The 21st ASA Congress, Dhaka, Bangladesh
1st to 6th September 2012.
Sessions Topics covered by Delegates of IASAP, Mumbai :
Session I
Topic
Delegate
: On Saturday, 1-9-2012 1830 to 2200 Hrs.
: Inaugural Welcome & Cultural Event
: Jyoti Salian, Aegis Ltd.
It was a beautiful evening with all lovely ladies gathered at the conference room of Hotel Westin in
their traditional outfit. Everybody were clicking photographs, meeting and wishing each other and all
looked happy.
Introductory speech was given by Mrs. Durdhana Kabir, HR Manager at Nestle and daughter of
PSWA President, Mrs. Obaida Kabir. A welcome speech was given by Mrs. Obaida Kabir followed
by the speech by our Founding President, Virginia P. Elbinias who in her speech said that because of
ASA many of us are friends with other countries. ASA is a family and it is sharing and caring.
The ASA congress was inaugurated by ringing of the bell.
The cultural program was performed by Saumpriti and team. There were series of 5 dance programs
– The first was based on motivational dance to preserve the green world for next generation. The
next was on Boat Sailor, then there was a tribal dance welcoming rain, contemporary dance on
blooming of a water lily and the last performance on traditional kathak dance.
Pansy, Janice, Jennifer Lee, Hyacinth, and Lucy Shih sang ASA song, followed by dinner, dance and
enjoyment of bonding together.
Session II : On Sunday, 2-9-2012 0900 to 1000 Hrs. & 1100 to 1230 Hrs.
Topic
: Official Opening of the 21st ASA Congress &
Photo Session for ASA Delegates by countries
Delegate
: Vimala D’Souza, Bharat Bijlee Ltd.
The programme commenced with the welcome of the Chief Guest Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhith,
Finance Minister, Ministry of Finance, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, by
Ms. Loretta Saldanha, ASA Organizing Chairperson. Ms. Saldanha then handed over the session to
Ms. Zarine Commissariat, who took over as the compére for the day and commended Ms. Saldanha
and her team for the superlative job done in arranging the Congress. Zarine further emphasized that
we were all here for two reasons : to learn more and to renew old friendships and make new friends.
1
The Chief Guest was then escorted to the dais by Ms. Obaida Kabir, ASA President and Ms. Virginia
P Elbinias, ASA Founding President. The proceedings of the day commenced by reciting verses from
the Holy Quran by an Imam. A respectful thank you was expressed by Zarine to the Recitor. The
21st ASA Congress was then officially declared open.
Ms. Obaida Kabir was then introduced to the delegates. Ms. Kabir started her career as a teacher and
then as an office professional. She is also the Founding President of the PSWA of Dhaka. Ms. Kabir
in her welcome note stated that we were privileged that Mr. Muhith, Hon’ble Finance Minister, had
consented to grace the occasion. She further stated that we must learn from each other to assimilate
best practices in individual work places. Even though the journey of ASA had commenced many
years ago in 1974, Bangladesh became an active member of the Association in 1998. Since then they
have tried to move forward hand in hand with a common vision to meet challenges by driving
continuous improvement and achieve excellence in whatever they have done. She also appealed to
her fellow delegates to march forward to uphold the theme of the Congress and welcome our Hon’ble
Finance Minister for being with us to grace the occasion.
While introducing the Chief Guest, Ms. Kabir mentioned that Mr. Muhith is a renowned Economist,
Diplomat, Freedom Fighter and Language Veteran. He has been playing an instrumental role in the
overall economic development of Bangladesh, ensuring steady growth of GDP, poverty elevation and
infrastructure development. He is also a prolific writer and has published 21 books on different
subjects including administration and liberation work affairs. He has earned outstanding reputation
in economic diplomacy and has been a recognized figure in the World Bank and different
organizations of the United Nations. We were indeed humbled by his presence.
Ms. Kabir further expressed that PSWA has enough maturity to host this Congress with limited
resources, and requested all delegates to overlook certain issues and move forward with this Congress
and hoped that the Congress would enrich our learning experience and that we enjoy our stay during
the Congress. Ms. Kabir also thanked Westin Dhaka for their co-operation, in particular, Mr. Azeem
Shah, General Manager, without whose help it would have been very difficult to host this Congress in
Bangladesh.
Ms. Zoya Khan, grand-daughter of Ms. Obaida Kabir presented floral tributes to the Guest of
Honour, Mr. Muhith.
Ms. Zarine Commissariat then called upon Ms. Virginia Elbinias to address the delegates. Ms.
Elbinias in her address to the delegates made a special mention that she was very glad to see all of us
happy and gay and that we should see each other at least once in 2 years. We are all one big ASA
family and whenever we visit any country we should carry a list of our ASA sisters in that country
and we will be always welcome to other countries as long as we inform them that we are visiting their
countries.
As regards the theme of the Congress, Ms. Elbinias, expressed that we keep on striving but cannot
seem to cope with the rapid change in technology, that really bothers us, but we can always cope and
2
conquer the human factor that will conquer whatever new technology evolves. All mother creations
are devoid of humans, even humans like us learn what super humans have created. We have the
initiative to learn.
She further stated that elders need to rest. The leadership of the Association as well as that of ASA
depends on us. We will be fading but will be assured that ASA is in good hands. Zarine assured that
ASA was indeed in good hands.
Zarine then invited the Chief Guest and Hon’ble Finance Minister Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhith, to give
his keynote address. Mr. Muhith welcomed all delegates and gave a special welcome to Ms Virginia
Elbinias who set up ASA in the year 1974. He was very heartened to hear that Ms. Elbinias has
attended every ASA Congress. He was given a copy of the souvenir which was published on the
occasion and he found it very interesting as the organization was established in the Philippines in
1974, which coincided with his first visit to the Philippines in 1974 and taking residence in that
country. It was a pleasure to note that Bangladesh was chosen as the venue for the Congress. He
also commended Ms. Loretta Saldanha for taking charge of organizing this Congress.
•
In line with the theme “Excellence” is his Motto but construed in a different manner:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Excellence for Excellence’s sake.
You don’t strive for Excellence expecting some results.
Whatever you do you must perform in the most excellent manner that you can master.
This is very important in life because that is what separates “rewards” from “performance”.
“Performance” must be on its own – “Rewards” is something which comes or may not come.
He also emphasized that it is more “Striving for Excellence in league with Information” rather
than with “Technology”
In the 1970’s in most offices in Bangladesh, it was very rare to find Executive Secretaries. There
were more of the “Stenographers” who later became Professional Secretaries.
At that time the ladies who worked in Offices were viewed not with admiration but with awe and a
lot of criticism. It was not considered a good profession for distinguished ladies. He now believes
that the job of a Secretary is a very important job.
Mr. Muhith gave a few slogans :
•
•
•
•
•
Technology gives you remote control and gives you full of the entire office
Technology improves Work Arrangements
Technology improves Ambience which gives you the advantage of creating a different kind of
ambience in your work place
Technology improves the Economy of space
Technology helps reduce Paper work and can give you a paperless existence
To conclude, Mr. Muhith wished all the delegates a good stay in the city which has a history of over
400 years. Although a disorganized city but you find corners which are quite attractive, its people are
3
very warm, hospitable, simple and friendly. He concluded by saying that on the last day we would be
proud to say that the Congress was a grand success.
The session ended with the ringing of the ASA bell by the Chief Guest Mr. Abul Maal A. Muhith
along with Ms. Obaida Kabir and Ms. Virginia Elbinias.
After this, Photo session of all ASA Delegates country wise – Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia,
Singapore, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Japan, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Papua New Gini and
Bangladesh followed along with Mr. Abdul Maal A. Muhith, Ms. Obaida Kabir and Ms. Virginia
Elbinias. Photographs were also taken of the Country Presidents, Past ASA Presidents and the
Organising Committee.
Session III : On Sunday, 2-9-2012 1400 to 1530 Hrs.
Topic
: It is about Information, not Technology
- Mr. Syed Nasim Manzur
Delegate : Janice Braganza, The Indian Hotels Company Limited
On Sunday the 2nd of September our very first session post lunch was by Mr. Syed Nasim Manzur,
Managing Director of Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd, the largest leather footwear manufacturer and
exporter in Bangladesh. He is the face of new emerging Bangladesh and was selected to join the Asia
21 Young Leaders Summit at Kuala Lumpur in November 2009. He is also associated with a mass
literacy program called Ganoshikhya Andolon. Mr. Manzur came across as a dynamic, young and
very knowledgeable speaker. He kept us glued to his presentation and gave us a lot of useful tips on
the above subject which we could use in our daily work atmosphere.
He said that relating to technology is information. We get a deluge of information from all sources
every day, be it from the newspaper, the TV, the mobile phone, Google etc. He pointed out that we
are the gatekeepers to information and we as human beings need to sieve out information that is
needed by us or would help us from all that we receive on a daily basis. He basically gave us a few
pointers listed below on how we can improve our lives and add value to technology by filtering out
information.
1. Role of the Manager: He said that Managers need sort out the information they receive on a
daily basis and pick out information that is valuable and then decide the way to use the same
to enhance their work life. This is very important as in today’s world of technology, we are
all aware even in office from the number of mails we receive each day. We need to know
what is important for us and just delete the rest as it will only clog up space on our computers.
4
2. 20 years ago he said getting information and using it was not difficult at all as we received
limited information in the first place and we could tackle the same with ease.
3. Today it’s just crazy. Information reaches you from all sorts of sources. He gave the example
of the Google search engine and how you can get information about millions of things at the
touch of a button. Do we really need so much of information? Is it relevant in our work day?
People are literally getting addicted to technology.
4. There is a need to be connected in today’s world with the Global economy coming into play
but we need to be more disciplined in the way we handle technology.
5. Currently most youngsters are slaves to technology. Even at the lunch table you will find
people talking on their mobiles or blackberries, on IPhone etc. We seem to be losing the
touch to communicate with one another on a personal level.
6. We need to decide what information we require, how we use it and then how to discard the
same.
7. Know the purpose of why you need certain information, how it is going to help you in your
work and make your life more meaningful and efficient so that you get enough time for
family and friends.
8. We tend to hoard information which sometimes are of no use to us.
9. Mr. Manzur spoke of the Japanese Kaizen where you get rid of stuff especially at your place
of work. Things that you have not used for the last six months, you are never going to look at
again, yet we keep holding on to this and thus clutter up our lives with a lot of unwanted stuff.
10. He said we should Dare To Disconnect. We are so hooked on to technology that we feel
insecure if we disconnect our phone or blackberries even at night when we are going to bed.
This generation is on 24 by 7 and this is not healthy at all.
11. We need to get rid of Information Overload to lead a happy and fulfilling life.
12. We are losing the human touch with all the technology available to us. Technology is
becoming our masters and we are the slaves to it.
13. He ended saying that we need to get back to the human touch. Nothing is more important in
life than conversing and talking to each other face to face. Use technology only to enhance
your work life and keep in touch with family who are far away, but down the line there is
nothing more important than the human touch.
My take on Technology:
Technology you are the bane of our lives
You keep us glued to you and give us stress and strife
We need to disconnect and at least give each other a smile
We need to keep healthy and walk a mile
Skype, Tango, Facebook and all social networking sites
Keeps you seated and then the weight piles up right?
So keep up with technology but don’t let it make a slave of you
Is my wish for all most sincere and true.
5
Session IV : On Sunday, 2-9-2012 1600 to 1730 Hrs.
Topic
: Social Engineering : Controlling the Human Element of Information Security
- Mr. A.K.M. Nazrul Haider
Delegate : Ruby Vatcha, Indo German Chamber of Commerce
Social Engineering is basically a technique of tricking people using psychological traits or bypassing
the security control of computer systems to get access to the desired information. It is also the oldest
profession in the world - that of telling lies. This is done by building relationships, faith, mimicry,
creating stories, manipulating behaviour or psychology, impersonating someone in authority and
originally started in Europe with the industrial revolution. To understand the relationship with
machines, social engineering is said to have evolved.
After World War I, Europe was devastated and economic conditions were bad. It was very difficult
to maintain historical places and the Eiffel Tower was one of them.
Victor Lustig sold the Eiffel Tower using some ordinary engineering techniques. Not once but
twice. The third time he got caught. With some role playing activities he took the confidence of
some of the people. His role was that of a Confidence Artist. More details can be found on:
http://www.uselessinformation.org/lustig/index.html
Frank Abagnale played the role of a pilot and is known as the Father of Social Engineering. He is
one of the best Social Engineers of the world, is alive and wrote some books in the area of Social
Engineering including the book, “Catch Me if You Can”. He ran away from home when he was 16
years old, wrote bad cheques, posed for a month as a Pan Am Pilot was in the French Prison and took
the FBI 3 years to catch him.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/scams/frank_abagnale/index.html
There are also fake pilots in training and flying aircrafts. In March, 2011 Captain Parminder Kaul
Gulati admitted to never passing the exams. Later the records showed that Captain Gulati had failed
5 subjects, tried 3 times and all 3 times failed. Later was caught during a default landing with front
wheels instead of the rear. The Pilot Licensing Association based in Chennai then started
scrutinizing and found 14 fake pilots in the Indian airline industry. This is not only in India. In June,
2011a pilot was arrested in Sweden from the cockpit. For 13 years he flew without a license. They
enter the area bluffing. This is how dangerous Social Engineering is.
Kevin Mitnick is an American computer security consultant, author, convicted criminal and hacker.
He was convicted of various computer and communication related crimes and jailed for 10 years. He
has written the books, “The Art of Deception” and “The Art of Intrusion”. He now runs Mitnick
Security Consulting, LLC for certified Social Engineering Prevention Specialists for LA.
http://www.takedown.com/bio/mitnick.html
Stanley Mark Patterson used Social Engineering over the telephone, before computers. Was caught
and is in prison.
6
Radir Brothers - The 3 brothers, born blind in Israel bluffed the Israeli Military and the telephone
system. By the telephone ring they knew what kind of telephone it was. They made 6.8 million
dollars before they got caught. Two of them are in prison and the 3rd one who is below 18 is in the
correction centre.
Social Engineering works on the following:
Faith
Why go to the trouble of hacking a computer when you can call someone and make them do it for
you by manipulating their behaviour. If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear.
This can be done by getting his password. Sometimes we get a lot of e-mail and we provide
information to Social Engineering experts by replying to these e-mails or by talking outside an Event
where Social Engineering can gather information in public areas. Social Engineering preys on the
collection of home knowledge and states a desire to be helpful. The tendency to trust people and the
fear of getting into trouble is why people share information. A successful defence line would be to
put certain people in charge of relaying certain information.
Mimicry
Pretending to be the Front desk, calling the hotel system asking for information.
Confidence
By acting, role playing of individuals, con artists, confidence artists, all kinds of tricks to fool people
e.g. replying to spam mail and receiving a small amount of genuine currency to build your confidence
and then get scammed.
To become a Social Engineer you can go to e-Bay and all the information can be found there with the
click of a mouse. Find a loophole in the system. Anti-virus software is the same. Cyber criminals
make fake ones and ask you to install it and it infects your computer. Whatever you click, it asks you
to download. They are trying to collect your information in return.
Most sophisticated is the social networking. Facebook, Twitter. Anyone knows everyone, everyone
knows someone. Networks create a lot of disadvantages and risks for us. Today with IT, people
around the world are trying to fool those who are not attentive to collect your information.
Social Engineering can be classified into Human and Computer Related
Human:
 Impersonating or role playing. Posing as an important user, personal approach for support, social
networking.
 Dumpster Diving. A cleaner collects the garbage from your waste paper basket and sells the
information.
 Shoulder Surfing: Once or twice if the person sitting next to you can see the fingers, he can get
your password.
Computer Related
 Mail attachments
7




Pop-up windows
Websites: Fake websites are created by putting an additional dot on the existing websites of
companies. After the scam, the fake website vanishes.
Sweepstakes
Spam mail
Social Engineering is also done through the Telephone
The telephone mechanism can be routed from anywhere. From telephone support you can get a
message asking for a user id etc. Or someone asks the assistant to the MD who is in a meeting that
he requires this information urgently for discussion. In a Nigerian scam a team pretending to be the
Health Ministry made off with millions. They also had telephone numbers and a back up team
pretending to be the Ministry officials in case anyone called back for check-up and further
information. These were life threatening circumstances.
Voice changers are also available. It is a software that changes voice quality from a young to an old
lady and from a male to a female voice. Even imitating your boss is possible. Voice morphers
allow you to change the pitch and tremor. Voice headsets allow 14 year olds to act as FBI agents.
After 10 years the mobile phone is predicted to be more powerful. Credit cards will not be there.
Conclusion
However, thankfully everything is not Social Engineering. 90 % is genuine, 10 % is bad. And there
are safety features like receiving an sms the instant you have bought something. But technology is
moving so rapidly that what took years to do previously can now be done in minutes and at a greater
volume.
The human factor is security’s weakest link because then the securest device will not work. You have
to take care of the people. Trust and reciprocity are important. Security is not a technical problem, it
is a people and management problem.
A secure computer is one that is turned off. Social
Engineering goes back to the First Lie.
As Einstein rightly said, “Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity”:.
[Mr. A.K.M. Nazrul Haider (n.haider@icddrb.org) has over 30 years experience in building and leading successful IT projects in the area of aviation,
manufacturing, education, research and healthcare industry. He is the alma mater of the Asian Institute of Technology and completed Master of
Computer Science with specialization in information security and geo-informatics. He is a recognized leader in the area of developing plans for
business systems automation through the management of technology and diversified environment. Currently, Mr. Haider is working as Senior
Advisor to ICDDR, B - International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research for Bangla Desh. He is involved in drafting the national information
security policy to combat the emerging cyber threat evolving across the world as part of information warfare. Prior to joining ICDDR, B he worked for
Apollo Hospitals, Dhaka as General Manager. He was also Business Systems Manager and Head of IT for Unilever Bangladesh for 15 years which
includes 2 years overseas placement for handling diversified IT applications.]
8
Session V : On Sunday, 2-9-2012 1830 to 2200 Hrs.
Topics
: Evolution of China’s Secretaries after 1978
– Dr. Wang Shihong, Ph.D.
The Technology Revolution Benchmark at SSGC
– Asma Butt, Member, DSP, Pakistan
Delegate : Jeroo Irani, Ex-Central Bank of India
Dr. Wang Shihong, gave a talk with presentation on Evolution of China’s Secretaries after 1978.
China is the socialist country. In 1978 when Mr. Deng Xiaoping at the age of 76, led over a billion
Chinese to reform, people’s life changed thereafter in China. The most striking aspects of China is
the pace at which it had changed. China is still a developing country. It’s going to take a lot more
time and a lot more work before things settle down and become more streamlined and predictable.
China was praised for lifting 600 million people out of poverty, which is the largest uplifting ever
reported in history. China is doing so well in the empowerment and the people travel a lot in other
countries as tourists.
The evolution of China’s Secretaries :
Before 1978, everything was managed by the Government. At present there are about 20 million
Secretaries in China. Every company atleast has one Secretary. Secretaries were selected from
within the existing staff in the unit. Secretary is the post with great potential. Writing was the initial
skill for a Secretary. In Government companies 80% Secretaries were male, but in private companies
90% were females. Keeping secrecy is the basic element of a Secretary. There was transformation
after the reforms.
4 Channels to recruit Secretaries :
1. Public Recruitment – after examination & tests.
2. Graduates – Previously secretaries were Secondary School Graduates, but now Graduates are
being recruited.
3. Grass root staff of their own company – They are more familiar with office work, trust,
knowledge etc.
4. Friends or relatives of Boss.
Challenges for China’s Secretaries :
1. Overall quality of Secretaries need to be raised. There is a big gap between government
organization Secretary and private company Secretary.
2. They lack the desire to do better, sense of responsibility, the secretarial knowledge and lack work
standard.
History and the present situation of Secretarial education :
1. Upto 2010, over 1200 books and 20,000 articles have been published.
2. In 2004, Master Degree programme on Secretarial studies started.
3. In 2006, Doctorate degree programme started in China.
At the moment there are 20 million Secretaries in China. Lucy Shih Dunn, ASA Past President from
Taiwan has written 25 books and has done a lot to increase the level of Secretaries in China.
9
After this, Ms. Asma Butt, member of DSP, Pakistan gave a video presentation on her employer
Company titled “The Technology Revolution Benchmark at Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGS)”, to
show how SSGS proved a benchmark for Technology Revolution. She emphasized change with the
change, otherwise change will change you. There is a need to change the mindset of people. We
should not focus on the meetings, but what is the output of these meetings. SSGC is the biggest oil
company in south Pakistan. There should be change in the way people work, their mindset. First
believe in, know, understand, believe them and then implement them. The best thing about you is
You. When we have confidence, we will progress, change and be a grand success. Human Resource
is the most important role in SSGC. The company sends employees for foreign training, gives
adequate incentive. SSGC’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance is for health,
environment, education. It has contributed a lot in the economy of Pakistan. Lastly, she requested
each one of the delegates to take part in the next ASA Congress to be held at Pakistan in 2014.
Mr. Azeem Shah, General Manager, Westin Hotel, Dhaka gave a brief talk on his hotel and their
group chain of hotels, before the delegates were invited for a fabulous dinner.
Session VI : Monday, 3-9-2012 0900 to 1030 Hrs.
Topic
: Technology and Workplace and also How Businesses are using Technology.
- Mr. Sayed Almas Kabir
Delegate : Sunita James, Nycomed Pharma Pvt. Ltd.
The 1st Session on the 3rd day of the ASA Congress began with Mr. Sayed Almas Kabir, Vice
President of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) who spoke on
Technology in Office and using it efficiently.
We all know that Technology has changed our lives considerably and that’s why it was excellent to
hear more on it. Mr. Syed spoke on various aspects of Technology:
 Role of Technology in Business - He mentioned that if business is automated, production
increases and efficiency increases and we get more customers with less resources. According to
him, it is very crucial to present the necessary information in a meaningful way. Internet has
broadened the reach and businesses have gone global. Digitized information improves our ability
to preserve and protect data but at the same time we can alter so there is a slight risk hence security
should be adequate.

Remote desktop –With the technological advancement we can now control office computers
from home. Most of the companies are now saving office space which helps them to be cost
conscious.
10
He also spoke on : Importance of technology in workplace, improved communications with
continuous use of emails and also mentioned that Employees are not limited only to phone calls.


Advantages to Human resources – Technology has improved the efficiency of screening,
recruiting and hiring potential candidates.
Paperless offices as most people prefer having soft copies instead of printouts.
Mr. Sayed also touched upon the following aspects :
How to adapt to changes at work with Technology
 Always keep yourself abreast with the latest technological changes. Seek the help from IT
experts at workplace when they are solving your problems related to computers, phones etc.
 Attend trainings/workshops offered by Companies to get acquainted with all the systems used
at workplace.
 Streamline your technological experience and eliminate unwanted programs.
Impact of technology on small businesses






Small businesses are benefitted with technology, emails, Instant messenger, Skype etc.
Web based approach to keep track of project going on in different areas
Instant feedback from customers via email , blogs, social networking etc
Flexible work environments
Online stores, various websites.
Outsourcing.
Negative Impact on Technology



Human touch is lost
Employee morale goes down as the trust factor is lost as employees are tracked due to
monitoring systems
Spam increases work time
Technologies that will change our future




Digital ink represents handwriting in natural form
Digital paper
Radio Frequency Identification (RFIO)
Automatic computing
Considering the technological advancements, this session really gave us insights to many new
learning’s which was beneficial to all the members.
11
Session VII : Monday, 3-9-2012 1100 to 1230 Hrs.
Topic
: Leadership Development
- Mr. Akhteruddin Mahmood
Delegate : Gloria Collaco, Verizon Business
On Day 3 of the 21st ASA Congress a very important topic on Leadership Development was
covered by Mr. Akhteruddin Mahmood. He began by hinting upon the long argument by scholars on
whether leaders are Born or Made and clarified as to how this depends from situation to situation. He
further elaborated on the various styles of Leadership that we have seen over the years across the
globe. Be it democratic, autocratic, free reign and finally the one that accommodates itself as a given
situation thereby being the best and most effective.
He emphasized the four main objectives of a good leader, which are :
 Inspiring People
 Opening Up
 Dealing with Others
 Adding Value
He also gave us some insights as to how in today’s time interviewer’s conduct Behavioural based
Interviews. These tests mainly focus on attitude, motivation and belief. These interviews also define
the need for development and the degree of difficulty for the interviewee to adapt.
Knowledge
Skills
Attitude
Personal Traits
Easy
Change
Change
Difficult
(The above indicates that Knowledge is the most easiest to develop while to change a person’s
personal traits through training and development is most difficult.)
There are 3 stages to bringing about change. First being Discovery, then Development and finally
Demonstration.
In the stage of Discovery – an individual needs to go through Awareness, Acceptance and
Understand the Impact that would be brought about with change. This can be carried out through
Workshops, Coaching and Mentoring.
Under Development – He needs to be Motivated to accept, Recognize the objective, Understand the
Self Development Capacity and Undergo a planned training. This can be done through Assignments,
Conventions and Periodicals.
12
Final stage of Demonstration – needs providing for practice, giving timely and encouraging
feedback, which can be done through Projects, Interviews and Course Programs.
The aim of any organization should me ‘Stress Free Life’ for its employees as this enables Leaders to
emerge rather than just being followers. To complete this cycle to 100% - it is 10% Education, 20%
Relationship and 70% Experience.
Mr. Mahmood then explained the benefits of ‘Win-Win Situation’ through a very animated clip about
the Tortoise and Rabbit Race story. Whereby the final conclusion was that when people work in
collaboration the results are better for everyone.
The final and most important 3 tips that Mr. Mahmood left us for a successful work career were as
below :
1. Always talk positive about your boss and project him in good light.
2. Think ahead of your Boss on your processes and executive to effect.
3. Make your boss dependable on you.
Session VIII : Monday, 3-9-2012 1400 to 1530 Hrs.
Topic
: Women Health
– Dr. Rukhsana Haider
Delegate
: Shera Langrana, Novartis India Ltd.
An extremely interesting and insightful talk by Dr. Haider on, “Women Health”. Dr. Haider is a
physician and nutritionist and spoke about heart disease and diabetes in women.
Very often, women are so busy tending to and looking after the well-being of their family members
that they forget to pay attention to their own health. Maternal mortality is gradually decreasing as
more women are becoming aware of their nutrition and their health.
She started her talk by giving us the statistics as they are in Bangladesh :
30% of Bangladesh women are mal-nourished, 4 out of 10 rural women suffer from anemia and there
exists 40% of malnutrition among children.
She said that for women to preserve their health, they have to lay down certain norms which they
indeed must follow. The most important among these were, child spacing and breast feeding.
Children should be spaced and a gap of at least 3 years was ideal. Also, breast feeding should be
encouraged amongst young mothers as breast milk is best for babies and breast feeding gives
immunity to the child. Of course in all this, the role of the father is very important – his involvement
in the health of his family and family planning issues was critical.
She then went on to enlighten us that women measure up to almost 70% of the world’s population.
Also, violence against women is as serious a case of death as is cancer.
13
There were some health problems which women encountered only because they were women and one
of them was breast cancer. Ageing was also another one.
Women also had their equal share of Heart Disease – as per statistics more than 2 lakh women die
each year from heart attacks. More women die of heart disease yearly than breast cancer as women
are too pre-occupied with caring for their family that they do not think of themselves.
Diabetes was another silent killer which women had to deal with. Dr. Haider explained that Type 1
Diabetes was when people had little or no insulin in their bodies. Hence, they must take insulin every
day to stay alive.
Type II Diabetes was when the body did not make enough insulin or it was not used well enough.
Hence, these diabetics need to take tablets or insulin as treatment. Then there is gestational Diabetes
and this is when diabetes is detected for the first time during pregnancy. This normally gets resolved
once the child is born.
She ended her talk by informing us that Health is linked to status. The rich have the ability to look
after their health and that of their families. The poor cannot afford such luxury. When there is a need
for a care-giver in a family, it is usually the woman who steps into the role, not the male. Diabetes
and Gestational Diabetes can both be controlled with proper diet and medication/insulin.
The talk was followed by a Question and Answer session.
Session IX : Monday, 3-9-2012 1600 to 2200 Hrs.
Topic
: ASA Bazaar
ASA Attendance Award (5, 10, 15, 20 recipients)
Delegate
: Katy Dhondy, Apax Partners India Advisers Pvt. Ltd.
The much awaited ASA Bazaar took off at 4:00 pm as scheduled. You could feel the palpable
excitement in the air as all the ASA members were eagerly waiting to attack the different stalls to get
great bargains from each of the stalls that were put up by the participating countries and show off
their wares to their friends.
As always ASA collected a generous amount of US$ 2,047. Thailand collected US$ 500 which was
the highest amount followed by Bangladesh in the second place with US$ 265 and Malaysia in the
third place having collected US$ 254. India came in fourth, having collected US$ 238 having beaten
Taiwan by a Dollar!!
The evening function started with a spectacular Lazer show thanking all the participating countries
for having attended the 21st ASA Congress.
14
This year, we could not have the ASA Award as it had been decided by the Council of Presidents at
the last ASA Congress that at least six countries had to put up their winners and the response was
only from four countries. However, the winners from each of the following countries who were
present were called on stage and they got a thundering round of applause from the crowds.
Suchinta Liyanage
Lia Kusumawardhani
Alice Chen
Sunita James
-
Sri Lanka
Indonesia
Taiwan
India
No Congress can go by without the Attendance in form of Pins for the number of years, viz., 5, 10
and 15. From India, Hyacinth Arya and Swarnalatha Soans received their 5 year pins and Geeta Rao
got her 10 year pin, all of them from our Pune Chapter.
This year Bangladesh’s ASA President along with Virginia P Albinias, our Founding President who
received her 21 years Award, decided that all attendees who had attended more than five years would
be honoured with a Certificate of Attendance.
From India thus the following IASAP members received their attendance certificates :
Homai Mehta
Zarine Commissariat
Dolly Mugaseth
Shera Langrana
Pansy Reilly
Katy Dhondy
Jeroo Irani
19 years
16 years
13 years
9 years
9 years
8 years
6 years
At the close of this function, we all went across to a restaurant, Bâton Rouge for a lavish spread. At
this dinner we had with us members from the Assistance of Blind Children & T.B. Hospital, being
the Charities chosen by PSWA of Bangladesh, who were handed over the amount collected at the
ASA Bazaar. The members of the Assistance of the Blind Children sang some songs for us with
many of us joining in. The evening soon drew to a close and everyone went back to the Hotel to
pursue their interest.
Session X
Topic
Delegate
: Tuesday, 4-9-2012 0900 to 1800 Hrs.
: City Tour of Dhaka
: Dolly Mugaseth, Ex-ICICI Ltd.
assisted by Zarine Commissariat, Monitor Group
15
All the delegates dressed in green T-Shirt with ASA Logo on the shirt sleeve, were lined up at 8.45
a.m. in the lobby of Westin Hotel and six buses left at 9.00 a.m. for the scheduled City Tour of Dhaka
including site seeing and shopping. The city of Dhaka is 400 years old and had served as the Capital
of India in the Mughal Emperor Jehangir’s period of administration.
First we visited Bangladesh National Parliament House known as JATIYO SANGSHAD BHABAN
located in the heart of Dhaka City. It is considered as the best creation of famous architect Louis
Isador Kahn. The main building is at the center of the complex and an intricately designed lake
surrounds it. Entrance to the Main Building is limited to the members of the Parliament and staff
only, but the Complex is open to the visitors. On the north of the Complex, there is a monument of
late President Ziaur Rahman.
Next we visited National Martyrs’ Memorial Monument known as JATIYO SRITI SHOUDHO,
located in Savar, about 35 Km. north-west from Dhaka. It is the symbol of the valour and the
sacrifice of those killed in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
Bangladesh being one of the biggest ready-made garment exporters in the world, is also a paradise for
all branded ready-made garments. It is also known for Muslin (fine fabrics) Sarees and Pearls in
shades of white, pink, grey and black.
Later we went shopping to Aarong departmental shop, where muslin sarees, ready-made garments,
handicraft, jewellery etc. were available. We were also taken to another departmental shop where
western outfits were available at reasonable rates. Finally we had High Tea at PAN PACIFIC
SONARGAON Restaurant and returned late in the evening back to our Hotel Westin. Later in the
night, delegates had a buffet dinner at TOP KAPI Restaurant, opposite Westin Hotel.
Session XI : Wednesday, 5-9-2012 0900 to 1000 Hrs.
Topic
: Report of ASA Council of Presidents’ Meeting held on 31st August 2012.
Delegate
: Gracy Lee, Writer Corporation
It was agreed by all the Council Presidents and the Consensus arising from the 21st ASA Congress
Council Presidents Meeting is as follows:
1. To continue to increase awareness of ASA as a Brand Image throughout the ASA member
Country Associations.
2. To continue to carry out ASA Projects undertaken by appointed Council Presidents, namely:
i.
ASA Award
a) ASA Award contest shall commence with minimum of 6 candidates participating.
b) Criteria of ASA Award will again be reviewed and necessary changes will be made to
encourage participation. This project will be led by Maharukh Bhiladwala (Mok) from
16
DSSP, Pakistan working closely with Obaida Kabir (PSWA, Bangladesh), Melissa Ong
(MAPSA, Malaysia), Homai Mehta (IASAP, India) and ASA Secretary.
ii. ASA Future Congresses
a) A set of Standard Operating Procedures shall be established as a guide and protocol for
reference to future congresses.
b) This project will be led by Maharukh Bhiladwala (Mok) from DSSP, Pakistan.
iii. ASA Membership
a) To continue to expand the membership of ASA, possibly to China and Myanmar.
b) This project will be led by Homai Mehta from IASAP, India.
c) To proudly note that ASA Membership has expanded to Papua New Guinea (PNGAAP)
who were present at the 21st ASA Congress. Special thanks to Homai Metha, Alvina
Chung, Lilian Coloma and Obaida Kabir for their valuable work.
iv. Project Contest
a) A new project initiated by WSAT, Thailand was approved by the Council Presidents and
will take effect at the 22nd ASA Congress in Pakistan.
b) This project is to encourage and recognize member associations for a worthwhile activity
undertaken by their association which promotes Administrative Professions.
c) US$100 will be awarded to the winning country association.
d) This project will be led by Boonsri Trakulpatanakon from WSAT, Thailand and working
closely with Melissa Ong, MAPSA, Malaysia and Cheryl Matthew from DSSP Pakistan.
3. It was also noted at the Council Presidents Meeting that :
i. An increase in the ASA Fund Subsidy to hosting Country Association from US$1000 to
US$1500 which will take effect from the 21st ASA Congress in Bangladesh.
4. A proud note to share : There were 135 foreign delegates and 44 local delegates
participating at the 21st ASA Congress at Bangladesh.
Session XII : Wednesday, 5-9-2012 1030 to 1230 Hrs.
Topic
: Presentation of Attendance Certificate
Exchange of Gifts, Handover of ASA Flag and Gavel
Presentation by Distinguished Secretaries’ Society of Pakistan (DSSP)
– 22nd ASA Congress Host Country member Association.
Delegate
: Jeroo Irani, Ex-Central Bank of India
On the last day on 5th September after the summary Report of the ASA Council of President’s
Meeting, the President representing the Association of Papua New Gini, who had acquired the new
ASA Membership at this ASA Congress, took the Oath on the dias in front of all the members and
agreed to support and represent their Association at ASA level.
17
Attendance Certificates of all delegates were then given by Mrs. Obaida Kabir to each respective
Country President in an envelop to be handed over later to each of their delegates.
Gifts were exchanged i.e. each Country President gave a gift representing their Association to Mrs.
Obaida Kabir, President, The 21st ASA Congress and in return Mrs. Obaida Kabir also gave a gift
from Bangladesh Professional Secretaries Welfare Association (PSWA) to each Country President.
Mrs. Obaida Kabir also gave gifts to all the ASA Organising Committee Members of Bangladesh and
thanked them for the support extended in making this ASA Congress a grand success.
Mrs. Obaida Kabir handed over the ASA Flag and the Gavel to Mrs. Cheryl Mathew, President,
Distinguished Secretaries’ Society of Pakistan (DSSP). Cheryl declared that the 22nd ASA Congress
would be held in the last quarter of 2014 in Karachi, Pakistan, coinciding with the 40 years Ruby
Anniversary of DSSP. The Registration Fees would be the same USD 600 for ASA Members and
USD 750 for Non Members. This was followed by a lovely presentation on Pakistan.
Cheryl in her presentation on Pakistan stated that as soon as the delegates would land at Jinnah
Terminal Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, Karachi they will be transported into a magical city of
Mosques, Churches, Hindu Mandirs and Zoroastrian Agiaries. There are a lot of places to see in and
around Karachi, for which she will arrange a day for sight-seeing and a lot of shopping for the
delegates. Their Association will also assist the delegates who wish to have an extended tour of
Pakistan. Probably this will be the only chance to visit Pakistan with large delegation from India.
Hence dear members, please gear up from now, block your diaries, save USD 600 + airfare
(equivalent in Indian Rupees and the current exchange rate is USD 1 = Pakistan Rs.100/-) and aim to
visit Pakistan in the last quarter of 2014 to attend The 22nd ASA Congress.
Session XIII : Wednesday, 5-9-2012 1830 to 2200 Hrs.
Topic
: Performance by ASA Members Association
Delegate
: Wilma D’Costa, Tata Sons Ltd.
Closing Ceremony at the ASA Congress at Dhaka
The curtains of the 21st ASA Congress drew to a close on Wednesday, 5th September 2012 amidst
hugs, kisses, mirth and a promise to meet again at the next ASA Congress. Earlier in the day,
Attendance Certificates were presented, and the ASA Flag and Gavel were handed over to the
President of the next hosting country, Pakistan, by the ASA President, Obaida Kabir, with much pomp
and grandeur. There was a feeling of emotion in the air as gifts were exchanged as a mark of friendship
between delegates of different countries who bonded with each other during the Congress period.
18
ASA Congresses have always served as platforms to renew old friendships, build new ones and each
ASA Congress culminates in a gala closing which brims with excitement as each country is called
upon to perform a cultural item. Putting its best foot forward, each Asian country vies with the
other in mutual camaraderie to emerge as winners. The countries that participated in the Cultural
item at the ASA Congress this year, were: Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Taiwan,
Pakistan, Japan, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The Indian theme was “Dulhan Ki Bidaai”, bidding a festive and ceremonious bridal farewell to an
Indian bride by her parents and a traditional welcome by the groom’s family and friends, into her
new home, which is widely prevalent in many parts of India. The conceptualization, choreography,
costumes and props were meticulously handmade by the Past Chapter Chairperson of Pune,
Hyacinth Arya and her efforts were commendable. Our item was full of energy, charm, colour, and
jubilation and India emerged triumphant and bagged the 1st prize with Taiwan and Japan being
awarded the 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively.
Zarine Commissariat, was the compere and I had the privilege of proposing the Vote of Thanks at
the close of the ASA Congress. Ladies take a bow, we stole the show with aplomb! Keep on the
winning spree….
The gala night ended with singing the melodious ASA song in unison, holding hands and swaying to
the melody of Auld Lang Syne. Adieu Dhaka, till we meet again in Pakistan in 2014.
Wilma D’Costa
All India President, IASAP
Tata Sons Ltd.
19