Human Governance Founders

This well-known quote by Aristotle best summarizes the late Prof. Dr. Arfah’s philosophy on education. For those who have known her would attest that the late Prof. Dr. Arfah dedicated her life to champion Human Governance largely in the education sphere, for she believed that Human Governance is the pathway towards actualizing future leaders who are at once knowledgeable, competent and morally grounded – the whole human that Malaysia’s education is aiming to nurture. Her commitment to the Malaysian education arena was unwavering and her contributions in education in terms of ideas, initiatives and efforts, many, for she believed that education is one of the vital and meaningful paths to a better society. 

Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh began her career in finance as a fund manager in London. She left to join Academia and went on to serve at the highest administrative and management positions as Vice-Chancellor and President of two private universities. She had written various books and journal articles including co-authored with Dato’ Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad, a book entitled "Human Governance: A Paradigm Shift in Governing Corporation" published by MPH; and a monograph for the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) on “Soulful Stewardship: Steering Corporation through Human Governance”. Her journey in the academic world involved leading a team that was able to, for the first time in Malaysian history; change the status of a faculty of a public university to a private university that had autonomy and stewarded by a not-for-profit foundation. This experience placed Prof. Arfah among a handful of Malaysians with the expertise and successful track record to accomplish the feat.

Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh held international patents for her courseware in Accounting which won her the Female Inventor 2005 award at the International Federation of Investors' Association (IFIA) in Geneva, Switzerland. She was also an award recipient for the 20 Notable Malaysian Investors in the Coffee-Table book published by the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS) 2011, Wanita Kedah Cemerlang 2005, Excellent Scientist 2005 award recipient from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and achieved second place in the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) Articles Merit Award in 2010 for an article co-written with Prof. Dato' Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad. The article also earned Prof. Arfah a finalist ranking in the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) Articles Merit Award in 2009. She was also a special member with Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) (Australia) and Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

She was at the national level, a Committee Member for Governance at Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS), a Member at the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB), a Committee Member for the Industry-Academic Initiative at Delloitte Consulting Group, Advisor to the Ministry of Education for the development of SPM accounting subject curriculum and Teacher Training, a Panelist for SETARA ratings for Universities and University Colleges, an Adjunct Professor at Sunway University, an Honorary Professor at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), among others.

Internationally, Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh was an Advisor to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Florida, USA , the Asia Pacific Advisory Board Member and Deputy Chairman of the Peer Review Committee for The Alliance on Business Education and Scholarship for Tomorrow ABEST 21 Program in Tokyo, Japan, an Advisor for the Implementation of ICT in Accounting Programs at the University of Applied Sciences, Tampere, Finland, and had been guest speaker in various international conferences and forums such as a talk show sponsored by the Ministry of Education Maldives, a speaker at the Business School Deans conference in San Diego, California, United States of America and a speaker at The 5th International Business School Shanghai Conference in Shanghai, China. She was also the Advisor to the Research Program in Humanising of Management Education, a project funded by the Japanese based business programs international accreditation body ABEST21 and UNESCO.

Towards the end of her professional career, Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh founded Human Governance Institute Inc. (HGII) as the official vehicle to spread awareness of Human Governance (HG). To her, HG is about the actualization of the meaning of being human as the basis of life whether in the private, public, or workplace space founded upon an Eastern, intellectual, integral thought and tradition paralleled by quantum physics. Her belief in HG as the pathway to nurturing humans saw her be invited as the subject matter expert on the concept and application of human governance to the Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) in preparation of the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) including presenting to the Jawatankuasa Khas Kabinet Mengenai Anti Rasuah (JKKMAR) in 2019.

Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh left this world not only successful in her professional career, but also in her personal capacity. She lived the most authentic life, embodying HG to her last breath. Leaving a vast of knowledge passed onto her students and the HGII team, her belief in HG will continue to live on in those whom she has touched.

 

Dato’ Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad holds a degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from King’s College University of London, a master’s degree in Nuclear Reactor Science & Engineering from Queen Mary University of London, a doctoral degree in Reactor Neutron Physics from Imperial College London, read Law at King’s College University of London, specializing in the Soviet Legal System and was awarded the Cameron Waller Prize in Law. His work experiences spanned various industries including, corporate, nuclear and academia both in Malaysia and internationally.

He was previously a member of the Board of Directors ValueCAP Sdn Bhd, the investment holding company equally owned by KWAP, PNB and Khazanah Nasional (2007 – 2014), a Member of Board of Directors & Executive Director at i-VCap Management Sdn Bhd, the first Islamic Exchange Traded Fund. He was also the First Principal Licence holder (November 2007) and MyETF-DJIM25 was listed on the Main Board of Bursa Securities on January 31, 2008. Prior to that he was a Member of Board of Directors at the Islamic Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd (2004-2008), a Member of Board of Directors Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd and played a significant role in several corporate strategy initiatives including the takeover of Malaysia Mining Corporation Bhd for the AlBukhary Group in 2001. He was also the Group Financial Advisor for Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd in 2002 and a licensed fund manager in both domestic Kuala Lumpur & offshore Labuan.

His background as a nuclear scientist saw him being appointed as the First Chairman of Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation (MNPC). During the Fukushima Crisis, as Chairman of MNPC, Dato’ Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad provided regular briefs to the Oil Gas & Energy (OGE) National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) Steering Committee Chairman, the Prime Minister at his office in Parliament Building and in Putrajaya. He is also a registered international expert with the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA.

Dato’ Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad’s foray into academia began as a Professor of Practice of Risk Management at the then Graduate School of Management in Universiti Putra Malaysia, which later became Putra Business School where he met the current Dean at the time, Prof. Dr. Arfah Salleh. This was how they had co-founded Human Governance through their seminal book, “Human Governance: A Paradigm Shift in Governing Corporation” published by MPH. His experiences in academia continued on when he became the Professor & Rector/Chief Executive of International Islamic University College Selangor (KUIS) for three years assuming office in April 2010. He later then became a Trustee of Putra Business School Foundation, a Member of Board of Governors Putra Business School, a Distinguished Fellow at Putra Business School and Chairman of the Board of Governors at UNITAR International University.

As part of his community/national service, Dato’ Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad has served three 2-year terms as independent investment panel member of Lembaga Tabung Haji (2001 – 2007), as the Timbalan Pengerusi Lembaga Pemegang Amanah, Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) and as Ahli Jawatankuasa Lembaga Zakat Selangor (MAIS) 2018 – 2020 (second appointment). He was also Ahli Majlis Agama Islam Selangor from 2018 to 2020 and Ahli Lembaga Pemegang Amanah Lembaga Zakat Selangor (MAIS) (first appointment 2009 – 2015).

Internationally, his engagements include being a part of the team for the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA in December 2013 Workshop for Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sultanate of Oman, being invited as a subject matter expert to explore the applicability of financing mechanisms from the perspective of Islam for possible construction of nuclear power plants by Dr Alexander Bychkov, the Deputy Director General of IAEA to their headquarters in Vienna in 2013, co-conducted workshop on ‘Developing Infrastructure for the Introduction of a Nuclear Power Program’ at Riyadh’s King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy KA-CARE in 2014, and was commissioned to develop an outline of Islamic financing options for nuclear power projects in October 2014 through a Special Service Agreement with IAEA. He was also a speaker at the Plenary Session of the 18th Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference 2012 in Busan Korea and at the International Nuclear Power Congress Singapore in 2011. In 2014, he was invited to speak on Compassion in Governance at the Spirit of Humanity Forum in Reykjavik Iceland and gave a talk at the Faculty of Education, Oulu University, Finland on ‘Educating Subjects’ in 2015. Dato’ Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad was also invited to speak on “Culture and the Whole Being & Psychology – Science of the Soul” at the Koblenz University, Germany in 2017.

As the advisor and sole subject matter expert in HGII, Dato’ Dr. Aziuddin Ahmad continues to guide the HGII team on the essence and application of Human Governance.