JUDGING PANEL

Each year, ALB invites an independent judging panel of senior and expert legal industry leaders from various sectors corresponding to the diverse list of award categories. ALB is pleased to list some of the distinguished judges. The rest of the panel will be revealed on the evening of the awards.

(This page will be continuously updated. Stay tuned!)

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Ida Suryati Ab. Rahim
Group General Counsel & Company Secretary
IHH Healthcare Berhad

Ida Suryati is Group General Counsel & Company Secretary of IHH Healthcare Berhad, one of the world’s largest healthcare networks, with 80 hospitals in 10 countries.  She leads the IHH Group’s legal and company secretarial functions located in Malaysia, Singapore, India, China and Hong Kong.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws from National University of Malaysia and was admitted to the High Court of Malaya as an advocate and solicitor in 1997. She also obtained LLM(Commercial) from University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 2014 and LLM from University of Malaya, Malaysia in 2005.

She brings with her more than 25 years of experience in agribusiness, oil and gas and fast moving consumer goods companies. In her role, she was involved several IPO, mergers and acquisitions, capital market and fund raising exercise, advises on corporate governance, industrial relations, dispute resolutions and litigations in and outside Malaysia.

Alan Ho
General Counsel
Zurich Malaysia

Alan Ho is currently the General Counsel of Zurich Malaysia since 2012. He is overseeing all Legal and Company secretarial matters of Zurich Malaysia and leading a team of 9 FTE 

Zurich Malaysia consist of 4 insurance and Takaful licenses. 

He was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1994 and currently listed in Legal 500 GC Powerlist for 2023

 

Puti Mazura Mashudi
Director of Corporate Services
Lumut Naval Shipyard Sdn. Bhd. (LUNAS) (formerly known as Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn. Bhd.)

In-House Counsel with 25 years’ post graduate experience in Heavy Industries Operations.

Currently in charge of Legal Advisory, Contracts Management and Secretarial functions for the organization.

LLB Hons and LLM in Construction Law from UK Universities.

Tan Gim Boon
Group General Counsel
Axiata Group

Tan Gim Boon is the Group General Counsel for Axiata Group Berhad, an investment holding company that is listed on Bursa Malaysia. Axiata operates in South East Asia and South Asia and its businesses comprise of mobile and fibre operators, telecom towers and mobile payments. Gim has been involved with some of the ground breaking transactions in the region from the demerger of TM International from Telekom Malaysia, merger of Celcom Axiata with Digi.com and various fund raising activities, amongst others

Phyllis Tay Yen Sin
Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel
OCR Group Berhad

Phyllis is currently the Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel of OCR Group Berhad, a public company listed on the Bursa Malaysia Main Market, specialising in property development and construction. She has almost two decades of corporate legal experience and is also the certified adjudicator of Asian International Arbitration Centre.

Anita Sheila
Executive Vice President; Group Legal, Corporate & Secretarial Affairs
Asahi Holdings Southeast Asia

Anita Sheila was called to the Malaysian Bar in 2001 and has since embarked on a successful career in legal practice. She was exposed to Litigation, Conveyancing and Corporate practice from the onset of her career.  Her forte during her practising tenure was eventually in corporate litigation dealing with corporate, shareholder disputes, share restructuring schemes etc. She has since realised  that her passion and interest lie in corporate and commercial transactions, schemes and such.

Anita was presented with a golden opportunity to accept an in-house role within an esteemed organisation in Tanjung Plc-Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd. It represented the nucleus management company for business entrepreneur Ananda Krishnan’s empire of companies, which include Maxis, Tanjung and Astro to name a few. Her formidable years in this role was indeed a very steep learning curve, however, it undoubtedly provided invaluable experience in her subsequent in-house counsel roles. As part of her responsibilities in  Symphony House Berhad and current role in Asahi Holdings South East Asia,  Anita has expanded her legal and cooperate portfolio in terms of knowledge, experience and networking in various industries.  She has equipped herself with the necessary skill sets to compliment her role as General Counsel which she had obtained her qualification as a  Licensed Company Secretarial from Companies Commission of Malaysia in 2004. In her current role, which she has held for almost 10 years, Anita carries out duties as Executive Vice President, Head Group Legal, as well as Corporate and Company Secretarial Affairs. She oversees business in SEA countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia etc. Anita has had experience managing different businesses, is exposed to various industries, reports to a diverse composition of Board of Directors (BOD) and management from various continents and ethnicity.  Current BoDs and Committees she actively works with are Japanese , Australian and Malaysian. Anita has tremendous passion for her work. This is indeed an asset as it is coupled with firm ethics, full commitment, dedication and an extroverted personality, which she attributes to her successful career. Anita has many success stories to share but the most memorable to her would be her participation in Mergers & Acquisitions transactions and playing a pivotal role in concluding the transaction the satisfaction to her is being instrumental in sealing the deal as she reminisce her practice days when she won a case in court the euphoria of the moment and personal satisfaction is indescribable.

Shalinee Fernandez
Associate Director, Senior Counsel
Ansell

Shalinee Fernandez graduated with a law degree from the University of London in 1999 and the University of New England, (New South Wales) Australia respectively in 2020; and admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor to the High Court of Malaya in October 2002. She was also recently conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in International Law from Azteca University in Mexico.

A litigation and corporate lawyer with over 21 years of experience across 2 niche industries of ICT & Manufacturing, she is now the Senior Counsel Global Operations & Manufacturing in Ansell where she leads Global Procurement, Engineering and Digital Manufacturing initiatives on a global scale as well as Employment, Litigation and ESG Initiatives.Awarded as 1 of the Top 50 Legal Falcons 2021 and In House Counsel of the Year 2022 at the Lex Talk World Conference in Dubai, UAE for dynamically changing the legal landscape worldwide and impactfully contributing to the global legal industry in all her previous legal roles. She is also an avid speaker at conferences and universities for law graduates across the world.She obtained 5 consecutive recognitions from Legal 500 in the past 2 years -recognized in the GC Powerlist Southeast Asia 2022, awarded as In-House Diversity Champion at the prestigious Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards in May 2023 across 10 countries for undertaking robust CSR initiatives in Ansell in ensuring strict adherence to ILO Standards. Shalinee was also named in the Green GC Powerlist Southeast Asia 2023 for her work in Ansell undertaking sustainability projects across all its operating facilities in Asia-Pacific, and was named in the inaugural GC Powerlist Malaysia 2023 and thereafter in Legal 500 GC Powerlist South East Asia Teams in 2023. She also sits as a Global Advisory Board member in Kartavyam, a Delhi based NGO established in 2001 and a passionate animal rights welfare activist.

Nor Aida Othman
General Manager, Legal Services Division
Malaysia Airports

Aida has over 30 years of working experience in the legal industry. After being admitted to the Malaysian Bar, she joined Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad as its first legal officer and has since continued to work in the corporate sector, primarily as a legal counsel. She then joined Technology Resources Industries Berhad (the then parent company of Celcom) before moving to Malaysia Airlines and subsequently to Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad, where she is currently the General Manager of Legal Services. She has also taken on the role of company secretary in her previous employments.Aida has vast experience in corporate legal with main focus on aviation, transportation, and construction, among others. She has been involved in negotiating numerous multi-million Ringgit contracts and dispute resolution matters. On the international front, Aida has worked in Doha, Qatar when she was seconded to assist a joint venture company established between Malaysia Airports and a Qatari company. She is also involved in many negotiations involving the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, which is wholly-owned by Malaysia Airports.

Aida has been named the Malaysian Inhouse Lawyer of the Year 2022 at the ALB Law Awards 2022 organized by the Asian Legal Business. She has also received recognitions in the GC Powerlist South East Asia 2022 and the GC Powerlist Malaysia 2023 by London-based publication, Legal500. Her legal team in Malaysia Airports was named Inhouse Team of the Year in the transportation & logistics category at the ALB Law Awards for 2020 and 2021.

Fei Meng Chee
Independent Non-Executive Director
Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad

Fei Meng has about 30 years experience in corporate finance, capital markets and securities regulations having served as a legal practitioner, in house counsel in a Malaysian conglomerate, a partner in Zaid Ibrahim & Co (now known as ZICO Law), an equity capital markets banker and as a regional head of legal in CIMB Group prior to serving as the General Counsel and Executive Director of the Securities Commission  Malaysia from April 2019 to June 2022. 

Fei Meng holds a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws, both awarded by Monash University Australia and is qualified as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria as well as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.

She is currently serving on the board of Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad as an independent non-executive director.

Adliza Abdullah
Senior General Counsel
Weststar Aviation Services Sdn Bhd
 

Admitted to the Malaysian Bar
Licensed Company Secretary
Certified Integrity Officer
Has served in various capacities – Judicial & Legal Services, Percon Sdn Bhd, Malaysian International Merchant Bank Berhad, Golden Hope Plantations Berhad, Sime Darby Berhad, DRB-Hicom Berhad, EPIC Berhad.
Now approaching her 10th year with Weststar Aviation Services Sdn Bhd.

 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh
Dean, Faculty of Syariah and Law,
Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
Former Commissioner,
Human Rights of Commission of Malaysia (2016-2022)

Associate Professor Dr Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh who is the Dean, Faculty of Shariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia since 2021 has extensive experience in the world of legal education. She also became a consulting expert in various institutions through her appointment as a Board Member of AlHijrah Media Corporation, Member of the Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Council, Perak State Shariah Law Drafting Committee, Selangor State Accreditation Committee, Central Advisory Board National Anti-Drug Agency Training, Law Dean Council Member, Associate Member of the National Professor Council and Advisory Board Member of the Malaysian Shariah Justice Department Legal Journal.

Sum Wai Foong
General Counsel
Crown Worldwide Group

Sum Wai is the General Counsel in Crown Worldwide Group, a global conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong, which provides an array of services, ranging from information management, individual and office relocations, workspace solutions to fine art management. She currently heads the legal department of the group in charge of all legal matters for the group’s global operations. Her work scope encompasses mergers and acquisitions, employment, disputes and intellectual property rights. Prior to setting up the legal team in Crown Worldwide Group in Malaysia, Sum Wai has worked in Kuala Lumpur, London and Hong Kong, both in private practice and in government agency, gaining a global perspective and expertise in different areas of laws. She has experience in both disputes and corporate commercial practice areas while in private practice.

Thavakumar Kandiahpillai
President, Malaysian Corporate Counsel Association; 
General Manager for Contract Strategy, Digital Nasional Berhad

Thavakumar was called to the English and Malaysian bars and practised law until 2000, when he joined Shell Malaysia where he became General Counsel. He then moved to Sapura and now has moved into business operations as GM for Contract Strategy at Digital Nasional Berhad. 
 

Andrew Mercer
General Counsel & Director of Legal Affairs
Asian Football Confederation

Andrew is a UK-qualified lawyer with significant experience in the football sector, including roles at the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). He has a strong background in sports law, including extensive experience in commercial, event organisation/bidding and IP matters, and expertise in the disciplinary, integrity, anti-doping, regulatory, governance, arbitration and club licensing/financial fair play fields. Andrew is an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and a Legal Panel member with the English Football Association (The FA). His professional experience is complemented by relevant academic qualifications, including a master’s degree in sports governance.

Mohd Jamizal Zainol
Chairman
The Policy and Economic Affairs of Malaysia Foundation

Mohd Jamizal is currently a Chairman of the Policy and Economic Affairs of Malaysia Foundation (Yayasan Peace) and Deputy Chairman of TRADISI.

He was a Federal Counsel at the International Affairs Division, Attorney General’s Chambers, Malaysia, from 2002 until 2005. He was in charge of the Human Rights Unit dealing with International Organizations: the United Nations, Commonwealth, Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Asian African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) and ASEAN. During his sojourn in the Attorney General’s Chambers, he was entrusted to represent the Attorney General’s Chambers in various meetings at the national and international levels. He was a member of the Malaysia UNESCO Committee for Information and legal affairs, tasked to formulate policies on information and legal affairs for Malaysia’s effective participation in UNESCO.   He also represented Malaysia at the 6th Committee (Legal Affairs) of the United Nations General Assembly for 2003 and 2004. In 2005 and 2006, he was entrusted to represent Malaysia at the United Nations Working Group to formulate the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. At OIC, he represented the Attorney General Chambers at the Conference of Foreign Ministers in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Yemen. In addition, he was involved in reviewing human rights conventions in Islam under the auspices of OIC, namely the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Islam.In the domestic sphere, he was involved in various committees mandated by Malaysian Government dealing with issues related to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), Foreign Workers, Preventive Detention and the rights of a disabled person. He has written numerous articles on human rights and legal and social affairs. His works were published in international and local journals, i.e. INSAF of BAR Council, Malaysia, local magazines, Malaysiakini, and mainstream newspapers. He was on the Executive Committee for Kuala Lumpur Writers’ Guild (KALAM) from 2002 to 2006. He organised several intellectual events during his tenure, namely “Grand Dialog of National Literary Laureate”, “Seminar on Mahathir’s Paradoxes”, and “Seminar on Cyber Literature”. In 2022, he was awarded National Book Award for his book “Falsafah Politik Malaysia: Suatu Wacana Tradisi Adat dan Budaya”. His second book “Ulul Albab Mengungguli Minda Generasi Madani” published in May 2023.

Verghese Aaron Mathews
President
The Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators

Throughout his career, Aaron Mathews has had extensive experience in handling various civil and commercial litigation both as solicitor and counsel. His portfolio includes advisory and drafting work in relation to company law issues, litigation involving shareholders, contract & commercial disputes, land disputes, as well as disputes concerning the fields of construction, engineering and oil & gas.

An enduring ethos of Aaron is to give back to the community. To that end, Aaron has always volunteered his time, on a pro bono basis, as counsel in native title claims brought by the ‘Orang Asli’ in Peninsular Malaysia. Aaron is also currently the President of the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators (MIArb).

Balbeer Singh Jessy
Deputy President
The Sports Law Association of Malaysia

Balbeer Singh Jessy is a member of the Malaysian Bar and former Head of Legal & Secretarial of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority from 2011-2019.

He qualified with an LLB (Hons) from University of London and Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP), with two Masters Degrees - LLM (Corporate Law) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and MBA from the University of New England, Australia. He is also a B.A. (Hons) graduate from Universiti Sains Malaysia.Balbeer is an Accredited Chief Integrity Officer (AceIO) with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency since 2015, an Exco member of the Anti-Bribery Association of Malaysia and Transparency International Malaysia. Currently, he is the Deputy President of the Sports Law Association of Malaysia, member of the Results Management Committee of the Malaysian Anti-Doping Agency and member of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association (ANZSLA).His areas of interest are anti-corruption law, media law, sports law, and litigation public relations, among others.

Azli Nordin
Head, Legal & Compliance
Cyberview Sdn Bhd

Azli is a seasoned legal strategist having more than 24 years’ experience in wide spectrum of legal services such as property, financial services, corporate commercial, M&A, infrastructure and energy. His legal practice encompassing various role such as practicing as legal practitioner with prominent legal firm specialised in financial services, as academician attached to law faculty of a public university and as corporate legal counsel. Currently he is the general counsel of Cyberview, a government investment company spearheading the development of Cyberjaya as a technology hub for the nation.

Abdul Fareed Bin Abdul Gafoor    
Past President
The Malaysian Bar

Dato’ Abdul Fareed, an experienced legal practitioner since 1996, specialising in  General and Construction Arbitration, Construction Adjudication, Mediation,  Litigation in Corporate, General, Construction, Trust, Defamation, Negligence, and Personal Injuries. He is also an Accredited Mediator and a Notary Public. 

He serves as the President of the Strata Management Tribunal appointed by the Ministry of Housing in 2016. 

He previously served as the President of the Malaysian Bar from 2019 to 2020 and currently is a Member of the Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board. He is also the Chairman of the Malaysian International Mediation Centre (MIMC)  and serves as the Co-Chairman of the National Legal Aid Centre. 

Dato’ Abdul Fareed actively engages in legal education and mentorship, contributing his expertise to the development of future legal professionals. He frequently participates as a speaker and panelist at various legal forums and conferences, sharing valuable insights and knowledge with aspiring lawyers and practitioners. 

Salim Bashir
Past President
The Malaysian Bar

Mr. Salim Bashir is a senior practitioner with more than 25 years of experience in the legal field especially relating to criminal law. Due to his vast experience in the field and outstanding performance, he is one of the prominent criminal lawyers in Malaysia. Some of his notable cases were the Kim Jong Nam murder trial, the shooting of Aminul Rashyid (PP v Jenain), Teoh Beng Hock inquest. Further, Mr. Salim was the former President of the Malaysian Bar for the tenure of 2020/2021. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of law at UITM and an Elite fellow at the University Malaya. He was also the former Honorary Secretary of the Malaysian Bar 2019/2020. He was a Bar Council member who stood to regulate the practice of the Malaysian Bar. On top of that, Mr. Salim was also the former chairman of Selangor Bar from 2015 to 2017 and was a Bar Council representative of Selangor Bar in 2014, 2017, and 2018. Moreover, he was a former Board Member (Legal Profession Qualifying Board) LPQB 2020/2021. He also has experience as the former Co-Chairman, National Criminal Law Committee Bar Council 2014-2019 and is currently the Chairman of the Bar Council Common Bar Exam (CBE) Committee since 2020. In addition, Mr. Salim is a certified examiner and sits on the Chief Examiner Committee for Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) under the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB). His achievement also featured and dedicated to “Who’s Who on Constitution, Government, and Politics”. Due to his vast experience and knowledge in law, he has been a regular speaker at various law events locally and abroad.

Honey Tan Lay Ean

Chairperson, Family Law Committee      

Malaysia Bar Council

Honey Tan received her undergraduate education at Buckingham University, and her LLM from Warwick University. She is a member of The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, and was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1990.   

Honey works primarily on high conflict matrimonial matters. She also acts in many public interest matters, dealing with cases of equality, non-discrimination. She was amicus curiae for the Malaysian Bar in the Indira Gandhi case involving children’s rights and freedom of religion. She now acts for a Buddhist father in a similar situation. 

Recognised by UN Women as an expert on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Honey is regularly called upon by them to conduct workshops in the ASEAN region for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and human rights defenders on law and human rights using a multi-treaty approach.

Thomas Delaye

Head of Legal and Governance

Badminton World Federation

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Thomas Delaye-Fortin is Head of Legal and Governance for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) where his practice focuses on sports governance and integrity. Prior to joining BWF, Thomas was Manager of Legal Affairs for the World Anti-Doping Agency, and has since continued to be involved in sports integrity and governance. Thomas is a member of the Bar of Québec (Canada) since 2010, having graduated from the University of Sherbrooke and subsequently obtained an MBA from INSEAD, in Singapore.

 

Melissa Chia
General Counsel
L'Oréal Malaysia

Ranjeeta Kaur
Chairperson
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Malaysia Branch

 

...and more!

*listed in no particular order