time machine to see how things were in the 50’s. and come back to remind people today how we were back then. Back then even though politically we were racially divided, but in normal everyday life, people were together. The Malays then, were more open to the other races and their cultures I feel,” added Tria.

There is plenty to look out for Broken Bridges – the singing, dancing, the eager protagonist, the energetic ensemble, and of course the funny aunties. Tickets are from RM 80 to RM 190, (Buy 1, Get 1 Free (Fri to Sun shows) and Buy 1, Get 2 Free (Tue to Thu shows). Contact 03-4047 9000 (KLPac) or 04-899 1722 / 2722 (PenangPac) to purchase tickets. For more information, visit www.theactorsstudio.com.my.

This announcement is in light of the recent emotionally-charged headlines that have appeared in several Malaysian publications.

Managing director, Lee Ting Ting, “Pi PR will halt its support to Utusan Malaysia for any media-related engagement. As a responsible Malaysian PR agency, it is imperative to make a stand against blatant racist-based editorials. Although PR agencies depend on a close working relation with all media channels, however the business and media community needs to abhor blatant racist propaganda.”

Following the final results of the 13th General Election, Utusan Malaysia had printed racists remarks on its front page targeting a section of the Malaysian community that has worried the majority of the moderate-view business community.

“The media and PR practices own a duty to promote facts, fairness and unity – especially in the crucial current times. And every company, small or big, needs to conscientiously integrate this principal into all of its business operations and decisions.”

‘No!’ to Race-Based Job Advertisements

In similar light, Pi PR urged all Malaysian media owners to stop accepting race-specific job placement advertisements – be it via on their print media channels (i.e. classified sections) or online job portals.

“Accepting such advertisements only encourage a further divide in Malaysia’s multi-culture nature. It is clearly discriminative to Malaysians and is a dis-service to all the hard efforts poured in fighting for meritocracy in the workforce.”

“As a PR agency that liaises between corporate communication and the local media, we hope to set an example for all in making a positive stand against racism propaganda in our multi-cultural society,” she concluded.

So it was that the entire nation celebrated the Thingyan Festival (also Water Festival) from 12th April – 22nd April 2013. That’s right. That was 10 days national holidays to celebrate the festival and the new year. Wooohoo!! Hubby and I were very excited to be celebrating our first Water Fest in Myanmar. Because it was such a long break, we took the opportunity to travel to Ngapali as well, also known as the Hawaii of the Orients 

We have had our taste of Water Festival in Cambodia before. However, their “Water Festival” there isn’t about splashing water, but it’s the boat race. However, during the Khmer New Year, there is water splashing. Unfortunately, in Cambodia, they do it with flour and powder – which was really not so enjoyable. Myanmar was a whole different ball game altogether.

For about 3 weeks running up to the celebration, workers were manually constructing these pandals all along the Inya Lake and the Kandawgyi Lake – the main source of water for the splashing (eeewwwee factor included). Tickets were being sold for access to these pandals. It was such a big thing for the locals. However, the government only issued licenses for 35 pandals this year but still, there were some make-shift shacks in front of shops, private residences and other establishments too. Of course, the ticketing and the modernized celebration on the pandals were only introduced some 3-4 years back (what with alcohol-induced patrons jumping to OppaGangnam Style blasting from the speakers).

We stayed in Yangon for Day 1 of the Water Fest and after a lunch celebration with the children from the homes where we volunteered at, we took to the streets of Yangon. And my, oh my…. It was exciting indeed! They were trucks after trucks of people going around, stopping under each pandals to get a dose of water, splashing water out to people on the streets (like me!) and dancing as the trucks went along the roads. You see, if you get splashed, it supposedly meant that you have been blessed. Although, I don’t think that is the real reason one gets splashed anymore. It’s really all about having fun these days. I quickly learnt that a quarter of the fun was in the avoiding of the splash, a quarter of the fun was in the sneaking a splash, a quarter of the fun was in chasing down a splash and a quarter of the fun was getting splashed. One of my City Mart colleagues also had a pandal built right in front of his house and we were invited to go over for free beers and great music too. Oh, I had a tremendously awesome time!

And then we left for Ngapali. The “Hawaii of the Orients” hype was a bit overly-done. BUT, here’s it – I fell in love with Ngapali. It is a charming beach town in the state of Rakhine. Despite the place being packed with tourists (everyone wants to go there it seems) and rooms were all full, it was still quiet and nice and you don’t get crowds – really different from Bali. The water-splashing continued on in Ngapali, though not with the great water pandals of the city. In fact, it was so much more ‘real’ here with little kids trying to get at you with just a tiny improvised tin can. On the hotel’s shuttle bus (we stayed in Sandoway Resort which was superb) from the airport to the hotel, we were splashed. Yes, did I not mention any vehicles with windows down were main targets for the people splashing water? Even when we left for the airport at the end of our trip, we were splashed thoroughly! – thoughthis was much to the annoyance of some ‘gwai los’ who were in the same shuttle as us.

We had a splendidly great time in Ngapali, just chilling and relaxing by the beach, the sea was awesome though the waves were a bit rough but the water temperature was just right and of course, enjoying a whole lot of fresh and cheap seafood on the menu! I had always loved Rakhine food and here I was in the state of Rakhine enjoying their best  3 days passed by very quickly and soon, we found ourselves unwillingly on the flight back to Yangon. Ngapali closes for the season at the end of April as the rainy season takes on Myanmar and will reopen Sept / October. (For those planning to travel there, best to check with your travel agent!).

We arrived in Yangon on the final day of the ‘water-splashing’ and to do what the locals do, we set-up our own little “pandal” right in front of our house and started splashing passers-by too! The locals were laughing at us – the two foreign idiots. But they love us, we know. What amazed me though was how respectful people were of each other. Monks and police were a big no-no, of course. But anyone who puts a hand up as a sign of protest will not get splashed. Some taxis had their interiors all wrapped up in plastic in preparation for all the ‘wetness’. Some would laugh at you for missing. Some would slow down for you. Some would go out of their way to avoid you.

Whatever it is, Myanmar certainly opened up the new year with a splash and we were glad to be a part of it. I’m sure it’s not too late to wish all my Myanmar friends a new and prosperous year ahead and may all good things come their way.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

The new variants – Live Wire and Pitch Black, in zesty orange and citrus grape flavours, respectively, offer the same Dew attitude of the original Mountain Dew and carry the ‘Do the Dew’ tagline, but come with their own personalities. Living up to their brand names, Live Wire is positioned as a bright, punchy beverage that packs the ‘thrill of light’ while Pitch Black is dark, mysterious and delivers the ‘thrill of dark’.

Boasting a bold new neon design, LiveWire and Pitch Black’s target market is youthful Malaysians looking to discover beverages that enhance and complement their dynamic lifestyle. Both variants are also geared towards hardcore Mountain Dew fans longing for a different taste but wanting the same exhilarating, adrenaline-inducing charge the original delivers.

“The launch of these two new exciting variants is meant to cement Mountain Dew’s reputation as a bold, extreme brand that thrilling activities and offers an experience that no other brand can match,” said Permanis Sdn Bhd Vice President of Marketing, Hemalatha Ragavan. “Whether you choose mysterious, enigmatic Pitch Black or bright, cheerful LiveWire, you’ll get a beverage that perfectly fits your personality and character.”

Hemalatha added that since its 2010 launch in the local market, Mountain Dew, which is manufactured and distributed in Malaysia by Permanis, has been the fastest growing brand in the Lemon Lime category, multiplying three times faster than the category itself.

The brand’s roll-out activities for the new flavours include having Live Wire and Pitch Black trucks crisscrossing the city and offering the public samples, extreme on-ground activities plus an opportunity to win limited edition Mountain Dew merchandise if they enter any of the trucks and endure a one-of-a-kind, hair-raising experience. Other marketing initiatives comprise TV, radio, out-of-home media and print advertisements; social media interaction; and nationwide samplings.

Mountain Dew Live Wire and Pitch Black are available from March 2013 onwards at all major retailers, hypermarkets, provision shops and convenience stores. The new flavours come in 1.5L/500ml bottles and 325ml cans

Set up at a cost of RM35 million, the new two-block operations office and main warehouse is located less than a kilometre away from the company’s plant in Bandar Baru Bangi. The new premises accommodates a total of 320 staff from the company’s Logistics, Human Resources, Finance, IT, One Stop Centre (OSC), Vending, Marketing Equipment and Maintenance (MEM) and Sales departments.

The fully-operational office was declared open via a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony by Mr. Hitoshi Ogita, the Chairman and Representative Director, Chief Executive Officer, Asahi Group Holdings Ltd, Japan. During the launch, Ogita also unveiled a plaque containing all 320 staff names and later toured the new office, accompanied by Permanis CEO, Erwin Selvarajah and the company’s top management.

“This is a historic moment for Permanis as we move towards further expanding our operations,” said Erwin. “We have increased tremendously in size and scope since first being incorporated in 1973, and consolidating our major departments under one roof is a natural extension as our business continuously grows to meet increasingly sophisticated demands our business partners and consumers.”

He added that the new office would also allow Permanis to better serve and strengthen their relationship with business partners, associates and consumers by delivering focused and specialised services in a faster turnaround time.

The company’s plant in Bangi, which was launched in 1989 by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, will remain as the company’s manufacturing base

Now you are probably wondering how this statement even begins to make any sense. To a lot of folks branding is nothing more than a name and a logo. While it is true that your brand name matters, it is by no means the end game. We could speak volumes of brand names that have never really taken off because they offer absolutely nothing different from the competition. Therein lies the fundamental essence of branding!

Branding is about differentiation in the marketplace. To be different, it isn’t enough to have a good name, nicely designed logo and a neat website. Sure it’s a start, but that’s only scratching the surface of branding. More importantly than all the visual elements of branding is the soul of your brand. How are you different? Why do you exist? How are you going to affect the lives of your customers? If brand owners can confidently answer these questions, you have a rock solid brand in your hands with limitless potential. You understand and live your brand essence.

Does this mean that anyone who can’t answer these questions doesn’t deserve to be in business? Well, if that’s the case, 90% of small businesses best shut up shop! Contrary to what most people might think, branding is very much an organic process. It’s okay not to know where you are heading or how you are going to change the world. You will get to grips with your position and your mission might change along the way. But you must decide very early on what your brand’s soul is. If your brand doesn’t have a soul or personality, the road ahead is sure to be rocky and dimly lit. Usually the soul of a brand, especially in small businesses, is driven by the owner’s personality. That’s basically where all brands start out.

Okay so I have a brand soul and a target market. So am I ready to conquer the world?Maybe you are and maybe your unique business model, unerring passion and dedication can deliver you to the Promised Land. If not, it depends if you understand how design can work for you. See, design is much more than just pretty pictures, it’s the art of problem solving. The trouble with problem-solving is though, having to get to the root cause of the problem. That requires a potent cocktail of experience and skill to execute.

 

Can you see how your logo is going to interact with various backgrounds across different platforms while maintaining consistency? Are you communicating the same keywords across all your marketing and communication collateral? Are you staying true to your brand essence consistently? Internally, many stakeholders find brand consistency boring, but externally it is the very fact that enables you to make a concerted effort at recognition in your customers’ minds. So consistency may be boring, but it’s essential for your brand.

This is why brand consultants exist. Experts can usually guide a brand on how to express brand consistency to deliver differentiation in the marketplace. This is why corporate identity (CI) guidelines are drawn up either when a logo is designed or when there is a pre-existing logo. These CI guidelines help all stakeholders to manage all visual and creative expressions of the brand to remain consistent and true to the brand essence. These documents usually take a lot of research to prepare and cost a lot of money. For example, to design a good logo, one has to do research into the competition, choose colours that will not appear dated for decades, amplify the multiple visual expressions to closely resonate with the logomark without losing individuality and yet stay true to the brand essence. It’s an ardours task, which requires a lot of skilled man-hours.

We, the Storytellers, have just come off a couple of weeks of intense pitches for some key design and brand accounts. We picked up some valuable insights on our travels. One of the things we learnt was that branding strategy is extremely difficult to quantify. Despite acknowledging that a rebranding effort is necessary to stay relevant, we came across clients who weren’t sure if hey were doing the right thing. Herein lies the difficulty in proposing strategy. Unfortunately, strategy only bears fruit over an extended period of time. Strategy also requires belief and commitment from all stakeholders to be successful. Sometimes even years!

So coming back to the title, how do you quantify branding? All branding projects have business objectives at its core. The easiest way to quantify branding would be to assess the business objectives in relation to the branding exercise after at least 12 months. Yes, it takes at least a year before you begin to reap the rewards. And throughout the year, you will have to tweak your brand to adapt to market shifts and consumer trends. So yes, branding is simple but it’s also extremely complicated when targeted business goals are at stake.

Vikram
Design & Brand Strategist at Storytellers

http://www.facebook.com/storytellers.com.my

“The good looking people are purely coincidental! The play isn’t about physical perfection, or lack of, it is about how we respond to everyday situations,” said playwright and director Mark Beau de Silva.

Playing at Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac) from April 18-21, Ugly People is part of a double bill of Chinese comedy together with A Widow, A Spinster & A Tomboy.

“Ugly People is about everyday people and their everyday lives, and how sometimes these everyday people can turn ugly. I take the public transport and I see many types of human behaviour on the bus, train and LRT that makes me laugh, especially middle aged aunties who are very ‘kanchiong’. Of course at that time they make you angry but after awhile you look back and you laugh at them,” added Mark.

A very relatable experience indeed, as we Malaysians often encounter these people in the course of our daily lives, whether in a traffic jam or in restaurants and shopping malls. ‘Ugly People’ are everywhere! Mark gives an example that he encountered earlier in the morning when a woman in the LRT gave him a ‘black face’ when his bag hit her legs and believes that Malaysians are now a society that is so careful and protective of our personal space.

“My mother and aunties are also these kind of people so I have had early exposure to this”, Mark revealed.
The co-associate artistic director and writer at KLPac has been inspired by the everyday happenings of his life in his previous works, including Stories for Amah, Oh My God (OMG!) and Strange Tales of Ma Lai Sia 1: Oink.

Initially written in English, Mark and his cast members improvised on this little ‘ode to Malaysians’ in Hokkien Mandarin and Cantonese, English and Bahasa Malaysia. Featuring Douglas Wong, William Yap, Season Chee, Amelia Tan and Roax Tan, the production is one for that all Malaysians can relate to, with English surtitles.

While recommended for mature audience, Ugly People is bound to be a lot of fun, since we Malaysians enjoy poking fun of our annoying yet hilarious behaviours anyway. The question is will the spotlight be on the many costumes in the play, 20 wigs worn by the men or KLPac’s resident choreographer Lex Lakshman’s guest role in this multi-lingual production. The verdict will be revealed after watching the play.

Another play that sounds like a riot of laughs is A Widow, A Spinster & A Tomboy.

Set in the small town of Kulim, the story revolves around a recently released rapist is on his way home to Kulim when a new rape case takes place. All evidence points to him. Housemates – a widow, a spinster & a tomboy – are busy gossiping about the case when they hear a knock. When they open the door, they find the suspected rapist falling through the doorway, unconscious. The three women stand helpless, not knowing what to do, until one of them suggests that they should punish him for the sake of everyone in Kulim.

“ I read a novel from Taiwan about three ladies who decided to punish a rapist by themselves. After sharing the funny story with my friends, Theatre Manager, Ooi Kee How suggested using a local dialect and that inspired me to try it out in an adaptation on stage,” said Wong Lay Chin, director of the play.

The Director in Residence in PenangPac decided to use Kulim as the backdrop as she found that often people from rural areas tend to over-react to news the watch and/or radio programmes they hear every day and follow and agreee on what is fed to them.

“The unique part of the story is it will work in no matter what kind of language it is in, as the story line is already full of fun and joy. It is funny and crazy because we see how the three ladies with different characteristics unite when they find the rapist in their own home and decide to punish him on behalf of God,” added Lay Chin, who has also directed A Man Tied To A Toilet Bowl, Love in 50’s and A Bug’s Life.

The comedy in Teo Chew with English surtitles features Suzanne, Sotorng, Shu Min and Shin K, is the first contemporary drama in Teochew. It aims to show younger audience a different side of Teochew, with a focus on how Malaysians look at news and interpret them.

“ I hope the audience will see the Malaysian elements in the story and characters and think about how we usually jump into conclusions about a certain subject that everyone knows about,” revealed Lay Chin.
Catch Ugly People and A Widow, A Spinster & A Tomboy on Pentas 2, KLPac. Ticket prices are RM43 (Adults) and RM33 (Students, disabled & TAS Card). For more info visit www.klpac.org.my, for booking contact 03- 4047 9000.

As the world’s leading freelancing marketplace by traffic volume (according to Alexa.com), Freelancer.com currently has more than 7 million users from 234 countries and regions. Internationally, it attracts over 4,500 new users daily, a figure which has been exponentially increasing since Freelancer.com was founded in 2009.

“SME owners are usually looking for economical ways to run their business, and via Freelancer.com, they have an efficient and cost-effective way to harness the human resource potential of Internet users,” said Willix Halim, Freelancer.com’s Vice President of Growth, at a media briefing here today. “By using our portal, these business owners can post jobs in a secure and organised manner, and find the perfect person to execute their work projects at the most competitive rate, based on bidders’ resumes and work experience.”

SMEs are already an integral part of the Malaysian economy, constituting 97.3% of the total business establishments in Malaysia and contributing 32.5% to the economy in 2011, in addition to being a leading source of employment in Malaysia, whereby more than 645,000 SMES employ more than 4.5 million people.

Willix elaborated that internationally, SMEs have been using the Internet to gain more revenue and reduce costs in terms of goods sold and decreased administrative and operations costs. Malaysia is one of the front-ranking developing countries where the Internet contributes to the country’s GDP. “The open job marketplace driven by Freelancer.com is in line with the Malaysian Government’s target of a knowledge-based economy, which depends upon its ability to build an open, highly skilled economy. Apart from nurturing, attracting, and retaining talent, Freelancer.com offers skilled Malaysians the opportunity to reach out to a global audience, where they can also additionally tap on their multilingual communications advantage,” he said.

“Many Malaysian users have already discovered how working online can raise their incomes dramatically, and grow their clientele quickly and cost-efficiently. With Freelancer.com, talented Malaysians will enjoy secure and dependable features and round-the-clock 24/7 help from our support team, and will soon be able to use a range of localised features. This borderless world of employment opportunity is expected to make a strong impact, as statistics show that out of Malaysia’s estimated population of more than 29 million, 17.5 million are internet users, including 5 million broadband users, 2.5 million wireless broadband users, and 10 million 3G subscribers,” Willix elaborated.

Currently, Malaysia ranks 15th globally amongst the countries with most Freelancer.com users, with 45,808 users, comprising 6,724 employers and 39,084 freelancers. Since Malaysians started using the website in 2009, 27,207 projects have been posted and US$851,679.78 earned by freelancers. Meanwhile, statistics show that the jobs mostly originate from the Klang Valley, with Malaysian employers mainly hiring freelancers from South Asia. The leading source of freelancers is India with 27.87% of all hires, while the combined hires from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh total more than 45%. A large number of freelancers also originate from the United States, amounting to 9.62%. In line with the growth of ICT industries, the most popular project types awarded were for PHP, software architecture, MySQL and software testing, working out to 27% of all projects awarded.For more information, please visit www.freelancer.com.

The campus launch was officiated by Adrian Newey OBE, the Chief Technical Officer of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team, together with Deputy Director General of Higher Education IPTA, Datin. Ir. Dr. Siti Hamisah Binti Tapsir and Vice-Chancellor of University of Southampton, Professor Don Nutbeam.

The event was also graced by Formula One Engineer and Deputy Managing Director (Technical) at Renault Sport F1, Rob White, British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Mr. Simon Featherstone, Chief Executive Officer of Iskandar Investment Berhad, Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim, Chief Operating Officer of Education of Iskandar Investment Berhad, Ir. Khairil Anwar Ahmad and Chief Executive Officer of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Datuk Ismail Ibrahim.

“As an international university with a globally-renowned reputation in engineering and research, Southampton hopes to emulate the success achieved with its UK graduates by offering Malaysian and Asian students a world-class Engineering education which will create a pool of research capable professionals for the local and regional industry,” said Professor Don Nutbeam.

The University’s branch campus for engineering is set within EduCity@Iskandar Malaysia, a dedicated hub located in the heart of Malaysia’s economic zone. The state-of-the-art EduCity development comprises international universities, schools and colleges as well as leisure and sports facilities. Students will also benefit from innovative, world-class facilities in which to study, with modern, spacious and safe living accommodation, together with cafes, restaurants, sports complex and health service facilities.

For the first time ever, Southampton’s renowned degree in Mechanical Engineering was available outside of the UK. In October 2012, the campus saw its first batch of 22 students from around Malaysia for the four-year programme. The first two years of the programme will be delivered at the University’s new Malaysia Campus with the following two years based in Southampton. Successful graduates will be awarded with a BENg/MEng in Mechanical Engineering by the end of the course.

“We are pleased to inform that USMC is now open to interested students across Asia, targeting at least 20 per cent of students from the South East Asia. The university is also expecting 2,000 students in the next five years,” said Professor John McBride, Chief Executive Officer, USMC.

“As far as possible, we are aiming to achieve exactly the same academic quality standards and standards of student experience for students whilst they are studying in Malaysia as they will experience when they study in the UK. The accreditation of the programmes will be monitored in Malaysia but will also be monitored by the quality assurance processes we use in the UK which are recognised as being amongst the highest and most rigorous standards anywhere in the world.”

This year, University of Southampton will be introducing a new degree programme in the Malaysia campus, the Electronics and Electrical Engineering (EEE) which begins in September. The EEE programme combines elements of both pure electronics and electrical engineering, and gives flexibility to study courses ranging from power systems to nano-scale devices. It is currently awaiting full approval from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency and has received provisional accreditation. This programme falls under the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering in Southampton which is ranked 1st in the UK for Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and consistently among the top 10 places in the UK for Computer Science and IT.

“Southampton graduates could go on to gain jobs in electric power generation, transmission and distribution companies, the transport industry, the security industry, and major electrical and electronic companies. These programmes also enjoy a very strong track record of attracting international undergraduates which reflects the globalisation of engineering as a profession as well as the attractiveness of graduates from Southampton amongst some of the world’s leading multinational corporations such as Microsoft, IBM, ARM, BT, Hitachi, BAE Systems, and Google,” adds Professor McBride.

According to the Institute of Engineers Malaysia, the country is experiencing a shortage of experienced engineers in certain areas, especially in fields such as tunnelling and deep foundation. In recent news, the Malaysian Government has set a new target of producing 60,000 Malaysian PhD holders by year 2020. The current number of 8,000 PhD holders is said to be insufficient to drive innovation and promote economic growth of the country.

“We have one of the strongest engineering programmes in the UK if not in the world, which comes to the aid of Malaysia’s current shortage of engineers. Engineering is a vital academic discipline for economic growth and so we think it fits very well with the overall ambition for Malaysia’s development,” enthused Professor McBride.

Southampton is also considering a number of new courses to be introduced in the Malaysia campus which includes Aeronautics and Astronautics, Computer Science and Software Engineering, Civil Engineering, Ship Science and Actuarial Science.