Our Jury

Introducing the Grand Panel of Judges:

Chief Judge: Emeritus Professor Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Khoo Kay Kim
This is the third year that Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Khoo Kay Kim is participating as a judge for the Perdana Leadership Foundation’s “Nurturing the Minds of Future Leaders” Essay Competition.

Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Khoo Kay Kim is a prominent Malaysian historian and a highly regarded national academic who co-authored the Rukun Negara, the country’s national principles and values that guide Malaysian society. He began his academic career in 1960 as a teacher and joined University of Malaya in 1964. He is today a prolific author and member of many eminent organisations such as the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and Malaysia-Indonesia Eminent Persons Group. Among the books he has co-authored are The Western Malay State: The Effects of Commercial Development on Malay Politics, and Malays/Muslims in Singapore 1819-1965: Selected Readings in History. He has also written articles for The Southeast Asian Review, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies and the Malaysian Journal of Economic Studies.

Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Ahmad Makaruddin
Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Ahmad Makaruddin is Executive Chairman of Utusan Melayu Group Berhad. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Malaysian National News Agency (‘BERNAMA’) and has held various positions in the government sector such as Advisor to the National Economic Action Council Communication Team, Press Secretary to the Minister of Finance and as the Special Assistant to the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Yang Amat Berhormat Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Datuk Hardev Kaur
This is the third time that Datuk Hardev Kaur is participating as a Judge. Datuk Hardev Kaur was born and educated in Malaysia. She obtained her first degree in Economics (Honours) from University Malaya and her Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University in the US. She started her career in journalism with Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), moved to Malaysia Business and then to Business Times.In 1998, she was made Editor-at-Large for the New Straits Times Group and in January 2002 appointed Assistant Group Editor. She was made the Group Editor on May 1, the first female to hold the post in the 160 year history of the paper. In March 2002 she was appointed Consultant, Editorial Marketing for the NSTP Group. Datuk Hardev has been bestowed a number of awards for regional economic coverage including the Asia Editor of the year by the Asia Press Foundation. She was the first female in the region to be given this award.

In addition to the Grand Panel, we also have five judges who evaluate all entries for shortlisting.