Founders

The Late Tan Sri Dato’ NAPSIAH OMAR

PSM, DSNS

Education:

• Bachelor of Science, Australian National University, Canberra
• Master of Science, Cornell University, New York

Business and Occupation:

• Company Director
• Former Associate Professor, Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1981

Government Awards:

• Conferred a Dato by Negeri Sembilan State Government
• Conferred a Tan Sri by Federal Government

Government Positions Held:

• Former Deputy Minister of National Unity and Social Development, 1982-87
• Former Minister of Public Enterprise, 1987-90
• Former Minister of National Unity and Social Development, 1990-1995
• Former State Executive Councillor for Negeri Sembilan, 1996

Political Positions Held:

• UMNO State Woman Leader for Negeri Sembilan up till 2004
• Permanent Chairman of UMNO Wanita since 2004

NGO Positions:

• Co-Founder cum Chairperson, Women’s Institute of Management since 1993
• Former President, Federal Territory Girl Guides Association

Awards:

• Tokoh Wanita Negeri Sembilan, 2001
• National Outstanding Educator Award (College category), 2015

 

Services to State of Negeri Sembilan

• Only Chinese Woman Leader appointed to the N. S. State Goodwill Council by YAB the Dato Menteri Besar, N. S. after the May 1969 riots when a State of Emergency was declared in Malaysia.
• Only woman from Negeri Sembilan to be appointed by YAB the Prime Minister of Malaysia as a Member of the National Advisory Council for the Integration of Women in Development, Malaysia (NACIWID).
• First woman to be awarded “Tokoh Kebajikan Negeri” by the N. S. State Welfare Council and the “Outstanding Young Person of Negeri Sembilan” by Seremban Jaycees International.
• Group Leader, Seminar for Private and Public Sectors organised by the Prime Minister’s Department for the State of Negeri Sembilan.
• Appointed by Y. B. the State Secretary of Negeri Sembilan as the Chairman of the Panel to select the top three winners of the Menteri Besar’s Quality Award amongst government departments in Negeri Sembilan.

Services to Governments of Other Countries

• Invited by the Canadian Government to undertake a speaking tour of 4 Canadian cities on “Business Opportunities between Canada-Malaysia-ASEAN.”
• Invited by the Government of Fiji to speak at Suva to several women’s organisations, local banking community and government officials on “Women’s World Banking.”
• Invited to speak to a large Business Forum, prior to the Asian Development Bank Meeting at Vancouver, Canada.
• Undertook a tour of three Canadian cities sponsored by the Canadian Government to identify suitable training programmes of Canadian Colleges with the Women’s Institute of Management, Malaysia.
• Invited by the West Australian Government to present a Keynote Address at the Women in Public Sector Management Annual Conference on “Women’s Gateway to the Year 2000” at Perth, Western Australia.
• On behalf of the participants of the Conference of Women Senior Leaders from the APEC Economies, presented the Conference’s Report to the H. E. President Fidel Ramos, President of the Philippines at Malacanang Palace, Manila.
• Guest Speaker, Women’s Leadership Seminar organised by the Judge Business School, Cambridge University, U. K. at Kuala Lumpur.
• Invited as speaker at the first Women’s Leadership Conference organised by the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Boston, U. S. A.

Voluntary Leadership Positions in NGOs

• Co-Founder and current Chairman, Board of Trustees, Women’s Institute of Management. WIM, a Non Profit Women’s NGO, was incorporated on 14.5.1993. Up till 30.11.2024, WIM has delivered 789 courses/events benefiting 37,563 participants, a majority of which are free training courses in Small Businesses for disadvantaged women’s groups such as Single Parent Women, Rural Women, Orang Asli (Aboriginal) Women and Women in the Prisons, Rumah Seri Puteri, Women in the Rubber and Oil Palm Plantations and women victims in the J. E. virus-affected areas. WIM has an active Website which attracts as many as 156,420 “unique visitors” per month from 176 countries. WIM is the only women’s NGO to own a 6-storey building complex, Wisma WIM, which is free of encumbrances.
• National President, YWCA of Malaysia, President, YWCA of Seremban, Finance Chairman cum Executive Committee Member, World YWCA, Geneva, Switzerland.
• National Vice Chairman, National Management Committee Chairman, National Hon. Treasurer, Negeri Sembilan State Chairman of the Malaysian Red Crescent Society.

Religion

• Chairman, Co-ordinating Committee of the Wesley Methodist Church, Chinese Methodist Church and Tamil Methodist Church, Seremban.
• Member, Board of Finance, Methodist Church of Malaysia (TRAC).

Education

• Member, Board of Governors, Chan Wa Secondary School, Seremban.
• Member, Board of Governors, Sekolah Tunku Ampuan Najihah, Seremban.
• Chairman, Methodist Kindergarten, Seremban.

Health

• President, N. S. Chinese Maternity Hospital, Seremban.
• Founder Chairman, Pusat Haemodialysis Mawar, Seremban.
• Chairman, Advisory Panel, Seremban Health Department.

Social

• President, Royal Sungei Ujong Club, Seremban.

Sports

• Hon. Auditor, Malaysian Women’s Hockey Association.
• Hon. Treasurer, Women’s Hockey World Cup and Intercontinental Tournaments.

Author of Publications

• Finance for You and Me.
• Project Proposals.
• Simple Accounting for Voluntary Organisations.
• Adat Perpatih (Co-Writer).
• Finance Handbook for the Entrepreneur, Professional and Social Worker (in English and translated into Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil).
• Reaching for the Skies – The WIM Story: From an Idea to a High Achiever NGO (432 pages).
• Steel Gardenias: Women’s Leadership – A Malaysian and Global Perspective (432 pages).

International Experience

Dato Dr. Nellie S. L. Tan-Wong has held leadership positions, presented Papers as Guest Speaker and travelled to 26 countries:

Australia -Taiwan-Switzerland-Myanmar-Indonesia-Japan-Ghana-Vietnam-Philippines-Canada-Greece-Singapore-U.S.A. -Netherlands-Thailand-Ireland-Austria-Sri Lanka-United Kingdom-Brazil-Hongkong-Italy-Fiji-China-France-Brunei

Languages Spoken

English, Bahasa Malaysia, Cantonese, Hokkien.

Motto in Life

Always Strive to be One in a Million and not One of the Million.