MARCH-APRIL , 2023 | THE HEALTH

BELVINDER Kaur Sron was appointed the new CEO of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council ( MPOC ) from Feb 15 , 2023 .

She takes over from Wan Aishah Wan Hamid who resigned last month . Wan Aishah was appointed to the MPOC ’ s board in November 2021 .

“ Her appointment has gone through the required processes both at MPOC Board of Trustees and the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities before it was given the final approval by the minister ,” MPOC said in a statement .

She takes over from Wan Aishah Wan Hamid , who resigned last month . Wan Aishah was appointed to the MPOC ’ s board in November 2021 .

MPOC ’ s mission is to advance the market penetration of Malaysian palm oil and its products by improving the perception of palm oil , fostering greater consumer acceptance of palm oil , and raising public awareness of the many technological and economic benefits ( techno-economic benefits ) and environmental sustainability associated with palm oil .

Belvinder graduated with a Bachelor ’ s Degree ( Hons ) in Communication from University Kebangsaan Malaysia in 1989 . She graduated from the Harvard Executive Program in 2014 and holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow , UK .

She began working for the MPOC in 1994 , and in 2016 was promoted to Deputy CEO .

She is involved in global palm oil marketing and has led international public affairs campaigns since 2009 to combat anti-palm oil sentiments .

She is also a non-executive director at United Plantations Berhad , a Bursa Malaysialisted company .

GETTING into a prestigious US university is the ultimate dream for many high-achieving students . Despite the benefits , some scary odds may deter some students from applying .

For instance , out of a pool of 55,471 applicants to Stanford University ’ s Class of 2025 , only 2,190 received offers of admission or an admission rate of 3.95 per cent .

Class of 2009 Stanford graduate Atiqah Nadiah Zailani is one of them . “ I get asked a lot about how I got into Stanford , and the answer is simply that I applied . A lot of people sabotage themselves by not even trying ,” the 35-year-old was quoted by Study International .

“ I was lucky that I managed to get accepted , and I believe that beyond my

grades , my co-curricular activities and strong recommendation letters from my teachers definitely helped .

Zailani was also one of the few Stanford University undergraduate students permitted to start her Master ’ s programme while still completing her Bachelor ’ s degree . Despite a full course load , she completed both programmes concurrently , which led her to graduate in 2009 with two qualifications instead of one .

She returned to Malaysia and served the government through national strategic planning and implementation work , and she has since moved on to be a technical advisor for Ivory Coast . She also does strategic advising for UN-HABITAT , a body of the United Nations that focuses on urbanisation in Malaysia .

Atiqah Nadiah Zailani

DR KELVIN Loh Chi-Keon resigned as IHH Healthcare Berhad ’ s Managing Director and CEO , effective Feb 22 , 2023 .

IHH Healthcare listed “ voluntary resignation ” as the reason for the Singaporean ’ s departure from the organisation in a filing with Bursa Malaysia . “ He has resigned from all offices held in IHH and IHH group of companies as nominee or representative of any IHH Group company ,” said the group ’ s spokesperson .

Loh , 49 , took over as the group ’ s CEO and Executive Director in July 2019 , succeeding Dr Tan See Leng . In January 2020 , he took over as MD and CEO .

He first joined IHH Group in 2008 . Between 2008 and 2017 , he held a number of senior management roles before taking over as the CEO for its Singapore operations division ( now known as IHH Healthcare Singapore ), covering , among other services , the four multi-speciality tertiary hospitals ; Mount Elizabeth , Mount Elizabeth Novena , Gleneagles and Parkway East .

DATUK Harjeet Singh has retired as Secretary- General of the Ministry of Health Ministry ( MoH ). He was appointed Secretary-General of the Ministry in April 2022 . Before that , Harjeet , 60 , was the Ministry ’ s Deputy

Secretary-General ( Management ).

He has vast experience in planning , human resource management , and policy and had previously served as the Director-General of the Public Complaints Bureau .

He also served as Deputy Secretary-General at two ministries between August 2001 and June 2016 . They were the Ministry of Energy , Green Technology and Water and the Ministry of Women , Family and Community Development .

Harjeet holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ohio University , Columbus , US , and has been in the civil service for 33 years . He joined the service as an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer on Aug 1 , 1989 .