From CEOs to directors, meet the leading women of corporate Malaysia

In August 2023, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia announced Amanda Zhang as the new CEO and president of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia and head of region for Mercedes-Benz SEA II. Prior to this role, Zhang was CEO at Mercedes-Benz Romania, where she drove sales growth and electrification strategies and revitalised the dealer network.

Her impressive journey within Daimler spans over 20 years, marked by successful international projects and contributions to the brand’s evolution, including the remarkable ‘Journey to China’ initiative, which saw the relocation of all wholesale operations from Hong Kong to Beijing.

A. K. Chong joined Intel in 1991, beginning her journey as a product quality engineer after graduating from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Kuala Lumpur with an electrical engineering degree. Today, the Kedah-born engineer heads one of Intel’s four advanced assembly test manufacturing factories in Malaysia. 

As the managing director at Intel Malaysia, A. K. Chong holds a pivotal role. She is also the general manager of the System Integration & Manufacturing Services (SIMS) operations in the Assembly Test Manufacturing (ATM) group at Intel Corporation. Her passion for nurturing talent is a key factor in her success, and her leadership and influence are felt throughout the organization. 

She is the founding chair of the Malaysia Women Leadership Development Steering Committee, which aims to develop women leaders and establish strategies for women’s progression and advancement in Intel. Through platforms like the Malaysia Women at Intel Network, she actively shares personal experiences on leading a successful career as a working mother and daughter caring for elderly parents.

Yong Su-Lin, the first female managing director of Lendlease Malaysia, has over 25 years of experience in finance, banking, advisory, and real estate–formerly the CEO of Sentral REIT. A working mother herself, Yong speaks openly about the challenges of being a working parent, in particular about her experience of being appointed CEO in her previous company after just giving birth to her first child.

At the Malaysian arm of leading Australian property developer Lendlease, she speaks highly of family-friendly policies, mentioning programmes such as the Ignite initiative for mentoring future female leaders and revealing that women make up approximately 41 per cent of Lendlease’s workforce. Yong champions inclusivity in construction, emphasising that diverse perspectives strengthen the industry and encourage female participation.

See also: What I learned from failure: Female leaders weigh in on hard lessons at work

Vidhya Ganesan, managing partner of McKinsey & Company Malaysia, has a rich career spanning public, telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors. Based previously in Sri Lanka, she co-led McKinsey’s office there and spearheaded large-scale digital transformations across Asia.

Vidhya has been instrumental in guiding governments on digital strategies, improving service delivery, and boosting operational efficiency. A leader in digital government and economy, she has helped create blueprints for Asian and Scandinavian nations. Vidhya also champions diversity, co-leading McKinsey’s initiatives for gender parity and inclusion across Asia.

Don’t miss: Meet the 3 Malaysian women on Forbes’ 50 Over 50 Asia 2024 List

Nurlin Mohd Salleh has been with the global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for over 16 years, following her role as a market planner at Procter & Gamble in the UK. She was appointed managing partner, director and elected head of BCG in 2023, leading its public sector practice within Malaysia and working closely with government officials on initiatives and policies relating to economic development, education and more.

Responsible for building a strong internal community, Nurlin is passionate about developing and mentoring female leaders within the organisation, engaging in sharing sessions and other forms of workplace support through its company-wide programme known as “Women at BCG”.

With previous CEO roles at AmInvestment Bank and Hong Leong Investment Bank and over 30 years ofyears’ experience in Islamic finance and digital banking, Raja Teh Maimunah was appointed CEO of Malaysia’s first Islamic digital bank, AEON Bank, in 2022. AEON Bank is equally held by AEON Financial Service, a Japanese-based financial group with roots in the retail sector in 10 countries across Asia. 

Read more: How effective is Budget 2024 for the average Malaysian woman?

Under her leadership, AEON Bank aims to serve Gen Z, Alpha customers, and small businesses, blending technology with tradition. Raja Teh, a chartered banker and a chartered professional in Islamic finance, also serves on various boards, including KWAP (Kumpulan Wang Persaraan) and AWAN (Amanah Warisan Negara). 

Tan Hooi Ling, co-founder and former CEO of Grab, is a trailblazer among Southeast Asia’s female entrepreneurs. After transitioning to an advisory role at the end of 2023, she leaves behind a legacy of innovation and hands-on leadership in the company’s technology operations, which she headed for nearly a decade. Under her leadership, Grab expanded from a ride-hailing app to a comprehensive platform offering food delivery, digital payments, and more.

Tan, a Harvard MBA graduate, is proud of fostering an environment at Grab where experimentation is encouraged, emphasising, “It’s very ok to experiment, it’s very ok to fail. But we need to know the definition of success beforehand.”

Penang-born Dr Jasmine Begum has been a key figure in the local tech industry since 2010. Based in Kuala Lumpur, she oversees corporate affairs, government relations, policy engagement, and philanthropy for Microsoft across the ASEAN region.

With over 20 years of award-winning experience, including roles at Dell Malaysia and the United Nations, Jasmine is a seasoned expert in legal and policy engagement. Holding a double degree in law and a PhD in business and human rights, she has been a visionary advocate for digital-native policies. Her membership in the Internet Governance Forum’s 2022 Multistakeholder Advisory Group is a testament to her inspiring vision.

The CEO of Malaysia’s first digital bank to go to market (one of only five digital banks to obtain a licence from Bank Negara), Pei-Si Lai and her team are deeply committed to financial inclusion and resilience, reinventing banking experiences for Malaysians who have been overlooked or underserved by traditional institutions. 

Lai and her team are determined to address Malaysians’ lack of access to affordable financial products and services with the use of cutting-edge technology and data-driven insights to develop tailored solutions that empower the underserved.

A second-generation business leader with a passion for sustainable city planning, Sarena Cheah has held many hats at Sunway Berhad since joining its corporate finance and group internal audit divisions in 1995. In 2015, she became managing director of the group’s property division, Sunway Property, for Singapore and Malaysia. In this role, she spearheads the development of its green-certified properties and oversees its ESG goals in line with Malaysia’s transition to a low-carbon and sustainable economy and a net zero greenhouse gas emission nation by 2050. 

Cheah is also a board member of Sunway REIT Management, manager of the Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust, as well as a member of the national committee of Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia (REHDA). 

In 2023, Sunway Property recorded an unbilled revenue of almost RM4.1 billion and launched projects worth RM4.4 billion. Aside from its famously successful property projects within Malaysia, Sunway Property boasts an international portfolio with properties in China, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Singapore.

Hooi Ching Wong took over the helm of JP Morgan Malaysia in 2022, at that time becoming the only female head of a commercial bank in Malaysia. With over 25 years of banking experience and multiple senior roles in various global banks operating in the Asia Pacific region, Wong was formerly with JP Morgan Chase Bank Berhad, Malaysia, where she was the head of treasury services and ASEAN Lead for treasury services products. She has also led illustrious careers at institutions like Citibank, Standard Chartered Malaysia, and at ABM AMRO Bank or the Royal Bank of Scotland, in Malaysia.   

NOW READ

Top of Her Game: Feon Ang on the value of teamwork, sport's role in developing an agile mindset and how basketball and business are complementary

Asia’s top female fencers at the Paris 2024 Olympics show us how far women have come

Datin Dr Valerie Mashman’s new book captures Long Peluan history through a personal lens