Issue 9
Assunta Hospital
Tender Loving Care Assunta Hospital, a pioneering private healthcare provider in Malaysia and the first private hospital in the Klang Valley, is backed by a legacy of caring and dedicated healthcare delivery Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Eddie Clinton Malaysia is often referred to as the "Asian Dragon" and its healthcare system boasts of high-end hospitals that provide excellent services. The industry – divided into private and public healthcare – has undergone huge transformation since the country's independence in 1957 and the government is committed to improving the system, having already achieved universal coverage for the population. Governmental sources describe the sector as "a major resource which is critical to the success of the nation's socio-economic status". Among the country's first tier medical provides is Assunta Hospital, a pioneering private healthcare provider with a sound history of providing "quality and affordable healthcare for all". A History of Delivery A look through the history books shows that Assunta, based in Petaling Jaya, a satellite city developed in 1952 to ease the problem of overpopulation in Kuala Lumpur, has always been committed to delivering dedicated healthcare across all levels of society. Assunta started small. What would later become the hospital opened its doors soon after Petaling Jaya's birth. It was established by four Franciscan Missionaries of Mary nuns and was originally a small clinic named Ave Maria, serving the healthcare needs of the underprivileged. Through public donations, the little clinic soon expanded to include a maternity home and convent. By 1957, the population of Petaling Jaya had grown…
Houston Electric
The Spark of Singapore Not only does Houston Electric have an excellent reputation, their extensive project list over the last twelve months signals continued and sustainable company growth Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager James Mitchell Since Directors Jenny Tan and Jimson Wee formed the company in 1993, Houston Electric has witnessed strong growth. For 21 years, the company has been supplying specialist electric products and general electrical supplies to the oil and gas sector, water treatment and petrochemical plants. "Our company has three departments: a project sales department, which caters mostly to projects and provide customers a full package which refers to products assembled to meet our customer's requirements, instead of just individual components. We have an MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) department, which caters specifically to drilling companies MRO requirements & day to day purchases; and a further department in charge of selling products that we are the authorised distributors of," says Jimson Wee, one of the company Directors. Houston Electric is the authorised distributor for renowned brands such as Appleton, Eaton, Sola HD, Conax Technologies, Siba Fuses, Shihlin transformers and RPS. ATEX and NEC Product Standards Houston Electric's wide range of products comply with both European ATEX and American NEC standards, enabling them to provide the appropriate products to meet various customer requirements effectively. Further, the company is ISO:9001 and Bizsafe Level 3 certified and is registered with the local Building and Construction Authority in order to keep up with the relevant standards, as Wee comments: "In recent years, we have noticed an increase…
Jaya Tiasa
Branching out Jaya Tiasa are one of Malaysia's fastest growing oil palm players Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Tom Cullum Jaya Tiasa Holdings Berhad is a company listed on the Main Board of Bursa Securities Berhad, with a market capitalisation exceeding RM2.5 billion. The Group started off as a downstream wood processing company in Tanjong Ensurai, Sarawak in 1983. By 1994, Jaya Tiasa had constructed another four processing mills and proceeded to open them. Dato' Wong Sie Young, CEO of Jaya Tiasa, outlines how the Group have grown over the last 12 years: "Our timber processing operations have grown significantly over the years. In 2002, we diversified into the oil palm business. Our first Crude Palm Oil (CPO) mill commenced operation in 2009. Today, we are one of Sarawak's leading oil palm players with an estimated plantable area of about 70,900 hectares, as well as being one of Malaysia's foremost fully integrated timber producers, with access to over 1.76 million acres of timber concessions and an annual turnover of more than RM1 billion." As of May 2014, the Group have a workforce of about 4,500 employees who have a diverse mixture of backgrounds, experiences and expertise across its operations. To meet future challenges, remain competitive and ensure continued growth of their business, Jaya Tiasa strive to be an attractive employer with the ability to recruit, develop and retain the best people. "We develop our employees through training and education, respect individual integrity and human rights, offer fair pay and advancement opportunities and maintain a safe and…
Wong Fong Engineering
The Innovation Engineers of Singapore Wong Fong Engineering is the undisputed leader for smart engineering solutions in Singapore Writer Matt Bone Project Manager James Mitchell With over 40 years of engineering excellence and experience, Wong Fong Engineering is dedicated to providing high-tech and innovative solutions for seamless loading and transport logistics. Wong Fong also offer an effective waste management process, quality and friendly mobility aids, as well as strengthened and empowered defence systems. With a range of cutting-edge technology, Wong Fong Engineering is the undisputed leader for smart engineering solutions in Singapore, China and Malaysia. Eric Lew, Executive Director of Wong Fong Engineering, describes the company as being "leaders of industry" in Singapore, as opposed to industry leaders, as he explains: "We are leaders of industry in Singapore and Malaysia, not industry leaders. We feel that the way we approach business and our business ethos allows us to show the industry how to do business, instead of just being at the top of the market ladder. We consider ourselves to be almost teachers to other companies in the industry." The Singapore Boom Construction of infrastructure in Singapore is nearing an all time high, in terms of projects undertaken per annum. Wong Fong have seen the number of projects and tenders being offered to them double over the last 12 months due to a massive rise in the population of South East Asia. "With such a massive boom in construction, we have been working on our greatest number of projects over the last 12 months. It has…
Singapore Aero Engine Services
Servicing the best Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited are Asia's market leader in aviation engine service and repair Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Tom Cullum Singapore Aero Engine Services Private Limited (SAESL) is a Trent Centre of Excellence, specialising in the repair and overhaul of the flourishing Rolls- Royce Trent aero engine family. The company first began operations in 2001 in Singapore, and have since serviced and repaired over 2000 engines to date, from a variety of customers including Air Transat, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. SAESL combines the knowledge of parent company Rolls-Royce, the quintessential engine maker, with the experience of Singapore airlines Engineering Company (SIAEC). Simon Morris, general manager of SAESL, believes that having the experience, industry knowledge and the stature of both parent companies, gives the company a solid platform to make the company the dominant force in engine servicing: "the knowledge and expertise from both Rolls Royce and SIAEC gives us flexibility to manage our engine load. we continue to grow our qualified and experienced field service support team, providing 24/7 assistance to all our customers. Additionally, we offer advanced component repair capabilities and are the recognised Rolls-Royce Centre of Excellence for compressor blade repair amongst other high technology repair processes." Handled with Care Dealing with some of the world's biggest and most recognisable airlines is no easy feat and SAESL ensure that they are ready and equipped to deal with several different engines types. The current series of engines that the company can work on are overhaul work for Trent…
Wagner Asia
Servicing the best Wagner Asia are a leading Caterpillar Dealer in Sales and Service Capability Performance in the CIS and Mongolia region Writers Matt Bone & Steve Potter Project Manager Eddie Clinton Wagner Asia Equipment LLC are the official dealer for Caterpillar Inc in Mongolia. Since its establishment in 1996, with 100% Wagner investment, Wagner Asia Equipment LLC sells and rents quality Caterpillar machines (CAT) used in mining, construction, road and railroad construction, infrastructure, agricultural, energy and other industrial applications of Mongolia. For the last eight years in row, Wagner Asia has been the leading Caterpillar Dealer in terms of sales and service capability in the CIS and Mongolia region. Wagner Asia is currently sitting at number 16 in the top 20 companies of Mongolia, by the metrics published by the of Government of Mongolia and Mongolian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which recognise the company's contribution to the national economy, business development as well as its activities in the area of social responsibility. Wagner Asia is the undisputable market leader in its sector, and its performance is characterised by best business practice, the introduction of new technologies and products and services in Mongolia. Steve Potter, Executive Director of Wagner Asia, acknowledges that the last 2 years have been very challenging ones for the company given that the markets for their products and services are very much linked to the health of the Mongolian economy. He expects that this situation will continue through 2014 but that the underlying fundamentals for the country, and therefore for Wagner…
Opus Offshore
Rig for success Opus Offshore Pte Ltd are building a new class of drilling rig that is already winning tenders worldwide Writers Matt Bone Project Manager Arron Rampling Opus Offshore was formed in early 2011 as a result of Vern Westerhout and David Smallwood's desire to build modern mid-water drill ships to service the substantial market in mid-deep water. A strategic alliance was formed with Shanghai Shipyard to jointly develop the design, finalise costing and agree construction schedules. Opus Offshore provided the equipment specifications. In September of 2011, contracts were signed for the construction of two vessels along with options for two more. The company is headquartered in Singapore and has a large project office within the Shanghai Shipyard complex. Both offices employ a multinational staff, all with many years of experience in the off shore drilling construction and operations business. Eastern Build, Western design Peter Burnett, Operations Manager of Opus Offshore, has seen the company grow substantially since its beginning in 2011. "The company is built on a solid foundation of vastly experienced managers who have worked in the industry for many years, but because we are currently building our vessels in China, there is a degree of wariness from the international drilling community about standards of manufacturing and processes being applied during production. For us, this is just a hurdle that we can quickly overcome and we will prove just how reliable these vessels will be." The Tiger Class vessels currently under construction will have a high specification 8 point mooring system and not…
Hock Lian Seng
45 years of construction success Celebrating its 45th year of operation, Hock Lian Seng are proud to continue providing significant contributions to the thriving Singapore economy Writers Emily Jarvis Project Manager Ben Wigger Hock Lian Seng (HLS) Group was established in Singapore in 1969 by Mr Chua Leong Hai, who gladly continues to retain his position as CEO today. The company's core focus has always been on the construction of infrastructure projects including roads, highways, bridges, land reclamation, wharves, airport taxiways, aircraft parking aprons and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, tunnels, viaducts and depots. In December 2009, the company converted into a Public Limited Company, taking the name Hock Lian Seng Holdings Limited, and were successfully listed on the SGX Mainboard in the weeks that followed. Celebrating its 45th year of operation, Hock Lian Seng are proud to continue providing significant contributions to the thriving Singapore economy. "We have contributed to the construction of every MRT line throughout Singapore since the early 1980s. We were involved in the North South Line, the East West Line, the North East Line, the Circle Line, the Downtown Line, and now the Thomson Line. We will be looking forward to contributing as one of the builders for the upcoming Eastern Region Line, the Jurong Region Line, the Cross Island Line and also the North-South Expressway," explains Deputy CEO David Chew Tuan Dong, who is excited by what the future holds for HLS. HLS have a disciplined focus and extensive experience in their core business, and this deep understanding of Singapore…
Singapore Manufacturing Output up 3.3% on-year in July
Manufacturing output in the Republic rose 3.3 per cent on-year in July, boosted by a spike in the biomedical sector, says the Economic Development Board (EDB). Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output decreased 2.2 per cent from a year ago, the EDB said. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output rose 2.7 per cent, but declined 0.8 per cent when biomedical manufacturing was excluded. On a year-on-year basis, the biomedical manufacturing cluster's output increased 28.5 per cent in July. Robust export demand for medical instruments and supplies led the medical technology segment to record output growth of 30.8 per cent. The pharmaceuticals segment expanded 28 per cent, mainly due to a different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients being produced. Output for the chemicals cluster rose 9.2 per cent, propped up by the petrochemicals segment which grew 12.1 per cent, partly due to maintenance shut down in some plants a year ago. The specialties segment expanded 11.7 per cent on the back of higher output in additives and industrial gases. The precision engineering cluster's output grew 4.4 per cent year-on-year in July, supported by the machinery and systems segment which expanded 10.9 per cent with higher demand for semiconductor-related equipment and mechanical engineering work. Output for the electronics cluster fell 2.9 per cent year-on-year, with the other electronic modules and components segment and computer peripherals segment growing 20.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent, respectively. However, this was outweighed by declines in other segments, such as the semiconductor segment which saw its output fall 1.6 per cent. The…
China’s Manufacturing Activity Surges in July
Chinese manufacturing activity increased sharply in July, rising at its fastest pace in more than two years, an official survey showed on Friday (August 1), as the world's second-largest economy shows signs of increasing momentum. The official purchasing managers index (PMI) hit 51.7 last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. The figure was up from 51.0 in June and the best since 53.3 in April 2012. It was also above the median 51.4 forecast in a survey of nine economists by The Wall Street Journal. "We are optimistic about China's economic outlook in the remainder of this year, as the growth momentum is picking up while the inflation remains mild," ANZ Bank economists Liu Li-Gang and Zhou Hao said in a note reacting to the survey. The index tracks manufacturing activity in China's factories and workshops and is a closely watched indicator of the health of the economy. A reading above 50 indicates growth, while anything below points to contraction. China's official PMI data came after British bank HSBC last week announced a jump in its survey to a preliminary reading of 52.0 for July, its highest since January 2013. The final figures are due to be released on Friday. Qu Hongbin, HSBC's chief China economist, said small revisions to several sub-indices brought the number down from the preliminary figure. "Nevertheless, the economy is improving sequentially and registered across-the-board improvement compared to June," he said in a press release accompanying the data. Policy makers are continuing with targeted easing in recent weeks…
Over 1.3 Million Foreigners Working in Singapore
It is estimated that as of December 2013, there were 1,331,600 foreigners working in Singapore, says Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin. In a written response, Mr Tan said that excluding about 224,500 foreign domestic workers, there were 1,107,100 foreigners employed across different sectors in Singapore. He added that the breakdown by nationality is not publicly available. In addition, the minister said the construction and food and beverage industries are on the list of the top 10 sectors employing the most number of foreigners as of December 2013. See the full list below: 1. Construction 2. Building and Repairing of Ships and Boats (Marine) 3. Wholesale Trade 4. Food & Beverage Services 5. Professional Services 6. Transportation & Storage 7. Fabricated Metal Products, Machinery & Equipment 8. Petroleum, Chemical & Pharmaceutical Products 9. Administrative & Supportive Services 10. Electronic, Computer & Optical Products SOURCE: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/more-than-1-3-million/1297688.html
Jollibee Foods to Enter Indonesia and Malaysia
Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC), the Philippines' leading restaurant chain, plans to enter Malaysia and Indonesia in the next two years and grow its Southeast Asian footprint through franchising. JFC Chief Finance Officer Ysmael Baysa said during the ING Bank-Economic Journalist Association of the Philippines CFO forum on Wednesday that the group had been looking for partners to enter these two big Southeast Asian markets in the last couple of years. Within the next two years, he said JFC should have set up shop in at least one of these markets. Most likely, Baysa said JFC would come in using the franchising route similar to the expansion strategy in the Middle East. Baysa, recipient of the 2010 ING-Finex (Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines) CFO of the Year Award, said the Asean – referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations which are forming an integrated economic community by 2015 – would not likely contribute much to JFC's total international business over the short term. "But I think it could be big because the Asean has a very strong middle class," he said. Asked why JFC was going into these markets only now, especially Indonesia which is Asean's largest economy, Baysa said the company had tried to enter this market in the mid-1990s but did not push through with plans due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997. "After the Asian financial crisis, we got into problems so we pulled out of Indonesia. It's more because we didn't have the organisational structure to properly grow into…
Domino’s Pizza Reports Huge Profits in Asia
After reporting blowout profits, Domino's Pizza Enterprises told CNBC its venture into Japan was providing a large slice of its success. The Australian headquartered franchise reported a 48 percent lift in net profit to $42.3 million for the 12 months up to June 30– up from $28.7 million a year ago, and forecast another 20 percent rise in earnings in the fiscal year 2014-2015 as it rolls out 185 new stores. Much of the firm's success has been fuelled by progress in Japan, following its acquisition of a controlling 75 percent interest in Japan's Domino's Pizza chain for $135 million in August last year, which meant 61 Japanese stores were added to its franchise. As a result the company's group revenue nearly doubled to $588.7 million, with earnings per share increasing 31.6 percent to 54.6 cents. "We've just become the number two player in Japan – we think we could become number one by the end of next year," said Don Meij chief executive officer Tom. "We're up 10.7 percent in like-for-likes for the full year – it's an incredible business," he added. Japan's largest pizza chain is currently domestic company Pizza-La. Other prominent pizza delivery chains operating in Japan include U.S. brand Pizza Hut and another domestic firm Aoki's pizza. According to Meij, operations in Japan are proving to be less costly than in their home market of Australia – where the pizza chain is the largest player. Domino's Pizza Enterprises is the master franchise for the Domino's Pizza brand, and currently operates out of…
Topshop and Miss Selfridge to Push into China
Sir Philip Green's Topshop and Miss Selfridge brands are to push into China with an agreement to launch on the ShangPin.com fashion retail website next month. Sir Philip has long held the ambition of taking Topshop into China and already has two stores in Hong Kong. The retail billionaire said: "As we continue to grow our global expansion, this will be a step forward using the power of China's online reach and therefore selling into one of the world's most exciting consumer markets." The deal with local Chinese online retailer ShangPin.com is Sir Philip's second foray into new areas of online retail this year. In May, he took a 25 percent stake in MySale, an Australian fashion sales site, and also struck a merchandising agreement with MySale to supply the company with excess inventory in fashion and home-ware from his high street empire. ShangPin.com is an online multi-brand retailer of designer and contemporary fashion, and said it had more than 5 million customers. David Zhao, Chief Executive, said: "In the last two years, we have been building China's most 'fashionable' online customer database, and being online means we have our finger on the pulse of what the consumer needs. China's new fashion consumers are in their 20s-30s and are moving away from big logos to being fashion forward, and wanting to express their individuality through mixing and matching styles and brands." ShangPin said China's generation born in the 1980s and 1990s could spend up to 30 percent of their day online or on mobiles. SOURCE: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101915316
Chinese Metal Traders Tap Singapore
Chinese metals traders have opened offices and hired top talent in the Asian financial hub of Singapore over the past year, aiming to capture opportunities created by the exit of a string of Western banks from the global commodities trading business. China has long sought more pricing power in commodities as it is the largest consumer of many resources, including copper and iron ore, but does not produce enough and must import at global prices. Mainland firms are now aiming to cut out middlemen and connect with a wider array of producers and users. As Western banks have ditched their commodities divisions due to mounting regulatory costs after the financial crisis, Chinese trading firms have seized the chance to build their trading muscle in the international hub right at their doorstep. Chinese firms backed by sprawling metals conglomerates, including top mainland trading house Maike Metals Group, are among those that have set up a base in Singapore. Awin Resource International, owned by a Chinese billionaire, and Kyen Resources, backed by four mainland firms active in the metals industry, have launched offices in the city-state over the past one year. While the Chinese metals trading firms in Singapore will face stiff competition from established traders such as Glencore and Trafigura, analysts expect them to be able to profit from their mainland connections. The firms will be able to procure for themselves and exploit pricing gaps between China and global markets. They will also be able to use their home-ground advantage to connect Chinese buyers with sellers in…