With the holidays and festive season just around the corner, the Hong Kong Tourism Board is inviting Malaysian to head over to Hong Kong Live in Kuala Lumpur consumer event at Suria KLCC from 7 to 12 November 2017. There, visitors will be able to see what Hong Kong has to offer such as the attractions and amazing deals to plan for their next holiday adventure.
During the event, HKTB shares its plans for the Malaysian market, which also includes a focus on Muslim-friendly tourism initiatives. “Malaysia is one of our key source markets in Southeast Asia region, which is why we want to showcase the very best of Hong Kong with diverse areas of appeal and relevant content to Malaysia’ multicultural society,” states Anthony Lau, Executive Director of HKTB.
Scha Alyahya and Awal Ashaari, sharing their travel experience to Hong Kong with emcee Owen Yap and members of the media.
The event was also graced by the famous celebrity couple, Awal Ashaari and Scha Alyahya along with their daughter Lara Alana, as they shared their experience of their recent trip to Hong Kong.
Currently, Hong Kong is listed as the fifth best non-Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) country for Muslim travellers, since the city offers plenty of Halal-certified dining options, easy access to prayer spaces and accommodation options with Halal-certified kitchens.
“HKTB recognises the need to create a hospitable environment for Muslim travellers, providing them with faculties and guidance so that they too can enjoy the delights of Hong Kong without having to worry,” he continues.
Visitors of the Hong Kong Live in Kuala Lumpur will be able to have a taste of Hong Kong, such as Big Bus Tours Hong Kong, Dukling, Hong Kong Disneyland, Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, Ngong Ping 360, Ocean Park Hong Kong, and more. Visitors would even have the chance to view Hong Kong attractions in 3D with the interactive augmented reality LED screen framed by a unique floral display.
HP Inc. showcases its latest portfolio of PCs and printers, in preparation for 2018. HP aims to strengthen its presence and show their commitment to help businesses grow, as well as expand its market in Southeast Asia.
“In the last 24 months, HP has been laying the foundations for long term and sustainable growth in Southeast Asia, by focusing on building a robust product portfolio, delivering customer outcomes, and enhancing security innovation,” said Koh Kong Meng, Managing Director, Southeast Asia and Korea, HP Inc.
“We will continue to perfect mobile printing and develop PCs to meet the needs of One Life – the blending between work and life. We are also evaluating and creating new categories that meet the future needs of our customers, whether it is in 3D printing or driving commercial uses for VR technology. In Malaysia, we see opportunities for HP to complement the government’s digital economy focus with the most secure computing and printing devices,” said Kym Lim, Managing Director, Malaysia, HP Inc.
(L-R) Koh Kong Meng, Managing Director, Southeast Asia and Korea, HP Inc. and Kym Lim, Managing Director, Malaysia, HP Inc. showing off the Sprocket 2-in-1 and the HP Spectre 13.
Commenting on HP’s business focus and strategy next year in Malaysia, Kym explains that they have been reengineering and improving their business engagement whether online, or through contributions in cybersecurity.
“Cybersecurity is critical for digital economy growth. We are providing further education to our customers, to raise awareness on the importance on the roles security features play in the day to day business growth. We are also helping our customers understand the growing focus by the government on cybersecurity and growing a digital economy.”
Kym noted HP’s involvement in the recent launch of the Cybersecurity chapter by National ICT Association PIKOM last month. “We’ve engaged the government cybersecurity department in launching these association that are driven by eCommerce. We work together to bring more awareness to members, as well as driving the security trends.”
2018 Product Line-Up
For Businesses
Designed to integrate into people’s work and living seamlessly, HP rolls out a new line of premium commercial notebooks HP EliteBook x360 1020 G2 and the HP EliteBook 1040 G4. These are commercially geared notebooks that aim to provide better productivity, inspiration, and sharing ideas beyond the workplace. The new devices comes with enterprise-class performance and security, fitted into ultra thin and light form factors, and are military grade spec tested.
Adding to the workstation line-up is the ZBook x2, a detachable workstation made with the performance and mobility required by artists, designers and digital imaging professionals. Made to handle heavy loads Adobe Creative Cloud and other professional applications pushed to the limit on this device, this device is customisable to suit business needs, including the use of stylus as well as other configuration.
HP also ramps up the features in its expanded A3 product line of printers. now av ailable with two new platforms in different configurations for both transactional and contractual channels. The printers feature enhanced security features such as HP Connection Inspector, a new intelligent embedded security feature created by HP Labs to preempt malware attacks with advanced self-healing capabilities. To empower the mobile worker, HP also introduces HP Roam, a smartphone application that allows users to print from their phone to any HP printers in the world.
For Consumers
In its premium consumer PC range, HP brings out the next generation HPSpectre 13 and HP Spectre x360 13 in time for the festive season. The new Spectre range will feature new processors, longer battery life, improved sound quality, brilliant displays in even sleeker, more angular designs without compromising on performance. The HP Spectre 13 boasts to be the thinnest touch laptop, while HP Spectre x360 is noted to have the world’s longest battery life in a quad core convertible.
HP is also bringing enterprise grade security into their consumer portfolio, starting with the HP Spectre series. HP will be bringing further enterprise grade security to their consumer offerings, starting with HP SureView, an integrated privacy screen built in for laptops.
Together with this line-up is bringing mobile printing to the consumer. The new Sprocket 2-in-1 now comes with a built-in instant camera, allowing customers to capture and share life’s important moments.
Availability
The HP Spectre range will be available in time for the festive season in December 2017, while all other products in the line-up are slated for a 2018 release, scheduled for a January availability to start off the new year.
Contribution by Eric O’Neill, National Security Strategist, Carbon Black
The Equifax breach stole names, addresses, birth dates, and credit card numbers for over 200,000 consumers. One might immediately assume that cyber criminals made the attack in order to sell the information to identity thieves who will run up fraudulent charges, file fake tax returns, defraud mortgages and loans, purchase goods with stolen credit cards or steal a subscription to HBO in time for next season’s Game of Thrones.
But where most see thieves, I see spies.
The cyber intrusion also stole documents used in disputes for approximately 182,000 people. This includes personal identifiable information that sophisticated attackers could use to gain entry into medical records, bank accounts, employer email accounts and networks — virtually anywhere that a person has an online presence. Most consumers are still slow to adopt secondary protection schemes like two-factor authentication and continue to use challenge questions that relate directly to their personal lives. If a spy agency in China, North Korea or Russia (the three most likely culprits in the Equifax breach) has this information, they could use it to infiltrate other accounts of targeted individuals, particularly those persons of interest in government agencies.
While recent reports say two hackers have launched an onion site to claim the Equifax breach and demand over 600 Bitcoin (roughly $2.6 million) in ransom, this could easily be scammers trying to capitalise on the potential leak, or even a calculated smokescreen by a nation state group.
I’m especially concerned as we move toward elections in 2018 and 2020 that this breach, together with the two massive Yahoo breaches during the second half of last year, may lead to additional compromises like the ones that plagued the Democrats before the presidential election in 2016. If spies are behind this attack, we should expect to see additional releases of damaging personal information, more fake news grounded in a kernel of truth and significant disruptions that erode trust. Wikileaks is likely poised and ready to help foreign spies further damage U.S. democracy.
Cyber warfare often drives an information narrative. Cyber espionage collects information. Spy agencies typically hold that information close to the vest, using it to quietly inform decisions and tactically pressure certain international politics. Sometimes the information is used to feed the narrative most beneficial to the nation that stole it. After the DNC attack, Russia positioned the most damaging information to the Clinton campaign on Wikileaks. The influence campaign against the United States election did not stop there. Russia blended covert intelligence operations with outreach through state and private media, and paid social media trolls and official news stories to establish a narrative that the United States election system was compromised at best and at worst, corrupt.
As a corollary issue to the breach, it is one thing to wake up and realize that your Yahoo account was compromised. It’s another entirely to find out that one of the institutions that we trust to protect our most critical information failed us. I’ve long felt uncomfortable with the amount of information that the three big credit agencies collect and store about consumers. As an investigator, I understand the need for rapid credit checks that seek to determine the financial stability of a consumer, but when we give others control over our information, we open ourselves to these major attacks. Unfortunately, even after the massive attacks on the Office of Personnel Management, Yahoo and now Equifax, we’ve still only seen the tip of the spear.
Complex security together with people knowledgeable in counterintelligence is required to protect systems from the biggest flaw in any design: the people who use them. Corporations hoard big data mined from consumer information freely given under rarely-read privacy notices, vacuumed up from social media, collected from internet searches and website visits and distilled from the news and media we consume. Spies thrive by accessing this wealth of information by bypassing cybersecurity through non-technical approaches like phishing emails and social engineering hacks. A top-down approach from government and investment in corporate responsibility and individual security is necessary to protect our identities from abuse. Anything short of that lays our information out in a banquet for cyber thieves and spies.
About the author
As Carbon Black’s national security strategist, Eric O’Neill is a thought leader on a wide range of issues, including counterterrorism and national security matters. He is a practicing attorney who specialises in cybersecurity vulnerability assessments, counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations, investigations into economic espionage, internal investigations and security risk assessment consulting.
O’Neill served as an operative for the FBI, where he conducted national security field operations against terrorists and foreign intelligence agents. His role in the investigation and capture of the most notorious spy in U.S. history, Robert Phillip Hanssen, became the subject of Universal Studio’s movie Breach, released to critical acclaim in 2007.
Malindo Air has successfully implemented an omi-channel contact center solution from Aspect Software, a leading provider of fully-integrated customer interaction management, workforce optimisation and self-service. The unified platform (Aspect Unified IP) helps align Malindo Air’s customer care infrastructure and customer service processes to create a single integrated solution for better customer experience.
Chandran Rama Muthy, Malindo Air’s CEO said that the company deployed the technology to handle voice and email interactions and saw tremendous improvements in managing incoming calls and emails within the expected timeline.
“Moving forward, the plan is to deploy the technology from this platform to other operational users other than the customer care centre locally as well as in our regional offices. This will improve cost-effectiveness and enhance customer service,” he adds.
Christmas is fast approaching. Manulife Malaysia will be hosting Manulife Dear Santa 2.0, a CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative focusing on sharing and spreading joy of giving for the festive season.
This year, Manulife will be making small dreams come true for 300 children from 10 underprivileged homes across Klang Valley. Amongst that 200 wishes will be fulfilled by Manulife agents while 100 fulfilled by staff and the public. Manulife aims to spread the joy of giving and hopes to make the occasion more meaningful with the support from the public.
Public can join this initiative to fulfill the 100 wishes by visiting the www.manulifedearsanta.com website. The Manulife microsite will contain wishes of the kids and the public can help grant a wish or two before 30th November 2017. The children will be from Rumah K.I.D.S and Rumah Charis.
A Manulife Dear Santa 2.0 Christmas Party will also be held on 14th December 2017 for the contributors to personally present the gifts to these children.
Frequent travellers will be familiar with the newspaper trolley at the entrance to your flight. Or perhaps a flight attendant making their rounds asking which newspapers you’d like to read.
Why choose one newspaper when you can have access to thousands at the palm of your hand?
Cathay Pacific now offers their customers access to a range of digital newspapers and magazines from Hong Kong and international publications for free via PressReader. Travellers can now download their preferred reading material prior to their flight.
In a press statement, Cathay Pacific wrote: “Our customers have told us that reading materials are important to their overall journey satisfaction. We therefore set out to find the best platform to enable the biggest selection, in the most environmentally responsible manner, to deliver what our passengers value. By partnering with PressReader, we are now able to provide thousands of popular newspapers and magazines to everyone who flies with us.”
Access to PressReader is done with the Cathay Pacific app, which offers useful travel information and functions such as flight booking and check-in. Customers will have access to PressReader 48 hours before departure. This means all Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon customers can download full issues of their favourite publications to their own smart phones or tablets for free.
PressReader’s 7,000-strong library features same-day titles such as The Washington Post, The Guardian and Los Angeles Times, in addition to travel and lifestyle periodicals, including Business Traveller, Vogue and GQ. More than 300 popular newspapers and magazines from Hong Kong and Mainland China are also available, in addition to Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon’s inflight magazines, Discovery and Silkroad.
Cathay Pacific Director Customer Simon Large said: “Partnering with PressReader is an investment that strengthens our news and entertainment offering. It enables our customers to have a much bigger range of choice in reading materials, ideally making their travel experience a richer and more relaxing one.”
PressReader Chief Executive Officer Alex Kroogman said: “At PressReader, we believe in building new ways for brands to create meaningful and organic relationships with real people. That’s why we’re working with one of the world’s best airlines – one that provides outstanding experience and aligns with our mission to improve the way readers all over the world discover great content.”
Mr Kroogman added that PressReader has secured the addition of thousands more titles from mainland China to the digital platform.
With DFTZ (Digital Free Trade Zone) being the brainchild of the Malaysian government, some of the key drivers and stakeholders include the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), SME Corp. and more.
Now, Fusionex will be joining the big boys in facilitating SMEs and merchants to capitalise on the internet community and e-marketplace. At the same time, these cost benefits and efficiencies will inadvertently trickle down to consumers who seeks faster and better products and services.
By facilitating cross-border trade and enabling businesses to import and export goods, the DFTZ aims to capitalise on the convergence and exponential growth of the internet economy and cross-border eCommerce activities.
Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak Alibaba Group Chairman and Founder Jack Ma, Minister of Transport Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, MDEC COO, Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, Deputy Director General of Customs (Customs/GST), Dato’ Paddy BAbd Halim, and Fusionex Founder and Group CEO, Dato’ Seri Ivan Teh
Giving businesses access to the international market will result in a growing trend of orders and trades fuelled by businesses not being confined to specific locations and time zones. The Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak also highlights that the DFTZ will create 60,000 new jobs and boost exports by SMEs to US$38 billion (RM160 billion) by 2025.
The DFTZ is also expected to generate a huge amount of online transactions of orders, trade movements, payments and more. Therefore, Fusionex will also do its part in achieving this goal by leading a consortium of e-services platform, powered by Big Data technologies.
Nearly 200 Malaysian and regional lawyers, innovators and technologists gathered under one roof for the inaugural LexTech Conference 2017 (#LexTech17) at the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC). It provided an unparalleled platform for legal practitioners and legal tech innovators to share technologies and innovative solutions that shapes the provision of legal services in the 21st century.
George Varughese, President of the Malaysian Bar mentioned that it is the opportune time for the conference to unify the platform in discussing and connecting, especially with the belief that legal tech will be the next frontier of innovation. He also stated that the conference is in line with the Bar Council’s commitment to excellence of continuously update themselves in the face of progress.
“With legal tech companies like CanLaw organising conferences like this, I believe in the near future, Malaysia too will catch up with the rest of the region. I think if lawyers are more informed of the benefits of technology and how it can actually assist them to become even more productive, I think given time they would embrace technology,” he continued.
Highlights of #LexTech17 include:
In-depth look into the role of regulators and accelerators in legal innovation
A fundamental introduction to blockchain, smart contracts and how it changes the practice of contract law
An expert panel of whether the introduction of AI in the legal industry might replace lawyers
Fruitful discussions on the dispute resolution mechanisms and law firms of tomorrow and how lawyers can future-proof themselves
Six separate sessions led by accomplished speakers on topics ranging from ICOs to AI demos
The enterprise and public sector business solutions arm of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) Group, known as TM ONE, launches a new state-of-the-art data centre located in Nusajaya Technology Park, Iskandar Puteri in Johor. The carrier neutral data centre also houses TM’s international gateway, which serves as a regional hub in providing services such as end-to-end managed ICT services, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services and cloud service via digital marketplace. It will also provide high-speed broadband connectivity to cater for customers in Malaysia and the ASEAN region.
During the launching event, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Sulaiman says that TM ONE is designed to fulfil the hosting, cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) requirements of its business and enterprise customers as well as government agencies in realising their digital transformation. According to him, the data centre is primed to meet the industry’s top standards, ensuring high availability, energy savings and the most advanced security and connectivity specifications to satisfy enterprises in need of reliability.
“The establishment of this data centre is testament of our continued efforts to facilitate the nation’s aspiration of becoming a world-class Digital and IoT hub in the region, which can be further enabled and empowered by the capabilities of TM ONE,” he continues.
This data centre is the first of two major facilities planned by TM Group to meet the anticipated demand growth driven by data and hosting technologies. TM ONE is also ready to provide businesses with more competitive advantage globally. With TM’s diverse international network connectivity and Point of Presence (POPs), it complements the full range of TM ONE’s Managed ICT and BPO services, to provide an integrated solution with unparalleled service quality, security and highly redundant data centre services.
The Luxury Collection Hotels and Resorts will be debuting the brand’s first ever hotel in Tasmania in before the end of 2018, following a full-scale renovation. The Tasman, owned by Trawalla Group Parliament Square Hotel Operator Pty Ltd, will reside in repurposed heritage buildings in Parliament Square.
“Australia is an extremely desirable destination for the Luxury Collection and the Tasman is sure to become the place for global explorers to stay while visiting Tasmania,” comments Mitzi Gaskins, Global Brand Leader, The Luxury Collection and JW Marriott.
Upon opening, The Tasman will be ready to offer 128 luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites with carefully restored features. The hotel’s corridors will showcase exclusive pieces from local artists, while an upscale restaurant, lobby lounge and a whiskey bar provides a variety of dining experiences that reflect the spirit of the destination.
The original features of the heritage buildings such as the Georgian and Art Deco architectural style will be maintained throughout, embodying The Luxury Collection’s indigenous standard of luxury.
“It has always been our intention to partner with a brand that appreciates and embraces Tasmania’s natural beauty, history and heritage, which is why we chose to work with Marriott International to bring The Luxury Collection to Tasmania as part of this exciting new development,” says Alan Schwartz, Managing Director, Trawalla Group Parliament Square Hotel Operator Pty Ltd. “We also share the brand’s passion for design, indigenous experiences and refined luxury, and are committed to working with the best talent and experts in the industry to bring this project to its full potential.”
1972 local SMEs part of the first wave of the new trade zone
Taking up the old LCCT terminal, the Kuala Lumpur Air Cargo Terminal 1 (KACT1) is the first of the two-phase project for the newly established Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) jointly developed by the government of Malaysia and Ali Baba Group. The world’s first DFTZ aims to facilitate SMEs to capitalize on the convergence of exponential growth on the internet as well as cross border trade.
With an aim of creating over 60,000 jobs by 2025, the DFTZ also will increase the SMEs goods export value to over US$38 Million while moving nearly twice that amount in the same time-period. The KLIA Aeropolis DFTZ Park is phase one of the project, which is managed by Pos Malaysia and CAINIAO network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group. To date, over 1972 SMEs are live during first day of operations at the eFullfilment hub.
Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak (3rd from left) and Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group (4th fro left) officiates the groundbreaking ceremony of DFTZ.
“The Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiative goal is to build an inclusive and innovative global trading platform for SMEs, young people and consumers,” says Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group.
The prime minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak meanwhile said that, “SMEs have the power to transform the economy as they are ambitious, nimble and have the potential to create high value employment. The purpose of the DFTZ is to make it easier for SMEs to do cross-border trade. Together with Alibaba as a catalyctic partner in DFTZ, I am confident that Malaysian SMEs can grow across the region, building on the experience garnered from Alibaba.”
During the ground-breaking ceremony, it was mentioned that the new eFullfilment hub will optimize border clearance and handling – going from 6 hours to 3 hours with 90% Service Level Agreement (SLA) and improve Cargo Terminal Operations (CTO) from 4 hours to 90 minutes.
To facilitate the increase in productivity, the eFullfilment hub is equipped with the latest technology, including sorting, shelving, and pick-pack facilities, as well as robots in ensuring smoother logistics with packages at the hub.
With an expected double-digit growth with the commencement of the eFullfilment hub, this will position the KLIA Aeropolis as a leading cCommerce tans-shipment hub.
Phase two of the DFTZ will include new construction on a 60-acre plot of land adjacent to the KACT1, that will be jointly developed by Malaysian Airports Berhad and CAINIAO. This new development will be operational in 2020. Including in the next phase of expansion are support for other leading modes of transportation, including sea and rail connectivity, to turn the DFTZ into a true eCommerce centre in the region.
Local infrastructure and cloud service provider IGS is working with NetApp to enhance its cloud service offering. AVM Cloud Services is a multi-tenancy cloud platform which offers a broad range of enterprise cloud services that are dynamic enough to support the needs of large organisations while meeting the basic requirements of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
AVM Cloud Services offered by IGS comes mainly through three products: Virtual Private Cloud, Dedicated Cloud and Cloud-in-a-Box. Developed with NetApp’s Data Fabric strategy, users can easily manage customer data across centres equipped with NetApp as well as offer customers the ability of instantly interoperating with other clouds, including hyperscale cloud providers. NetApp’s Data Fabric strategy unifies data mobility with seamless data management, providing choice, maximum application availability and assurance against vendor lock-in.
Starting out as a traditional systems integrator that specialises in infrastructure solutions AVM Cloud Services has since grown into one of the largest cloud service platform in Malaysia. Offering customers a wide range of choices for compute, storage, and network connectivity; it is also available on demand and with a growing list of key workloads and applications.
Mr Azrin Abd Shukor, Country Manager of NetApp Malaysia (left) and Mr Kenny Lim, Co-founder and Director of IGS (right) posing with the newly announced AVM Cloud Services
Kenny Lim, Co-founder and Director of IGS said, “Our customers come to us with very complex IT needs, it’s more than just ensuring 100% application uptime. We need to meet the requirements that cater to a wide variety of workloads, which include mission-critical intensive applications and a wide spectrum of industry requirements. Beyond that, customers also expect a consistent level of performance, especially for these applications that demand a higher level of business agility.
“NetApp’s All-Flash integration, automation, software, QoS, and scalability are vital in enabling the unique offerings of our AVM Cloud Services. This is why IGS is proud to be ‘Fueled by NetApp’.”
Azrin Abd Shukor, Country Manager, NetApp Malaysia & Brunei said, “Data fabric is NetApp’s vision for hybrid cloud that enables service providers to do this effectively. Grounded by our Data Visionary proposition, NetApp believes in helping organisations transform and dominate new business models, thus forging new industries of tomorrow. We are happy to work with IGS to realise this vision and its plans on becoming one of the biggest cloud providers in ASEAN.”
With over 200 customers on AVM Cloud today, IGS will begin to onboard more Independent Software Vendors (ISV) to provide SaaS based solutions on top of their cloud-platform while building the ecosystem for their partners. It is also set to expand its offerings into the ASEAN market in the next two years.
Qatar Airways have now acquired 9.6% of Cathay Pacific Airways for close to US$662 million, making it Cathay’s third biggest shareholder. The move signifies Qatar’s confidence in Cathay Pacific’s ability to overcome its financial struggles, predicted to be the result of increasing competition from Middle Eastern airlines, as well as mainland Chinese and low-cost carriers.
This of course refers to the 2016 case when the airline lost US$73.6 million in its annual revenue, followed by a US$262 million loss in the first half of the year. Additionally, Cathay Pacific has been ramping up its partnerships, such as the codeshare and frequent-flyer collaborations with Star Alliance member, Luthansa earlier this year.
Due to this, Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways says: “Cathay Pacific is a fellow Oneworld member and is one of the strongest airlines in the world, respected throughout the industry and with massive potential for the future.”
Deuce, a casual modern European restaurant and bar for urbanites is now open at Publika Shopping Centre to neighbourhood residents and nine-to-fivers. Offering unique bites and beverage for you to enjoy for a night out with friends, the menu items are wallet-friendly enough that won’t break your bank!
Deuce features a warm, inviting space with an open kitchen bar, a handsome wine cellar and a lush al fresco dining area, making it the perfect place to chill out after a tiring day of work.
The restaurant serves fresh ingredients from the garden, sea and land, cooked with modern European techniques and strong influences from Asia and around the world. Deuce presents its gastronomical adventures in sizeable platters that are meant to be shared around the table and encourages conversations.
It also has an open-bar style that is equally appetising, holding a selection of hand-crafted cocktails such as the Bungarosa, Russian Mermaid, Smoky Mendoza along with 40 labels of wine that make perfect pairings for every plate.
Deuce is located on D1-G4-6, Solaris Dutamas (Publika), Mont Kiara 50480, Kuala Lumpur and opens from Tuesdays to Sundays from 6pm to midnight.
In efforts of providing an effective platform and opportunities for knowledge sharing, intensive learning and networking, Internet Alliance (IA) will be organising the Malaysia Internet Business Summit 2017 (MIBS 2017) on 23 November 2017 at MaGIC in Cyberjaya.
Set to be held for the third time, the MIBS 2017 is expected to draw an even larger and more mature group of Digital Service Providers and content providers in a single business-centric event, which includes brand owners, cloud providers, distributions, eCommerce platforms, online merchants, commercial logistics companies, payment gateway services, software solution providers and digital marketing advocates.
Furthermore, MIBS 2017 is held collaboratively with Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd, that actively supports the creativity and innovation development in Malaysia through dynamic programs and capacity-building initiatives.
Chan Kee Siak, President of IA.
Chan also mentions that MIBS 2017 will be streamlining the recent Budget 2018 strategy, to focus on the Digital Economy that will continue to be a key driver of growth, leading towards a Digital Malaysia.
Apart from that, Chan stresses on how MIBS should be considered as a ‘knowledge booster’, as it renews all owners of internet related businesses with latest trends, tech and future of internet business, cross border eCommerce, channel digital marketing, the leverage of the global big data trend, cyber security and so on.
“During the event, participants can gain deeper insight into cross-border eCommerce marketing, besides acquiring all relevant and latest information which ultimately assists their company in a pole position ahead of their peers,” states Chan.
The first ever jointly organised conference by Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX) and MyNOG continued to be faithful to its objective of being an industry-level sharing event that focuses on technological updates in the telecommunications sector.
During the MyIX-MyNOG Conference 2017, Paul Ooi, MyNOG committee member mentions: “Even though the event is held in Malaysia, so far only about 20% of the presentation submissions come from local telco/Internet Service Providers (ISP) engineers. We see more interest from neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and even Myanmar. Therefore, I would like to call on the bosses of local companies and to encourage and support their IT engineers to take part in future submissions of MyNOG conferences.”
Apart from that, Ooi also shared that there has been a heightened interest in the security aspect of telecommunications connectivity. “About 30% of the presentation is about IT security. However, with the recent spike in cybersecurity threats all around the world, it is only natural that IT security takes the limelight in the discussions and sharing amongst technical crowds such as MyNOG and MyIX members.”
Some of the key updates that MyIX highlighted during the MyIX-MyNOG Conference 2017 includes:
The Entire Malaysian Market is now connected (according to Cloudflare in the TPIX Peering Forum 2017)
MyIX is peered with almost all the top content networks worldwide
There are currently 77 different networks connected and 135 physical connections
Max traffic is 240 Gbps, as of September 2017
Supports bilateral peering arrangement and multi-lateral peering arrangement over Layer 2
Supports both IPV4/IPV6 dual stack
Reduced MyIX port charges to the point of almost matching international charges (RM8,000 for 10Gbps and RM2,000 for 1Gbps, as of Q1 2017)
The estimated savings MyIX facilitated for its peering members (from 2006-2016) is over RM300 million. Apart from that, Sanjaya, Deputy Director General of APNIC noted that there are about 6.6 million IPv4 and 545,000 IPv6 addresses recorded in Malaysia, adding that currently APNIC has about 14,000 independent network members, 56% of them holds IPv6 addresses.
Furthermore, Malaysia is one of the most IPv6 connected nations in the region, which is partly attributed to strong collaboration between the country’s main telco regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and its licensee.
Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad has launched its brand new Allianz Diabetic Essential that is specially designed for diabetics, ensuring those with type 2 diabetes a chance to get medical coverage and make living with diabetes less of a struggle.
With Allianz Diabetic Essential, type 2 diabetics who so not have a medical plan can start getting one, while those who already have one will have the opportunity to top-up their current coverage.
“We at Allianz believe that every Malaysian out there deserves to have better medical coverage. If so many Malaysians are in need of good medical coverage, we want to offer them that lifeline,” says Joseph Gross, CEO of Allianz Life Insurance Malaysia Berhad.
The Allianz Diabetic Essential offers Comprehensive Medical Coverage with a choice of four medical plans that will help cover the cost of hospitalisation and surgery, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), obtaining a second medical opinion and more.
Joseph Gross, CEO of Allianz Life; Myra Yu, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Advance Medical and Yeoh Eng Hun, Chief Strategy & Product Officer of Allianz Life, during the official launch of Allianz Diabetic Essential
For those seeking medical care beyond hospitalisation, the plan provides access to outpatient treatment for cancer, kidney dialysis, dengue and enteric fever treatment as well as emergency accidental out-patient treatment.
Apart from that, it also offers health screening benefits with an annual HbA1c blood test, kidney function test, lipid profile as well as medical examination and full urine examination. To encourage customers on improving their health, they will also enjoy annual premium discounts of up to 40% for improving and maintaining their health.
Following the completion of the ASEAN Data Science Explorers Malaysia national finals, six local students were awarded with the top three awards for their insights and ideas on driving a sustainable future for ASEAN. The six students, who represented three teams comprising two students each, were among the top 10 teams who were selected to pitch their ideas in the national finals, held at the Asia Pacific University on October 31.
The competition, which is co-organized by the ASEAN Foundation and multinational software company SAP, is aimed at promoting awareness and appreciation of the ASEAN community amongst young people through digital literacy. Students who registered for the program earlier in 2017 were given access to ASEAN data as well as SAP Analytics Cloud platform, which allowed them to better analyze the data and derive meaningful insights. The initiative encourages participants to deliver data-driven insights which highlight issues in ASEAN across six United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, namely (1) good health and well-being, (2) quality education, (3) gender equality, (4) clean water and sanitation, (5) decent work and economic growth, and (6) sustainable cities and communities.
“This is the inaugural year in which we are conducting this competition, in partnership with SAP, and we are pleased to see high rates of registrations and submissions of ideas from students in Malaysia. Following a stringent judging process, both the ASEAN Foundation and SAP selected the top 10 teams from Malaysia to present at the national finals held today. Many of the ideas proposed to us today were interesting and insightful, and I hope that these youths will continue to develop their passion and ideas to drive the ASEAN Community towards a sustainable future together,” said Elaine Tan, Executive Director of the ASEAN Foundation.
Team ‘ASEANalysts’, comprising of participants Thean Su Mei and Wong Feng Ming from Monash University Malaysia, came in first among the top three teams in the Malaysian national finals with their idea on improving primary education. The first runner up was team ‘’Hypervisor” from Universiti Sains Malaysia and the second runner up was team “Curiousity” from Universiti Teknologi Mara.
Terrence Yong, Managing Director, SAP Malaysia
“The ASEAN Data Science Explorers competition provides a platform for our Malaysian young talents to actively participate in shaping a sustainable future for the ASEAN community. It was great to see how students leveraged the SAP Analytics Cloud tool to make sense of data that they found pertaining issues around the six UN Sustainable Development Goals. While this is the first year of the programme, we are just touching the surface and I hope this competition will encourage Malaysian students to explore resources available to them and continue to develop their ideas further,” said Terrence Yong, Managing Director, SAP Malaysia. “With digitization increasingly being the lynchpin to ASEAN economies, governments and businesses should work together to impart digital skills and training to the young. SAP is investing efforts towards driving the needle in this area and we hope to work with the ecosystem to prepare the workforce of the future.”
Thean and Wong will represent Malaysia in the ASEAN Data Science Explorers Regional Face-Off in Jakarta in late November, where they will compete with the national winners from the other nine ASEAN member states.
For the eighth consecutive year, over 6,000 people participated in a nationwide independent consumer poll to vote their favourite brands from across 24 categories for the Putra Brand Awards. The winning brands turned marketing dilemmas into fitting strategies to attract, engage and connect with consumers through multiple marketing communications platforms.
Commonly referred to as ‘the People’s Choice’ awards, the Putra Brand Awards crowned 39 Gold, 40 Silver and 51 Bronze to brands in various categories, along with five special awards.
“In a broad sense, the Putra Brand Awards is an opportunity to shape the customer’s journey through the brand’s various modes of communications and fully engage consumers with the brand. This is crucial because all forms of communication must be relevant and integrated with a customer’s journey,” states Dato’ Johnny Mun, Organising Chairman of the Putra Brand Awards.
Shell was awarded the Putra Brand of the Year award in the Special Awards category, along with the Gold award in the Automotive – Fuels and Lubricants category.
Shell celebrating their victory for bagging the Putra Brand of the Year 2017
Furthermore, leading the Gold haul were Aeon, Canon, Carlsberg, Casio, Colgate, Dutch Lady, Gardenia, Honda, KFC, Malaysia Airlines, Maybank, Panasonic, Petronas, Samsung and Taylor’s University.
100 Plus marketing team is named Putra Marketer of the Year 2017.
Special awards were presented to Hurix’s for Putra Most Enterprising Brand of the Year, the 100 Plus marketing team for Putra Malaysian Marketer of the Year, and Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, Founder of SP Setia and EcoWorld as Putra Personality of the Year. Apart from that, Dettol, IKEA and Golden Screen Cinemas were inducted as Putra Brand Icons.
HURIX’S, natural herbal healthcare product brand, was voted Putra Enterprising Brand of the Year 2017.
United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) has launched the UOB ONE Account.
Aimed at customers between ages 20-35, the UOB ONE Account is designed to help young professionals grow their savings, through offering customers interest rates that are higher than that offered through standard savings accounts and fixed deposits.
Mr Ronnie Lim, Managing Director and Country Head of Personal Financial Services, UOB Malaysia, said the UOB One Account helps customers who may have smaller disposable incomes to save more for their future.
“At UOB, we want to help our customers grow their wealth at every stage of their lives. The UOB ONE Account is designed to give our customers, especially our younger customers, a financial headstart. Young professionals just embarking on their careers or starting a family may have less disposable income to put toward saving. The UOB ONE Account aims to help customers balance meeting their monthly expenses and saving for the future,” Mr Lim said.
The bank links customers’monthly expenses to their savings. Customers who have monthly expenses totalling RM500 and pay at least three bills (of minimum RM50 each) each month through UOB Malaysia’s personal internet banking facilities will be able to take advantage of the higher interest rate offered via the UOB One Account.
According to data from UOB Malaysia, UOB Malaysia’s younger customer base used their cards mainly to pay for lifestyle shopping, groceries, dining, transport and phone and internet subscriptions. The Bank’s data shows that more than 86% of these customers use UOB’s Personal Internet Banking services to make payments and to carry out their banking transactions.
“Given that this set of our customers already commits an average of RM1,500 each month towards their basic expenses, either on their credit cards or through personal internet banking, we designed the UOB ONE Account to offer them a simple way to save for their future by linking their current monthly outgoings to a savings account that earns them a higher rate of interest,” Mr Lim said.
Besides higher interest rates, UOB ONE Account holders are can enjoy up to 8% cashback when they use their credit cards. This is in addition to the range of dining, shopping, travel discounts and privileges available on UOB credit and debit cards both within Malaysia and abroad.
