Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Malaysian Indians & Public Relations Industry

Receiving my Public Relations Award for Organising People's Pongal 2004
by HRH Raja Nazrin - Patron of IPRM


I was again invited to be a guest on Astro Tamil News on 17th January 2007. This time, the subject of discussion was Malaysian Indians and the Public Relations Industry.

Public Relations is a profession that I have passion in practicing. I am glad that I have decided in a profession which has thought me many good things especially in handling publics.

For your information, in Malaysia there are many great Public Relations Practitioners who are Indians. I look at them as my mentors in this Industry; Practitioners like Mr. K Haridass, Mr. Valentine Siva and the names can go on. But one person, who I really look up to in the industry is a great man by the name of DATO’ MURAD HASHIM. This man thought me Public Relations. This man gave me a break in Public Relations; this is the man – whom I label as a very liberal and open minded Malaysian. I salute him for teaching me and training me to be a good Public Relations Practitioners.

Having said all that, can Malaysian Indians do well in this Industry or is this Public Relations Industry is meant to be a position to fill the quota for Bumiputra in Malaysia. If there are anyone out there thinks that it’s a position that is to fill the Bumiputra Quota – You are wrong.

Public Relations Industry needs practitioners who are liberal in their thoughts and ideas. They have to be clear in what they objectives are. They have to know what is Public Relations is all about. Not every one has the passion in Public Relations; a person just cannot practice Public Relations because he or she likes it. They must have passion in practicing Public Relations.

Malaysian Indians can actually do extremely well in this Industry. We have the strength in Language (Most of us are at least trilingual), We are willing to work very hard and are most of the time, very honest and faithful to the job that we are paid to do. All we need to do is to get the right qualification, and then a proper training and you are on the way to become a Public Relations Practitioners.

I did mention during my interview that I am willing to assist and Malaysian Indians who would like to study Public Relations – I would love to see more and more Malaysian Indians in this Industry.

The Institute of Public Relations of Malaysia (IPRM) has actually embarked on an Accreditation system, whereby we want to ensure only qualified persons can practice Public Relations in the near future. It’s a very good scheme which was introduced 2 years ago and we have now 41 Accredited Public Relations Practitioners in Malaysia of which I am one of them.

By 2020 we believe that there will be more Public Relations Practitioners in Malaysia and we better start working hard, not only creating Doctors, Lawyers and Engineers amongst the community but also World Class Public Relations Practitioners.

I know I can be a World Class Public Relations Practitioner and so can you.

MY Views.. Public Relations Practice will teach you many things, not only practicing what you will learn, but also, it will help you to be a better person and I think the best thing I like in Public Relations is that – it teaches me to listen more than I talk.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Firstly, let me congratulate you on the resounding sucess of People's Ponggal and your interview with Astro Tamil News.

Your views of Indian in Public Relations is of much truth. It has always been my opinion that Indians are naturally good orators with the ability to accomodate all situations.

They would most definitely make excellent Public relations practitioners. However, our society is one which values professional job descriptions. PR has not been accepted within the circle. The idea of every child becoming a doctor, engineer, lawyer or IT expert is thankfully decreasing, which offers a venue for senior practitioners like Mr Kamalanathan to highlight the nature of th industry and how upbeat and rewarding it is.

Once again, congratulations on your achievements and the effort taken to make PR a valuable career option for yound Indians.

PKamalanathan said...

Dear Ms. Sharveswary,

I thank you for your kind greetings. I am glad that the idea of every child becoming a doctor, engineer, lawyer or an IT expert is decreasing. I agree with you, that we need to create an awareness campaign, not only on the Public Relations Industry, but, also other areas of profession which has got great demand and interest.