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Monday, June 14, 2010

Intel in Malaysia for the long haul

By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my

MD: The chipmaker only moving a unit back to US, not shutting any plants

KUALA LUMPUR: Intel, world’s largest chipmaker, is committed to remain in Malaysia even though the rationalisation of its operations will lead to the moving of its assembly and test development (ATD) unit back to Arizona in the United States.

“The wafer fabrication and assembly lines must be close to each other, as there is a need for a lot of interaction because we need to respond to market trends and consumers fairly quickly,” Intel Malaysia managing director Atul Bhargava said.

“Being in different time zones (makes it difficult and that is why) we are moving the unit back to the US. Intel continually optimises its resourcing and business model in line with evolving business needs,’’ he said.

The migration will begin in the first quarter of 2011 and be completed by June the same year.

Atul Bhargava … ‘Our investment in Malaysia is growing every year.’
 
The affected workers, about 500 of them, at the plant in Kulim Hi-Tech Park will be absorbed into the group and redeployed for other job functions at the Kulim and Penang facilities.

“So we are not shutting down any plants. It is just that the ATD development needs to be closer home in the US,” he added.

Intel has been in Malaysia since 1972. It is the largest offshore facility outside the United States for the chipmaker. The company has so far invested US$3.9bil (RM13bil) in Malaysia.

Intel Malaysia comprises three campuses and employs more than 10,000 people.

Intel Penang is a key assembly and testing site, Intel Kulim assembles processor packaging and is an important operations centre for mobile modules, and Intel Kuala Lumpur includes a multimedia super-corridor development centre as well as a sales and marketing office.

Of the 10,000 people employed, 55% are involved in the manufacturing division, 25% in the design of products, and the balance 20% are in services (IT, shared and other service-related areas).

“We are fairly big in doing design work here and our plants are high-tech, so we really need knowledge workers as the job is not about pushing of buttons,’’ Atul said.

As Malaysia marches towards becoming a knowledge-based and innovation nation, it is necessary to have a workforce that is able to work towards achieving that goal.

“If there is one thing I could tell Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, it is that the need to change the human capital (development in the country),’’ Atul said.

He said improvements were needed in the systems adopted by local universities and they should strive to become the world’s Top 100.

They need to change the curriculum to be industry friendly and adopt newer methods of teaching. Only then can talent that can help the country in the innovation phase be created.

“I have been advocating the need to do it either organically or hook up with institutes like MIT; make that quantum leap, emulate, so that people will know us,’’ he said. (MIT refers to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.)

Asked whether Intel would follow Western Digital and invest more to expand its operations in the country, Atul said: “Our investment in Malaysia is growing every year as we are here for the long haul.

“We have worked hard and diversified, we have the latest technology here, and we are committed to stay. But just like other companies we move around for the needs of our customers.”

(Western Digital recently announced it would invest about US$1.2bil in Penang.)

Atul said in whatever Intel did, it made sure there is benefit to the company, the country and the consumer.
 
Related Stories:

Intel: Closure will not affect commitment

Intel to close R&D unit in Kulim Hi-Tech Park

Namewee parodies World Cup fever in Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: Controversial rapper Wee Meng Chee, better known as Namewee, has composed a new music video to parody the World Cup football fever.

The clip was uploaded on both popular video sharing site YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/namewee and his personal blog several days ago.

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Official Fifa World Cup 2010 SongIn the song, Wee narrated how the country had never been shortlisted for the World Cup and how Malaysians had to resort to merely betting on the games and watching football matches in order to get a feel of participating in the tournament.

He also rapped about illegal bookies and wives and girlfriends of football fans complaining about being neglected due to the football matches.

The over four-minute long video also features a number of women clad in attractive sport outfits playing football.

In his blog, Wee said he had written the song to bring a different feel to Malaysia’s participation in the World Cup and urged everyone to work harder for sports.

In the video clip, he had also taken a dig at Malaysia’s performance in the last Thomas Cup badminton tournament and on “Datuk Lee’s” comments and reasoning behind it.

The Malaysian badminton team had lost to both Japan and Indonesia during the Thomas Cup.
The video, which recorded over 151,000 views so far, has attracted diverse comments from viewers, including praises and criticisms.

The 27-year-old Muar-born artiste first made headlines with his infamous Negarakuku YouTube music video in 2007, which he did while studying in a university in Taiwan.

The song had used the national anthem as the background to his rap.
He was subsequently questioned by the Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes headquarters for his song and asked to provide a translation of it in Bahasa Malaysia.

Since then, the rapper had also been criticised for hitting out at Tenaga Nasional Bhd after his home in Muar was hit by a blackout and for his views and sentiments on the Chinese independent school system.

He was reported to be planning and seeking government funding for a film.

Source: The Star, Monday June 14, 2010





Sunday, June 13, 2010

Fifa World Cup runneth over

SHUT UP ABOUT ADVERTISING
By PAUL LOOSLEY

HERE we go! Here we go! Here we go! World Cup fever is upon us again. And, as usual, quite suddenly, and often not too wisely, vast amounts of cash are flying around. And the competition amongst the advertisers becoming at least as hotly contested as the games themselves.

To kick-off, in Ad Age we hear that Trevor Edwards, Nike’s VP-brand and category management, feels “It’s the No. 1 event in all of sports, viewed by half the world’s population.”

If he’s right, that would explain another report in Media magazine that CCTV supposedly paid in excess of the US$292.7mil for coverage of the 2002 tournament.

If they and others are still spending that kind of money, and there’s every indication they are, then that’s a lot of moolah for a recession-struck world.

And there are, as usual, a lot of “official” advertising sponsors who are obviously handing over huge sums to FIFA and spending equally large bundles on advertisements.

Regular sponsor Coca-Cola are out there with a quite cute, 60-minute spot that features the story of Roger Miller, the first player, appropriately an African, to do a goal-scoring victory dance. So they trace the evolution of the football victory dance ever since. Lots of money on stock footage, all probably handed over to Russian club owners.

Campaign magazine picks the Adidas’ Star Wars Cantina spot as a standout. In the commercial they have assembled a team of celebrities such as David Beckham, Franz Beckenbauer, Snoop Dogg, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, Ciara, Jay Baruchel, Daft Punk and DJ Neil Armstrong.

These folks have been magically incorporated into the cantina scene from the original 1977 ‘Star Wars’ movie (nerd alert; Episode IV: A New Hope).

It must have cost a mint for both the celebrity’s fees and for George Lucas film rights (all of whom really need the money).

And it may be a little bit of a stretch to use the theme line Celebrate Originality, with a bit of old film and stars that are not all fully match-fit.

AdWeek likes the Nike Write the Future spot (and so do I). It shows many prominent soccer stars at pivotal, win or lose moments in a football game.

In a flash forward they imagine how their lives might turn out should they not perform too well. The sight of Wayne Rooney as bearded and down and out and living in a caravan is wonderful. And the cameo by Homer Simpson is a blast.

The director is Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who made the movies Babel and 21 Grams.

The spot debuted on TV but has become a big viral hit; being talked about, passed around and celebrated on Facebook and YouTube.

Again, it probably cost the national debt of Greece, but it certainly proves the actual worth of a well-written, brilliantly executed TVC.

Yet not everyone plays by the ‘official’ rules it seems.
FIFA are getting a bit edgy as some people are realising that paying for the right to call yourself “official sponsor” isn’t worth as much as FIFA and Trevor Edwards maybe think it is.

In fact FIFA are trying to stop people using other anthemic songs about football as opposed to paying FIFA, I guess, to use the “official” World Cup songs; Waka Waka. This Time for Africa (written by Fozzi Bear one assumes and performed, oddly, by that not-at-all African hip-swinger Shakira) and Waving Flag (an infinitely better song with real African feel and sing-a-long zeal).

Campaign magazine again reports another sponsorship foul. It seems that Mars (the very sweet, caramelly chocolate bars) paid a heap of dosh for official sponsorship of the English footy team.

Then they made a fairly dull spot that shows old sportsmen and women reliving past glories.

But then Kit Kat, (the greenly-challenged chocolate biscuity fingers) which didn’t fork out great heaps of cash for sponsorship, is being advertised using a football theme too, and with a far more imaginative spot to boot.

So Mars are talking about suing Nestle. I’m told this is called “ambush marketing”. But hey, anyone who can afford it (and it seems they can) is advertising using football as a theme.

Pepsi have a neat ad where a bunch of soccer stars, en route to a game in South Africa, are waylaid by a bunch of kids who challenge them to a soccer match for their cans of Pepsi.

Problem is the crowd, who form the goal mouth and the boundary, keep moving. So the stars lose. People have been saying it portrays Africans as cheats.

The Cup may be big, but minds remain small. Carlsberg beer has an ad featuring creaky old timers like Bobby Charlton, Alan Shearer and the ilk playing an afternoon pub game.

Old pros again, but this time done with immense charm. Optus, the Australian telco have an excellent spot where a team is training and playing against African animals like rhinos and elephants. Jolly exciting, beautifully made and quite relevant.

And, as a penalty shootout, Malaysia has old makciks dancing about, more old football players and football players turning into what appear to be African animals. A yellow card I suspect.

There it is, the final whistle. Another great result for the World Cup and its sponsors. It provokes many excellent creative ideas, which is very good indeed. But within days it’s all over and will be quickly forgotten.

Advertisers who have plead poverty for three years have turned up with surprise money, as if suddenly and miraculously discovered down the back of the sofa, and they’ve blown the lot.

The lack of moderation and the feeding frenzy that accompanied the event does tend to end with one asking whether it was all really worth it.

In the rush to participate did they all take their eye off the ball (boom tish!)

For me it’s all a bit too much, so I think I’ll lock myself in the dressing room for the duration. And ask myself:
“Is the cash more beautiful than the game?”

Wake me when it’s over.

Paul Loosley is an English person who has been in Asia 32 years, 12 as a creative director, 20 making TV commercials. And, as he still can’t shut up about advertising, he tends to write every month. Any feedback, email
p.loosley@gmail.com (but only if you swear never use the word ‘soccer’).