Insights – Page 4 – PEMANDU Associates

Training Wheels Not Provided: Seizing Opportunities for Self-learning

January 17, 2020

by PEMANDU Associates Insights

By Ng Chean Yeaw, Vice President of PEMANDU Associates

Life as a consultant is a challenging, albeit rewarding one. Consultants are often put in a situation where they are expected to resolve issues and problem solve independently. More often than not, there are distinct deliverables requested at the behest of the client or stakeholders to be fulfilled in a short span of time. When put in situations of high pressure and time constraints, there’s only so much collective guidance and help one can receive – the rest depends on the individual’s approach in tackling these arduous challenges.

At PEMANDU Associates, the concept of ‘learning by doing’ is deeply embedded in our work culture. Our President & Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Sri Idris Jala often uses the analogy of learning how to ride a bike to explain the concept. How does one learn to cycle? Do you take up a course on cycling and learn the theories behind it? Or, do you simply get on a bicycle and learn how to cycle by actually doing it?

Sure, you are bound to fall in the process of learning, but that also gives you the opportunity to learn to pick yourself up and try over and over again until you get (over even master) it. In other words, take the bull by the horns and figure out ways to tame it. Or for us consultants, how to do it smarter and faster.

But does experiential learning apply to non-physical skills? What about skills like Microsoft Excel?

My first assignment as a fresh graduate starting my career in consulting was to create a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Dashboard for every Cabinet Minister of the Malaysian Government. But the rush of excitement was very quickly swept away by a wave of anxiety of being entrusted with this huge responsibility.

As someone fresh out of college, where would I even begin?

Back then, everyone was tracking and computing monthly KPIs manually on a PowerPoint dashboard. Generations of these dashboards were designed that way – a tedious task that no one enjoyed. Not only was it laborious, there was also plenty of room for human errors, especially in the aggregation and computation of scores. The task assigned was to take the existing manual dashboard, and to transform it into something more user-friendly for the ministers. To top it all off, I was expected to conjure this fully functioning new tool within the span of a week, with my then-limited knowledge of excel. Talk about playing the Game of the Impossible, a principle that all PEMANDU Associates consultants are expected to embrace from the get-go.

So how did I do this?

A Method for Success

When you work at something long enough, chances are you will eventually learn how to do it. A methodical approach, however, makes your chance of succeeding much greater and faster. In this case, I was aware of the significant gaps that I needed to fill in order to deliver this task, and I needed to find solutions quickly and effectively.

1. Resourcing for knowledge

The good thing about the internet era today is that you have a plethora of information and knowledge at your fingertips. An obvious first point of resource is… drums rolling – Google. But this still requires a bit of research to find a resource that is reliable and easily accessible to you. I spent a significant amount of time poring through the internet and Googling solutions to understand the functions and formulas of Excel.

In my research, I’ve discovered some great pages that can provide you step-by-step guides on Excel like Exceljet and Tech on the Net, just to name a few. Forums on Stack Overflow and Mr. Excel were also very useful in providing real-life scenario examples and solutions by other Excel coders. Every difficulty that I encountered, I resolved it with hours of heavy research on Google.

2. Planning and learning for execution

With the ultimate goal in mind, that is to positively impact an organisation by automating the monthly KPI tracking and monitoring, the structure of the dashboard needed to be effective and efficient. Hence, I came up with the plan to structure the dashboard based on the 3 principles required of Excel modelling that is to do it fast, do it right, and make it look good. In other words, create a dashboard that allows for faster and easier auditing to leave room to correct errors and produce a well-structured model. Having core principles was imperative in guiding me through the implementation of strategy as it became the base of what needed to be done.

3. Discipline of action

Another part of the task was the execution part, which entailed a robust experiential learning experience. In other words, numerous iterations and trials (with plenty of sleepless nights and failures) to customise the features on Excel to fit the dashboard’s purpose. I was spending the full 40 hours a week of my job to create this tool. The repetitive process of testing, failing, reformatting, and then, testing again pushed me to learn quickly on the job. Failure was an inevitable part of this stage and it can be demotivating at times. I’m not going to lie. However, failure also taught perseverance and to never give up.

By the end of the week, I was whizzing through formulas and cleaning up the dashboard with final touches.

4. Milestones

I finally managed to create an Excel semi-automated dashboard that significantly reduces the time required to generate a monthly report. Subsequently, the dashboard along with the built-in features was exported as an online tool to be extensively utilised by key stakeholders in the Ministries. This tool was handed over and implemented for the following seven years or so. It was a huge accomplishment for a fresh graduate like me with the minimal experience that I had to have accomplished.

Going back to the question asked earlier, “Can we apply learning by doing beyond non-physical skills?” My answer to that would be a resounding yes.

As I reflect back on this experience and relate it back to Dato’ Sri Idris Jala’s “learning by doing” analogy, seizing opportunities for self-learning is very much at the core of who we are as consultants here at PEMANDU Associates. With every project spanning across diverse industries and requiring different capabilities, the opportunity for us to grow is boundless – for as long as we have the correct attitude and mindset. And without this experience, I would not have been able to master Excel within that one-week span to eventually become PEMANDU Associates’ “go-to Excel guy.” I believe that with the right mindset, determination, and absolute tenacity, it is entirely possible to learn a wide range of knowledge and skills without needing to attend any physical training on the subject.

Transformation happens not upon attainment of a goal, but through the process of actually doing and getting there.

Reflections and the Way Forward

December 31, 2019

by Idris Jala Insights

As we close the year 2019, I took the opportunity to reflect on some of the trends from the last decade and also provide some pointers for the next decade.

REFLECTIONS (2010-2019)

First, in my opinion, the fiscal models pursued by most governments are flawed.
Most high-income economies have governments who have accumulated unsustainable levels of public debt as a percentage of GDP – for example Japan, America, European countries and Singapore. Unfortunately, many low- and middle-income economies are pursuing similar fiscal models and will fall into the same debt trap. Fortunately, there are a handful of countries who have achieved high income status without accumulating unsustainable government debt like the Scandinavian countries, Holland, South Korea and New Zealand.

Second, during the last decade, global economic growth was very much subdued.
Manufacturing activities have weakened significantly to levels not seen since the Global Financial Crisis. Rising trade and geopolitical tensions have increased uncertainty about the future of the global trading system and international cooperation in general, which has taken a toll on business confidence, investment decisions, and global trade. A notable shift towards increased monetary policy accommodation – through both action and communication – has cushioned the impact of these tensions on financial market sentiment and activity, while a generally resilient service sector has supported employment growth.

Third, politics on the world stage has become highly polarised.
Over the course of the decade, there has been an increasing polarisation of political leaders. On one end of the polarity are leaders who have been elected on the basis of a strong drive towards nationalism and are projecting this as the answer to the perils of globalisation – for example Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Rodrigo Duterte. On the opposite end are those who believe that globalisation and international trade are predominantly beneficial to the world and that national interests can be accommodated within globalisation with the right policies and partnerships – Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau, Jacinda Ardern and Sanna Marin, for example. Many leaders oscillate along the continuum due to pragmatism or in some cases, simply a lack of conviction of what they really stand for.

Fourth, global trends towards IR 4.0 have grown to be even more pronounced during the last decade, bringing massive disruption to normal businesses.
Businesses who are in the forefront of these global trends are the likes of Amazon, Alibaba, Airbnb, Uber, Facebook, and Grab.

Fifth, in the last decade, communications have been truly transformed.
Electronic and social media have truly disrupted traditional approaches to communications. Conventional communication and traditional advertising in mainstream media have been seriously challenged. The internet is used relentlessly to bombard people with all sorts of information. As such, there is a growing call for governments to regulate against fake news.

Finally, in the last decade, the green agenda has been pushed onto the global pedestal.
It is no wonder that the TIME person of the year is the sixteen-year-old green activist, Greta Thunberg. There has been a big push for businesses to implement the green agenda.

POINTERS FOR THE NEW DECADE (2020-2029)

As we enter 2020 and the new decade, it is important to highlight that the trends of the last decade will continue. All businesses around the world were impacted by these trends one way or another.

There are winners and losers. Winners are those who know how best to spot the opportunities and quickly grab them with both hands. The losers are those who are inflexible and are caught in analytical paralysis and procrastination.

There are six pointers I wish to highlight as opportunities for the new decade:

First, governments around the world have to adopt new fiscal models to achieve economic growth without accumulating unsustainable levels of public debt.
How can they go about doing it? My advice? Just learn from those countries who are doing it right! Put together a fiscal roadmap based on the best practices from these countries. And get down to implementing the roadmap with discipline. In the Ministerial Leadership Programme organised by Harvard University in Boston, I make it a point in my lectures to convince Finance and Planning Ministers who attend the programme to move towards a sustainable fiscal model and policy.

Second, the private sector must be allowed to be the engine of economic growth.
We at PEMANDU Associates have pioneered the Lab methodology to make this happen. The Lab is basically a 6-week incubator which allows the private sector to put forward their investment projects and where the government can work together with the private sector to solve problems encountered by these projects. This will unleash the economic potential of countries, creating wealth and jobs.

Third, there is tremendous opportunity for political leaders to exercise transformational leadership to make a real difference in their countries and at the global stage of politics.
There is a sense that people all over the world are ready to accept new and radical approaches which will deliver real results to create sustainable and inclusive prosperity. For this to happen, political leaders must step up to fill this vacuum. Most governments have beautiful policies and strategies, but the problem is implementation. The crux of the problem is this: governments must focus on translating their high-level policies and strategies into practical and operational plans for implementation. In the new decade, PEMANDU Associates will seek opportunities to leverage its Global Transformation Forum (GTF) as a platform for leaders to share their transformational stories as a way to encourage learning.

Fourth, all companies must embrace digital transformation.
There are opportunities for change, for example in the retail and wholesale business, trading, banking, professional services, manufacturing and agriculture. Companies who successfully transform themselves digitally will ride the competitive wave and win. Unfortunately, businesses who are reluctant to embrace digital transformation will certainly fail in the new decade. To enhance our services, PEMANDU Associates has signed a deal with FPT Vietnam (the top IT company in Vietnam) to collaborate in providing consultancy services and solutions to help companies undertake successful business and digital transformation.

Fifth, in the new decade, there are massive opportunities for new forms of communications and advertising.
Businesses must embrace radical approaches to reach out to their target customers through a variety of channels including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. Traditional approaches no longer work. COMMUNICATE by PEMANDU has positioned itself as a communications agency that pursues approaches that can be radical and disruptive. For instance, ‘rough and ready’ customer advocacy videos have much greater believability and traction compared to slick corporate videos. Amplification of these communication messages through social media is key. Furthermore, it is a cost-effective means of reaching out to target customers.

Finally, on the green agenda, PEMANDU’s newly formed subsidiary, Perintis Akal, is offering an innovative solution to waste management.
Kurina is a novel invention to dispose residential and commercial waste, with three key advantages: no more landfills, zero emissions and a lower cost.

I am convinced that while the new decade will be very challenging, there are tremendous opportunities where we can make a difference in whatever we do.

Let’s get on with it.

Giving students the tools to experiment

December 2, 2019

by PEMANDU Associates Insights

By Tengku Azian Shahriman, Executive Vice President & Partner of PEMANDU Associates

“WHAT is your name?” I asked. “Muhammad,” whispered the young boy wearing a jubah, who was representing his tahfiz school at the recent Young Innovators Challenge. When I asked him to tell me more about his project, Muhammad began to shyly describe the security device he and his team mates developed to protect his school from intruders. However, as he continued to explain to me the intricacies of the system, he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm for the project as his face grew visibly more animated and his voice became more confident. His excitement for the project was both endearing and contagious, and I was eager to see the other innovations on offer.

I didn’t have to look far. In the next booth, Usha was already a clear winner as the project lead of another security system. I listened in rapt attention as she went into detail on the sophisticated security device her team developed specifically for gated communities. Her team’s security device would enable visitors to be tracked from the point of entry at the guard house until they exit. The choice of a gated community as a focus reflected the demographics of her school’s student body, which she added was lucky to be able to enjoy coding, robotics and programming lessons at private learning centres as an after-school activity.

One encouraging shift I noticed was that girls are no longer strangers in science competitions. Speaking to a petite innovator who confidently explained to me the details of her electronic flag raising device in perfect English, I thought perhaps years of efforts to encourage young women to pursue their interests in science have finally paid off. This self-assured young lady also shared with me how technology has made the process of learning more efficient, fun and intuitive, declaring she learned to speak English and Korean, thanks to the internet.

Not being very scientifically minded, I was impressed that she and her two team mates enjoyed coding and programming as hobbies, but I was disheartened to hear that they cannot pursue their interest much further as science is not offered after Form Three in their school.

The challenge held earlier was refreshing because it was inclusive and diverse, bringing more than 200 students from 22 schools in Selangor ranging from national schools, national religious schools, international schools, vernacular schools and tahfiz schools together to celebrate their creativity and creations. The excitement in the air was palpable, generated by students who had a keen curiosity for innovation with many of them seizing the opportunity to experiment and invent without being boxed in by rigid curriculum and learning methods.

Ironically, these young inventors were given the space to explore and innovate simply because their teachers didn’t know enough about coding and therefore couldn’t “instruct” or “direct” their students. This is not a criticism of the teachers, and indeed they were very supportive of their students. While coding is taught (under the Asas Sains Komputer and Reka Bentuk & Teknologi subjects) in schools, teachers find it a challenge to catch up with technology which changes at a pace that few can keep up with. To prepare for the Young Innovators Challenge, the students and teachers were supported by the secretariat, Chumbaka, which offers coding, programming and STEM programmes at their centres, and by the students of the engineering faculty at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam.

Students taking part in the Young Innovators Challenge. (Source: The Star)

When we read countless articles on Malaysia not being able to move up the value chain in manufacturing or that we are still stuck in IR3.0 while the world is accelerating towards IR4.0, we must look for answers to this conundrum.

The answers lie with our young generation, whether they are in vernacular schools or national schools. Being young, they are not able to suppress their natural curiosity to learn and explore. The Government and teachers can stimulate learning by giving them the tools and space to experiment and innovate. These tools can be inexpensive, such as using open-source embedded systems and software. Teachers should also feel comfortable stepping back and be facilitators and not “teach” a prescribed curriculum to students. It is no wonder when I learned that the Education Ministry has introduced coding in schools, I cannot help but fear if the rigidity of the teaching and learning methods or curriculum that characterise our national schools will curb the students’ inquisitiveness and steal their enthusiasm. My mind also wonders about the petite young budding scientist I spoke to and whether her interest in STEM, clearly ignited by this competition, will be sustained or just simply fade away after Form Three when there is no science stream in her school.

Another thing that struck me about the challenge is that we can use a common interest to bring all Malaysians of various demographic groups, race and religion to engage and speak to each other, in a common language of coding. This diversity, from the varied participation of schools, the organising committee and the panel of judges, should be celebrated.

I urge the Government, the Education Ministry and the Academy of Sciences Malaysia to provide stronger collective support to offerings of alternative approaches to the teaching and learning of STEM and technology, if indeed we are to produce innovators and scientists of the future.

The challenge is an annual programme that aims to catalyse maker movement in secondary schools. It has been held yearly since 2013 and has so far involved more than 5,000 students. This year, the state-level competition for Selangor was hosted by UiTM Shah Alam under the sponsorship of Yayasan Sime Darby and Malaysian Technology Development Corporation with Chumbaka as the competition secretariat.

This article was also published in the Star on 1 Dec 2019. Read it here.

Advancing the Dayak Agenda Through Transformative Methods

November 25, 2019

by Admin Comm Insights

While the Dayaks in their traditional feathered headdresses, loincloths and ornate shields are often a mandatory inclusion in the picture of a multicultural Malaysia, the same level of inclusivity cannot be said of their partaking in Malaysia’s socioeconomic development since its independence. The Dayaks, representing a diverse group of indigenous ethnicities in East Malaysia, remain among the most underserved communities in the country to this day.

Recognising this gap, the Dayak Cultural Foundation was established in 1992 among leaders of the ethnic subgroups to champion the welfare of the Dayak community. As an effort to determine the collective priorities of the group, the Foundation had organised the Dayak Cultural Symposium in 2018, which identified resolutions in the four key areas of Civil Service/Statutory Bodies, Economic Development, Business and NCR (Native Customary Rights) Land Issues.

The Symposium was a landmark in advancing the Dayak agenda, however operationalising the resolutions proved to be challenging. Thus, the Foundation organised the Dayak Cultural Foundation Workshop from 22–24 November 2019, bringing the most established and successful members of the Dayak community to move the resolutions forward.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, President and CEO of PEMANDU Associates, was invited to deliver the keynote address on the “Overview of the Implementation of the Symposium Resolutions 2018, Government Policy, and Economic Development”.

Reflecting on the issues at hand, Dato’ Sri Idris offered a key insight, “My advice is simple – most governments in the world fail in implementing many of their big policies because they have not been able to translate those high-level policies into detailed operational plans for implementation.” The same parallels emerge from PEMANDU Associates’ experience in driving transformation across the world, including Russia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

“Resolutions are high level wish-lists. Nobody will get that done until you translate it into detailed operational plans.”

For the Dayak, there is an urgent need to catch up as the world accelerates into the digital age. “We cannot afford to wait for such a long time, we want results now and we want them big. And there are only two formulas to get big fast results in my book,” he continued.

The first is instilling transformational leadership that walks the talk. Dato’ Sri Idris emphasised that this must be a collective behaviour among the people of Sarawak, who are all leaders in their own right. Transformation can only happen collectively when everyone plays their part, not by relying on the Chief Minister of the Deputy Chief Minister alone.

The second factor is in organising a new way of working among the Dayak, which must apply for both the leadership and participants within the community.

Transformational Leadership

To elaborate on the subject further, Dato’ Sri Idris revealed his secret of transformational leadership.

“To be great transformational leaders, one must pursue the game of the impossible,” he stressed. That is to set Olympian targets that seem impossible with the status quo.

“If my current way of doing things will not yield the results I want, what can I do differently to achieve it? Setting impossible targets will force you to change your way of thinking – it forces you to become transformational leaders.”

On a more personal reflection, Dato’ Sri Idris shared, “90% of us human beings will die not fulfilling our full potential because of the fear of failure.” He shared a hypothetical anecdote of a person who declared his ambition to be the fastest runner in the world, and thus started training every day for 4 years to achieve it. “It doesn’t matter if he manages to beat Usain Bolt or not. What matters most is that he pursued the game of the impossible, and he really went for it. He will then achieve his potential as an athlete, not Usain Bolt’s potential.”

“What is guaranteed amongst leaders who pursue the game of the impossible is not the results. But the guaranteed consequence is that you will be transformed – that is the key.”

Anchoring on the True North

The next step is to identify the measures of success. These serve as an indicator to assess an initiative’s achievement against a predetermined goal for a specified time. Taking the example of the NCR land issue, the group must determine how many parcels of land they can commit to surveying and resolving the respective title issues in a year.

“The measure of success must be clear and precise, it cannot be vague. That number will be your true north. Once you’ve set your true north, then you’ll know where you’re heading. And you’ll know exactly how to track it.”

In the context of the Dayak agenda, Dato’ Sri Idris commends the Foundation for identifying the resolutions focusing on the four key areas. The task is now to drill down on clear recommendations for each, with the workshop as a good initiative to gather input.

“Nothing moves until the leadership comes out with the things that they believe are the most important. People who say they are going to make a change in the Dayak agenda simply by empowering everybody to do as they wish – that is a recipe for disaster. You will never succeed. So you must frame the priorities – the more precise you are in framing your measures and demands, the better.”

A New Way of Working – The Big Fast Results Methodology Through Labs

Drawing upon the success of PEMANDU Associates in driving transformation for governments and businesses worldwide, Dato’ Sri Idris advocated the firm’s Big Fast Results – 8 Steps of Transformation Methodology to instil a new way of working. A critical component of this method are the labs.

“Get the best and the brightest people in the Dayak community, those who have a lot of experience, and include the government to participate in the labs. Based on your recommendations today, subject the participants to rigorous work in the labs to come up with detailed operational plans for the recommendations. You will never get them done until you do this.”

The detailed plans must then be operationalised. To do this successfully, organisations must adopt a new culture of implementation, summarised as the DMS approach: Do it Relentlessly, Monitor it Constantly, Solve Problems Recursively. This culture can be institutionalised through good governance structures and mechanisms to effectively monitor implementation and solve emerging issues.

The New Business Landscape

Advancing in the area of business can be particularly challenging for Dayak SMEs, given the speed at which new norms continually define the success and failure of businesses. “The global e-commerce market has reached USD 1.8 trillion today, and out of that, 73% is via mobile. Things are changing very rapidly in the world.”

In light of this, Dato’ Sri Idris offered 3 suggestions for Dayak SMEs:

1. Business transformation is no longer an option, but a must

Dayak SMEs should assess the profitability of each of their business activity. This can be done by breaking down their P&L to the lowest common denominator, to provide clarity on which activities are profitable. Businesses that think they have the right strategy and continue to operate based on those assumptions without considering the changing dynamics in the business landscape cannot succeed in a world that is highly competitive.

2. Digital transformation offers access to global markets

There has never been a better time in history where SMEs can access the global markets as easily as they can today. People all over the world can buy directly via the internet and mobile applications. SMEs should think about how they can position themselves and make their products marketable to the rest of the world. Think bigger, the local market is too small.

3. Products and services must be top quality

Businesses must ensure that their products are of good quality. Nobody will buy your products otherwise, and you will not be able to build your customer base.

Final Recommendations

To conclude his keynote session, Dato’ Sri Idris reiterated his recommendations. The first is to secure an agreement on the Dayak agenda, and to detail out the requirements within these subcategories clearly. The discussions must be honest to ensure that the parties involved are committed to the agreed outcomes. The next step is to run the labs to translate these high-level resolutions on the 4 focus areas into detailed implementation plans can that be operationalised. The final step is to implement these plans with the DMS approach.

“If we really want to progress this forward, the Foundation must have a full discussion with the government of Sarawak on these four focus areas, then secure an agreement to run the labs for the four focus areas to bring them down to a level of granularity, setting precise timelines and budgets for execution. Hopefully with these recommendations, the Dayak community with the movers and the shakers, as well as the government, will have a clear path moving forward,” he concluded at the event.

Outlook 2020 – the tourism industry at a glance

September 6, 2019

by COMMUNICATE by PEMANDU Insights

2020 is gearing up to be a big year. Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohammad launched the new Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign earlier in July complete with a logo, slogan and new tourism targets for next year. Building off 2018’s achievements of 25.8 million arrivals and RM84.1 billion in tourism receipts, the government has set its sights on reaching a target of 30 million arrivals and RM100 billion in receipts for 2020. While much attention (and criticism) was given to the design of the new logo, we need to start thinking about how we can best ensure that not only do we meet the targets, we do so in a sustainable way that does not encourage over-tourism or the wrong kind of image for Malaysia.

Reaching 30 million arrivals and RM100 billion receipts is an ambitious goal but not an impossible one. Tourism in Southeast Asia is growing rapidly and is expected to contribute 4.9% (USD209.4 billion) to the region’s combined GDP by 2025, making Southeast Asia the second-fastest growing region for tourism in the world after South Asia. In Malaysia, tourism has been a key contributor to the overall economy; inbound tourism contributed 5.9% to the country’s GDP last year and 6.1% in 2017. After manufacturing and commodities, it is the third largest contributor to Malaysia’s foreign exchange receipts.[1] Tourism Malaysia remains confident that the industry will be on track to meet these targets; in fact, results from the first quarter of 2019 showed a growth of 4.8% in tourist arrivals and a surge of 16.9% in tourism revenue compared to the same period last year.[2]

The case for change

Currently, Malaysia is focused on numbers – increasing the number of inbound tourists into Malaysia and increasing the amount they spend here from lodging to money spent on food and drinks as well as entertainment. Malaysia’s track record in that respect has been limited. Compared to the past 10 years, the number of tourist receipts and number of arrivals has not grown exponentially; in fact there has only been an increase of MYR5 million in receipts since 2007.

However, demand is changing. Mass tourism is no longer sufficient. Travellers today are getting more selective when choosing their travel destinations and planning their itinerary. A study by Expedia Group found that people tend to choose travel destinations based on the activities available, whether it could prove to be a once in a lifetime experience and to experience the culture. Almost 60% of respondents to the Bookings.com survey would choose to not go to a destination if they feel it will negatively impact the people who live there.[3] This increasing awareness has led to more travellers to literally seek out the path less travelled. Rather than simply hopping from landmark to landmark, travellers today want to do something. This could be anything from learning local arts and crafts, doing outdoor sports and activities, cooking the local cuisine, or even volunteering.

We’re also seeing a rise of younger travellers. More millennials today have reached a point in their lives where they are earning more and willing to spend more on vacation. Expedia reports that millennials are the group most likely to travel either for business or leisure, taking an average of 2.9 personal trips and 1.6 business trips a year.[4]

How people are using social media is also changing the way the tourism industry operates. With the speed and convenience of (almost) universal internet connection, all it takes is a few seconds on Instagram for someone’s holiday photos, videos and stories to spread through the circles of followers online. In fact, it seems people are making decisions based on whether or not where they’re going is worth posting on the platform themselves – a survey found that more than 40% of people under the age of 33 prioritise ‘instagrammability’ when choosing a holiday destination.[5]

Even the way travel information is consumed and used is changing. Generic, comprehensive travel guides are of the past, with more travellers using increasingly short-form, hyper-relevant and individualised content which can be neatly integrated into social media feeds. A survey by Booking.com found that 52% of travellers would be excited about tech travel innovations such as a digital tour guide to give a truly bespoke experience.

What can be done

Reflecting on her experience working to deliver transformational change to the tourism industry, Dr Sarinder, Executive Vice President at PEMANDU Associates, notes that the response from the private sector tends to be very good. Private sector players have shown a willingness to cooperate in labs and are willing to do what needs to be done to drive the industry forward – what they need is support from the government. There is an opportunity here for Tourism Malaysia to change the mindset and play a more facilitative role in creating a private sector-driven industry that is accessible, interesting and sustainable.

Many of Malaysia’s selling points are focused on shopping (we’ve seen five outlet malls pop up in five years, one of which is conveniently located just a stone’s throw away from KLIA airport) or on landmarks where busloads of tourists unload, take pictures, then get back on the bus to be whisked away to the next destination. This isn’t sustainable in the long run and it runs the risk of painting Malaysia as a one-visit destination.

Instead, we could focus on creating unique, memorable experiences to encourage people to come back. Global best practice has shown that in order to truly connect with visitors (and ultimately, grow market share) the focus needs to be on the emotions, feelings and sensations the visitors experience throughout their journey.

Offer a steady stream of fresh tourism products

Unfortunately, the revenue-generating potential of our local tourist sites are currently not fully maximised due to the lack of creative content and experiences provided by these sites.

Tourism site operators and service providers need to look into offering new paid experiences to increase their potential revenue. One way this could be done is to allow private sector companies to develop and manage publicly owned sites that have been evaluated to have the potential to become tourist attractions. This way, the quality and type of experiences offered at the site will be driven by the private sector who tend to have more time and money to invest in development planning and are usually the first ones to capitalise on a new trend. They may, however, fail to adequately consider the economic and social benefits which is where the government can step in to regulate the industry and ensure it benefits the nation holistically.

Use social media to spread brand awareness and capture interest

Customer service and satisfaction have been transformed as a result of the widespread use of social media as a way to record and communicate experiences. People today choose where to go based on word of mouth. When choosing a destination, they ask their family members, friends and even co-workers if they have been there before. Failing that, they turn to travel blogs and videos taken by others who have been there and are sharing their experiences with the world. Over 97% of millennials share photos and videos of their travels online, building an influential web of peer-to-peer content that is valuable to discerning industry players.

This trend hasn’t gone unnoticed. Many hotels and attractions overseas have turned to running social contests and campaigns to ensure that they get some credit for their visitor’s social activity.[6] Instead of using staged, professional photos, campaigns encourage visitors to take their own photos, tag them with a hashtag relating back to the attraction, and upload them onto social media for a reward. This creates user-generated content that is free, authentic and able to be repurposed across its marketing channels. Some attractions here are beginning to do the same. The ESCAPE theme park, based in Penang, ran a campaign on Facebook in April this year calling for visitors to post pictures of themselves on the site under the hashtag #escapephotosplash. Event venue Glamz, situated in Genting Highlands, tags all its posts and pictures shot on location with their unique hastag #glamzatgenting. However, more could be done to capitalise on the rising popularity of short, user-created travel videos or ‘vlogs’ shared on social media.

Improve Malaysia’s marketing and cohesive brand image as a destination of choice

Budget is a common constraint when it comes to marketing tourism in Malaysia. In order to relieve some of the burden, marketing efforts could be collectively owned and collaboratively executed by both public and private sector players.

For example, as the government representative, Tourism Malaysia could take the lead in determining the marketing direction for the major markets and focus on a theme-based schedule to guide the industry players in their marketing efforts to sync with the overall messaging focus. This will ensure cohesivity on similar tourism products with both public and private sector players leveraging on each other’s marketing content. By doing so, the collaborative effort between Tourism Malaysia and private sector players will generate a comprehensive, streamlined tourism messaging but with the marketing expenses diffused across the industry. That said, it is important to understand that this approach does not play down other offerings but rather enables time for product development and can also reduce product fatigue.

Upskill the local talent

There is a gap between the skills of local graduates and the demands of the industry. The hospitality and tourism syllabus currently taught in tertiary education institutions in Malaysia tend to lean towards hotel management and theoretical concepts. MATTA has commented before that no university or college provides actual job skill requirements needed by the tourism industry.[7] The industry is looking for graduates with technical knowledge, customer service skills and language proficiency in order to efficiently and effectively serve customers.

Understanding that the process of changing the academic syllabus within tertiary education institutions isn’t going to be quick or easy, this is an opportunity for the private sector to step up to the plate and offer apprenticeship programmes – divided between 70% on-the-job skills development and 30% certified knowledge training – to upskill our local graduates. Research has shown that apprenticeship in the leisure, tourism and hospitality sectors provide the best opportunities for fresh graduates to gain experience and customer skills.[8] In turn, offering apprenticeships helps to improve employee retention and company loyalty as many stay on to become full-time staff.

The times, they are a-changin’

Moving into 2020, the landscape of tourism is changing. Even the word ‘tourist’ is becoming outmoded, with many preferring the term ‘traveller’ when thinking about going abroad for vacation as the term ‘tourist’ has become attached to a few too many negative stereotypes.[9] In addition, while price is still important, we’re seeing more people make travel decisions based on their heart rather than their wallet. This has led to a growing change in consumption patterns, as more travellers come to places like Malaysia looking for unique experiences, rather than for shopping.

It’s also important to ensure that our attractions are being marketed and managed properly. This means creating end-to-end management; from ensuring that the site is accessible to all visitors and is connected to public and private transport, to seeing that it is marketed properly using a variety of channels as well as a storyline that is based on the site’s history and charms to garner public interest. Much like the old travel slogan “Malaysia, Truly Asia”, Malaysia is home to many interesting and uniquely Asian attractions which, if managed well, can easily get us to that RM100 billion target.

The Edge Malaysia, 2019
Prime Minister’s Office, 2019
Bookings.com, 2018
Expedia Group
Econsultancy, 2019
Entrepreneur, 2017
New Straits Times, 2019
Travel Daily, 2018
The Invisible Tourist, 2017

Going Green – Sabah’s ecotourism industry going on strong

September 6, 2019

by COMMUNICATE by PEMANDU Insights

Today, more people are planning to go green not just at home but also on holiday. In recent years, there has been a major growth of interest in responsible travel or ecotourism, outpacing interest in the more traditional sun-and-sand holiday. In fact, some experts estimate that ecotourism now represents 11.4% of all consumer spending[1] and it is estimated that the number of eco-tourists increases by about 10% annually[2]. With all the coverage on the dangers of environment degradation and climate change, more tourists are conscious of their ecological impact when they visit natural areas and are willing to give a little bit back to the environment and the people who live there.

Other countries have stepped up to the plate to promote a more sustainable way of tourism. For example, when a video showing sewage flowing directly into the waters of Boracay Island in the Philippines went viral in early 2018 (which was referred to as a “cesspool” by President Rodrigo Duterte), the government was quick to dispatch an emergency government taskforce to save the island from a possible ecological catastrophe. The island was closed for six months for repair and restoration. It has since been re-opened, but visits are still being closely regulated by the government. Cruise ships have been banned during peak seasons and alternative island destinations have been sanctioned in a measured way.

For Malaysia, this means managing the impact of tourism on the environment, landscape and local communities. We’re fortunate to have tourism, culture and the environment all under the same ministry which should make it easier to craft the right policies and ensure that everyone, from the private sector to the local communities, are moving in the same direction.

Sabah achieved a record-breaking year in 2018 in terms of the number of arrivals and tourism receipts which also came with an added strain on the environment. For nature-focused industries like Sabah, ecotourism was a way to still encourage people to visit while safeguarding its lush natural beauty.

The Golden Goose

Often referred to as Malaysia’s ‘golden goose’ of ecotourism, Sabah has made a name for itself as a destination famed for its natural beauty. Its lush landscapes and remarkable wildlife draw crowds of nature-lovers eager for a chance to hike up Mt Kinabalu, visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, or trek down the Kinabatangan River.

This year, the government has set a target of 4 million tourist arrivals for 2019. They’re hoping to attract over a million international visitors and the rest from other parts of Malaysia.

While this growth in visitor numbers is encouraging and bodes well for the local tourism industry, this carries the risk of these sites being overcrowded or degraded due to the high numbers. This has already happened in some of the more established tourism sites. As early as 2004, the WWF lodged reports on the serious pollution issue facing the Kinabatangan River as a result of dumped waste, industrial waste from the nearby palm oil mills, as well as fertiliser and sediment from logging and plantations in the area.[3] Even the nearby villages had gotten into the habit of throwing their rubbish and plastic waste in the river. Thus, Sabah needed a way to increase income from tourism while still ensuring that the environment, the very source of their popularity, remained pristine.

It turned to ecotourism.

Implemented correctly, ecotourism allows for the conservation and preservation of the environment while stimulating socioeconomic development for the local community. Sabah’s state government has been actively encouraging the growth of ecotourism in the region and has taken steps to ensure that the environment, culture and biodiversity is preserved.

It has been relatively easy for Sabah to introduce ecotourism initiatives. Albert Teo, Managing Director of Borneo Eco Tours and the Sukau Rainforest Lodge, noted that “The fact that development came slowly here has been a blessing. The infrastructure was slow in coming to this area, and this has helped preserve the biodiversity. Ecotourism came in as an employment alternative, as logging was over.”[4]

Cuti-cuti Tawau

The eastern region in particular has the potential to become a unique ecotourism destination. Capitalising on this potential has enabled the region to further contribute to the overall state’s economic growth and development.

The recent MATTA Fair 2019 saw the launch of “Cuti-Cuti Tawau” by the Sabah Tourism Board to promote tourism in the east coast of Sabah. Tawau is poised to be the gateway to the eastern coast, encouraging the spread of tourists beyond the already-popular Kota Kinabalu on the west coast. It is anticipated that the number of tourist arrivals to the eastern region will see over 7% CAGR between 2018 and 2035.

Thanks to these efforts, sustainable luxury ecotourism has picked up in Tawau. One organisation in Tawau has capitalised on ecotourism as a source of revenue for its larger conservation practice. 1StopBorneo Wildlife is a volunteer group whose main objective is to raise awareness on Borneo wildlife through education programmes, animal rescues and release services, and conservation tourism. Founded in 2012, the group’s founder Shavez Cheema advocates for a two-pronged education and tourism approach which a) helps locals get jobs so they can afford to safeguard the environment and the creatures that live in it, and b) educates the public on conservation through a variety of mediums like short videos, documentaries and social media engagement.

1StopBorneo Wildlife recently added another programme to their range of tours. About an hour out of town is Sabah Softwoods, a state-controlled timber and palm oil producer that has been involved in rapid-growing wood planting since 1973. The softwoods plantation itself has become a small haven for wild pygmy elephants and other wildlife. Noticing that the wildlife did little or insignificant damage to the trees nor did they threaten the safety of the workers, the company decided to allow the herds to roam the estate and was accorded a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certificate in 2007 for its efforts on environmental conservation.[5]

And just last year, the company teamed up with 1StopBorneo Wildlife to offer the Plant4Borneo Elephants initiative which seeks to use ecotourism to raise money to help preserve herds of pygmy elephants that frequent the softwoods plantation and also help recreate their natural habitat by planting trees. Up to 80% of the profits are reinvested into elephant conservation and an upcoming plant nursery project.[6]

Eventually, the goal is to create a wildlife corridor over the next decade or two that will give the animals access to the nearby forest reserve. Under the Plant4Borneo Elephants initiative, travellers would be taken to the plantation to help plant the trees that will make up the wildlife corridor and do some wildlife watching on the grounds. In doing so, tourists will be directly involved in preserving and furthering the conservation efforts of Sabah Softwoods and 1StopBorneo Wildlife.

Making a difference

Reflecting increased global interest in environmental and social issues, more travellers today are becoming more conscious about the local landscape when choosing potential travel destinations. Sabah is one such destination that has benefitted from the introduction of ecotourism practices and businesses to the local industry.

Within a year of launching Plant4Borneo Elephants, 20 conservation trips, including both international and local visitors, were made to the plantation and about 300 trees – mainly fruit trees like figs and laran – have been planted by volunteers and visitors under the guidance of the plantation’s staff.[7]

Datuk Christina Liew, Sabah’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, noted that the Plant4Borneo Elephants initiative has boosted the Tawau economy by attracting tour operators who take groups of tourists to the plantations and creating new jobs for locals to cater to the growing interest in the attraction.[8]

Other organisations have also gotten onboard the ecotourism train. Earlier this year, WWF announced it will work with Sabah Softwoods to restore a wildlife corridor in the Brumas area of Tawau which has been identified as a hotspot for human-elephant conflict.[9] Much like the Plant4Borneo Elephants initiative, this partnership focuses on replanting trees and reducing crop damage from elephants to reduce the risk of elephant and human conflict.

Green Global Travel
Greener Ideal, 2012
WWF News, 2004
TourMab, 2019
The Borneo Post, 2010
Nikkei Asian Review, 2018
The Star, 2018
The Borneo Post, 2018
The Star, 2019

Transformation on the Street – Rejuvenating old cities

September 6, 2019

by COMMUNICATE by PEMANDU Insights

As a city, Kuala Lumpur (KL) is ever-changing, with new multi-story buildings being built to support the growth of new businesses and new shops opening on every corner. During the day, people flock to the city for work, shopping or just to take in the sights.

Unfortunately, the older buildings themselves aren’t keeping up with the pace of progress. Many of the older buildings are stained with grime, paint peeling off the walls. People skirt around the alleyways which tend to look dark and uninviting. Rubbish bags pile up around lampposts like a bizarre decoration. As a tourist hub, KL’s Golden Triangle still draws the greatest number of visitors, locals and tourists alike, but the wear and tear is undoubtedly evident.

There is however some glimmer of rejuvenation taking place in the form of a new tourist attraction along a once a dirty, neglected alley, Kwan Chai Hong. This newly christened street is now a vibrant, colourful, charming laneway surrounded by new cafes and small shops. A ‘passion project’ administered by Bai Chuan Management, Kwai Chai Hong evokes memories of the area’s past as the heart of KL’s Chinese community during the 1960s through the very modern medium of street art. The lane was officially opened to the public in April this year and has quickly gained a name as an Insta-worthy spot amongst locals and travellers alike.

Bringing back the charm

*Photo courtesy of Bai Chuan Management*

When asked about why they chose this particular laneway to revive, Bai Chuan Management co-founder, Zeen Chang, recalled that it was the charm of the place and the nostalgic memory of Jalan Petaling and Lorong Panggung that inspired them to revamp the area. “As we began work to mend this once neglected laneway, we fell more and more in love with it,” Zeen notes. “It was more than a dream come true.”

The project was founded by Ho Yung Wee and Coco Lew who were offered a 12-year lease for 10 units of shophouses connected by a laneway between Jalan Petaling and Lorong Panggung. From the start, the intention was never to demolish or strip the area of its cultural heritage. Instead, the couple was inspired by Coco’s memories of her childhood years tagging along with her mother as she frequented Petaling Street. At the time, Petaling Street was her favourite childhood spot with good food to feast on and filled with peddlers selling all sorts of interesting things. Decades later, Coco would return to Petaling Street to open a shop of her own selling toys and stationery.

“We were more inspired by the potential [the area] brings. We wanted to bring people back to KL Chinatown – bring back the glory days of Chee Chong Kai (茨厂街) and make the place lively once again,” Zeen explains.

To help make their vision come true, they turned to five local artists – Khek Shin Nam (郭先楠), Chan Kok Sing (陳國勝), Chok Fook Yong (祝福荣), Chew Weng Yeow (周永友) and Wong Leck Min (黄烈明). Rather than commissioning more well-known or even international artists, Zeen explains that they wanted to open the opportunity to others. “Much like how this project has given us the chance to explore things outside our expertise, we wanted to give talented artists, who were waiting for a break, a chance to share their work.”

They used murals as a way to depict what life was back then and share the stories of the heritage buildings in the area and the people who once lived in them. And these murals aren’t just one-dimensional; next to each mural is a plaque with a unique QR code which adds an additional audio element to the experience. The addition of props – a stool placed before a calligrapher’s table or a handkerchief dangling from a courtesan’s fingertips – allows visitors to interact with the images and, in a way, become part of the artwork.

Creating memorable cities

Project Kwai Chai Hong is just one of the many rejuvenation projects in the Greater Klang valley. There has been a new movement by locals, many of them young entrepreneurs, working together to reclaim some of Malaysia’s abandoned areas.

*Think City’s Lee Jia Ping speaks to Transformation Today*

Think City’s Programme Director, Lee Jia Ping, calls this placemaking, a term first introduced by US-based non-profit Project for Public Spaces to describe the practice of communities reinventing public spaces to fit their needs and to truly make these spaces the heart of the community. By reclaiming public spaces, she believes that cities can be made welcoming and comfortable for all, not just for the locals or the people who have lived there for generations, but also for tourists, migrants and the younger generations who move in.

“For any city to be successful and vibrant, there needs to be diversity of content and a variety of offerings. At the moment, nobody is really celebrating this part of the city because either a) people feel that it is unsafe and don’t dare to come down, b) that there is nothing to come down to this part of the city for, or c) that it only caters to a certain segment of the population,” Jia Ping says, motioning to the windows that overlook the main Leboh Pasar Besar street. “That’s not enough to sustain an area like this.”

Set up by Khazanah Nasional Berhad in 2009, Think City is an urban regeneration and social purpose organisation whose true north is to create cities that are resilient, inclusive and able to be celebrated by everyone. They specialise in rejuvenating areas that have fallen into disuse, using methods like space activation, public realm improvement, content and culture curation, capacity-building and research and advocacy.

Georgetown, Penang, was their first project. Now, they’re working with KL City Hall to turn five blocks in downtown KL into a creative and cultural district.

For Think City, the hardest part is figuring out how to make areas relevant again. Despite being the capital city of Malaysia, KL is virtually empty after hours as most of its footfall comes from people travelling to the city for work and leaving immediately after. Rare is the person who ventures outside of KL’s Golden Triangle.

“You don’t go to a city for the scenery of blocks and office towers. You go to a city to see its natural beauty, to see its built heritage and engage with it. Every time I take people around [downtown] KL, they’re surprised that there’s so many things to do when in fact, there’s a lot of stories here that are interesting not just to tourists but also to locals. I get a lot of people telling me, ‘Wow, I feel like a tourist in my own country, in my own city!’,” Jia Ping laughs. “So, [our work] is about unearthing forgotten narratives or building new ones and making these areas relevant again.”

And the best way to do it is through organising events, to give people a reason to come back and rediscover these forgotten areas. For Jia Ping, it’s all about content. An improved façade can only do so much; the key to increasing footfall is the character of the building and what’s inside. A good example is the refurbished Zhongshan Building which has recently made a name for itself as a creative hub that is hip, alternative and yet still very respectful and welcoming.

The Kuala Lumpur Creative and Cultural District (KLCCD) builds on Zhongshan’s model, covering a 100 hectares area from Little India to the north to the old KL Railway Station in the south. With so many important heritage sites under threat, a framework is needed to ensure that future growth is holistic. The hope here is to attract new investment in the creative industries as well as a higher value of tourism that is anchored on Malaysia’s built heritage, vibrant public spaces and policies that promote diversity and inclusivity.

Ensuring sustainability

tarting an urban rejuvenation project, no matter the scale, is a big task in itself but as with any project, the launch is only half of the work. The other half is ensuring that the project is sustainable – like ensuring that the project site remains well-maintained, and that there is a constant flow of visitors – and this takes both discipline of action and flexible problem solving.

*Picture courtesy of Bai Chuan Management*

It’s been only a few months since Kwai Chai Hong was first opened but judging from the thousand-over posts tagged with the hashtag #kwaichaihong on Instagram, the project has gotten off to a flying start. It has brought a lot of people back to Petaling Street, both locals and international visitors alike, and this spike in traffic has given more business to vendors along Jalan Petaling. Many shopfronts have started their own renovation projects soon after the Kwai Chai Hong was launched in April which Zeen posits is either because new tenants are moving in or that existing tenants have decided to embrace the change that the revitalised laneway has brought.

Zeen and the rest of the team at Bai Chuan Management are well aware that they’re in this for the long run. Understanding that constant monitoring and engagement are critical to ensure project sustainability, the team have planned a full schedule of events designed to attract people to the laneway. “There’s so much more we can and will do to bring people back to KL Chinatown. We will continue to curate the space and its content moving forward, in the hope of creating a space where people will gather and learn about the history, arts and culture unique to the Chinese community in Malaysia.”

To Jia Ping and the team at Think City, success is “when we’re not needed anymore, and the city thrives by itself.” An old hand at overseeing long-term projects, the team at Think City tends to use a ‘pop-up’ methodology to help get projects off the ground. Jia Ping calls it ‘lighter, faster, cheaper’.

“First, we do the baseline research to find out the community’s needs and wants, then we ideate on what’s there and then we experiment. We basically display some of your plans and see how the community reacts.” If there is a positive reaction from the community – if more people show up to use the space – the team keeps the idea. If not, they toss it and go back to the drawing board. This use of recursive problem solving has helped Think City keep their projects relevant, sustainable and, ultimately, successful.

What’s the deal with Industry 4.0?

August 9, 2019

by COMMUNICATE by PEMANDU Insights

We’ve seen three Industrial Revolutions pass by, each fundamentally changing the way employment and business operate – for good and for bad. The economic changes of the first Industrial Revolution reshaped policy and laid the groundwork for the welfare state. It raised the standard of living for the middle and upper classes but worsened the living and working conditions of the poor.

Today, another similar revolution is underway, with rapid developments in technology like gene-editing and artificial intelligence (AI) provoking significant changes to our economies, societies and politics. Answers are cheap in the age of the internet; in the age of AI and machine learning, answers are going to be even cheaper. Want to know what’s happening in the world around you? There are matching algorithms that pair people with news updates, song recommendations and even job openings without any user involvement at all. But what effect will this have on the overall economy?

The Fears:

As with most processes of transformation, the introduction of new technology is being met with fear and scepticism. Ever since the discovery of artificial intelligence and its ability to perform some of the same tasks that humans have been doing, people have been worried about losing jobs to a machine. Researchers point out that around 47% of total US employment is at risk of losing ground to computerisation.[1] In a recent survey, 69% of Malaysians believe the rise of automation will lead to a loss of jobs; 45% believe the most impacted would be young Malaysians between the ages of 18 to 24 because as the least experienced group by the time AI would become widely utilised, they would be the most vulnerable to layoffs.[2]

It is this same fear that is currently playing an important role in how AI and digitisation are being represented online and in social media? There are articles like this one that lists the eight types of jobs that are “unlikely to be occupied by robots or machines, at least in the near future”. Another article advises people to prepare for a less-employed future by “training ourselves to care less about our jobs now”.[3] Much like how the first Industrial Revolution was a turbulent time that caused as much harm to people’s lives as it did benefit them, many people today worry that the upcoming technological revolution will usher in the same turbulence as its predecessor did.

The Facts:

Fears aside, embracing new technological developments is the biggest commitment that policymakers and businesses need to make right now. And this commitment needs to be done in the belief that tech is – and will continue to be – a generally positive force for society.

As machines get a little more capable by the day, every inch brings a few more jobs within reach of automation. In most cases, it’s not individual jobs that will be impacted but entire industries as more needs are being met through massively scalable software. And this will have a trickle effect down to our private and social lives. It will be a huge shift in the way society works, but it doesn’t have to be a bad one – we just need to look at the bigger picture.

Even in its current state, technology is doing more than ever. It’s being used in both healthcare and warfare; it’s helping writers publish books and musicians make music. It’s reminding people of birthday engagements and tweaking the photos you take on your phone. It’s helping students write essays, matching jobs to workers, even assessing your credit scores when applying for a loan. In short, it’s making decisions that affect people’s lives right now.

As in the past, technology won’t be a purely destructive force. As some jobs are being automated, new jobs will be created and existing roles redefined. For example, many jobs in agriculture were ‘lost’ due to new advances in technology that automated many of the traditional farming roles. The proportion of the workforce in agriculture decreased from 40% in 1990 to just 10% in 1950; today, this figure is even lower, hovering about 2%.[4] However, these workers didn’t all just become unemployed; instead, they found work in other industries. In China, one-third of the country’s workforce which was in agriculture was absorbed into other sectors such as manufacturing, telecommunications and mining.[5]

The Challenge:

The technical potential for automation differs across sectors and activities. While automation and machine learning will have some effect on almost all jobs, some industries will be more impacted than others depending on the type of work they do. The challenge is preparing industries, businesses and governments to be able to meet this digital transformation. Organisations that fail to anticipate or adapt to new technologies risk being blindsided; either they miss the sudden shift in market perceptions when their customers and stakeholders start demanding or expecting these new innovations or they risk getting left behind. However, those who take note of what’s coming around the tech bend and embrace new technologies gain a first mover-advantage. The ability to react even a few months ahead of the competition can be worth millions or billions of dollars.[6]

Instead, we need to ask ourselves how can technology be used to help people? How can innovations like AI and automation be used to make the most improvements in the best way possible?

For example, in education, new technology will change how we learn. Online courses have changed the “where” of learning from inside classrooms to anywhere with a decent internet connection. In healthcare, the use of technology in diagnostics will transform how resources are deployed, whether it is freeing up more nurses to spend more quality time with patients or how diseases are being treated. More focus could go on prevention and monitoring so that people can live longer, healthier lives.[7]

In consulting, AI and automaton could significantly enhance how consultancy firms tend to operate as well as the quality of services provided to clients. The huge, smarter-than-most-humans, computer AI in science-fiction is still a long way in the future. Machine learning, a sub-field of AI that entails enabling computers to learn, is a lot more viable for use right now. Having a decision-making system learn and teach itself to comb through data to look for patterns to inform transformative strategies for organisations across industries. Naturally, consulting firms have started to take notice; in 2017, Accenture started to offer solutions using tech like data analytics, cloud computing and internet of things to help clients run their business more efficiently under a sub-brand Accenture X.O. Accenture helps their clients look at IT or technology from an implementation standpoint. Others like Wipro Digital started off as part of a software exporter but has since strengthened its consulting business after recognising that consulting and digital expertise have started to overlap in a lot of areas.

Delivery units have also used a tech boost. Delivery units need to analyse a lot of data to ensure that the key performance indicators (KPIs) set prior to implementation remain on track. Using a machine learning system like a dashboard to help track performance allows consultants to have another (digital) eye that can spot patterns that humans might miss or never think of in the first place. Speaking as a delivery unit, one of our top priorities is looking for new ways to innovate in the tools we use so that we can always offer our clients the best analysis and the best solutions.

Moving forward

To get ready for tomorrow’s technological innovations, organisations around the world have challenged themselves to understand the data and automation technologies that are being developed today.

Back in 2012, the Louvre was the first to ditch the outdated handheld audio guide; instead, the museum opted to use the Nintendo 3DS XL console to provide an interactive element in addition to audio content. Developed with help from Nintendo, the specialised 3DS system uses both a GPS and 3D imaging to provide users with an interactive map (thus cutting down the number of lost tourists) as well as high-resolution images, 3D models and video commentary about the artwork.[8] The Louvre hasn’t just stopped there; just this year, the museum launched a mobile app with Accenture Interactive that uses augmented reality for visitors browsing the Petite Galerie.[9]

Such partnerships are valuable as technology evolves faster than any museum – or company – alone can follow. Implemented well, digital transformation can promote a more holistic and collaborative working environment between companies as well as between departments and units. In the words of PTC President & CEO, Jim Heppelmann, “no one company can do it alone”; we’re excited to see more partnerships between organisations and technology vendors and developers moving into the digital age.

Frey and Osborne (2013)
The ASEAN Post (2019)
Quartz (2019)
SkyNet Today (2019)
McKinsey (2017)
Bain & Company (2019)
TechCrunch (2019)
Time (2012)
The Drum (2019)

Creating tomorrow’s top public transport app

August 9, 2019

by COMMUNICATE by PEMANDU Insights

There’s still no sign of flying cars by 2020 but technology has given us a way to make public transport safer, greener, more convenient and more efficient. No longer do we need to go all the way down to a station to buy tickets, obtain travel schedules or be alerted to possible route disruptions; today, all of this can be done quickly and conveniently on a mobile phone.

Who’s winning and how?

One country has brought the convenience of mobile connectivity to public transport with great success. Cheap, frequent, clean and efficient, Vienna has been lauded for having one of the best public transport systems in the world. In 2017, it introduced its WienMobil app that combines both journey planning as well as ticketing in one. Taking the public transport app to the next level, WienMobil allows users to completely plan, book and pay for their journeys on all the different modes of transport in the city. This includes both public transport as well as options like bike sharing, taxis and car-sharing. The app also lets commuters to filter route planning by distance, time and cost as well as by environmental impact, allowing the Viennese public to not only find the route that costs the least number of euros, but also the least amount of CO2.[1]

The situation in Malaysia

Unlike Vienna, there is no similar all-in-one app for public transport in Malaysia. Transport providers like MyRapidKL, which oversees the major railways and bus routes in the Greater Klang Valley, generally communicate through social media – for instance, updating commuters about a delay in the Kelana Jaya LRT line through Twitter.[2]

Previously, there was a mobile app called MeterOn launched about three years ago that allowed passengers to verify and track their journey while taking a taxi or bus. However, general awareness of the app was low as many Malaysians were not aware of this app or its function as a channel allowing interactive and efficient customer feedback, rating and complaints. As of 2019, the app itself does not seem to be available on the Google App Store anymore.

A case for change

MeterOn was a good start but did not allow for commuters to view information about public transport services in real-time. Malaysians have often remarked that public transport in Malaysia, especially the bus service, tends to be inconvenient and tardy. Service information, such as the estimated time of arrival (ETA) of buses, is not publicly displayed so commuters often have no way of knowing how long they would need to wait for a bus or train to arrive without having to go to the platform itself or post a question on social media. This makes planning a trip on public transport (much less one that uses more than one method of public transport) inconvenient.

With easy access to technology like Wi-Fi and GPS systems, public transportation services have been able to upgrade their services to keep up with consumer demands. For instance, mobile connectivity enables real-time, two-way information flow between commuters and transport providers, allowing passengers to get updates or even give feedback on their travel experience on the go. Smart algorithms can process this information rapidly, and tweak schedules and routes of public transport services to provide better and more targeted services. Even artificial intelligence (AI) has a part to play in improving transport services; using AI reduces the need for human intervention, allowing services to be provided quickly and more efficiently.

Recently, more countries have moved toward combining all modes of public transport under one system or app much like Vienna’s WienMobil. Mobility as a service (MaaS) is a consumer-centric model of transportation for people. Instead of using personally owned cars or other means of transport, MaaS seeks to make taking public transport easier for commuters by allowing people to plan, book and track their journeys all on a mobile phone. A growing body of evidence has suggested that providing more infrastructure won’t solve traffic problems – building more is costly, time-consuming and would likely only provide temporary relief.[3] Instead, MaaS builds on what is already there and makes travelling more convenient.

As a consumer-centric model of transportation, MaaS works by providing commuters with an on-demand, real-time platform that can include any combination of transport methods. It allows for easy route planning by letting users plan end-to-end journeys from the moment they leave their front door right up to when they reach their final destination. It allows for simplified payments by allowing users to pay for transport via e-wallets or credit cards before or after their journey. Some MaaS even offer subscriptions. Lastly, MaaS offers a personal touch; as a fully personalised service, it builds relationships between users and transport providers by using big-data, two-way communication and constant user feedback to customise and refine the offered services.

Where is Malaysia at currently?

Malaysia has taken steps in the right direction. MyRapid provides journey planning for all modes of transport under their purview on their website. They’ve announced plans for a journey planner app to be rolled out within the next year. KTM Bhd, which manages the KTM rail network for intercity and commuter trains, recently launched a journey planner app called MyRailtime in May that allows passengers to check for real-time information on train ETAs, departures and delays.[4]

However, all these apps are strictly for their individual services and do not allow for services like booking and paying for tickets which still must be done at the stations themselves or through e-payment options like Touch n Go. There is no one common app that allows commuters to see the schedules or routes of all transportation services in the city.

In addition, the data collected through GPS devices installed on buses and other forms of public transport vehicles tends to be only made available through the individual transport operators when necessary as in the case of a service disruption when it should be communicated in real-time to the public. Malaysia has started using GPS data to track bus fleets as early as 2012; however, providers seem to only do limited monitoring of this data when this data could be used to ensure that all public transport vehicles maintain a certain set of safety and service standards. For example, GPS data could be used to publish real-time estimated time of arrival (ETA) and departure (ETD) on platforms such as a journey planner app or to 3rd party transport service providers like Grab for those who need additional transport to get to where they need to be.

The platform for hosting this data is key. Rather than posting updates on Twitter or hosting the journey planner on a website that may not be optimised for commuters on the go, a mobile app is a perfect platform for this information as it reduces the cognitive effort to sift through route schedules or lists of stations. Studies have shown that mobile apps give users more control over a task which enhances their satisfaction and comfort with the decision-making process.[5] In transport, this means that apps help the user’s sense of being on time and knowledge of when they will arrive. For example, people waiting in line at the bus station who don’t have access to real-time arrival information feel that their waiting time is longer as opposed to those who can track exactly when the bus would arrive.

Having access to real-time data can also be used to help transport authorities refine the routes and modes of public transport. When introducing a new policy or solution, the chances are that implementation won’t go perfectly right out of the gate as at least some of the initiatives will need to be tweaked as problems arise. By creating a platform where users can get real-time updates and report back on problems would help authorities to get a clearer picture of what is happening on the ground, what works and what doesn’t, and to make the changes necessary for a smooth public transport experience that fits public demand.

Opportunities abound. But it’ll take a village to move the needle.

MaaS cuts across different modes of transportation, which are owned and operated by multiple providers, to provide an easy, one-stop-shop to get from point A to point B. It has clear benefits for the public who would be able to choose where they want to go, when they want to go and how to get there. The challenge here will be getting buy-in from transport providers. For trips that include more than one mode of transport, each mode should be adequately compensated for its portion of the trip – this means taking into consideration the different ticketing systems (including fare zones, discounted fares and concessions) of the buses, trains, and e-hailing rides operating within the area.

This is where public-private partnerships come in. This is an opportunity for governments to work with private transportation providers to create MaaS platforms with the true north of increasing the use, productivity and efficiency of transportation within the country. We’re seeing some of this happen already, here in Malaysia as well as in cities around the world, with transport authorities partnering with technology service companies to build mobile apps, or with e-hailing companies to provide short trips to and from public-transit stations. Public private partnerships have great potential for innovation. Working together optimises the use of available knowledge and resources especially for a project like MaaS where there is a need to pool together all relevant data and expertise. Rather than simply building more stations to encourage more people to use public transport, transport authorities can work with private corporations to transform the way people get around in a city. The key is to develop strategic alignment across all stakeholders and build common ground so that everyone is motivated and held accountable to work towards the true north – a safe, convenient, and efficient public transport system for one and all.

Ziptopia (2017)
The Star (2019)
The Conversation (2019)
The Star (2019)
US Department of Transportation (2017)

Transformation on the Street: From running errands to transforming businesses

August 9, 2019

by COMMUNICATE by PEMANDU Insights

With more people running businesses online or from the comfort of their homes, there is a growing demand for short-term help. GoGet Malaysia is a home-grown company that is helping businesses and individuals hire part-timers, re-born as ‘GoGetters’, to help run errands or help with tasks ranging from distributing flyers to data entry.

We speak with Francesca Chia, co-founder and CEO of GoGet Malaysia to get her thoughts on the upcoming digital transformation and how GoGet is redefining the way the gig economy works in Malaysia.