Directors Bio Profile
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Directors Bio Profile

As at 23 January 2019
Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad bin Abdul Majid
Independent, Non-Executive Director

Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad bin Abdul Majid was appointed by Khazanah Nasional Berhad as Chairman of the Board of CDC on 1 January 2015. Previously, he was the Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad from 2003 to 2014, before being designated Advisor to the Group, a position he held until 2017.

Tan Sri Bashir began his career upon joining Malaysia Airlines as a founding member of the staff when the airline was first established. During his 29-year tenure at the airline, he held a number of senior positions and served various departments ranging from planning, marketing and sales through to operations. He also served many industry committees during this time.

Subsequent to his tenure at Malaysia Airlines, he was appointed by the Government to be the Aviation Advisor to the Ministry of Transport where he provided guidance on policies made by the Ministry to support the growth of the aviation industry in Malaysia.

Tan Sri Bashir was also the President of Airports Council International Asia Pacific Region from 2010 - 2014. Currently, he is an Advisor to GMR Airports Ltd, a company based in Bengaluru, India that develops, manages and operates international airports. He is also a Board Member of the Airports Council Asia Pacific World (Honorary). He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Hons) majoring in International Relations from University of Malaya.

Dato’ Tharuma Rajah
Independent, Non – Executive Director

Dato’ Tharuma Rajah is the Senior Advisor to Korn Ferry Hay Group based in the firm’s Kuala Lumpur office.  He formerly served as the Regional Managing Director of ASEAN, India, Pacific and Africa Operations at Hay Group and was also a member of its Global Leadership Team and International Partner of Hay Group.  Prior to this, he had a 12-year stint with National Semiconductor, a Silicon Valley based American multi-national company.  

Dato’ Tharuma has extensive experience in human resource management, strategy formulation, compensation, training development, and industrial relations.  He has consulted across a whole spectrum of industries ranging from finance, telecommunications, oil and gas, manufacturing, fast moving consumer goods and the public sector. He has helped organisations develop and implement talent and leadership transformation interventions and has served as an Executive Coach to many Fortune 500 business leaders in Asia Pacific and the United states.

Dato’ Tharuma holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of London and was called to the Bar of England and Wales where he is a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, United Kingdom. Dato’ Tharuma also sits on the Board of Trustees for Teach for Malaysia.

Dato’ Boonler Somchit
Independent, Non – Executive Director

Dato’ Boonler helmed the Penang Skills Development Centre (“PSDC”) as CEO for 25 years from its inception to February 2014. The PSDC is the first tripartite, industry-led skills training and education centre in Malaysia. The Centre has trained over 150,000 participants through more than 7,000 courses, pioneered local industry talent development initiatives, assisted in the input and formulation of national policies pertaining to human capital development and contributed directly to the Malaysian workforce transformation initiative.

An Honours graduate of Ecology from University Malaya, Dato’ Boonler Somchit started his career at the same university and left 6 years later as an Assistant Registrar. He went on to hone his management skills at the ASEAN Food Handling Bureau, and later became the Registrar at Sunway College. He has also sat on various panels and committees related to, among others, human resource, technology, entrepreneurship and industry development. Examples of this include Digital Malaysia Embedded System Funding Evaluation Committee (MDec), Ahli JK Penilaian Skim Geran Penyelidikan Pembangunan Prototaip Fasa 1/2011 (Ministry of Higher Education) and various committees in MITI.

Latifah M. Daud
Non – Independent, Non – Executive Director

Latifah M. Daud is one of the Senior Leadership Team members at Khazanah Nasional Berhad serving as Head of Strategic Human Capital Management. She joined Khazanah on 1 April 2015.

Prior to joining Khazanah, she was the Senior Staffing Director for Honeywell Inc. for over seven years. In this role, she helped Honeywell in their strategic expansion in High Growth Regions covering specific assignments in Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia and South East Asia. Latifah was also responsible for supporting talent acquisition for Global Honeywell Technology Solutions function with operations in Bangalore, Shanghai and Brno, Czech Republic.

From 1994 to 2007, she worked in various HR functions in Motorola/Freescale Semiconductor. Prior to that, she worked for a consulting firm, Hatibudi Nominees/Renong Group, and Arab Malaysian Bank. She has over 20 years of Human Resources experience in multinational companies. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration and Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Management.

Shahryn Azmi
Non – Independent, Executive Director

Shahryn Azmi was appointed by Khazanah Nasional Berhad as Chief Executive Officer of CDC on 1 January 2015.  He is recognised for his vast experience in specialist support for companies in transition i.e. organisations that have just experienced a merger or acquisition, change in strategy, technology or deregulation. This experience was enhanced when he was the Country Manager of Right Management Consultants Pty Ltd from 2003-2005 where he was responsible not just for its career transition capabilities but also for expanding the range of the company's management consulting capabilities as well as extending the client base to include Malaysian companies. 

Prior to CDC, Shahryn Azmi was the Asia Director and Partner at Jack Rouse Associates, a global leader in exhibition and attraction design, a position he held from 2009 - 2014. He was also the Executive Director of YKSM Centre for Leadership Development Sdn Bhd, as organisational consulting group with particular focus on human capital development, for more than three years.  Prior to that, he worked in multiple countries overseas, career spanning over 25 years, with experience managing small and large-scale operations in a range of industries covering strategic and organisational consulting, market intelligence and research, IT and telecommunications, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.

He holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University with a focus on International Defense Policy and Security and International Corporate Law, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics.

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