Board of Governors

The first Board of Governors of the Institute of Journalists Malaysia, elected at the inaugural Annual General Meeting held at Commonwealth House, Kuala Lumpur, on 26th September 2014:

Newspaper journalists:
Lim Huiying , Tashny Sukumaran
(Alternate member: Esther Chandran)

Broadcasting journalists:
Amirul Ruslan , Leong Hon Yuen
(Alternate member: vacant)

Online journalists:
Boo Su-Lyn , Joseph Sipalan
(Alternate member: Alyaa Alhadjhri)

Periodicals, freelance and other journalists:
Teoh El Sen – (nominated from the floor to fill vacant uncontest position)
(Alternate member: Michelle Tam – nominated from the floor)

Honorary Auditor
Michelle Tam

The elected Board comprises members elected in the ratio 2:2:2:1 from among journalists in newspapers; broadcasting; online media; and periodicals, freelance & others. One-third of the first Board will retire after the first year, another one-third after the second year, and the remaining members will serve the full term of three years.

The constitution of the Institute enjoins the Board to ensure fair representation of journalists from the various sectors of the profession. Membership of the Board may not be dominated by members from any one media stream, or from any one language stream. The Board cannot comprise members who are all from newspapers or all from online media, or all from the Malay, English, Chinese, or Tamil media.

Members of the Board elect a chairman from among themselves. There are no elective positions in the Institute.

About the members of the Board

• Amirul Ruslan, 24, is a broadcast journalist with BFM89.9 radio station. He was previously a reporter with The Malay Mail.
• Boo Su-Lyn, 27, is a reporter with Malay Mail Online. She was previously with The Malaysian Insider and has been in journalism for three years. She graduated with a psychology degree from Upper Iowa University.
• Leong Hon Yuen, 44, is producer-director at Factual TV. She was previously a feature writer with The Star. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the State University of New York and a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney.
• Lim Huiying, 30, is a reporter with Oriental Daily News in Kuala Lumpur, and in her fourth year of journalism. She previously worked in international news writing and editing children’s books. She has a degree in Chinese literature from National Cheng Chi University, Taiwan.
• Joseph Sipalan, 33, is a reporter with the Malay Mail Online in Kuala Lumpur. He has worked with The Borneo Post and Daily Express in Kota Kinabalu, and with the New Straits Times, Malaysiakini and The Star in Kuala Lumpur. He has a diploma in audio engineering.
• Tashny Sukumaran, 24, is a news reporter with The Star in Petaling Jaya. She was previously a reporter with Free Malaysia Today and has freelanced for the New Straits Times, Borneo Bulletin and periodicals.. She has a BA in Communication and Media Management from the University of South Australia.
• Teoh El Sen, 28, is a producer at Bloomberg TV Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. He was previously with The Star, New Straits Times, The Malay Mail, Free Malaysia Today, Astro Awani, and The Heat in his seven years in the industry. He holds a degree in mass communications from Curtin University.

Founding Board of Governors

The founding Board comprised:

• Encik Jahabar Sadiq, chief executive and editor of the Malaysian Insider; and
• Mr Yamin Vong, editor and publisher of NST-Cars, Bikes & Trucks.

The two were among a small group of journalists involved in the early stages of setting up the Institute and agreed to serve as founding Governors of record until an elected Board of Governors took office. They retired from the Board at the inaugural Annual General Meeting and did not offer themselves for re-election.