IT WAS a pleasant evening of appreciation, networking and knowledge-sharing at the SOBA Prestige 2022 event to celebrate the past winners of the Star Outstanding Business Awards.
The exclusive event was specially curated for the SOBA alumni from over a decade since 2010, as well as SOBA sponsors and partners.
Held at Skyhill International at the Avante Hotel in Petaling Jaya on Feb 16, the theme for this year’s event was “Stylishly Asean”.
Apart from mingling with like-minded entrepreneurs to explore networking and business opportunities, the attendees were treated to a 15-minute live performance by chef Daniel Cheong from Avante’s Romani restaurant.
Rotol Group’s Chua (left) making his welcoming remarks at the SOBA Prestige 2022 event at Avante Hotel, Petaling Jaya. — Photos by GLENN GUAN and IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
He prepared canapes of Cold Buckwheat Noodles with dashi stock, shoyu, white truffle oil, wasabi aioli, ocean trout and nori sheet, as well as his signature mushroom soup, among others.
The in-house live band provided entertainment with familiar songs, while there were also King Cole and Romani voucher giveaways and lucky draw prizes.
In his opening remarks, Star Media Group (SMG) chief executive officer Alex Yeow welcomed the entrepreneurs who excelled in their respective fields and played an important role in supporting the Malaysian economy through their business ventures.
“Through this gathering, we hope to reconnect, form new bonds that go beyond business, and foster a new generation of thought leaders.
“It is also our way of expressing thanks to all of you for being an essential part of SOBA,” he said.
He added that SOBA had now recognised more than 603 outstanding companies for the past 12 years.
In attendance at the event was SMG chief content officer Esther Ng and Carlsberg marketing activation assistant manager Andel Khoo.
Rotol Group founder and group managing director Datuk Seri Garry Chua said SOBA was different from the rest.
“It is unique as it carries a lot of prestige and recognition for the winners.
Tio (middle) and his team from PKT Logistics Group at the SOBA Prestige 2022 event.
“Networking sessions like these provide a good opportunity for people to kickstart business relationships and meet new people after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are more than honoured to sponsor this prestigious event, thanks to Star Media Group for this collaboration,” he said.
PKT Logistics Group chief executive and managing director Datuk Seri Michael Tio said they expected the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for the upcoming SOBA awards to be more aggressive and versatile.
“Those days, SMEs did not like to go for awards as they liked to keep a low profile.
“But now, they have been participating in awards like SOBA for the last 10 years, and the quality is getting better.
“I foresee the upcoming SOBA to include participants getting their name out and reactivating their branding post-Covid,” he said.
Soon (second from right) from Digi Enterprise Sales (SME) together with his team members.
Apart from networking, he added that SMEs should be looking at mentoring relationships to connect with potential senior CEOs from large corporations to help manoeuvre their businesses.
Digi Enterprise Sales (SME) head Steven Soon advised the SOBA winners to continue striving for excellence.
“It is important for the winners to continue embracing digitisation, because it’s important after Covid-19 and it will be the new norm for businesses to expand.
“Kudos to SOBA for this networking session, as it helps SMEs to know more people within and outside the industry, but winners must continue to join different types of forums for digitisation as technology is evolving,” he opined.
TalentCorp Group chief operating officer Siva Kumeren is confident that SOBA winners will serve as role models for other businesses to continue contributing to Malaysia’s economic growth.
“These businesses and enterprises can also participate in TalentCorp’s programmes and work with us in nation building and facilitating global talent,” he said.
RHB Bank Bhd SME Engagement head Sim Ee Chiew (left) with Yip (right) and their team members at the SOBA event.
Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia chief risk officer K.Perbagaran said they had programmes such as “Beyond Guarantees” to groom SMEs to get new business opportunities.
“For example, we help global producers who want to put their products on local market shelves, and assist them to get on the export market,” he said.
Matrade strategic planning division senior director Raja Badrulnizam Raja Kamalzaman said the SOBA gala night would inspire many companies to participate in more business overseas and maintain competitive advantage and resilience.
“It will be a challenging year globally, but by working with SMG and SOBA, we hope Matrade members will continue to expand and adopt new business practices to go abroad,” he said.
Raja Badrulnizam added that the opportunities created by SOBA enabled companies to think of new ways to do business, especially in digitisation to gain an upper hand.
Raja Badrulnizam (middle) with his team from Matrade.
RHB Bank Bhd’s SME banking head Yip How Nang said as the economy continued to gear towards practices that enabled a better world, RHB expected the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) elements to be featured heavily among the winners.
“We also believe ESG will become a competitive edge as well as the building blocks of any business going forward,” he said.
SOBA 2022 is organised by SMG with Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd, Digi, PKT Logistics Group and RHB Bank Bhd as main sponsors; TalentCorp Malaysia as a co-sponsor; and Matrade as the official trade promotion partner.
Supported by Bursa Malaysia, it is audited by BDO, with 988 and Suria as official media partners.
For more information on SOBA 2022, call SMG Events at 017-231 1789 or visit www.soba.com.my
