Meet the Board of Directors

Datuk Sum Kown Cheek, aged 68, male, Malaysian, was appointed as the Executive Chairman and Group Managing Director of the Company on  19 December 2003. He is a member of the Remuneration Committee. He was conferred the Darjah Pangkuan Seri Melaka (“DPSM”) which carries the title of Datuk in conjunction with the 77th Birthday of the Melaka Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Khalil Bin Yaakob on 14 November 2015.

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Datuk Sum graduated from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1978 and entered the teaching profession in the same year. In 1993, he left the teaching profession to join Penerbitan Pelangi Sdn. Bhd. (“PPSB”) as the Managing Director. Under his guidance, he spearheaded the Company to achieve rapid growth by securing local school textbook projects, expanding its product range by entering into children’s books via securing Walt Disney licensee, which subsequently placed PPSB into the international publishing map. The Company has been awarded with strings of prestigious Awards including Enterprise 50 Award 2000-2002 (ranking 12th, 16th and 8th), SMI Recognition Award, Superbrands Award, Hall Of Fame – Golden Bull Award 2008, The BrandLaureate – Brand Personality Awards 2012-2013, Anugerah Buku Negara (National Book Award), The BrandLaureate: Corporate Awards 2012-2013, Best Brand Signature Award – Publishing and Educational Product 2013-2014 and Best Brand Award – Most Sustainable Brand leadership in Publishing & Education Solutions 2015/2016.

 

His regular participation in overseas book fairs and conferences equipped him with fresh ideas that were constantly being injected into publication of quality books. An entrepreneur with more than twenty (20) years of publishing experience, he has brought the Group to its present success and overseen all aspects of the Group’s operation. He was also an Exco Member of the Malaysian Book Publishers Association (MABOPA) from 2011 to 2014. In 2014, he was invited by the Philippine Educational Publishers Association to present a paper entitled “Publishing in a Unified ASEAN Market Place” in the Philippine Educational Publishing Conference (PEPCON) during the Manila International Book Fair.

 

He has no directorship in other public listed companies. His spouse Datin Lai Swee Chiung, is a substantial shareholder of the Company. His elder brother, Datuk Sam Yuen @ Sam Chin Yan, is a substantial shareholder of PPG. Please refer to page 183 of this Annual Report for his securities holding.