Malaysia's Public Bank Chairman Bags BrandLaureate Best of The Best Award

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (Bernama) -- Public Bank Bhd chairman and founder Teh Hong Piow has bagged the BrandLaureate Best of the Best Brand Leadership Excellence Award 2018 from the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation (APBF). BrandLaureate president Dr KK Johan presented the award to Tay Ah Lek, the bank's managing director, who received the award on behalf of Teh at the BrandLaureate CEO and CSR Awards Gala Dinner 2018 on Thursday night. Themed “Honouring Significant Moments of Giving Back”, the event also saw the launch of the BrandLaureate CEO Brand Leadership Excellence Awards to recognise strong and great chief executive officers (CEOs) who had demonstrated outstanding leadership. During the night, 20 CEOs received the awards. Among them were UMW Corporation president and group CEO Badrul Feisal Abd Rahim, the National Heart Institute CEO Mohd Azhari Yakub, Hong Leong Assurance CEO Loh Guat Lian and Malayan United Industries Bhd CEO Andrew Khoo. In his speech, Johan said the CEO is the key driver of the business; hence it is important to have one who is totally committed and understand the essence of the brand. “The most important brand of an organisation is the CEO. The CEO brand determines how strong an organisation is. There is a strong correlation between the strength of the CEO brand and the organisation’s brand,” he said. He added that to be a CEO is not just about having the right leadership for the job but also being able to build a positive brand for oneself and creating the right brand perception, as shareholders and stakeholders identify and associate the brand with leadership. Over 40 companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals received the BrandLaureate CSR Brand Leadership Awards tonight, said APBF. The award was to honour those who had spent time and effort in giving back and contributing to the society, environment and the ecosystem as a whole for the betterment of the future, it said. The awards were divided into three categories: the BrandLaureate Corporate CSR Awards, The BrandLaureate CSR Brand Leadership Awards, and the BrandLaureate Community Leadership Awards. Among the recipients for corporate CSR were Berjaya Corporation, the National Heart Institute, Public Bank and the Sarawak Convention Bureau. For community leadership awards, the recipients included the National Diabetes Institute chairman Datuk Mustafa Embong, Sunway Group chairman Susan Cheah and the Malaysian Mental Health Association deputy president Datuk Andrew Mohanraj. Among the winners of CSR Brand Leadership awards were the National Cancer Council, Kechara Soup Kitchen and the National Autism Society of Malaysia. Johan said organisations that inculcate corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their brand culture and values contribute to a strong social fabric of the nation. “Moving forward, we would like to see NGOs be more aware of the need to incorporate branding into their entities as branding is not reserved for companies. “NGOs need to brand in order to stand out and differentiate themselves,” he added. -- BERNAMA