Board of Directors
WESTPORTS HOLDINGS BERHAD
+603 - 3169 4000 / 4200 pr@westports.com.my
Was appointed as Alternate Director to Ip Sing Chi, Non-Independent NonExecutive Director, on 1 July 2016.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, he worked for Peat Marwick in London where he trained as a Chartered Accountant. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Between 1992 and 2001, Mr. Ashworth worked for CK Hutchison Holdings Limited and the Hutchison Port Holdings (“Hutchison Ports”) Group in a number of senior finance and management positions. Between 2002 and 2010, he was Asia Pacific Chief Financial Officer for the Constituency Management Group, the marketing communications division of the U.S. listed Interpublic Group. Between 2010 and 2014, he was the Chief Executive Officer of PT. Hutchison Ports Indonesia where he was responsible for managing and developing Hutchison Ports’ port interests in Indonesia.
Mr. Ashworth is currently the Managing Director of South East Asia Division for the Hutchison Ports’ portfolio of companies. He is also a Director and Alternate Director of Westports Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Westports Holdings Berhad.
Hutchison Ports, through South Port Investment Holdings Limited, is a major shareholder of the Company. Mr. Ashworth, however, is not involved in the management and day-to-day operations of the Company.
Ms. Shanthi began her career in Securities Commission Malaysia in 1993 where she was part of the pioneer team that oversaw seminal law reform initiatives towards modernising and strengthening the Malaysian capital market. She was intimately involved in the development of the Finance Committee Report on Corporate Governance and the first Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance in 2000. She has also co-authored Malaysia’s reports for the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Ms. Shanthi is currently a member of the Nomination Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee upon her appointment as the Board committee member on 1 January 2018.
She has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has she any conflict of interest with the Company. She only attended one Board Meeting during the financial year following her appointment onto the Board on 1 August 2017.
Hutchison Ports, through South Port Investment Holdings Limited, is a major shareholder of the Company. Ms. Tsim, however, is not involved in the management and day-to-day operations of the Company. She attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Mr. Kim has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has he any conflict of interest with the Company. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Mr. Chan started his career in the maritime industry and has over 35 years of experience spanning South East Asia, Africa, South and West Asia. He qualified as a Master Mariner from the Government of Great Britain in 1987 prior to joining Orient Ocean Container Line (“OOCL”) Hong Kong and Japan, first serving as a Fleet Captain and later serving the OOCL Head Office in Hong Kong with responsibilities across a broad portfolio covering Operations, Audit & Risk, Consortium and Corporate Strategic Planning. Mr. Chan also represented OOCL on the Steering Committee leading to the formation of the Consortium of the Global Alliances comprising 5 major international shipping lines.
In 1997, Mr. Chan was appointed the Regional Director of OOCL Singapore and later appointed as the company’s Regional Managing Director in 2004, overseeing more than 30 countries across South East Asia, Africa, South and West Asia. He then joined China Sonangol International Singapore as its Chief Executive Officer in 2015. He recently retired from the active day-to-day operations management in China Sonangol, whilst maintaining an advisory role in the sea transportation business community.
Mr. Chan is currently a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee upon his appointment as the Board committee member on 1 January 2018.
Mr. Chan has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has he any conflict of interest with the Company. He did not attend any Board Meetings held during the financial year in review as he was only appointed as a Director of the Board on 1 January 2018.
In 1988, she became a General Manager in G-Team Consultants Sdn Bhd, which acted as the Corporate Consultant for the marketing operations of Radio Television Malaysia. Ms. Chan joined WMSB, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company in 1994 as an Executive Director and assisted in drawing up the blueprint proposal that secured the concession for Westports. She oversaw both marketing and operational leadership roles for WMSB up until 2008, especially in container operations. Since 2014, Ms. Chan has been a Non-Executive Director of PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd.
Ms. Chan was re-designated as a Non-Independent Non- Executive Director of the Company in 2008. She is currently a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee upon her appointment as the Board committee member on 1 January 2018.
She is a Non-Executive Director of Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bhd, which is a shareholder of the Company. She attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Mr. Ip has over 35 years of experience in the maritime industry. He was a member of the Hong Kong Port Development Council until the end of December 2014 and the founding Chairman (in 2000-2001) of the Hong Kong Container Terminal Operators Association Limited.
Hutchison Ports, through South Port Investment Holdings Limited, is a major shareholder of the Company. Mr. Ip, however, is not involved in the management and day-to-day operations of the Company. He attended three of four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
He began his career with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co in London, UK and has since held various key positions in a number of public listed and private companies in Malaysia, providing him with experience in property and infrastructure development, telecommunications, engineering, merchant banking and stockbroking. From 2004 to 2011, he was the Executive Director / Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, previously known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
Currently, Dato’ Yusli is an Independent Non-Executive Director on the board of AirAsia X Berhad. He also serves as an Independent Non-Executive Deputy Chairman on the board of FGV Holdings Berhad and as an Independent Non-Executive Chairman on the boards of Mudajaya Group Berhad and KPJ Healthcare Berhad respectively. He also sits on the boards of Dato’ HM Shah Foundation, Australaysia Resources & Minerals Berhad and Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance.
He also serves as the Patron of the Victoria Institution Old Boys Association. Dato’ Yusli currently serves as the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Management Committee.
He has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has any conflict of interest with the Company. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Was appointed as Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company on 30 August 2013. Tan Sri Ismail obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) Degree from University of Malaya in 1972, a Diploma in Public Administration from University of Malaya in 1975 and a Masters of Arts (Economics) from Vanderbilt University, US in 1979. He attended the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School in Boston, US in 2002.
He started his career in 1972 as an Officer of the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Service and was posted as an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Throughout his career with the civil service, he held senior positions including Chief Administrative Officer in the Department of Statistics Malaysia, Director General of the National Productivity Corporation (now known as the Malaysia Productivity Corporation), the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and the Director General of Public Service. He retired from civil service in 2010.
Currently, Tan Sri Ismail is an Independent Non-Executive Director of BIMB Holdings Berhad and an Independent Non-Executive Director of Malaysian Pharmaceutical Industries Sdn Bhd. Tan Sri Ismail served as Group Chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad since September 2011 until his retirement in August 2017.
Tan Sri Ismail is currently a member of the Nomination, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee upon his appointment as the Board committee member on 1 January 2018.
Tan Sri Ismail has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has he any conflict of interest with the Company. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Was appointed as Director of the Company on 7 September 1994. Thereafter, he was designated as Independent Non-Executive Director on 8 April 2013. He obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics and Business Administration from Georgetown University, Washington D.C., US in 1966. He has extensive managerial and business experience in various industries ranging from mining, petroleum, media, manufacturing, merchant banking and finance, stock broking, port management, trading to golf resort development.
He commenced his career in 1966 as Assistant Company Secretary with Associated Mines Sdn Bhd. Subsequently he joined Shell Malaysia Sdn Bhd in 1967. In 1971, he joined The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (“NSTP”) as Assistant General Manager and was with the company until 1991 where his last position held was as Managing Director of the NSTP Group.
Currently, Tan Sri Nik is an Independent Non-Executive Chairman of OCB Berhad and Executive Chairman of LionGold Corp Ltd, a company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. His previous appointments in Malaysian public listed companies were Independent Non-Executive Chairman of Octagon Consolidated Berhad, Chairman of QSR Brands Bhd and Non-Executive Independent Director of Camerlin Group Berhad. He also sits on the board of several other private limited companies.
Tan Sri Nik currently serves as the Chairman of the Nomination, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee and is a member of the Audit and Risk Management Committee of the Company. He has no family relationship with any director or major shareholder of the Company nor has he any conflict of interest with the Company. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
Was appointed as Director of the Company on 5 July 2005.
He attended Victoria Institution between 1989 to 1993 and later, Eton College in UK from 1994 until 1995. Datuk Ruben graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK in 1998. He also holds a diploma in Port Management awarded by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. Datuk Ruben has attended various Executive Education Programmes under the Harvard Business School such as the Senior Manager Development Programme and the Leadership Development Programme.
Datuk Ruben started his career as a trainee in WMSB in 1999 before leaving WMSB to set up a Start-up incubator known as The Makmal Group in 2000 until his departure in mid-2005. He was then appointed to the Board of the Company in July 2005 and was designated as an Executive Director in early 2006 before being appointed as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (‘CEO”) on 15 January 2009. On 1 January 2018 he was re-designated from CEO to GMD.
He is the eldest son of our Executive Chairman, Tan Sri Gnanalingam a/l Gunanath Lingam.
Datuk Ruben is the Co-Chairman of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, which participates in the English Championship and is the founder of the KL Dragons, which is actively involved in the Asean Basketball League. In 2016, Datuk Ruben became a co-owner and Board member of the Los Angeles Football Club.
Outside his professional engagements, Datuk Ruben is involved with many business and industry related groups. He is a member of the National Science Council and also the Deputy President of Kuala Lumpur Business Club Malaysia. He is a member of the Blue Ocean Corporate Council as well as the Board of Trustees of Enactus Malaysia. He is a member of the Governing Body of the World Sports Owners Summit. Additionally, Datuk Ruben is the Vice-President of the Malaysia Basketball Association and a member of the NBA Asia Advisory Board. Besides this, he is also the manager for the Malaysian National Basketball Team.
He is a Director and a shareholder of Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bhd and Semakin Ajaib Sdn Bhd which in turn hold shares in the Company. He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
was appointed as Director and Executive Chairman of the Company on 1 January 2009. Tan Sri Gnanalingam is also the Executive Chairman of WMSB a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, a position he has held since 2000. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director of WMSB from 1995 to 1999.
Tan Sri Gnanalingam attended the Royal Military College from 1960 until 1964 before obtaining his Bachelor of Arts Degree from University of Malaya in 1968. He is also an alumni of the Harvard Business School in Boston, US, having attended the School’s Advanced Management Programme in 1983.
Tan Sri Gnanalingam started his career with the British American Tobacco group in 1968 as a sales representative, and was later promoted as Marketing Director in 1980. In 1988, he started G-Team Consultants Sdn Bhd, a marketing consultancy which acted as the Corporate Consultant for the marketing operations of Radio Television Malaysia from 1988 to 2000. In 1994, Tan Sri Gnanalingam successfully secured the concession to operate Westports.
Tan Sri Gnanalingam’s efforts were recognized when he was named Transport Man of the Year in 2001 by the Ministry of Transport, Malaysia. In 2007, he received the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Platinum Award, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (“CILT”) Malaysia Achiever of the Year Award and was admitted as a Chartered Fellow by the CILT, UK. He was also presented with the Outstanding American Alumnus Award 2007 in the field of Logistics and Transport by the American Universities Alumni Malaysia. In 2017, Tan Sri Gnanalingam was awarded as the Value Creator: Most Outstanding CEO by the Edge Billion Ringgit Club for his visionary leadership excellence in transforming Westports as Port Klang’s leading terminal operator.
Tan Sri Gnanalingam previously sat on the National PEMUDAH committee from 2007 until 2012 and reappointed in 2014, a special task force set-up by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia to facilitate businesses in Malaysia by identifying improvements to existing government processes and regulations based on global benchmarking reports and public feedback. He was also appointed a member of the National Export Council in March 2015.
Tan Sri Gnanalingam is a Non-Executive Director and shareholder of Pembinaan Redzai Sdn Bhd and Semakin Ajaib Sdn Bhd which in turn hold shares in the company.
His eldest son, Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam, is the GMD of the Company.
He attended all four Board Meetings held during the financial year.
