Malaysian Digital Association appoints Eileen Ooi and Kausern Hieu as new leaders

The Malaysian Digital Association (MDA) has appointed Eileen Ooi as its president and Kausern Hieu as VP until 2024. Ooi was previously the association's VP and is currently CEO of Omnicom Media Group in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Hieu is the country manager at Nuffnang Malaysia. Media Prima's Nicholas Sagau was the previous president.

Star Media Group's Lydia Wang and 16TWO Communication Labs' Vicknezan Selvadurai were appointed secretary and treasurer respectively. Other members in the council include Astro, Carat, Dattel Asia, Google Malaysia, GroupM Malaysia, Mediabrands Malaysia, REV Media Group, Sin Chew Media, and Vivaki Malaysia.

Ooi told A+M that the main ambition for MDA is to become the guiding and neutral voice that sheds light on key digital matters arising in the industry, work closely with government bodies to effect change in policies, and draw up new policies that continue to protect our members and also drive Malaysia's digital economy forward.

For the year 2022, the three big agendas that MDA wants to impact is in the area of outlining benchmarks and policies in regard to the digital space, nurturing and building digital talents in partnerships with various parties to provide solutions to the talent crunch challenge in Malaysia, and continuing to play a role in elevating Malaysia’s digital economy through pioneering innovation and recognition for the country's talents and work. According to Ooi, MDA also aims to deliver a neutral voice on the most pertinent topics in digital and bring digital communities together to expand growth.

From 2020 to 2022, MDA revamped and launched its six strategic pillars: technical and governance, powering innovation, research and measurement, community building, knowledge, and communications. Amidst the pandemic, MDA pushed on to deliver content through MDA School and Digital Wednesday. The association also partnered with MDEC and is today now associated with CMCF to be able to represent Malaysian digital companies to have their voice heard and effect change in policies that will benefit the Malaysian economy.

"These initiatives have been critical and we will continue to do more of this. Some newer initiatives in the pipeline include launching our first digital conference, building guidelines and policies around specific digital marketing topics to support our members, and advertisers, and elevating digital marketing standards overall," Ooi said.

Meanwhile, Hieu explained that the past two years marked a challenging term for council members due to remote work. However, there lies the opportunity to double down on providing value to MDA's members and the larger community. Some initiatives include quarterly fireside chats and upskilling more than 350 attendees with monthly online classes. As markets open, Hieu said MDA will continue the momentum and continue conducting events in a hybrid manner. 

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Malaysian Digital Association names Nicholas Sagau and Eileen Ooi to leadership roles