DINNER NOTICE NO. 851
WEDNESDAY, 1st July 2009
VENUE: MAY GARDEN RESTAURANT, PENANG
TIME: FELLOWSHIP 7.30 PM, DINNER MEETING 8.00PM
CHAIRMAN : Mike Ong
MINUTES OF THE 850th MEETING OF APEX CLUB OF PENANG
ON 17/06/09, 8PM AT MAY GARDEN RESTAURANT, PENANG
Attendance: President Andrew Ong, Lifer LimCC, Victor Corbett, Jason Ang,
Balan Menon, Angie Low, Terrie Loo, Mike Ong, Edward Mai &
Prospexian Danny Tan.
Apologies: Jane Chan, Anthony Jayakumar, Prospexian June Koe & Ryan Tang On Leave : Lifer Tony Ng
1.0 Confirmation of minutes
1.1 The 849th Meeting Minutes was proposed for adoption by Victor & seconded
by Balan Menon.
2.0 Charity Car Wash 2009 – Members decided to defer it to the new term. Mike
Ong will replace Edward Mai as a team member to organize this project.
3.0 Bursary Awards – Victor to arrange a home visit to the 2 orphans in Balik Pulau
on 21/06/09 to assess their education needs. ( Note: Nat’l Board has set the final
deadline for submission as 30/6/09).
4.0 Apex Pg Installation Night
4.1 Organising Chairman Victor confirmed the date as 11/07/09,
Venue: Penang Sports Club Attire: Smart & casual
Cost : RM30 per person, each member is encouraged to bring another person
4.2 Victor said he had sent out emails to most Apexians in Malaysia.
4.3 Lifer Tony booked one table for his friends.
5.0 2009/2010 Board Members of Apex Penang
5.1 President elect, Balan Menon, named his Board as follow:-
Vice President – Jason Ang
Secretary - Mike Ong
Treasurer - Jane Chan
Service Director – Victor Corbett
Int’l Relations Officer – Lifer Lim Chin Chai
Membership Director - Gurmeet Singh
Social Director - Terrie Loo
Bursary Director - Angie Low
Sergeant-At-Arms - Lifer Tony Ng
Dinner Notice/Blog Editor – Edward Mai
I.P.President - Lifer Andrew Ong
Auditors - Anthony Jayakumar & Goh Ai Choo
6.0 Nat’l Conventions & Installation Nites of other Clubs :-
Nat’l Convention of Apex M’sia – 7/8/09 to 9/8/09 at Federal Hotel, KL
Nat’l Convention of Apex S’pore – 31/7/09 to 2/8/09
Installation Night of Damansara Club – 20/6/09 ; of BSP Club – 27/6/09
“ “ of Kuantan Club- 25/7/09 ; of Klang Club – 1/8/09
“ “ of KL Club – 7/8/09; of Malacca Central - 11/7/09
President requested the Secretary to send an apology for not able to Damansara
Club’s Installation and to wish the new President & Board every success.
7.0 General
7.1 Fines collection was RM18/=.
Meeting adjourned at 9.30pm, proposed by Victor and seconded by Jane Chan.
Minutes Proposed by: …………………. Seconded by:……………….
Prepared by: Mike Ong
APEX CLUB OF PENANG
( CLUB NO.8 )
34th NATIONAL CONVENTION REPORT
Membership & Attendance
The membership of the club as at 31/5/09 was as follow:-
Active Members : 17 ( include 4 Lifers )
Non-Resident members : 4
Future plan: We intend to induct 3 persons in 2009/2010, there are 3 persons who had been attending our dinner meetings on a regular basis lately.
Dinner & Board Meetings
Club meetings are held at May Garden Restaurant on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays at 8pm. Total number of dinner meetings held was 24 of which 12 were board meetings. Attendance at dinner meetings average at 75%.
Service Record
The following were done during the year:-
1) The awnings at Jireh Home in Kulim were refurbished at a cost of RM2,000/=. At the opening ceremony on 23/05/09, a small party was thrown for the inmates and cash together with provisions worth about RM500/= were given to the Home.
Future Plan: Will assist them if they request for further assistance.
2) During the Apex Service Week 2009, Apex Pg participated in the nationwide blood donation campaign on 5/4/09 at Tesco Hypermarket, Penang. A total of 73 pints of blood was collected for the blood bank.
Future Plan: To make this a yearly affair at Tesco during Apex Service Week.
3) The garden plots at Penang Cheshire Home are blooming with herbal plants for use by cancer patients.
Future Plan: We will promote this garden to the public.
4) At the Cheshire Home Foster Parents’ Day on 8/11/08, Apex Pg sponsored 3 inmates for their whole year living expenses at the Home.
Future Plan: Apex Pg will continue to support this fostering program. We
will raise more funds or find more sponsors for this purpose in 2009/2010.
5) Apex Pg donated trolley and cash of RM500 to Charis Home on 19/5/09 and treated the St Nicholas inmates to a sumptuous dinner-cum-musical on 23/3/09.
Future Plan: To help finance service projects and donations, Apex Pg plans to have a Charity Car Wash and general funds raising in the new term.
6) Apex Pg participated in the Merdeka Run 2008, as mooted by KL Club, and was held on 23/8/08.
Future Plan: To continually support national projects that can help to promote Apex.
International Relations
1st to 3rd May 2009 - Member Edward Mai attended the Nat’l
Convention of The Philippines. He planned to put up an outdoor exercise equipment for Apex Club of Leganse.
_________________________________.
31st July to 2nd Aug 2009 - Lifer Lim Chin Chai, Lifer Tony Ng, Edward Mai, & Jane
Chan had already booked their tickets to attend the
National Convention of Singapore.
Fellowship & Social
1) NRM Bruce Mackie with 6 Queensland Apexians visited Penang from 9/3/09 to 11/3/09 while Rex Trow and his family members were hosted to Malaysian food at Pang Restaurant when they visited Penang on 25/4/09.
2) Apexian Balan gave Apexians a Deepavali treat while Victor Corbett treated members to a sumptuous dinner at Penang Sports Club on 25/3/09.
Apex Action & Expansion
1) Lifers Lim & Tony Ng, Apexians Victor, Mike, Jason and Jane Chan attended the Bursary Presentation ceremony of SP Club on 5/6/09.
2) Edward Mai organized an EMGAM night at the E&O on 27/3/09.
3) Will be attending as many Installation Nights for 2009/2010, as possible.
Dinner Notice
1) Altogether 24 Dinner Notices were prepared and sent by email to all members, Nat’l President, Nat’l Board members and other Clubs.
2) Effective 4/4/08, Apexian Edward had put up the 1st blogspot by Apex Clubs in Malaysia: http://www.apexpenang.blogspot.com/ to highlight the activities & Dinner Notices of Apex Pg.
Bursary
Will be holding a bursary presentation in early July 2009 for 2 siblings whose parents were killed in a road accident. Apex Pg intends to set up an education fund to provide for their future needs.
Future Plan: In addition to giving bursary of this nature, there are plans to sponsor college students who are active in Apex activities. We have yet but will discuss with college which are interested.
Public Speaking
None was held.
Finance
As at 31 May 2009 - General Fund RM _________
Service Fund RM _________
General
Apexian Victor Corbett will continue to serve as the Regional Director- Northern .
ENRICH APEX
Prepared by: Mike P.H. Ong
Club Secretary 2009/2010
Pua's mighty 'Pen'
S. INDRAMALAR speaks to the creator of the now indispensable Pen Drive
Fact file
Name: Pua Khein Seng
Age: 31
Hometown: Sekinchan, Selangor
Education: SJKC Yeok Kuan, Sekinchan; Pin Hwa Independent school, Klang; Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Occupation: Engineer/ president of Phison Electonics Corp
Current base: Taipei , Taiwan
Years abroad: 12
WHEN he set off for Taiwan in 1993, Pua Khein Seng's only aim was to complete his degree in Electrical Control Engineering at the renowned Chiao Tung University and return home to work in Malaysia .
Never did he envision himself heading a multi-million dollar Taiwanese company that developed the world's first USB flash removable disk, which they called Pen Drive .
Pua Khein Seng went to Taiwan to get his engineering degree but ended up staying on, starting his own company and inventing the pen drive.
"I went to Taiwan to pursue my undergraduate degree. I chose Taiwan only because it was too expensive to study either in the United States or Singapore .
"However, I did well in my undergraduate programme and was offered a place to do my masters," explained Pua, who was back in Kuala Lumpur recently for a holiday.
After completing his Masters in July 1999, Pua worked for about six months in a local company before deciding to set up his own venture company with four fellow engineers who had studied with him at Chiao Tung.
"We were confident that we had the know-how and ability to start our own business, which is focused on USB technology. The company is called Phison because there are five of us - two Malaysians and three Taiwanese engineers," said Pua, 31, who hails from Sekinchan, Selangor.
Phison Electronics Corporation was set up in November 2000 and within six months the young entrepreneurs came up with their first invention - a USB storage device called Pen Drive .
"We were the first company in the world to develop the USB Drive SoC (System On Chip) and we were very confident that the market for USB will be huge. At the time, no one believed in us so we had to do everything ourselves - from developing the technology, the chips to the product itself.
"We were only 27 at the time and inexperienced. But we were confident that we could design good systems and chips but we didn't know anything about selling. So, we sought partners or traders who could help sell our products for us," Pua added.
Through smart partnerships and shrewd strategies, Phison soon made its way into European, American and Japanese markets. One quick move was securing Japanese tech giant Toshiba as Phison's largest shareholder and customer.
"We launched Pen Drive in June 2001 and by August the same year, we broke even! From September 2001, we were reaping monthly profits from our invention and there has been no turning back since."
Having established himself in Taiwan , Pua is in the midst of setting up Phison's branch in Malaysia , due to begin operations this
February.
"I am starting a branch in Malaysia because this is my country. I would like to do contribute to its development.
"We have about 100 engineers at Phison in Taiwan , 20 of whom are Malaysians. Though they studied in Taiwan , I had to re-train all the engineers I hire because, like most fresh graduates (in this field), they are not industry-ready upon graduation.
"Unfortunately, some of the Malaysian engineers want to return home after a couple of years because they are homesick, about to start a family and so on. Some prefer to work in Singapore , as it is closer to home. Instead of losing them to competitors, I decided to set up an office in Malaysia where they can still work for me," said Pua.
Another problem faced by returning computer engineers from Taiwan , Pua added, was the lack of job opportunities for hardware engineers in Malaysia .
"There is no environment or support for design engineers here in Malaysia . One of my Malaysian engineers from Phison returned home and ended up as a teacher in a Chinese school! I was shocked and thought, 'After all that training and re-training, he is going to just teach?' I told him to hold on till I open up the Phison branch in Malaysia ."
Though he has been in Taiwan for the past 12 years and married to a Taiwanese, Pua is not sure how much longer he will remain there.
"I have really no idea where I will be in 20 years. Maybe Taiwan , maybe Malaysia , maybe somewhere else ... it all depends on my business. The industry is moving so fast that I cannot predict what or where I will be," he said.
For the moment though, Taiwan is home for Pua, his wife and two children even though he misses the Malaysian way of life.
"I come home once a year for Chinese New Year and will usually stay for about two weeks. There are several things I really miss about Malaysia . One is the food! For the past 12 years I have been craving for Malaysian food ... I miss laksa, curry noodles, chee cheong fun and all the other delicious dishes we have here.
"I also miss the lifestyle and quality of life here. When I come back, I am always amazed to see people hanging out and relaxing at mamak shops at night. In Taiwan , most people would still be at work at that time of the night!
"Before I got married, I used to work for 15 to 17 hours a day, everyday. Now that I have children, my wife has forbidden me to stay so late. Now, I go to work at 9am and come home by 11pm . These hours are quite normal for the Taiwanese."
The man who invented USB pen-drive is a young modest Malaysian who can't even get into a local University but invented the most versatile, indispensable computer peripheral today. And helped his adopted country, Taiwan made $31bil in the process. The rest is history....
