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©New
Sunday Times (Used by permission)
by Tunku Abdul Aziz
THERE was much excitement last Thursday, even among Malaysia’s usually blasé and
jaded top-drawer corporate elites. The 16 specially invited guests were not
disappointed in the least with their encounter of the royal kind.
An exclusive Silver Book Roundtable (named after Khazanah’s
famous roadmap to ethical governance and corporate responsibility) was organised
jointly by Khazanah National Berhad and the Caux Round Table Malaysia for Her
Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, here on a
two-day working visit with her husband, His Majesty King Abdullah II.
[The Caux Round Table (CRT) is an international network of experienced business
leaders, who work with business and political leaders to strengthen private
enterprise and public governance.]
She obviously is not just any royal: she has given “inclusiveness” a totally new
meaning as she believes that making the world a better and safer place for all
must involve every one of us.
For her, the time to make a difference to the world is now, today — not
tomorrow. The range of her direct involvement in worldwide philanthropic work is
extraordinarily diverse.
Her interests and concerns are in social and economic issues
such as the empowerment of women, child safety and welfare, education,
sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.
It was clear from her opening remarks that she was totally driven by her mission
to do all in her power not merely to draw attention to the plight of the world’s
marginalised classes, but also to use her very considerable international
influence to persuade governments, as well as companies all over the world, to
do much more than just charitable giving.
Raja Datuk Seri Arshad Raja Tun Uda, in his capacity as a member of the Khazanah
National Board, welcomed Her Majesty in warm and elegant terms, sharing with
those present what Her Majesty had earlier mentioned to him; the last time she
was in Kuala Lumpur, the construction of the Petronas Twin Towers was in
progress, and he hoped she would not wait too long before visiting Malaysia
again.
He then went on to outline the many corporate social responsibility initiatives
undertaken by government-linked companies, as well as a select few private
sector companies, as part of their contribution to the national development
agenda.
The honour of moderating these high-powered discussions fell on me as president
of CRT Malaysia, and it was no sinecure, I can assure you, given that we had
less than an hour with everybody wanting the floor. In the end, many had to be
denied an opportunity to speak.
Although protocol was kept to a minimum, I was always conscious that I was
seated on her right with Raja Arshad on her left, and she was someone special,
not so much because of her royal credentials but for what she represents as a
fighter for social justice and an unselfish and caring voice of compassion for
those the world appears to have forgotten.
Her sheer presence was enough to induce my Malaysian colleagues to switch off
their mobile telephones without my having to remind them to do so.
That was clearly a sign of respect for Her Majesty that so many were prepared to
make what was tantamount to a supreme sacrifice; life with an immobilised
telephone. I am sure Her Majesty appreciated that sacrifice in deference to her
silent wish.
She was most interested in listening to the many success stories told by top
executives representing such key corporate players as Sime Darby, Telekom
Malaysia Berhad, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Hong Leong Bank among others.
She asked penetrating questions, and was particularly pleased to hear about the
Pintar programme in which corporations adopt schools in the poorer areas of the
country, which is similar to her own programme in Jordan.
There was much to share between our two countries and she was happy with the
outcome of the meeting.
Her Majesty was delighted to listen to what Datuk Zarinah Anwar, the gracious
and charming Chairman of the Securities Commission, had to say about the work of
her organisation, in particular the encouragement and promotion, among
public-listed companies, of corporate social responsibility in the larger
context.
Yvonne Chia, the engaging Group Managing Director of Hong Leong Bank, had a
story about the extent of community work carried out by the bank that came as a
complete surprise to us all.
The sheer scale of the programme is impressive, but what struck us all was what
Yvonne said about her policy of not giving cash directly, but being directly
involved from beginning to end of a chosen project so that her organisation
could influence its outcome. This was a point that was well taken by our royal
visitor.
While one was naturally greatly struck by her beauty and grace, one’s lasting
impression of Queen Rania was her ability to establish immediate rapport with
all, the mighty and the humble.
I noticed particularly how she made a special point to seek out and shake hands
with the girls manning the reception counter and junior office staff at Khazanah.
The only other person I knew who displayed the same charming and caring
attributes was our own much loved prince, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.
There is something eternally magical about the easy manner of these two that
marks them out in any situation. I can only put it down to respect for common
humanity and upbringing. I wish Her Majesty every success in the monumental
tasks that she sets out to overcome for those who desperately need a helping
hand.
All this rubbing shoulders with royalty is something one could quite easily get
used to, which reminds me of another encounter, and this time, with the Queen of
England.
This was in the late eighties. Her Majesty, who was the Patron of the Royal
Over-Seas League, had not visited the ROL clubhouse for 10 years, and a visit
was overdue.
I was then a member of the central committee, a position of great prestige and
honour that one was invited to accept. All very civilised.
The security involved in having the Queen and Prince Philip over at Park Place
was extremely tight, hardly surprising given the spate of Irish Republican Army
attacks on key targets. They, having assassinated Lord Louis Mountbatten some
years earlier, would have loved nothing better than blowing up the Queen of
England.
Scotland Yard “swept” the premises several times to satisfy themselves that the
place was absolutely clean from a security point of view.
Two or three days before the visit, an explosive device was discovered attached
to the chair reserved for the Queen.
There was naturally a great flurry of activity to find out who was behind it
all.
A few days before the discovery, the Irish kitchen assistant had disappeared.
The device was to be detonated by remote control. In the event, no harm was
done.
For the Queen’s visit, the club’s life members were specially invited to London
to be introduced to Her Majesty. Each central committee member was assigned a
group of rather elderly gentlemen, almost all in their eighties, to present to
the Queen.
I had 12 in my group, all either retired generals or admirals, and to a man,
they had double-barrelled names, and my job was to introduce each one by title
and name.
I spent many sleepless nights trying to remember all those strange names, and
really dreaded the moment when, accompanied by the President of ROL, the Queen
and Prince Philip walked purposefully to my little patch in the big drawing
room.
I was never more frightened in my life, in case I got the names mixed up. The
only consolation was that nearly all the old boys on parade under my command
were quite deaf and hopefully they would not notice if I had given their names
to the others.
I got through that ordeal in one piece, but I became disorientated for a few
days afterwards.
Other encounters with the Queen, such as the ones on the Royal Yacht Britannia
in the Bahamas and Carcosa in Kuala Lumpur, were rather less stressful and more
enjoyable.
Did I not tell you that royalty can produce strange effects on one?
The writer is President of the Caux Round Table Malaysia and Chairman of
the Kuala Lumpur Panel of the British Malaysian Society. He can be contacted at
tunkua@gmail.com
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Circular No 304/2008 : Invitation - HR Debate 2008
