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The
Minister of Transport, Datuk Seri
Dr Ling Liong Sik called on
transport practitioners and
companies to strive for excellence
in the light of the rapid pace of
expansion of the transport
industry in the country.
“The
Transport Personality Award 2001
and the Transport Company of
Excellence serve as benchmarks for
the achievements in the transport
industry apart from giving more
credence and public
acknowledgement of the important
developments taking place in the
industry,” he said at the
presentation of the Transport
Industry Awards Nite in Subang
Jaya last week.
“The
vast improvements recorded in the
transport infrastructure of the
country will stand to be
highlighted by event such as the
Transport Industry Awards Nite. It
is indeed an effort worth
commending and one that needs the
support of all of us in the
transport industry,” he said at
the gala dinner attended by about
600 people involved and related to
the transport industry.
The
Transport Industry Personality
Award 2001 was awarded to the
executive chairman of Westport,
Tan Sri G Gnanalingam while the
Transport Company of Excellence
Award 2001 went to Halim Mazmin
Bhd.
The
recipients were selected from a
list of nominations received from
the public by a panel of judges
headed by the secretary general of
the Ministry of Transport, Datuk
Zahara Shaari.
In
the citation for the Transport
Personality Award read out by the
executive director of the
Chartered Institute of Transport
(Malaysia National Council), Major
(rtd) Albert Chong said Tan Sri
Datuk G Gnanalingam stands tall
among men (and women) who walked
the path of the transport industry
in Malaysia with ideas and dreams
larger than the self.
“Initiated
into the world of transport with
his appointment to the Board
Member of Port Klang Authority
since 1987, Tan Sri Datuk G
Gnanalingam defies conventional
wisdom and thoughts.
A
man lent to quickly turning
challenges into opportunities, Tan
Sri Datuk G Gnanalingam, became
the Executive Chairman of Kelang
Multi Terminal Sdn Bhd (Westport)
since 1996 when Malaysia’s first
green-field port was privatized.
Adopted
“flexi-port & fast-port”
approaches in advocating changes
and defying conventional practices
to cargo and ship handling,
including by implementing
integrated port charges,” the
citation read.
G
Gnanalingam, was also cited for
“de-mystifying” general
perception of the industry by the
public, making ports more
public-friendly and creating
public-awareness and adopting
“garden port concept” making
Westport probably the only such
port in the world.
He
was credited for introducing
innovative measures to win traffic
during 1997/98 financial crisis
that saw Port Klang achieving
positive growth as well as
fostered feedering to Westport as
well as for his commitment to
community and welfare causes.
The
citation for Halim Mazmin Bhd
noted that few Malaysian companies
had treaded the path Halim Mazmin
Bhd has “and fewer still
Bumiputra companies have taken
such path to success and glory in
the challenging business of
international shipping”.
“In
the field of maritime
transportation, Halim Mazmin Bhd,
forged out of an alliance between
Halim and his wife, Mazmin, has 21
years proven track record of
profitability and performance has
established standards in the
industry for others to follow.
From
its humble beginning in the
backwaters of Port Klang, HMB has
acquired worldwide reputation with
strong international links and
strategic alliances with
reputable international shipping
companies like NYK of Japan, DSR-
Senator Lines of Germany, Hanjin
of Korea and Kien Hung of
Taiwan,” the citation read.
“The
success and the resilience of the
Halim Mazmin Bhd, listed on KLSE
(Second Board) in 1996, is best
demonstrated by the fact that it
is now ready to move to the Main
Board of KLSE in October after
having the necessary approval from
regulatory agencies recently.
Halim
Mazmin Bhd has impressive
financial track record and
credentials. It has recorded
uninterrupted profit since
listing.
With
a turn over exceeding RM90
million, and offering a high
return on Shareholders’ Fund of
about 18 per cent, Halim Mazmin
has clearly established itself as
one of the most profitable Second
Board companies and remained firm
on investors and shareholders’
confidence despite the violent
fluctuations in the market,” the
citation added.
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