Suite Talk – Inside Stories of Sustainability Champions

Nadia Azmi is a law graduate, currently pursuing public relations, specialising in media. She is a former journalist and anchor for Astro Awani, as well as news producer for Bernama TV. She is a freelance event emcee and host, apart from anchoring the Malay and English news for TV3, which includes the primetime Buletin Utama slot and midnight bulletin, Nightline

Datuk Noripah is Chairman (Designate) of Arabesque Malaysia. Arabesque Holding PLC is a London based sustainability FinTech company. She was a banker for 30 years. She previously served as chairman of Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia, advisor to CIMB Islamic Wholesale Banking, and CEO of CIMB Futures. She was the founding CEO of CIMB Principal Islamic Asset Management and pioneered the listing of the world's first regional ASEAN ETF. The common good and shared values in finance that apply to the principles of Islam, Ethics, Responsibility, and Sustainability, are universal values close to Datuk Noripah's heart. It is with this passion that Datuk Noripah and her husband co-taught Islamic finance at Drake University, USA, and they currently lecture at St Joseph University, Lebanon. Alongside her position as Global Advisory Board Member of IFN (Islamic Finance News), she was also a visiting Fellow in Islamic Finance at Oxford Center for Islamic Studies (OCIS), University of Oxford, UK, from 2016-2017. Datuk Noripah wrote the globally acclaimed book "Investing in Islamic Funds. A Practitioner's Perspective"; and was recognised as the most influential woman in Islamic Business and Finance by Cambridge International Financial Advisory in 2019.

Mr. Ong Pang Yen holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Civil Engineering from University Malaya and LLB (Honours) from University of London. Mr. Ong is currently Sunway Group’s Executive Director in the Chairman’s Office overseeing Group Brand Marketing and Communications, Group’s Sustainability and ESG agenda as well as the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation, the largest of its kind advancing education in Malaysia through a social enterprise model. Mr. Ong served Malaysia’s Public Works Department for eight years before joining Sunway Group as a Resident Engineer in the Seberang Jaya Town Centre in 1993. He was soon actively involved in Sunway Group’s pioneer overseas investment projects across Cambodia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Australia, India and China. In 2013, Mr. Ong assumed the role of Joint Managing Director of Sunway Property Development division, Malaysia/Singapore. In 2015, Mr. Ong was appointed the Executive Director of Monash University Malaysia, which was a joint venture between Sunway Group and Monash Australia, to oversee its operations in Malaysia, before re-joining Sunway Group to assume his current role in the Chairman’s Office.

Juan Aranols is the Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad and the Region Head of Nestlé Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei since December 2018. A Spaniard, Aranols joined Nestlé in 1990 and brings over 32 years of experience to the business globally in the Nestlé Group from his key roles across a number of different markets in Europe, Latin America and the global headquarters in Switzerland. In his previous role, Aranols was the Chief Financial Officer for Zone AOA: Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa based at the Nestlé S.A. Global Headquarters in Switzerland, where he also had management oversight of the Confectionery and Nestlé Professional businesses in Zone AOA.

Datuk Ruben started his career as a trainee in Westports in 1999 and was later appointed as Chief Executive Officer on 15 January 2009, a position he held until 31 December 2017 before being appointed as the Group Managing Director for Westports Holdings Berhad on 1 January 2018. Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam bin Abdullah attended Victoria Institution between 1989 to 1993 and later, Eton College in the UK from 1994 until 1995. Datuk Ruben graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the UK, in 1998. He also holds a diploma in Port Management, awarded by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Datuk Ruben has also attended various Executive Education Programmes under the Harvard Business School, including the Senior Manager Development Programme and the Programme for Leadership Development. Outside his professional engagements, Datuk Ruben has involvement in many other business and industry-related groups. He is the Deputy President of Kuala Lumpur Business Club Malaysia and a Member of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). He has been appointed to the Board of the Malaysian Productivity Corporation from 1 January 2019. On 1 September 2020, he has also been appointed to the Board of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as a Professional Representative. From a charitable perspective, he also serves as the Chairman of the QPR Community Trust. He has been appointed to the Westports Foundation on 5 September 2019 and joined the CEO Action Network (CAN) as one of the Steering Committee members since 2020.

Luanne is the head of Group Sustainability at CIMB, one of ASEAN’s leading banking groups, where she is responsible for transforming CIMB into a shaper of sustainable finance and responsible banking practices in Asia. She is also the Working Group Chair of the CEO Action Network Malaysia. Luanne has extensive experience in sustainability, strategy and transformation, as well as change management. She has been involved in a number of fields, including financial services and consulting. She was also a founding member of a startup company. Luanne holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s Degree in Manufacturing Engineering, as well as a Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge, and she has recently completed a Master of Liberal Arts in Sustainability at the University of Harvard Extension School.