Thesun 2009-08-19 Page16 Good Morning Malaysia

16

theSun

| WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19 2009

media & marketing t h e

r i g h t

p i t c h

Good Morning Malaysia ... by Chew Bee Peng FOR the past few months, Malaysians have been waking up to exciting news on what is in store for our country from our new prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak. Within the first 100 days of his administration, he implemented many new policies to get our country moving and running. First in place was the introduction of the 1Malaysia concept which is to unite Malaysians of various races and religions to create a strong, united and harmonious nation to face and overcome adversities. Many have debated the originality of the concept, with some saying that it is similar to Bangsa Malaysia. If it is to bring Malaysians of all races together, then we really do not need a 1Malaysia to guide us. We see that happening every morning where Malaysians of all races gather at their favourite warung or coffee shops to have their daily dose of teh tarik, nasi lemak and roti canai for breakfast. The late Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysia’s most gifted film maker and advertising personality, promoted the theme of racial and religious harmony and tolerance in her advertisements and films, way before the announcement of 1Malaysia. There is a deeper meaning and scope to what 1Malaysia stands for, which is to have Malaysians working as a team to achieve the objective of being a developed nation by the year 2020. New business policies such as the liberalisation of the services sector, strengthening the financial and banking sector, formulating a new economic model that will help Malaysia be a high income nation and the implementation of Key Performance Indexes (KPIs) and Key Result Areas (KRAs) for cabinet ministers and their respective ministries comprise the current key initiatives of 1Malaysia. For Malaysia to be a developed nation by 2020, it is not enough to rely on the growth of the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, even though manufacturing has been one of the largest contributors to the nation’s GDP and we have become one of the largest exporters of semi-conductor items in the world. We need to grow and strengthen our services sector as it has been noted that in developed nations, the services sector contributes significantly to GDP – over 70%. In Malaysia, it only contributed 55% as of 2008, hence the need to liberalise the sector. In a liberalised environment, opportunities and threats exist. To stay ahead of the competition, Malaysian businesses need to relook the whole business strategy.

With new players entering the market, branding is critical to local companies to create a distinct identity, and the ultimate is to ensure that the products and services are of high quality and delivers on brand promises. Human capital is key to the success of any organisation, more so in the services sector. The acquisition of knowledge and skills needs to be enhanced in order to compete effectively. The introduction of KPIs and KRAs for cabinet ministers and their respective ministries is to make the civil service more productive and efficient. The civil service plays an important role in ensuring that the government’s policies and programmes are implemented and delivered to the rakyat. Where foreign investments are concerned, the civil service and its trade agencies are the first few touch points foreign investors have with our country brand. The civil service is after all a brand by itself and it is important that it has a strong brand identity with attributes such as efficiency, professionalism and responsibility. Previous administrations had implemented various directives to benchmark the performance of civil servants, and except for the immigration and income tax departments, the outcome has not been up to mark. Malaysia’s civil service has a long way to go in terms of brand image as compared to our neighbour in the south. We hope that the introduction of KPIs and KRAs will help to boost the performance of the civil service. A new administration heralds a new dawn and it is timely that these initiatives are put in place to take Malaysia to a higher level. There must be a strong buy into all these initiatives from all Malaysians for it to be successful, and the implementation must be executed well for the good of the country and the people. These initiatives must not only benefit certain segments of society. This is the right time for Malaysia to rebrand herself to be more competitive and attractive in the international market, to have a society that is more caring and engaging, and strong civil rights that put us on par with developed nations. Malaysia is our country and it is for us to make it a successful nation in the world.

Best thematic decoration by Hemananthani Sivanandam [email protected]

Shoppers at the launch of the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival at the Pavilion KL.

PAVILION Kuala Lumpur has won an award for “Best Thematic Decoration” in conjunction with the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival (MMSC). Organised by Tourism Ministry for the first time this year, the award was aimed at encouraging the retail industry to put up window displays and hype up the sales ambience during the MMSC period. The “Best Thematic Decoration” award recognises the retail mall that successfully infuses and captures the MMSC theme in both its exterior and interior through vibrant, colourful, festive and attractive events and promotions from July 4 to Aug 31 this year. “Pavilion KL has always been at the forefront of promoting Malaysia as the shopping destination in Asia,” Pavilion Kuala Lumpur marketing general manager Kung Suan Ai said. “This year, in line with the MMSC theme, we adopted the ‘Pavilion KL, Your Oasis of Rewards’ tagline and the iconic ‘shopping bag’ concept in our thematic decoration,” Kung said.

From the outside, people on the bustling Bukit Bintang sidewalk cannot miss the mall’s giant “SALE” block, while visitors arriving at the main entrance are greeted with big banner SALE messages. Inside, mannequins styled in sale must-haves help get shoppers into the sale mood. Since the start of the carnival, Pavilion KL has also offered visitors free breakfast and given away 1,000 happy bags. The arts and culture aspects of the sale were enhanced through Pavilion KL’s collaboration with the National Art Gallery on weekends during the entire MMSC period. Aptly themed “Art for Sale”, budding street artists put up graffiti art, oil paintings and such for sale. “We also continuously work with our tenants to give our shoppers value-for-money deals and bargains as well as exclusive previews to the latest collections during the MMSC 2009,” Kung said. Pavilion KL earlier in the year won the Fiabci Prix d’Excellence Award 2009 for “World’s Best Retail Centre”, outclassing 26 entries worldwide.

Chew Bee Peng is general manager of The BrandLaureate which is passionate about branding and feels that brand matters to everyone. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Pay less to own a home STANDARD Chartered Bank Malaysia recently introduced a low-rate home financing package with all costs (valuation, legal and stamp fees) absorbed in its MortgageKlibor (Kuala Lumpur Inter-Bank Rate) campaign. Klibor is derived from the activities of borrowing and lending of funds between banks. The month-long campaign which ends Sept 18, offers new and refinancing rates starting from Klibor + 0.85% per annum for the first two years and Klibor + 1.19% per annum from the third year. With this campaign,

Standard Chartered customers can continuously enjoy reduced rates on outstanding and new mortgages – further reducing the cost of home ownership. “Home ownership is a major financial commitment and we want to help our customers achieve their dream,” Standard Chartered Malaysia head of retail banking products Choong Wai Hong said. “The first two-year rate of Klibor + 0.85% is exceptional value. This campaign allows our customers to lock in best-in-value and low rates for the next 24 months,” he said.

Choong said customers can enjoy more flexibility in their finances to be more agile and responsive to market changes. Pegged to the real interbank rate, Standard Chartered’s MortgageKlibor rate structure gives consumers a transparent view of the applicable mortgage rates and easier monitoring of their monthly repayments. For more information, visit the nearest Standard Chartered branch or call the Standard Chartered Mortgage Hotline at 1300 880 388/03-7711 8888.