This year, Malaysia Tatler honours six distinguished personalities who have risen above and beyond the call of duty to be exemplary individuals.

 

As is customary every year, Malaysia Tatler honours select inviduals who have distinguished themselves through their character and works as well as are outstanding in furthering the ideals of entrepreneurship, goodwill and style.

Following in the footsteps of last year’s big winnersDato’ Robert Geneid (Diamond of Excellence), Bryan Loo (Entrepreneur Par Excellence), Datin Sabrena Dani (Most Stylish Woman), Munirah Abdul Hamid (Force for Good) and Dato’ Eric Ong & Datin Kate Ong (Couple of the Year) – this year’s prestigious list is a roundup of exemplary individuals who are truly derserving of the awards. 

Congratulations to the winners:

Dato’ Sri Bernard Chandran (Diamond of Excellence)

Raja Jesrina Arshad (Entrepreneur of the Year)

Zaida Ibrahim (Woman on the Rise)

John-Son Oei (Force for Good)

Dato’ Sri Jeffrey Raymond and Datin Sri Joyce Raymond (Couple of the Year)


Dato’ Sri Bernard Chandran

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The winner of our Diamond Award started out his studies in accountancy but his love for fashion eventually led him onto a different path. His enthusiasm and drive was so infectious that the principal of the fashion school he enrolled at in Paris gave him a full scholarship

He built his eponymous fashion label upon his return to Malaysia in 1993 and has a amassed a long list of clientele from royalties and cream of the fashion crop around the region. Celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Estelle, Rihanna and Tori Amos have also been spotted in his creations.

His legacy is also evident in his five stylish and well-mannered children whom he has raised well with his dedicated and beautiful wife, Datin Sri Mary Lourdes. He also won the Master of his Craft award at our 2001 Tatler Ball.


Raja Jesrina Arshad

Entrepreneur of the Year.jpg(source)

As the co-founder and CEO of Asia’s first of its kind multilingual one-stop content-community-commerce online portal where users can find all the information, products and services on health and wellness, Raja Jesrina aims to inspire, support and empower others to lead a healthier lifestyle.

PurelyB was launched only in May last year and three months later, it became one of the 20 startups selected for the Stanford Technology Ventures Programme in Silicon Valley. In September last year, they were awarded as one of Red Herring International’s top 100 startups in Asia.

Given the illustrious accolades and rapid expansion, it's no surprise that PurelyB  is one of Asia’s top startups.


Zaida Ibrahim

Woman on the Rise.jpg(source)

The winner of our inagural Woman on the Rise award possesses the right mix of beauty, brain and brawn. She started her career in the global corporate banking world and harboured the desire to do something on her own. 

Health, fitness and juicing have always been a very big part of her life; and she went on to open her first cold-press juice store Impressed in May last year. She's come a long way from the days where she was told she’ll never make it and having one of her juicers breaking down one day before the opening of her store.

She is now married to the guy who lent her the juicer and the market, that was in reality thirsty for healthy juices, can’t seem to get enough of Impressed.


 John-Son Oei

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Believing that greater things can be achieved by masses of people doing small purposeful actions, the founder and group CEO of Extraordinary People Impacting community or Epic Collective, John-Son Oei has a heart of gold.

His non-profit organisation is dedicated to planning and volunteering to build homes for the marginalised like the Orang Asli. Recently, his company has started expanding internationally with infrastructure projects in Cambodia while establishing themselves as consultants to organisations from multiple sectors, including the Malaysian government in the areas of community development, civilisation mobilisation and capacity building. 

His work has won him recognition throughout the world, he is listed in Forbes 30 under 30, the EeClif Leadership Energy award 2015 and Microsoft’s Global YouthSpark Star award, among others.


 Dato’ Sri Jeffrey Raymond & Datin Sri Joyce Raymond

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One day before his month-long journey via land to Germany from India, Dato’ Sri Jeffrey Raymond met a pretty young lady through a friend. They promised to write to each other and by the time he got to Munich 29 days later, the letters were flying to and fro while love was blossoming in their hearts

When he came home at the end of 1970, he met up with her the very next day and they courted for a good three years before getting married. The Chairman and MD of OEM Autoseats Malaysia have been married to Datin Joyce for 42 years, and they now have 3 children and 2 grandchildren.

Dato' Sri Jeffrey is also an avid watch collector.


Retrospective: Let’s take a look at some of the past Malaysia Tatler award winners.