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Monday, 11 June 2024, the Centre for Leadership and Professional Development (UM LEAD) hosted a Leadership Talk with Tan Sri Hamid Bugo, a third in its series, to honour thought leaders.
Tan Sri Hamid is a Distinguished Expert of UM LEAD and currently the Chairman of Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (PETROS), X-Fab Silicon Foundries SE,Belgium and Yayasan Kemajuan Insan (YAKIN). He was formerly the State Secretary of Sarawak. He graduated from Canterbury University, New Zealand with a Bachelor and a Master of Arts in Economics.
Sarawak is the largest state by land size in the Federation of Malaysia but has lagged in terms of economic and social development. Since Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Bin Tun Abang Haji Openg became the premier of Sarawak in 2017, many changes were instituted by his administration including restoring Sarawak’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) which had seen to be eroded over the years.
What can be expected of Sarawak’s development as it continues in restoring these rights? How does the Sarawak leadership see the state address the challenges of the 21st century? Where does Sarawak see its role in the federation? What business opportunities can we see companies participate in Sarawak? These were among the questions raised in the talk.
Tan Sri Hamid stressed the importance of leadership having a clear sense of purpose and direction. He highlighted that to achieve an organisation’s goals, its success depends on leadership having the correct priorities. He gave the example in the state of Sarawak where the focus is to ensure everyone has housing, access to education and gainful employment. Sarawak state has abundant natural resources, land size almost equal to Peninsular Malaysia and less than 3 million population. The state needs to get the best value for the resources it has not only for the state but also the country. Tan Sri touched on many issues in the session from geopolitics, technology and innovation, development and sustainability.
He also called on leaders to do their part and address community issues of the day. Inequality of wealth is one such issue where the widening gap is a trend not only experienced in Malaysia but many countries globally; finding a solution to reduce the disparity of income is a real challenge. Any intervention or policy change must take consideration of the capacities of those communities.
The talk was attended by a mix of private and public sector participants joined by UM students of a few disciplines. Among those in attendance were Tan Sri Johan Jaafar, Dato' Seri Azman Ujang, Datuk Christopher Tan, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Mazliham Mohd Su’ud and Dato’ Bhaskaran Pillai.
Centre For Leadership And Professional Development (UM LEAD)
International Institute Of Public Policy And Management (INPUMA)
Level 8, Chancellery
Universiti Malaya
50603 Kuala Lumpu
