| Forget about race |
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| Sunday, 11 October 2009 09:25 |
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First published in The Nut Graph
By Deborah Low
AZRAN Osman-Rani is Air Asia X's chief executive officer. Because he doesn't have an office to himself, for the interview with The Nut Graph on 11 Sept 2009, we sit down at a table in a corner of an open-floor office in full view of other staff at their work stations. Azran shares the same work space as his staff with no cubicles to separate each desk.
The atmosphere at the Air Asia X office in the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang is casual and informal. But there's a hum of efficiency. Perhaps there is more to the airline's "no-frills" ethos than just budget flights. Doing away with the excess fat and bureaucracy does give one more time and space to develop the values that matter.
Speaking with heartfelt conviction about the values that matter to him, Azran talks about the need for concerted effort to shape a multicultural environment for his children and the company he works in.
TNG: Where were you born and where did you grow up?
I was born in 1971 and I'm 110% KL, from the General Hospital to Kampung Pandan for my first couple of years, then Bangsar Telawi for four years, and then Taman Tun [Dr Ismail] from Standard One right up to Form Five.
I've also been lucky to have had a number of overseas living experiences. At age one to two, my dad did his PhD in Manila. When I was nine and 10, my mum did her PhD in New York. I studied in the United States and after coming back, I was able to spend a year working in Thailand, then a year in Indonesia, then Singapore and a year in Korea. It provided useful perspectives in seeing what's out there in the world and [allows one the ability] to appreciate [one's] own culture and roots when [one] is overseas. What did your parents do and how did they influence your upbringing?
Dad was a former professor of economics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and mum was a former professor of education at Universiti Malaya. They did their academic work regionally so our household had a lot of exposure to people of different cultures. Our parents always allowed me and my siblings to engage with their friends. Our household was not one where kids were seen and not heard. We sat at the dinner table and had conversations with our parents' friends.
At age four, I got to talk to professors and academics from other countries. At that age I was really into art and drawing, and every painting I did I would show to my parents' friends. That gave me a lot of self-confidence as a kid. When you become familiar with differences, you can attract and talk to older people and people from diverse backgrounds. Some of my mum's friends today say they still remember my paintings.
Read the rest of the article at The Nut Graph |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 11 October 2009 09:50 |
Azran Osman-Rani
Azran, at age six
