IN this week’s Success: The Insight Story column, SunBiz tunes in to Measat COO Yau Chyong Lim (pic).
What have the highlights and challenges been during your tenure at Measat?
Across more than 25 years in the satellite industry, there have been many highlights in my tenure at Measat. I am proud to have played a critical role in transforming Measat from a video-based broadcast platform provider and bandwidth leasing company to a full-service broadband solutions company.
In leading the team, I am proud to see Measat expand its role as Malaysia’s key rural broadband service provider through its CONNECTme NOW satellite broadband service.
Recently, Measat achieved a new milestone when we launched the multi-mission Measat-3d satellite, our eighth satellite, which provides unrivalled in-orbit satellite redundancy for direct-to-home, broadcasting and telecommunications services for the region, as well as broadband speed of up to 100 Mbps throughout Malaysia including in areas with limited or no terrestrial coverage.
With Measat-3d, we are better positioned to support the government’s target to achieve 100% internet access in populated areas by 2025, by using satellite broadband services to fill the broadband gap in locations without 4G, 5G or fibre coverage.
How do you think the industry you are in will evolve?
The advancement of satellite technology provides much-needed connectivity capability and will play a significant role in enabling high bandwidth applications such as the Industrial Revolution 4.0, the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, 5G, cellular backhaul, telemedicine, online learning, and more, which will drive socioeconomic benefits and grow gross domestic product.
When satellite technology improves connectivity by delivering affordable high-speed, low-latency internet to underserved regions of the world, we can achieve societal goals, such as improving economic growth and income opportunities, improving access to education services, and reducing overall inequality between urban and rural residents.
Our new Measat-3d satellite will help close the digital gap in rural areas. Using the High Throughput Satellite capacity on Measat-3d, Malaysians are able to enjoy high-speed internet even in hard-to-reach rural villages, via Measat’s CONNECTme NOW satellite broadband service.
We all know about the industrial revolution, are we in for a technological revolution? Your thoughts.
I do believe that we are in for a technological revolution. From a young age, many of us imagined what future technology would look like, and although some of the technology may have not yet materialised, a lot of the futuristic technology seen in the science fiction genre may become reality in the future.
After all, the impact of communications satellites and other forms of information technology that we enjoy today must seem like science fiction to people from the past too.
What traits do you look for in your talent or how do you decide who is right for a job?
Determination and a positive attitude. In any job, and certainly in the satellite industry, there are always challenges that will linger in our minds and even haunt some people, so it is important to be surrounded by people who bring positive energy when there are storms to weather.
What advice can you offer those looking to start their career in the satellite/space industry?
Just like any industry, it is important to like what we do – and we also need to be patient and open-minded to learn as much as we can whenever there is an opportunity to expand our knowledge.
In secondary school, take as many science, technology, engineering and mathematics classes as you can. If you’re not sure which field you’d like to get into, take as many general science (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.) and math classes as possible. This will ensure that you’re keeping all doors open when it is time to decide on a university programme.
It is also important to keep up-to-date on the satellite/ space industry. Having a natural passion for the space and satellite field really helps. Consult websites, read books and magazines, watch space science shows and visit space exhibitions at museums to learn about past, present and future endeavours in space.
You can also go to a space camp to fuel your imagination with hands-on activities. This will help you understand more about the satellite/space industry, which can be beneficial in landing your dream job.
What do you want to accomplish in the next five years?
• To lead the team in providing high speed broadband connectivity to the remaining 3-5% of unserved and underserved rakyat in Malaysia, who are living in remote areas around the country.
• To expand our CONNECTme services regionally. Many of our neighbouring countries also face challenges in bringing internet connectivity to people living outside the urban areas, so our satellite broadband services aimed at connecting rural residents via affordable prepaid vouchers will be a great match for their needs.
• On a personal level, as a parent, it is definitely one of my top priorities to see my children completing their tertiary education.
Best piece of advice you ever received on your career.
• Be humble. There are always people more knowledgeable than you and unexpected sources of knowledge you can benefit from.
• Never stop learning. There is always room for improving our knowledge.
How do you stay abreast of issues affecting your industry?
You have to love the industry and like what you are doing in order to be on top of things! Reading, networking and maintaining good relationships with peers in the industry are key ways to achieve this. We shouldn’t overlook adjacent industries either - things happening there can have significant impact on our own field.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced? And what did you learn from it?
In leading a company offering solutions and services, one of our biggest challenges is naturally outages. While we do our best to ensure it doesn’t happen, in June 2021, Measat experienced our only major outage since commencing operations in 1996. Our Measat-3 satellite experienced an anomaly leading to a loss of capacity and service degradation. This required immediate activation of our Business Continuity Planning operating procedures and mobilisation of a core technical team to determine the cause of the issue, mitigate any disrupted services and restore services for customers with urgency.
Our long-term investment into in-orbit redundancy as well as strong relationships with other regional satellite operators enabled us to secure sufficient back-up satellite capacity in the shortest timeframe.
Coupled with the deployment of many skilled contractors to remote sites to repoint antennas and reconfigure services, we were able to restore the bulk of services within 24 hours, particularly in supporting key client Astro and their 5.6 million subscribers with minimal disruption. Here, the key lessons were certainly that contingency planning and investment into redundancy are never a waste, and building strong relationships with your industry peers as well as assembling the best team you can are really efforts that prove their value in critical times!
Nevertheless, most challenges are time dependent. Experience definitely helps - when you look back at challenges that happened 5 to 10 years ago, you may find that they are no longer challenges at this juncture. When faced with a challenge, stay positive and don’t ever aim to achieve a perfect solution because it doesn’t exist!
On a more personal level, I would have to say one of my biggest challenges was convincing myself 26 years ago that the satellite industry is where I wanted to build my career!
What are the top three factors you would attribute your success to?
• Strong determination. It is important to stay the course amidst challenges that come our way.
• Ability to stay calm and positive. Giving in to negativity and frustration can cause us to overlook solutions.
• The many people who have been helping me one way or another along my career journey. I am truly thankful for my colleagues and team members at all levels of the company, as well as other friends and business partners in the industry for their trust and support.
I also have the deepest appreciation for my family for their support, encouragement and understanding. Having a career in this field can be highly demanding on one’s time, including for extensive business travel, and this often results in less time available to spend with the family.
Source: The Sun Daily
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