UTAR R&D Annual Report 2019

Centre Name:	Centre for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR)
Chairperson:	Dr Mohammad Falahat Nejadmahani
Description of Centre:	Sustainable Development (SD) is the main research thrust of the research centre. The global environmental issues drive the urgency for a comprehensive knowledge of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. This centre provides the platform to engage high quality research activities related to the following discipline branches with main focus on Sustainable Development:
Research area:	Sustainable Risk Reduction/Disaster Risk Reduction Management (Cluster Leader: Ms. Jayamalathi a/p Jayabalan) Risk and Operations Management for Business Sustainability (Cluster Leader: Mr Tee Peck Ling) Medical and Legal Issues (Cluster Leader: Dr. Yogambigai a/p Rajamoorthy) Sustainable Township (Cluster Leader: Dr.Komathi a/p Munusamy) International Economics and Economic Integration (Cluster Leader: Mr Sia Bik Kai) Sustainable Logistics (Cluster Leader: Dr. Foo Meow Yee)

NO.	NAME	FACULTY	MEMBER
1	Mohammad Falahat Nejadmahani	FAM	Full Membership
2	Angelina Anne Fernandez	FAM	Full Membership
3	Annie Yong Ing Ing	FAM	Full Membership
4	Aye Aye Khin	FAM	Full Membership
5	Cheong Wah Wan	FAM	Full Membership
6	Chin Hon Choong	FAM	Full Membership
7	Chin Wai Yin	FAM	Full Membership
8	Chong Shyue Chuan	FAM	Full Membership
9	Chong Wei Lan	FAM	Full Membership
10	Chung Chay Yoke	FAM	Full Membership
11	David Ng Ching Yat	FAM	Full Membership
12	Farah Waheeda binti Jalaludin	FAM	Full Membership
13	Farida Bhanu Binti Mohamed Yousoof	FAM	Full Membership
14	Felicia Yong Yan Yan	LKC FES	Full Membership
15	Foo Meow Yee	FAM	Full Membership
16	Goh Hong Lip	FAM	Full Membership
17	Haniza Hanim Binti Mustaffa Bakri	FAM	Full Membership
18	Hooi Pik Hua @ Rae Hooi	FAM	Full Membership
19	Jayamalathi a/p Jayabalan	FAM	Full Membership
20	Jeffrey Yap Boon Hui	LKC FES	Full Membership
21	Jeya Santhini a/p Appannan	FAM	Full Membership
22	K Shamini a/p T Kandasamy	FAM	Full Membership
23	Kalaivani a/p Jayaraman	FAM	Full Membership
24	Khairul Anuar Bin Rusli	FAM	Full Membership
25	Kho Guan Khai	FAM	Full Membership
26	Kiu Mee San	LKC FES	Full Membership
27	Komathi a/p Munusamy	FAM	Full Membership
28	Lai Siew Fong	FAM	Full Membership
29	Law Kian Aun	FAM	Full Membership
30	Lee Hui Shan	FAM	Full Membership
31	Lee Kwee Fah	FAM	Full Membership
32	Lee Sim Kuen	FAM	Full Membership
33	Lee Sin Yee	FAM	Full Membership
34	Leyla Ranjbari	E19002	LKC FES
35	Lim Chee Seong	FAM	Full Membership
36	Lim Wan Leng	FAM	Full Membership
37	Lim Wei Yin	FAM	Full Membership
38	Linda Azlinda Binti Sahlan	FAM	Full Membership
39	Logeswary a/p Maheswaran	FAM	Full Membership
40	Low Chin Kian	FAM	Full Membership
41	Low Choon Wei	FAM	Full Membership
42	Low Mei Peng	FAM	Full Membership
43	Low Suet Cheng	FAM	Full Membership
44	Mahendra Kumar a/l Chelliah	FAM	Full Membership
45	Malathi Nair a/p G Narayana Nair	FAM	Full Membership
46	Nur Hafizah Binti Juhari	FAM	Full Membership
47	Nuraishah Binti Raimee	FAM	Full Membership
48	Nurakmar Binti Mohamad Salleh	FAM	Full Membership
49	Nurazwani Binti Mat Radzi	FAM	Full Membership
50	Nurhayati Binti Md Khair	FAM	Full Membership
51	Omar Hamdan Mohammad Alkharabsheh	FAM	Full Membership
52	Ooi Bee Chen	FAM	Full Membership
53	Ooi Chee Keong	FAM	Full Membership
54	Pok Wei Fong	FAM	Full Membership
55	Puteri Ameera Binti Mentaza Khan	FAM	Full Membership
56	Puvaneswari a/p Veloo	FAM	Full Membership
57	Puvaneswary a/p Thanaraju	FAM	Full Membership
58	Raja Nurul Aini Binti Raja Aziz	FAM	Full Membership
59	Raymond Ling Leh Bin	FAM	Full Membership
60	Robaisya Binti Rahmat	FAM	Full Membership
61	Sia Bee Chuan	FAM	Full Membership
62	Shafinaz binti Ahmad Nazar	FAM	Full Membership
63	Sheelah A/P Sivanathan	FAM	Full Membership
64	Shubatra a/p Shanmugaretnam	FAM	Full Membership
65	Salizatul Aizah Binti Ibrahim	FAM	Full Membership
66	Sia Bik Kai	FAM	Full Membership
67	Siti Nurhidayah Mohd Roslen	FAM	Full Membership
68	Tai Lit Cheng	FAM	Full Membership
69	Tan Kok Eng	FAM	Full Membership
70	Tan Pei Meng	FAM	Full Membership
71	Tan Suk Shiang	FAM	Full Membership
72	Tang Kin Leong	FAM	Full Membership
73	Teddy Lian Kok Fei	FAM	Full Membership
74	Tee Peck Ling	FAM	Full Membership
75	Tun Yin Li	FAM	Full Membership
76	Tung Soon Theam @ Tee Soon Theam	FAM	Full Membership
77	Ummu Kolsome Binti Farouk	FAM	Full Membership
78	Ung Leng Yean	FAM	Full Membership
79	Wong Phui Fung	LKC FES	Full Membership
80	Wong Teck Keong	FAM	Full Membership
81	Yap Wai Onn	FAM	Full Membership
82	Yeong Wai Mun	FAM	Full Membership
83	Yogambigai a/p Rajamoorthy	FAM	Full Membership
84	Yow Taw Onn	FAM	Full Membership

No.	Date	Event
1	11-Jan-19	Talk Series Title: UTAR Research Fund (UTARRF) Briefing Presenters: Dr. Mohammad Falahat Nejadmahani
2	25-Jan-19	Workshop Title: Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) /(PPA) Presenter: Mr. Mohamed Farith
3	19-Feb-19	Talk Series Title: Legal Liabilities of Artificial Intelligence Presenter: Prof Dr. Nazura Abdul Manap
4	28-Mar-19	Talk Series Title : Property Talk Series Presenter: Mr. Ho Chin Soon; Ms. Hong Onn
5	4-Apr-19	Talk Series Title: Career Talk on Valuer & Surveyor Presenters: Sr. Khaidzir Abdul Rasip; Mr. Gavin Simon Scott
6	12-Apr-19	Competition Title : Case Study Presentation and Knowledge Sharing on Financial and Retirement Planning Presenter: Mr. Willy Cheah
7	28-Jun-19	Talk Series Title : Corporate Volunteerism Presenter: Mr. Simone Galimberti
8	15-Aug-19	Talk Series Title: Women's Right Under the Law Presenter: Prof. Dato' Noor Aziah Mohd Awal
9	4-Sep-19	Forum Title: Qualitative Techniques in Conducting Multidisciplinary Research Presenters: Prof. Dr. Tong Seng Fah, Associate Prof. Dr. Irene Tan, Datin Dr. Ng Soo Boon
10	3-Oct-19	Talk Series Title : Economic Performance & Social Corporate Responsibility in Australia Presenter : Dr. Heath Spong
11	21-Oct-19	Talk Series Title : Green Productivity Implications on Long Run Sustainable Economic Growth Presenter : Prof. Dr. Elsadig Musa Ahmed
12	8-Nov-19	Talk Series itle : Key Significance and Impact of the 2020 Malaysian Budget Proposal Presenter : Mr. Yap Wai Onn
13	11-Nov-19	Talk SeriesvTitle: JOM! Save in PRS and A Glimpse into Bursa Malaysia Presenter : Ms. A A Deepa; En Mohamed Farith Mohamed Jamal

No.

Date

Talk Series
UTAR Research Fund (UTARRF) Briefing
11 January 2019

CSDCSR organized a briefing which relates to the application and procedure of UTARRF for the staff. Dr Falahat, Dr. Low Mei Peng and Ms. Lee Hui Shan shared with the audiences on the various issues when applying for a grant as well as the management of grants.

Workshop
Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) /(PPA)
25 January 2019

The center organized a workshop for the staff and students with our MoU partner – Private Pension Administrator (PPA) to increase the awareness of the concept in achieving financial freedom. The speaker, En. Mohamed Farith demonstrate to the audience on how to calculate, plan and save more for retirement purposes. Additionally, he also provides the guidelines on Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) and how to optimize ones’ finances.

Talk Series
Legal Liabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
19 February 2019

The Centre for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR) organized a talk, featuring Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Faculty of Law and Centre for Collaborative Innovation Prof Dr Nazura Abdul Manap, at UTAR Sungai Long Campus on 19 February 2019. Present at the event were CSDCSR Chairperson Dr Mohammad Falahat Nejadmahani, Faculty of Accountancy and Management lecturers, students and staff.

The talk aimed to address the liability arising from the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and to address whether criminal liability could apply under civil law for AI program that is subjected to product design legislation or service to which the tort of negligence applies. Aside from that, the talk also highlighted who is liable when AI fails to perform, the area of law that will evolve in the coming years and other AI-related liability considerations.

In the talk, Prof Nazura spoke about AI and its implications on laws in years to come, cyber laws in Malaysia, the stages of the industrial revolution and its impact on the economy and cyber evolution as well as relevant legal issues such as data protection, intellectual property, cyber security and legal entity of personality. She said, “AI is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. It involves developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes and characteristics of humans such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize or learn from past experience.”

Prof Nazura explained about innovation and regulation, “Innovation is fast and is on the move, disrupting the way we communicate, create, consume and live. Regulation, on the other hand, is slow, and it needs to be because it considers the social impact of technology, its potential uses, abuses and complications. The challenge is on how to create regulations fast enough to follow the ever-evolving technology.”

“Other challenges include slow development of legislation, obsolete legislation, lack of awareness, weakness in enforcement and lack of co-operation. Thus, there is a strong need to set standard and contracts to manage legal problems, statutory regulation and build a stronger harmonization of national legislation,” said Prof Nazura.

Prof Dr Nazura Abdul Manap is specialized in areas concerning Cyber Law, Computer Law, Information Technology Law and Intellectual Property Law. She obtained her LLB, LLM and PhD at UKM. She has published various papers on Intellectual Property rights, Cyberspace identity theft, Competition Law, Databases, Trans-border data flows in cloud computing, cyber terrorism challenges and ASEAN development in ICT law. Apart from her law profession, she is currently the Deputy Director of UKM Centre for Collaborative Innovation.

Talk Series
Career Talk on Valuers & Surveyors
4 April 2019

Department of Building and Property Management (BP), Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) together with Centre for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR) organized a career talk on Valuer and Surveyor Profession at Sungai Long Campus on 4 April 2019.

The objectives of the career talk were to enlighten the participants about the roles of property surveyor and the pathways to pursue this profession, as well as to highlight the future challenges and other relevant issues related to this profession. Invited to deliver the talk were IAN SCOTT INTERNATIONAL (ISI) Managing Director Sr. Khaidzir Abdul Rasip and Associate Director (Sales and Marketing) Gavin Simon Scott. In his talk, Sr. Khaidzir first presented a brief history of property surveyor. He said that this 3-in-1 profession is made of the valuer, property manager and estate agent, and explained how it could contribute to various industries and sectors covering professional practice, public services, corporate and academia which could help in nation building.

He also explained the role of the valuer, property manager, estate agent and real estate negotiator, and introduced the two main governing bodies, namely Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (BOVAEP) and Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM). Moreover, he also discussed what the profession should and could look like in the future, and explained the impact of disruptive technology such as RE technology and CRE technology. Speaking about property technology (Proptech) in Malaysia, Sr. Khaidzir revealed that the adoption was rather slow compared to other developing countries. “Malaysia only began talking about Proptech last two years ago; it is still not ready for Proptech 3.0,” he said, adding that Singapore Proptech was making its way into Malaysia. Recognizing the potential of technology in transforming the property industry, he advised the audience to embrace it rather than avoid it.

On the other hand, Gavin gave a presentation about IAN SCOTT, and pointed out the difference between professional success and personal success. He presented a model with five keys to success, which included experience, strengths, behaviors, technical and ability. According to him, a competent property surveyor would be able to plan and organize, be more initiative and creative. A competent property surveyor is also industrious, foresighted, steadfast and courageous, and one who adheres to ethical standard as well as possessing the knowledge of business, technical skill, conceptual skill, team spirit and most importantly honesty. “If you set goals to achieve your dream, always look forward to doing better,” he advised.

Sr. Khaidzir is a practicing Registered Valuer and Estate Agent with BOVAEP as well as a Chartered Property Surveyor. He is an International Certified Valuation Specialist with over 30 years of experience covering the private, public and corporate sectors in the United Kingdom and Malaysia. He is a regular speaker at both local and international conferences on topics related to real estate, smart city and urban development. Gavin, on the other hand, has more than 20 years of extensive consultancy in various disciplines such as land and development, land management, land buyer, negotiator and sales manager across the UK and abroad.

Talk Series
Case Study presentation and Knowledge Sharing on Financial and Retirement Planning
12 April 2019

Top six teams, shortlisted from 18 teams consisting of Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) students, saw participating in a Case Study Presentation Competition on Retirement Planning on 12 April 2019 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. The competition was organised by UTAR Centre for Sustainable Development & Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR) and FAM, and it was jointly organised with Private Pension Administrator Malaysia (PPA).

Themed “Financial Freedom through Investing — Let’s Begin Young”, aimed to instil and develop the financial literacy and interest of investment among the students. Also, it aimed to enlighten the participants on the awareness and importance of personal financial planning, the different stages of life cycle, unit trust performance measures and future retirement planning.

Invited to the competition were CEO of PPA - Encik Husaini Hussin, Head of Marketing and Communication of PPA - Ms. Serena Lim, Public Mutual Berhad Retail Business Division Senior General Manager - Mr. Lee Kean Gie, Financial Planning & Institutional Support Department (FPIS) Manager - Ms. Karen Tan, Deputy Manager - Mr. Willy Cheah, UTAR FAM Dean – Dr. Sia Bee Chuan, Head of Department of Accountancy – Ms. Shamini Kandasamy, Department of Accountancy – Dr. Aik Nai Chiek, Dr. Siti Nurhidayah Mohd Roslen and Dr. Tan Kok Eng (Organising Chairperson).

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Sia talk about the importance of investments, “In today’s world, by earning money is not enough. That may not be adequate for us to lead a comfortable lifestyle or fulfil our dreams and goals. We have to make our money to work hard for us. This is the importance of investment. Money lying idle in our bank account is an opportunity lost. We should invest smartly to get good returns out of it. Most investment platforms such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds offer good returns on investment over the long term. This return builds and creates our wealth over time. The growth of money is also important to fulfil basic needs in life and investing can help a person to meet long-term life goals easily.”

The competition then began with the first three groups presenting in the first session, followed by second session for the last three groups after the talk presented by Mr. Willy Cheah. Each team consisted of three to four members. Each team were given seven minutes to present on their case study for retirement planning and three minutes for Q&A session from the judges and participants. Invited to be the judges for the competition were Encik Husaini Hussin, Ms. Karen Tan, Dr. Aik and Dr. Siti Nurhidayah.

Mr. Willy Cheah is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) under the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM) with almost a decade of experience in the financial services industry. During the talk, he shared with the participants on retirement planning, how different generation sees retirement, “Based on a survey conducted, there are a lot of people have not prepared or never thought about retirement. Nowadays, we can see a lot of people hashtag YOLO (You Only Live Once) and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in their social media. This could actually lead them to poor financial planning. Because a lot of decision that people have made, are not good for their future financial simply because they tend to spend for the sake of YOLO and FOMO. Retirement is simply tell us that every day is a Saturday and Sunday. When people choose to have more Saturday and Sunday, they need to make sure they have enough funds to enjoy all the Saturday and Sunday.”

He then shared with the audience on the unique point of Public Mutual, “The advantages of having Public Mutual to do Private Retirement Scheme (PRS) investment are, people will get additional Personal Accident Coverage and another feature was it is creditor proof. If a person go for bankrupt, the people that he or she owe money to are not allowed to touch the money in PRS. Besides, we have to make sure our investment are diversified through asset classes, geographical and also market capitalisation, so that the risk is actually spread out across. Also, we must practice Ringgit Cost Averaging (RCA). Take advantage of RCA, so we do not have to time the market and our money will keep on working hard for us.” Meanwhile, he also encourages the students to participate in Young Graduate Entrepreneur Programme (Y-GEP), which design for Malaysian undergraduate students for both public and private institution.

Top six teams who presented received a certificate of achievement and 5 USSDC soft-skill points under Communication & Language component. In addition, the champion of the competition walked away with RM500 each in the form of PRS, while the first and second runner-ups walked away with RM300 each and RM200 each respectively in the form of PRS as well.

Talk Series
Corporate Volunteerism
28 June 2019

The Institute of Management and Leadership Development (IMLD) and the Centre for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR) organized a talk on “Corporate Volunteerism” on 28 June 2019 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. It was conducted by ENGAGE Co-Founder and Director Simone Galimberti. Present at the talk were IMLD Director Prof Dr Cheng Ming Yu, CSDCSR Chairperson Dr Falahat Nejadmahani Mohammad, staff and students.

Simone’s talk focused on how corporate volunteerism, also known as “The Big V” can be transformational for corporations and most importantly, for their employees. He explained the concept of volunteerism and the different ways of experiencing it while offering a global view on corporate volunteerism. Apart from that, he spoke about the role of private companies and how to invest in their employees to be involved in volunteering efforts.

Simone also spoke of the beauty of corporate volunteerism from the perspective of corporate citizenship and corporate value. He said, “Corporate volunteerism is not only meant for the big shots, but for everyone. It is not rocket science but you need to understand what the locals need and work on what you can do for the community. The key factor is having staff who are involved wholeheartedly with deep understanding and responsibility. You will need to map the situation and interest in what you can offer.”

In his talk, he mentioned that Big V adds value to a corporate organization because involving and engaging employees bring a great return in terms of cementing the bonds between them and their companies while creating more alignment and inner satisfaction that results in higher engagement and motivation in day to day work.

The talk also provided the participants with a platform to learn about corporate volunteerism through group activities. The group activities required participants in each group to study and discuss several case studies to enhance their understanding on corporate volunteerism. Simone Galimberti is the founder and editor of sharing4good.org and currently writes for The Himalayan Times, Republica and Annapurna Express. Previously, he had been writing for the Kathmandu Post. Simone’s areas of interest cover from politics and international relations and social issues. Graduated from Università Cattolica of Milan in political science, he has been living in Nepal since 2007 where he worked in senior positions for an international NGO till 2012 and focused on education and school health nutrition. In this period, he held several pro bono advocacy positions of coordinator of the School Health Nutrition Network, Coordinator of the Education Working Group and Coordinator of Capacity Building Working group and Health Working Group within the Association of International NGOs. At the end of 2012 he started getting involved full time for ENGAGE, the not-for-profit organization he co-founded in Nepal with his wife Kalpana.

Talk
Women’s Right under the Law
15 August 2019

Professor Dato’ Noor Aziah Mohd Awal is a Professor of Law in Family, Women and Children at the National University of Malaysia or Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She served as Deputy Vice Chancellor of Student and Alumni Affairs, UKM from 1/2/14 to 31/1/18. She currently sits as Editorial Board for Jurnal Kanun, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Disciplinary Panel for Bar Council Disciplinary Committee, Board of Trustee of the Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (YADIM), Chairperson of the Muslim Women Consultative Council of Malaysia since 2013 and a member of the National Advisory and Consultative Council For Children since 2017. She is also a member of the Islamic Religious Council of Negeri Sembilan and was the first female to be appointed to such post in Negeri Sembilan. In 2016 she was appointed as Malaysian Representative to Asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Right of Women and Children for three years. She has been involved in the discussion to enact the Domestic Violence Act 1994, Child Act 2001 and amendment of the Child Act 2016. She was an executive council of the International Society of Family Law since 2005 and a board member of the International Association of Law Schools (2005-2010). She was the President of UKM Academic Staff Association from 2009-2014. Professor Noor Aziah has written 5 books (i) Women: Law and Leadership, (ii) Women and the Law, (iii) Introduction to Malaysian Legal System, (iv) Civil Family Law, (vi) Dilentur Patah (sentencing child offender), numerous articles and chapter in books relating to family law, comparative family law, women and law and child law.

Forum
Qualitative Techniques in Conducting Multidisciplinary Research
4 September 2019

The centre organized a forum with three distinguished speakers on the topic which relates to conducting qualitative multidisciplinary research. The speaker from various background as per the following spoke about conducting qualitative research in various settings.

1st presenter:
Professor Dr. Tong Seng Fah
Primary care physician, Department of Family Medicine, UKM
2nd presenter:
Associate Professor Dr. Irene Tan
Head, Centre for Teaching and Learning,
BERJAYA University College (BUC)
3rd presenter:
Datin Dr. Ng Soo Boon
Recently retired from the Ministry of Education.
Last position was the Deputy Director of Curriculum Development Division,
Ministry of Education (MoE)

Talk Series
Economic Performance & Social Corporate Responsibility in Australia
3 October 2019

The Centre for Sustainable Development & Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR) and Faculty of Accountancy and Management’s Department of Economics organized a talk titled “Economic Performance & Corporate Social Responsibility in Australia” on 3 October 2019 at UTAR Sungai Long Campus. The talk aimed to provide valuable insights into the economic culture of Australia and illuminate on Australia’s corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Invited to present the talk was Director of Economics, Finance and Property of Western Sydney University Dr Heath Spong. He presented an accessible discussion on a range of topics that introduced the audience to the Australian economy, some recent research in CSR, and the various research interests of WSU faculty.

Dr Spong’s talk mainly focused on two topics, namely “The Australian Macroeconomy in 2019” and “CSR Performance and Market Valuation in Australia”. Explaining Australia’s current economic condition, he said, “Australian economy has experienced a good run; nearly 30 years without any technical recession. However, it experienced a minor contraction during the introduction of GST in 2001 and GFC in 2008. The trend growth in Australia is identified as being about 3 per cent (2.5% - 3.5%). In general, the growth is solid, although it slowed down to “below trend” recently.”

“Australian economy has always had a significant mining or farming component and it was built on a large-scale commodity production. The last 20 years of mining for iron ore and coal have been the key commodities. The most recent few years, however, have seen a shift in the mining industry. Although it was producing, the industry was no longer growing. Hence, there was a decrease in mining investment. This caused a drawback to the Australian economy. So, now the government is looking into the non-mining sector to boost the economy.”

Voicing out his concern, he said, “It is important that the non-mining sector of the economy begins to generate more investment. This has been slow to happen, although it is growing at just below trend. If this does not happen, unemployment is likely to increase. While unemployment has not increased dramatically yet, there are signs that labor demand is “soft”.” He concluded that the economy is steady, but policymakers have to be aware that non-mining investment needs to be increased before higher growth occurs.

In addition to the Australian economy, he also spoke about market evaluation and the unemployment rate in Australia. This was followed by an analysis of recent research in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility in Australia, and its relationship to financial performance. According to Dr Spong, the Western Sydney University (WSU) Campus is situated at Greater Western Sydney, a large metropolitan area where all main economic activities are centered. He mentioned that WSU is one of Australia’s fastest-growing universities with more than 48,500 students, 6,700 international students and 170 nationalities.

Dr Heath Spong has previously held positions at RMIT University (Economics Lecturer) and the University of Iowa (Visiting Assistant Professor) and has been a Research Fellow at New York University. He has taught a large range of subjects, including Law and Economics, Public Policy and Economics, and Ethics and Economics. His research has been published in highly ranked international and domestic journals, such as Urban Studies, The Economic Record, and the Journal of Business Ethics.

Talk Series
Green Productivity Implications on Long Run Sustainable Economic Growth
21 October 2019

The Centre for Sustainable Development & Corporate Social Responsibility in Business (CSDCSR) organized a talk on “Green Productivity Implications on Long run Sustainable Economic Growth” at Sungai Long Campus on 21 October 2019.

Delivering the talk was Prof Dr Elsadig Musa Ahmed, a Professor of Economics and Technology Management from Multimedia University (MMU). The talk which aimed to highlight the integration of innovation and climate with economic growth was awarded the Novel Prize in economics in 2018 in terms of the concept green productivity. It focused on the fundamental findings of Nordhaus and Romer’s (2018) research, which suggested frameworks and models to measure green productivity to be used for long-term sustainable economic growth in its dual dimensions. Highlighting the concept of green productivity, Prof Elsadig explained that it was a strategy to simultaneously enhance productivity and environmental performance for overall socio-economic development. “It tenders SMEs with an approach to achieve a competitive advantage by being better while using less. Therefore, it is a realistic strategy to increase productivity and protect the environment concurrently,” he said.

He also explained the impact of green total factor productivity (TFP) on sustainable productivity growth and presented the frameworks and models that were developed based on extensive and intensive growth theories to measure green TFP, green labour productivity and green capital productivity as well as their contributions to green productivity and sustainable development. Besides, he demonstrated the productivity measure by considering pollutant emissions into the production function as private and unpriced inputs.

Prof Elsadig is a senate member of MMU, Research and Ethics, Board of Postgraduates, and a member of Students’ disciplinary committee. He is the coordinator for Post Graduate Programmes and Chairperson of Center for Globalization and Sustainability Research at the Faculty of Business, MMU. He is a reviewer and an expert on the second Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report “Biodiversity and Human Well-being: A Synthesis Report for the Convention on Biological and Diversity, 2005”, Economic Modelling, Journal of Productivity Analysis, World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, and Telecommunications Policy.

Talk Series
Key Significance and Impact of the 2020 Malaysian Budget Proposal
8 November 2019

A joined collaboration between the Centre for Extension Education with Centre for Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility in Business organized a talk about main highlights of Budget 2020 proposal as well as the latest updates of tzx trends and developments.

The talk to have an in-depth analysis on the plans proposed under Budget 2020 and how Malaysian companies and individuals adapt to those measured announced. He also shared with the audience on how the Budget 2020 will impact the Malaysian economy and the capital market.

Talk Series
JOM! Save in PRS and A Glimpse into Bursa Malaysia
11 November 2019

SUNGAI LONG (11 November 2019): Private Pension Administrator Malaysia (PPA), the central administrator of Private Retirement Schemes (PRS), brought financial literacy education into the classroom at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) via its PRS Youth@Campus lecture series.

In line with efforts outlined by the National Strategy for Financial Literacy 2019-2023, PPA has been at the forefront of promoting financial literacy among students with educational programs at public and private universities across the country.

“We want to engage Malaysians students about financial literacy to inculcate the habit of saving from a young age,” said Husaini Hussin, Chief Executive Officer of PPA. “Our collaboration with UTAR involves talks, seminars and workshops but also takes it one step further by incorporating retirement planning issues and strategies into the curriculum.”

Mohamad Farith Mohamad Jamal, Learning and Engagement Manager at PPA, delivered the keynote lecture about the effects of compound interest and inflation on retirement planning to 150 students, which was followed by a question-and-answer session led by Husaini. The guest speaker was A A Deepa, Vice President of Investor Education and Channel Management, Securities Market at Bursa Malaysia, who gave an introduction to the local bourse.

Four PRS Providers – Kenanga Investors Bhd, Principal Asset Management Bhd, Public Mutual Bhd and RHB Asset Management Sdn Bhd – sponsored a lucky draw to give away 42 PRS Treats worth RM100 in PRS units each to kick-start students’ retirement savings. Additionally, PRS Consultants from each PRS Provider were on hand to address personal finance questions students had.

This event marked the latest in a series of initiatives that began with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) PPA and UTAR signed just over a year ago. Since then, an internship program for selected UTAR students, a seminar on Islamic Finance and Shariah-compliant investments, an ongoing research on retirement readiness among employees in Corporate Malaysia, as well as a retirement-planning workshop and competition were all piloted under the auspices of this MoU.

“This mutually collaborative partnership is aligned with the National Strategy for Financial Literacy in supporting and improving the financial well-being of Malaysians,” said Ir. Professor Ewe Hong Tat, president of UTAR. “I am confident that our synergistic cooperation with PPA will provide a sustainable foundation in building financial literacy for our communities.”

According to PPA’s survey, only 14 percent of respondents said their savings goals are on track while close to one in five said they don’t know how much they should be saving. “With about forty percent of PRS Members in the 18-30 age group, PPA is in a prime position to ensure the youth have the right information, digital tools and resources to undertake long-term retirement planning,” Husaini said.