Friday, November 21, 2014

TALES OF INSPIRATION 2---LAUNCH OF THIS BOOK AT EASTIN HOTEL, PETALING JAYA

KEE@FSWMAG.COM


Coffee Table Book Launch 2014, Tales of Inspiration 2 “A Cause For A Cause”
November 13, 2014

A Malaysia SME Event

MALAYSIA SME® media group, through its successful lifestyle publication called Pillars, launched a compilation of life stories of accomplished Malaysian entrepreneurs, who had mostly started out from scratch to be where they are today. Tales of Inspiration 2(TOI II), is a coffee table book that features 34 Malaysian entrepreneurs, whose stories have been published in Pillars magazine.

With the aim to inspire and enhance readers’ experience, TOI II is the follow-up of its first successful publication in 2010 that followed the life journeys of 34 other SME entrepreneurs of Malaysia which included the likes of Datuk Eric Chong of Erican Education Group; Founder of Vitaoils Mazlan Mohammad and Dato’ Haji Ameer bin Mydin of Mydin Holdings.

The TOI series tells of the continuous transformation involving the lives of esteemed Malaysian entrepreneurs and their journeys of overcoming challenges to build a name for the brands that have become such familiar sights within the country and abroad, today.

According to MALAYSIA SME® CEO, Wayne Lim, TOI II is the result of years of relentless effort by the publication to bring Malaysia’s very own success stories to Malaysians and the world over through Pillars, from which inspiration and motivation are hoped to be drawn.

Lim said: “With all the affairs surrounding the country at the moment, we want to bring back the attention and the spotlight to the things that really matter. The Malaysian small and medium enterprises who have contributed so much to the economy of the country and who have, despite all the circumstances stacked up against them, gone on to surmount the challenges and in their grit and tenacity, continued to bring glimmers of hope to others.”

According to him TOI, being Malaysia SME’s flagship, is set to become a source of inspiration for established entrepreneurs and the upcoming ones as well, providing them pearls of wisdom in times of challenge and adversity.

“We are indeed very proud of this book, and we have no doubt that TOI II will bring only the best returns for whoever lays a hand on it,” Lim said.

In conjunction with the launch of the TOI II, Pillars® hosted about 200 other invited SMEs to spend the evening together with the featured entrepreneurs and immerse in the presence and wisdom of these industry veterans.

At the core of the publication of the Tales of Inspiration series by MALAYSIA SME®, the media company through its social responsibility efforts, committed most of the book sales to Rumah Shalom, a Home for the orphaned, homeless, neglected and abused children. On top of that, proceeds raised from the auctioning off of the specially-authorised TOI II copy of the 34 featured entrepreneurs will also be handed over to the Home.

Through MALAYSIA SME® Community Social Responsibility (CSR), Malaysia SME is humbled to give back to the society with the contributions of the members of the public and the accomplishments of these distinguished personalities of our home country.
The coffee table book retails at MPH bookstore at RM199.

About MALAYSIA SME®
The MALAYSIA SME® media group, established in 2005, is the country’s first and only, all-encompassing media organization focusing specifically on SMEs, both within Malaysia and across all regions.

With our staple of business newspaper, community directory, business events, business sitcom and online news portal, we are visibly the leading media corporation serving close to 140 million SMEs worldwide.

The MALAYSIA SME® business newspaper, a fortnightly publication, boasts an audited circulation of 50,000 copies and the MALAYSIA SME® Community Directory has an audited circulation of 130,000 copies annually. They are the two most reputable publication recognised by the SME community in Malaysia.

In educating and bringing awareness of the importance of SMEs to Malaysians, we also produce the Small Mission Enterprise (S.M.E), a multi-million dollar business sitcom TV series.

As the online publisher of MSME® News Network, the first and only global SME news portal, we serve SMEs internationally.

Apart from just a publishing house, we continue to bridge and support the growth of the SME community through various channels, such as our regular business networking and seminar series, as well as hosting the country’s largest annual SME networking event the MALAYSIA SME® Congress, which has seen tremendous growth in turnout over the years.

The Congress continues to be the source of inspiration for entrepreneurs nationwide.
In a nutshell, MALAYSIA SME® is all about SMEs, locally and globally.    

ABOUT RUMAH SHALOM
Rumah Shalom had its humble beginnings in 1997 when Rev. S. Arulandu started it for 2 underprivileged children. 

Since then, 180 orphaned, homeless, abused and neglected children from broken homes have lived on with the guidance provided by the Home to become responsible members of the society with a purpose in their lives.

Rumah Shalom is a registered non-profit organization under the Registrar of Society Act.

(Registered Name: Pertubuhan Kebajikan Kristian Aman, Selangor Reg. No. 996)

**************************************
OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY

DATO’ RAYMOND LIEW
PRESIDENT OF MCMILLAN WOODS MALAYSIA

AT THE
TALES OF INSPIRATION COFFEE TABLE BOOK LAUNCH, 2014


NOVEMBER 13, 2014

"Mr Wayne Lim
Chief Executive Officer of MALAYSIA SME®;

Ms Vicky Gannason
Editor of PILLARS®

Datuk-Datuk, Datin-Datin,

Sponsors, supporting organisations, partners, distinguished guests, members of the media;

Ladies and gentlemen,

A very good evening to you. It is truly an honour to be here to celebrate our SME entrepreneurs who have climbed mountains to get where they are. I would like to take a moment to thank PILLARS® for inviting me to be the guest of honour.

Many of us here today were not born with a silver spoon in our mouths. We worked hard to get where we are today. PILLARS, MALAYSIA SME’s lifestyle publication has made it their mission to unearth people like us to tell our stories for the world to read. 

It is indeed, a noble and honest mission for a media organisation. I have always admired Mr. Wayne Lim’s passion for the SME industry. Where no one has walked this path before, he went ahead to champion a just cause and look how far he and the company have come today.

MALAYSIA SME’s, as the name suggests, core focus has always been and will always be SMEs. They believe that the backbone of our economy are SMEs and take the time to look for, find out and cover news that will impact Small Medium Enterprises. 

They are always at the forefront of the business world, specifically looking for solutions and issues that affect SMEs in many ways. I congratulate the editorial team on their fantastic work for the last 9 years. Just last year, one of their talented writers took home the first prize in a journalist competition, defeating many accomplished writers in the same category.

PILLARS®, as I had mentioned earlier is the lifestyle magazine of the MALAYSIA SME® media group. While it covers light-hearted features designed to relax the mind after reading hard-hitting news, make no mistake about its devoted focus on SME personalities. 

The PILLARS® team has continuously endeavoured to find the diamonds in the rough, giving them an opportunity to shine on its front cover, with stylish aplomb. They also cover the SME entrepreneur’s lifestyle choices to further inspire their readers to go out and build on their entrepreneurship. 

It is indeed, a source of inspiration and solid proof that with hard work and determination, you can go very far in life indeed.

Encouraging and building entrepreneurs is something that is meaningful to do, and I’m glad that someone is doing it, and doing it very well. 

My story has also been documented in PILLARS® and I’m fortunate that I am one of the entrepreneurs selected to be in the beautiful coffee table book – the reason we are all gathered here today.

This coffee table book – Tales of Inspiration 2 is a curation of stories, from 34 Malaysia SME entrepreneurs that have previously been featured in PILLARS®

Almost the entire proceeds from this book and the auction sales tonight will go to a charity, namely the Rumah Shalom, which is a charity home close to the MALAYSIA SME’s heart. 

It is heart-warming to know that despite acquiring so much, our Malaysian entrepreneurs are generously giving back to the community. As they say, charity begins at home.

Similarly, looking up to role models should also start from home. There are many success stories that are right under our noses. Some of you might be surprised at the stories that you will find in the coffee table book. 

These entrepreneurs faced so many obstacles and may have been on the verge of giving up, but they never did. It is a testament to their mental strength that they persevered.

Which brings me back to my original point. I had said earlier, that most of the people covered by PILLARS®, were not born with a silver spoon – this means that they had little or no benefits to help them get to the top. Whatever opportunities came their way, they seized and used to the best of their abilities. 

What is the secret, you might ask? What sets them apart, these entrepreneurs, from the many entrepreneurs that may have tried and failed? One, is that they didn’t give up no matter what. 

They persevered out of sheer will and because they had either no other choice, or had set their eyes on a vision towards success.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” I believe what he meant by the right mental attitude is that these success stories live with a “do or die” attitude. 

This doesn’t mean that you kill yourself trying to succeed, no, but perhaps it is close to that. It means that no matter what, you give your business your all, your 100% and the time is now or never. Urgency is key to success.

It is this urgency that has led MALAYSIA SME® and PILLARS® to its current success – in fact, I would like to take the time to reflect on this event Tales of Inspiration and what it means to the people behind it. 

Tales of Inspiration was born out of the desire to give back to, not only the community at large, but also to the steadily growing network of SME entrepreneurs that had previously filled the pages of PILLARS®.

 The first Tales of Inspiration event, held in October 2010, invited selected entrepreneurs to share in the joy of giving.

Needless to say, the Tales of Inspiration event was a roaring success. To see so many entrepreneurs gathered in one room, along with Mr. Wayne Lim, a tireless loudspeaker for the SME community, was truly heart-warming. The entrepreneurs were happy to be there, to be given a chance to honour and appreciate their kind, while knowing that they were helping a cause that was bigger than the industry. 

It also gave them a chance to take a night off from their 24/7 schedule, which is sometimes virtually impossible when you are running your own business.

As you know, most of the proceeds of the coffee table book will be going to Rumah Shalom. Similarly, the first Tales of Inspiration as well as its second instalment is part of MALAYSIA SME’s Corporate Social Responsibility and is a way for entrepreneurs and PILLARS® to contribute to the betterment of society. 

We spend so much of time building a business and making a living that sometimes it’s easy to forget those around us. This is a chance for us tireless entrepreneurs to make a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate than us.

So what do you get when you purchase this gorgeous coffee table book? Firstly, you get something that is pleasing to the eye as it has an elegant look and would look fantastic in your homes, not to mention that it would be something that you could show to your guests when you have your next gathering. The content is as beautiful as its outlook – as it speaks about the journey all successful entrepreneurs have endured on their road to triumph. 

Their stories are told from their hearts with no holds-barred. They speak sincerely and frankly on their humble beginnings and how incredibly hard it was for them to claw and scale their way to the top often making heart-breaking sacrifices on the way. 

Where in the end they did make it, they look back on their passage and realize that it was just sheer determination and strength of mind that got them there.

If nothing else, it is certainly an inspiring read. Also, isn’t it satisfying to know that your money is going towards helping young children to have a fighting chance at achieving what you have achieved in the last 5-10 years? 

The chosen charity home, Rumah Shalom, had its humble beginnings in 1997 when Rev. S. Arulandu started it for 2 underprivileged children. Since then, 180 children who are orphans, homeless, abused and neglected from broken homes have passed through the home to become responsible beings with a purpose in their lives. 

Rumah Shalom is a registered non-profit organization under the Registrar of Society Act. I think it’s absolutely vital that all of us in this room purchase at least one copy as well as participate in the auction to further contribute to these children.

I would like to tell you a bit about the charitable activities that we do at McMillan. Last year, we decided to plant 201 trees at the Forest Research Institute Malaysia and donated RM20, 000 to play our part to save Mother Earth. 

We also donated RM25,000 to a monastery in Hat Yai, Thailand to help erect a shelter lodge for visitors and worshippers. We further donated RM60, 000 to the same monastery to restore the monastery for the benefits of the visitors, worshippers and monks. 

Back home, RM5, 000 was donated to the Kechara Soup Kitchen Society that provides food to the homeless.

In the past, we’ve contributed to various environmental and social causes as we believe that in order to be of a company of value, we must help those who are in need. We have all been in need at certain times in our lives and we also remember what it was like to receive aid in our darkest times. 

As successful entrepreneurs, we must give back to the society that has supported us in the past. I’d like to think that what we are doing is building bridges between communities and giving a heart to our businesses.

Here’s to all of you who have endured an incredible journey. May you continue to keep your eyes on the goal and inspire others towards the same path. 

I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing you again. This night is for you, to appreciate the work you have put in for the betterment of our lives and for contributing to our economy. 

Let’s raise our glasses again and I hope you will enjoy your evening with all the captains of the SME industry."




































































































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