1. Dato’ Seri Chet Singh obtained his BA (Hons) from University of Malaya (Singapore) in
1959.
In May 1960 he joined the Malayan Civil Service (MCS). He assumed the position of
Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Defence (Internal Defence). This later became the
Ministry of Internal Security, and later still, the Ministry of Home Affairs. From
December 1967 to August 1971, he was the State Financial Officer of Penang. In
September 1971, he was seconded to fill the post of General Manager of the Penang
Development Corporation (PDC). He held this post until his retirement in July 1991.
Dato’ Seri Chet was active as a consultant in the field of planning, designing and
operating export oriented industrial parks. In 1990, he was Team Leader fir the World
Bank-funded project to plan and design an Export Processing Zone in Kenya, This was
followed by a consultancy for the state government of Sarawak. He was also Corporate
Adviser to KKIP Sdn. Bhd., a Sabah state government company responsible for industrial
park development. In 1995, the Penang state government appointed him as Senator to
the Malaysian Parliament.
After retirement, Dato’ Seri Chet has been actively involved as a Director of the Board
of the Socioeconomic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI) in Penang. He is also
a Member of KPI Task Force for the PDC. In 2010, he was appointed the Special Adviser
to the Chief Minister of Penang.
Chet Singh

2. Dr. N. Danaraj obtained his BA (Hons) and MA from University of Malaya, MPA from
Harvard University, MA and DPhil from Oxford University. He also holds a Diploma in
Management from Institut Pentadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN).
Dr. Danaraj is currently the Technical Adviser in the Special Innovation Unit, Office of
the Prime Minister, Malaysia. Prior to this appointment, he was a Technical Adviser to
the National Economic Advisory Council in the Prime Minister’s Department.
He has lived and worked as an academic and entrepreneur in Asia, including China,
Japan, and Korea, England and Southern Europe, and the United States of America. His
international academic experience includes being a Professor of Strategy and the
Director of the Executive MBA programme at the International University of Monaco in
Europe, Visiting Fellow at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo and United Nations University,
Tokyo. He also has been an international entrepreneuer for over fifteen years as toy
manufacturer in China and Malaysia. Early in his career he served in the Malaysian
Administrative and Diplomatic Service; his last posting was in the Ministry of Finance.
Previous policy advisory working includes acting as a consultant to the Second
Industrial Master Plan, Technology Master Plan, and the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park
Master Plan.
Dr Danaraj was a Research Fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research
(MIER). From 2007 to 2008 he was Senior Fellow at Khazanah Nasional Berhad. His
research interests include economic development, international business strategy,
technology and innovation policy, on which he has several publications and numerous
consultancy reports and papers.
N. Danaraj

3. Dato' Dr. R. Thillainathan received his BEcons from University of Malaya; MSc and PhD
from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.
Dr. Thillainathan joined the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of
Malaya in 1970. He was appointed Associate Professor in 1977. In 1980, he left the
University to join the private sector. He was with Arab Malaysian Merchant Bank from
1980-1983, first as Economist, and from August 1980 as General Manager, Treasury and
Investment Services. Thereafter, he joined Bank Pusat Kerjasama as Joint Managing
Director for a year and Bank Buruh Malaysia Bhd as Chief Executive from April 1984
until mid-1989. In mid-1989 he took up an appointment with Genting Bhd. as the
Director of Finance. He was Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer from
November 2002 until his retirement in mid-2007.
Dr. Thillainathan has published extensively, especially in financial economics. He
continues to be involved in research and writing, and has undertaken several studies for
the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD). He has remained active in both research and professional
economic development. From 1987-1995, he was a Vice President of the Malaysian
Economic Association (MEA). He was the President of the Association from 1996-2002.
He remains a Member if the Executive Council, MEA.
He is an Honorary Professional Fellow at Monash University Malaysia, and Adjunct
Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya.
R. Thillainathan

4. Datuk Dr Richard Leete obtained his PhD in Economics (Population Studies) from the
London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.
Dr Leete is currently the Director and Head of the Department of Social Development at
the General Secretariat for Development Planning in Doha, Qatar where he provides
strategic and policy leadership to the Social, Human and Environmental Development
pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
He was Chief of the Population and Development Branch at United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) Headquarters in New York responsible for global policy on population
and development interrelations. He served as the Resident Representative of the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
(Oct 2003-March 2007). He was the Resident Coordinator for the UN’s Operational
Activities for Development in Malaysia, and UNFPA Representative. He oriented the
programmatic focus of the UNDP Country Office, to reflect Malaysia’s successful
development experience, increasingly being shared with other developing countries,
and to meet key development challenges. New strategic partnerships built for UNDP
included engaging leading companies in the private sector in corporate social
responsibility.
During 1985-1995, Malaysia’s ‘golden years’, he worked as an adviser in human
resources to the Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia. He is
a Director and Trustee of Malaysia’s CIMB Foundation. He is a Distinguished Fellow of
ISIS Malaysia. He has extensive knowledge of Asia having served most of his working life
in the region. He has published several books and articles on themes related to
population and development, most recently; Malaysia, From Kampung to Twin Towers:
50 Years of Economic and Social Development.
Richard Leete