Kiran Bedi - Global Transformation Forum 2015

Kiran Bedi shared the key lessons and strategies she learnt from decades in public service. Empathy yields tremendous leadership influence. Leaders constantly deal with challenges in empowering people under their direction as well as stakeholders.

This session looked at the role of empowerment through an emphatic process.  Bedi pointed out that there were only 24 female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies in the US. US paper The Washington Post reported last June that the figure meant women only comprised 5 per cent of heads of America’s most influential companies.

video credit: Big Fast Results Institute

Kiran Bedi is a social activist, a retired Indian Police Service officer and now a politician. The first Indian woman to join officer’s ranks of IPS in 1972, Bedi took voluntary retirement from the services in 2007, but not before she had served the position of the Director General at the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

Bedi has been one of the active members of the Anna Hazare-led civil society that launched a movement for the enactment of a strong anti-corruption law, Jan Lokpal. She formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January 2015 to play an important role in the February 2015 polls to the Delhi Assembly.

Kiran Bedi did not start her career as a cop, but as a lecturer of Political Science at the Khalsa College for Women in Amritsar in 1970. After two years of teaching, she cleared the Civil Services examination and became an IPS officer. This made her the first woman in India to join the services.

During her career, she served as the chief of New Delhi Traffic Police, DIG of Police in Mizoram, Advisor to the Lt. Governor of Chandigarh, Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau, and Civilian Police Advisor for United Nations Peacekeeping operations. She was honoured with the United Nations Medal for her work.

Bedi introduced a number of reforms in the management of Tihar Jail, Delhi when she was the Inspector General of Prisons during 1993-1995. The various programmes introduced by her under this mission witnessed positive changes in the lives of prisoners.

Her short stint is remembered as a golden period in the history of the prison and won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994 and the Jawahar Lal Nehru Fellowship. The last position Bedi held was that of the Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research & Development. She was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law in acknowledgment of her “humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing” in May 2005.

Two years later Kiran decided to voluntarily retire from the police services, and the Government of India granted her permission to do so. On December 25, 2007, she retired to dedicate herself to social issues.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Global Transformation Forum 2015

From being a poor Austrian teenager to a successful bodybuilder, Hollywood actor and former governor, Arnold Schwarze­negger has indeed gone through a truly transformative life.

Arnie spoke candidly about his success secrets.

“The secret is to have 22-inch biceps, wrestle predators with bare hands, travel back in time to save the human race, and have a great, charming Austrian accent,” he joked.

He shared his six rules of success with a packed Hall.

 “In my bodybuilding days, people asked me why I was smiling when pumping iron, while others looked miserable or were in pain. I knew every rep and set got me one step closer to becoming Mr Universe, and it worked. The 1st rule is to know your vision. He became the youngest ever Mr Universe at age 20, going on to win the title a record 7 times .

“Never, ever think small” is Schwarzenegger’s second rule, which he applied when he entered politics in 2003 and aimed for the highest position he could hold as an immigrant – as Governor of California, the greatest state in the US.

Arnie urged listeners to ignore the naysayers as rule 3, like he did when movie agents told him he could never be a leading actor because of his accent and poor English .

Instead he took up English language, acting and speaking classes, proving his critics wrong and even earning praise from his film directors for turning his liabilities into his greatest assets.

For rule 4, forget about plan B as it develops doubts of our own abilities. Rule 5 was to "work your ass off".

The final rule, he said, was to give something back and leave a mark on the world. When he was Governor for 2 terms spanning a total of 7 years, he did not accept any salary preferring to give back to the country that ad made him a global superstar.

Of course he ended his talk with his classic "I'll will be back” eliciting loud cheers from the audience.

Keynote Speakers - Asia For Animals Borneo 2015 International Conference

words: Dave Avran, images: Veronica Ng 

Alan Knight OBE BSc (Hons)

Alan Knight is the Chief Executive of International Animal Rescue (IAR). He graduated from Sussex University with an Honours degree in Biological Sciences. He has devoted his life to animal welfare and was originally the Chairman of the trustees of IAR before resigning to take up a full time position with the Charity in 1999.

Alan lives in Sussex, UK, with his life-long partner Liz who runs a sanctuary from their home for unwanted and elderly cats. Alan is a trustee of several other charities including being Chairman of British Divers Marine Life Rescue an organisation that provides a rescue service for marine wildlife in the UK.

Alan was awarded an OBE in the 2006 Queens Birthday Honours for services to animal welfare.

At AfA Borneo 2015, Alan spoke frankly and from his heart as he presented his Keynote Address titled, 'Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation'.

Jill Robinson, MBE Dr med vet hc         

Jill Robinson has been a pioneer of animal welfare in Asia since 1985 and is widely recognised as the world’s leading expert on the cruel bear bile industry, having campaigned against it since 1993. In 1998, she founded Animals Asia, an organisation that is devoted to improving the welfare of animals in China and Vietnam by promoting compassion and respect for all animals, and working to bring about long-term change.

Jill has built the organisation into a respected international NGO with over 300 staff, over 530 rescued bile farm bears, and award-winning bear sanctuaries in China and Vietnam.

Jill presented in a very moving and personal manner on ‘Animal Welfare through People Welfare”, successfully making many delegates teary eyed during her talk.

Dato' Sri Lord Dr Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, Earl of Cranbrook

The Earl of Cranbrook‘s work in Sarawak and Malaysia spans almost 60 years. He is currently the Honorary Curator of Mammals at the Sarawak Museum as well as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, the Institute of Biology, the Linnean Society and the Zoological Society.

In 2014, the Earl received the prestigious ‘Merdeka Award for Outstanding Contribution to the People of Malaysia’ for his outstanding contribution in pioneering research and conservation of Malaysia’s forest biodiversity and the ecology and biology of Malaysian mammals and birds, and for advocating environmental conservation.

Today, he is widely recognised as the foremost expert on the natural history of mammals on Borneo. Lord Cranbrook presented a Keynote Address titled, 'The long history of people and the wild mammals of Borneo: an archaeological perspective'. 

He made the subject of dry bones sound fascinating and his experience as a speaker shone when he deftly used classic dry British humor to counter a technical glitch while his laptop was being frantically fixed by tech support. 

Datuk Torstein Dale Sjøtveit, Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Energy delivering his keynote address.

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh announcing the allocation of land to the SSPCA.

Honorable Mention

pic nicked from Kathy's fb

Frigglive would like to give a big shout out to Singaporean Kathy Xu, Founder of The Dorsal Effect, who strives to provide a source of alternative livelihood for shark fishermen in Lombok through ecotourism for shark conservation.

She casually mentioned to us that she had to leave early on Saturday 10^th October as she was getting married the next day. On Monday 12^th Oct she was back at work. How’s that for dedication? Congratulations, Kathy & Wilson. We wish you all the very best in your future.

For more details on the AfA2015 speakers, click here

For more details on the topics covered at AfA 2015, click here