Tell us about your career so far, and how you came to be involved with the KLRCA.

I started my career in Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Building Division after studying Housing, Building and Planning at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, in 1979 and obtaining two professional degrees in Architecture and Town Planning in Australia.

While working in BNM, I read law, obtaining a Master in Construction Law and Arbitration from Leeds Metropolitan University as well as a Master in Philosophy in Law from Manchester University, and securing the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP). I was awarded the Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration at Keble College, Oxford by Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and in July 1999, I became a Chartered Arbitrator, one of 291 persons so designated in the world at that time.

So having been a professional architect, town planner and a lawyer, being an arbitrator was a natural progression as Malaysia has a huge number of construction-related disputes. In fact, until now, most of the domestic arbitration cases come from the construction industry.

Over the years and sitting as an arbitrator since 1990, I have had over 150 appointments as arbitrator for both international and domestic arbitrations. Then in March 2010, I was appointed the fifth director of KLRCA, the first practising arbitrator to be appointed into the position. It was not an easy decision for me to join KLRCA as I knew the position would mean sacrificing lot of my time as an arbitrator. But I felt that the invitation to help rejuvenate arbitration in Malaysia was a great honour, and it was a tremendous opportunity that I just could not pass up.

Since its founding in 1978, the KLRCA as an institution has progressed in leaps and bounds. What are some of the highlights of this journey so far?

KLRCA was the first regional centre established by the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO) in Asia to provide institutional support for the conduct of domestic and international arbitration proceedings in the region.

At the time of its inception, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) was relatively new in this region and the centre struggled in those early years to establish itself.

However, in recent years, there has been a real determination among many parties, including the arbitration community, the government, the judiciary and the Malaysian bar to bring commercial arbitrations involving Malaysian parties that were being conducted elsewhere back to the country. In order for that happen, arbitrators, corporations, lawyers and everyone involved had to be comfortable with a credible arbitral institution and a supportive legal infrastructure.

Such renewed enthusiasm has led to a new exciting phase in the centre’s development starting from 2010. Since then, the journey has been quite the highlight reel, from the launching of the KLRCA Fast Track Rules, to the launch of the world’s first Islamic arbitration rules, to KLRCA being appointed the adjudication authority for the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPAA), among the other things.

But most of all, there is now greater awareness within the international arbitration community that KLRCA and Malaysia is a viable option for arbitration and ADR in the Asia-Pacific region. The latest recognition has been KLRCA being shortlisted in the Global Arbitration Review (GAR) 2013 Annual Awards, the highest accolade for international commercial arbitration of any institution.

How does the centre aim to differentiate itself from its larger peers in Singapore and Hong Kong?

We have taken the step of rebranding the centre and focusing on offering a higher level of service while being cost-competitive. When it comes to facilities and arbitrators, we are on par with the leading centres, so cost becomes an important differentiating factor.

One thing which we want to do is to be a step ahead of others in developing arbitration rules for different segments and needs. For example, we became the first centre in the world to adopt the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules when it was revised in 2010. KLRCA is also the first centre in the world to introduce the arbitration rules for Islamic commercial contracts, i.e. the i-Arbitration Rules, which was launched in September 2012.

What are some of the trends you have seen in arbitration in Malaysia/Southeast Asia? How do you think the KLRCA is well placed to take advantage of these trends?

Arbitration is becoming more popular in Malaysia as an alternative to litigation. It has been helped by strong support from the Government and legal fraternity through the updating of the arbitration laws and the implementation of incentives, such as no withholding tax on arbitrators’ fees and allowing foreign arbitrators to conduct arbitrations in Malaysia.

Arbitration is also emerging in other countries in Southeast Asia. As cross-border deals and transactions increase around the region, this would mean an increase in business disputes, which would explain why more countries are viewing arbitration as an acceptable and enforceable means of dispute resolution. Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines have their own arbitration centres, Cambodia has just set up one while Thailand and Myanmar are opening up to arbitration, making overtures to their neighbouring countries to explain more about how international commercial arbitration works. It also means that parties will have a greater choice of where to hold their arbitrations.
We have also seen more arbitrators from the traditional strongholds such as London coming to Asia, as a result of the high economic growth in our region.

Asia itself is viewed as leading the way when it comes to innovation, when it comes to arbitration. For example, Singapore is well known for its “emergency arbitration,” China for its online dispute resolution, and Malaysia for Islamic arbitration. In the immediate future, I see that the arbitration landscape in Malaysia and the region becoming more industry specific.

How would you describe your strategy for the KLRCA?

I would say that our strategy has been aggressive and purposeful. It is necessary to push our agenda strongly because we are playing catch up with our peers, even though we were among the first to set up in this region. So we have had to do a lot of marketing and awareness programmes to raise our profile and visibility among the legal fraternity in the country and the region.

At the same time, we also strengthened and diversified our products and services, which can be seen through our “stable” of arbitration rules for the different needs of the market. We have a large domestic market and we are active in international arbitration, as well as domain name dispute resolution.

Apart from the aforementioned rules, we are also working on sports arbitration rules (KLRCA signed an agreement in May 2012 with the International Council of Arbitration for Sports to become an alternative hearing centre for the Court of Arbitration for Sports).

In addition, as the official adjudication authority, it is our responsibility to facilitate and drive statutory adjudication in the country, which is expected to transform the Malaysian construction industry. (Adjudication is a form of dispute resolution that allows a party who is owed money under a construction contract to promptly obtain payment from the non-paying party. The entire process is governed by law, and the dispute is decided by an adjudicator).

What were the goals you set yourself as director of the KLRCA? How would you like your legacy to be remembered?

When I first became the director of KLRCA, I was determined to ensure that KLRCA regained its footing as one of the preferred arbitration centres in the Asia-Pacific region because I feel that we are able to offer what the leading centres offer, if not more.

I can honestly say we are moving in the right direction and now is the matter of steering the centre to greater heights. I think it is too early to talk about legacies, but what I would really like to see is KLRCA and Malaysia fulfil its tremendous potential where ADR is concerned.

What are some of the challenges of running an organisation like the KLRCA? What are you doing to try and overcome them?

Because of our aggressive strategy in rebuilding our brand and image, finance is a key issue. Fortunately, the Malaysian Government has been very supportive in this aspect.

Another challenge would be to instil more confidence and raise more awareness of what we do and what we can offer as a regional arbitral institution, which was due to the many years of inertia. We overcome this by having a continuous programme of talks, seminars, events, conferences and road shows locally and abroad, as well leveraging on our communication platforms such as our website, our newsletters, and our e-mail blasts. We are constantly engaging the arbitral community to ensure that we are up-to-date with latest developments, and making sure we are visible within the legal fraternity. We have also been very proactive and quick in developing arbitration products and ensuring these are acceptable by international standards.

How are you looking to promote the KLRCA within the broader global arbitration community?

At the moment we are pushing very hard to promote KLRCA and ADR not only in Malaysia but also throughout the region. You can say that we are in overdrive where marketing is concerned. Coming up with products such as the Fast Track Rules, i-Arbitration Rules and soon Sports Arbitration Rules is just the first phase. We are now moving towards the next phase which is to introduce the rules to the relevant industries, and we are doing this aggressively. We continue to conduct road shows all over the region because we believe that Malaysia and KLRCA are attractive options for parties as an arbitration seat and venue (the next one would be Indonesia in March 2013).

Malaysia would be attractive in terms of liveability and cost effectiveness with Kuala Lumpur being a hub for international finance and commerce. Malaysia also has a highly supportive Bar association as well as a conducive judiciary. That is why when we go on road shows, we would bring along at least a member from the Malaysian Bar Council and a representative from the judiciary to better explain the legal and arbitration landscape in Malaysia.

What do the next one to two years look like for the KLRCA?

Busy. We will be moving full speed ahead doing a lot of marketing work all over the region. We are moving into the realm of adjudication as well and that would definitely keep us on our toes. We are also going to do a lot more programmes with top executives and corporations from various industries, explaining the benefits of arbitration, granted there is already an Asian-wide trend of corporates going for arbitration rather than settling disputes in court.

Also, we are looking to move the centre into a new building which will be completed in 2014. The new five-storey building offers state-of-the-art facilities and world class amenities. It promises a new exciting chapter for KLRCA and a perfect progression for the centre.

Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.