Senior Leadership

Henry Tan Poh Hock

Group Chief Executive Officer

Malaysian / Male / 56

Henry joined our Group on 2 May 2008 as Chief Operating Officer and was appointed Chief Executive Officer on 1 February 2019. He was redesignated as Group Chief Executive Officer on 1 April 2020 and has been the Chairman of Go Shop, Astro’s commerce platform, since 28 April 2014.

Under Henry’s leadership, Astro revamped its customer viewing experience with the launch of the Ultra Box, offering 4K UHD, Cloud Recording and a personalised and seamless viewing journey extending over to Astro GO. Understanding the importance of streaming services, he drove strategic collaborations with HBO GO and iQIYI, presenting customers with greater choice and content. Henry played a key role in introducing Malaysians to high definition (HD) viewing with Astro B.yond and launched the first free multichannel satellite service, NJOI.

Over his 12 years with the company, Henry helped build Astro into a content powerhouse by focusing on creating innovative original vernacular IPs, marketing of content brands and aggregating the best programmes for customers. This led to the successful and hugely popular Malay comedy franchise, ‘Lawak’ and must-have Hokkien entertainment, ‘Hua Hee’. Under his watch Astro grew its share of TV Adex from 11% to 43% and Radio Adex from 64% to 80%. Whilst he launched many firsts, including Tutor TV, Malaysia’s first free academic learning channels; Astro First, a cinema in your home service; and eGG Network, the first regional eSports channel, his focus on digital has made Gempak, SYOK, AWANI, Stadium Astro, Xuan, Ulagam and ZAYAN the staple digital brands for Malaysians.

He was instrumental in changing the face of storytelling and marketing of local films with Astro, having been involved in seven of Malaysia’s Top 10 local films of all time, including Ola Bola, The Journey, Polis Evo, Paskal, BoBoiBoy Movie 2 and Hantu Kak Limah. It was also this belief in local stories that led Henry to executive produce The Garden Of Evening Mists, which became the first Malaysian film to earn nine nominations at the prestigious Golden Horse Awards.

Henry was previously the Chief Executive Officer of Mindshare Malaysia and GroupM (Malaysia and Singapore). Prior to that, he held the position of Media Director, Ogilvy & Mather and General Manager, HVD Entertainment.

He holds degrees in Business (Marketing) and Arts (Communications) from Chisholm Institute of Technology Australia (now known as Monash University).

Euan Smith

Group Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer, TV

British / Male / 51

Euan joined as Group Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer, TV on 1 April 2020. As GCOO, Euan has oversight of the technologies that support each of the Group’s business units – broadcast, digital and enterprise. As CEO, TV, he leads Astro’s key product groups Pay-TV, NJOI, streaming services and broadband in addition to the customer sales & operations functions.

Euan is an established media executive with a unique skill set spanning both business and technology in media operations and in transformation. In his early career, he held roles in Unilever and KPMG before moving into senior leadership positions with Sky UK, Sky Germany and Fox in the US. Most recently, Euan operated as COO at Foxtel in Australia.

Trained at University of Birmingham (Mechanical Engineering) and Harvard Business School, Euan has led multiple step-changes across technology, operations and customer service. He helped launch HD and broadband in the UK, played a vital role in the successful turnaround of Sky Germany and was instrumental in the reset of Foxtel’s product & technology suite.

Shafiq Abdul Jabbar

Group Chief Financial Officer

Malaysian / Male / 42

Shafiq joined our Group on 9 January 2017 as Group Chief Financial Officer.

He spearheads the finance and risk management functions across our Group encompassing financial control, process improvement and revenue assurance, treasury, business partner advisory, investor relations, corporate finance and tax. He also oversees legal, procurement, strategic contracts and regulatory relations.

Prior to joining Astro, he was the Group Financial Controller and Chief Financial Officer (Malaysia) of CIMB Bank Berhad. Before joining CIMB, he was Executive Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, a role he held having advanced from managerial positions in its Kuala Lumpur and London offices, where he provided assurance and advisory services to key clients listed on Bursa Malaysia and FTSE 100.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Finance from the University of Melbourne, Australia and was formerly the Malaysian Chair of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

Dr. Grace Lee Hwee Ling

Chief Transformation Officer

Malaysian / Female / 44

Grace joined our Group’s Corporate Assurance Division on 2 January 2001. She has held several other roles within the Group including Head of Process Improvement, Group Financial Controller, Chief Risk Officer and Chief Executive Officer of Go Shop prior to her appointment as Chief Transformation Officer on 1 March 2021.

She is responsible for driving our Group’s transformation to remain competitive whilst delivering on our vision to better serve our customer base whilst introducing exciting, new products. Prior to joining Astro, she worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Assurance and Advisory division.

Grace holds a PhD in Business Administration from ELM-Graduate School, HELP University as well as Bachelor degree in Accounting and Finance from Curtin University and a Master of Business Administration (Distinction) from Charles Sturt University, both in Australia. She is a Fellow Member of Certified Practicing Accountant (FCPA Australia), Information Systems Auditor (CISA, US) and is Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT, US). She has also attended the Harvard Senior Management Programme. She is a board member of Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC) and also serves as the MaGIC Audit Committee Chairman.

Mauro di Pietro Paolo

Chief Technology Officer

Italian / Male / 50

Mauro joined as Chief Technology Officer on 8 March 2021. As CTO, Mauro is responsible for Enterprise IT, Digital, Broadcast Engineering, overall Technical Architecture, Cybersecurity & Network, CRM and billing, Data and Analytics systems working closely with the different Business Units and stakeholder groups across the Group.

Mauro is a Pay-TV veteran, having held senior Technology roles for almost 20 years within Sky Italia, Sky Deutschland and Foxtel. Mauro is very experienced in innovation and technology transformation and was instrumental to the launch and turn-around of both Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland, where he was also the architect behind OTT streaming products like Sky Go & Sky Ticket. He has successfully digitised customer service, enhanced content delivery and driven complex data implementations at both of his last companies.

Christinne Lim Yen Wah

Chief Executive Officer, Go Shop

Malaysian / Female / 44

Christinne joined our Group’s Corporate Finance division on 18 April 2005. She has led different portfolios within our Group including regional content, content strategy, premium business, corporate finance and marketing prior to her appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Go Shop on 1 March 2021.

With her in-depth knowledge of Malaysian consumer behaviour and sound interdisciplinary knowledge, Christinne is in charge of the Group’s commerce business - driving Go Shop’s revenue and customer growth, overseeing customer experience, content production, analytics-driven sales and marketing initiatives, supply chain management and technology.

Before joining Astro, she was attached to PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services’ Corporate Finance division.

She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from Lincoln University, New Zealand.

Kenny Ong Chun Eng

Chief Executive Officer, Astro Radio

Malaysian / Male / 46

Kenny joined our Group on 15 February 2021 as Chief Executive Officer of Astro Radio. He is responsible for overseeing Astro Radio’s strategic direction, in particular brands and talent as well as driving radex growth. He will also oversee Rocketfuel Entertainment which spearheads talent-driven digital content across our Group’s platforms.

Prior to joining Astro, Kenny was the Managing Director, Malaysia and Head of Special Projects, Southeast Asia at Universal Music Group. Prior to that, he has held a variety of roles in consumer businesses with a strong track record of driving innovation and business transformation. He was formerly the Country Head, Malaysia & Singapore at Unilever Network, and before that the Senior Vice President, Medical & New Markets Division at Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd, Vice President, Strategy Division for CNI Holdings Berhad, and a Management Consultant.

He holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) from the University of Manchester, UK.

Azlin Arshad

Director, Commercial

Malaysian / Female / 46

Azlin joined our Group as Director, Pay-TV on 17 June 2019 to pilot the Pay-TV business, ensuring its continued and sustainable growth underpinned by her oversight of our customer base management. She has been key in providing leadership to our Product and Retention teams, and particularly instrumental in re-developing our product & packaging strategy.

On 1 April 2021 Azlin was appointed as Director, Commercial, in which her portfolio was expanded to encompass all revenues of the TV Business, including all Sales channels (Direct, Reseller, Retailers, Omni, Prepaid/MD, CSC Retail), as well as our CE & Hotel business.

From 2016 to 2018 Azlin helmed the subscription-free TV service, NJOI as the Chief Operating Officer and successfully grew this business, enabling customers to purchase prepaid content via innovative customer solutions and driving transactions through an effective distribution network.

Prior to this, she was Vice President of the Industrial Development Division of Johor Corporation, where she also sat on the board of QSR Brands. She had a career in investment banking spanning 19 years, first specializing in Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, IPOs and Fund Raising and later expanded into stockbroking, private equity and asset management. She also held oversight roles in compliance, risk management and investments.

She holds a Bachelor of Accounting & Finance (Hons) from the University of Glamorgan, South Wales, UK (now known as the University of South Wales).

She sits on the board of Nestle (Malaysia) Berhad as an Independent Non-Executive Director and is a Committee Member of Tabung PPUMCare, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Malaya.

Julia Katharina Dorothea Laukemann

Director, Product

German / Female / 43

Julia joined Astro in May 2020, introducing and leading the commercial digital team as a new business area. In April 2021 Julia was appointed Director, Product, ensuring an integrated product portfolio view, consolidated go-to-market and in life performance of all Astro products (accessible through the Set-top box platforms including Astro’s premium Ultra Box as well as newly launched Ulti, Astro GO and Astro’s Multiroom services), NJOI and the soon-to-be launched standalone OTT service. Digital journeys and partnerships remain part of the newly formed Product team.

Julia is an experienced media and subscription business executive with key track record in developing and launching Pay-TV and digital streaming products. Under her product leadership at Sky Germany, Sky launched Sky Go, the premium Set-top box platform Sky Q, introduced connectivity and VOD to its legacy platform Sky+ and added premium apps to the Sky Q platform. Julia’s team also introduced UHD services as well as Sky Ticket, Sky Germany’s standalone OTT service today. Aside from building the first start up accelerator at Sky, Julia is not only a strong advocate of innovation and design thinking, but fosters also cross-functional organisational learning and empowers teams to jointly thrive.

Julia holds an MBA in Leadership and Communication from the Technical University of Munich (TU), partly conducted at Columbia University (New York) and USC (Los Angeles) in the US and a Master in Political Science, Intercultural Communication and Organisational Psychology from the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich with Erasmus studies conducted at the University of Padua, Italy.

Wong See Wei

Director, Media Solutions

Malaysian / Male / 42

See Wei joined our Group as Vice President, Media Sales on 1 June 2016 to drive advertising revenue and increase TV adex share. On 1 December 2019, he was appointed as Director, Media Solutions to spearhead integrated media solutions across Astro’s media properties including TV, Radio and Digital as well as Intellectual Properties. He heads a team in delivering creative, effective and consumer-driven marketing solutions, leading to winning campaigns and more importantly, winning customers.

A certified accountant by the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) and CPA Australia, See Wei was previously the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer of GroupM Malaysia. He started his career with Ernst & Young in 2000 before moving to UMW Toyota Capital as an accountant in 2003. He is also a member of Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

He holds a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University and a Master of Business Administration (Marketing) from Charles Sturt University, Australia.

Agnes Rozario

Director, Content

Malaysian / Female / 52

A pioneer member of Astro, Agnes was appointed as Director, Content on 1 February 2019.

She heads our Group’s content team, covering all language and genres of content including digital and films. She was instrumental in bringing early access to local and global blockbuster movies from cinema into customers’ homes and more recently local films directly to Astro First, the early pay per view cinema in your home service. She also spearheads strategic partnerships with regional players, which contributes to Astro’s streaming reach.

A strong advocate of local originals, Agnes has been championing homegrown films with Astro Shaw behind the highest grossing local movies of all time. Her commitment to the development of local IPs and enhancement of customer experience has seen an increased engagement for Astro’s signatures.

Agnes holds degrees in Law and Economics from Monash University, Australia and has completed Harvard Business School’s General Management Programme.

Simon Wilkes

General Counsel

British / Male / 44

Simon joined as General Counsel on 1 September 2020. He leads the Group Legal and Compliance Division and is responsible for the legal affairs of the Group. He oversees the delivery of legal services and resources to implement corporate strategies and priorities, providing legal support and advice across the business, including on negotiations of commercial contracts and dispute resolution.

Simon is an experienced media and technology lawyer, having worked in Pay-TV in multiple regions for over 16 years. Simon joined Astro from his previous role as General Counsel at OSN, the MENA regional Pay-TV broadcaster based in Dubai. Prior to working in the Middle East, Simon spent nine years as a senior lawyer at Sky UK after moving in-house from private practice at Berwin Leighton Paisner.

Following his Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Nottingham, Simon trained and qualified as a lawyer in London.

Gavin Baxter

Director, People & Workplace

British / Male / 45

Gavin joined our Group on 3 September 2018. He leads our Human Capital division, which aims to provide an amazing people experience for everyone at Astro through a culture of creativity, diversity and collaboration. He also heads our Property and Services division.

As a senior HR professional with over 16 years’ experience, working in both Australia and the UK, Gavin spent the last six years in the technology and media sector as the Group Head of Talent Performance at Sky plc in the UK where he developed and delivered the group’s talent strategy. Prior to that, he was the Head of Organisational Capability at Optus Business in Australia. In both roles, he was involved in the ongoing digital transformation of the organisations.

He has also held senior roles in professional services firms, including Deloitte Australia and BDO Australia. Gavin started his career in the insurance industry with Royal Sun Alliance and QBE, where he advanced into management positions in the UK and Australia.

Gavin studied at the University of East Anglia, UK where he pursued technical insurance qualifications with the Chartered Insurance Institute.

Jaideep Matto

Director, Data

Indian / Male / 39

Jaideep joined as Director, Data on 1 March 2021. As Director, Data he is responsible for shaping the overall data strategy, as well as developing and deploying best-in-class analytics capabilities to drive business outcomes in partnership with different business units.

Prior to joining Astro, he was with CIMB Bank, Malaysia spearheading the Data Science function for retail banking. He has extensive experience in establishing and scaling up data analytics platforms to drive growth, as well as monetising data through cross-industry partnerships in areas like retail, travel and telecom. He has also held roles in organisations like Citibank and American Express in India where he worked on developing advance analytics solutions.

Jaideep holds a Master degree in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, India.

Tammy Toh Seok Kheng

Director, Group Marketing and Communications

Malaysian / Female / 52

Tammy joined our Group’s Communications Division on 3 September 2007 and was appointed Director of Group Communications on 1 March 2019. She leads end to end communications for the corporate brand, content and product campaigns, consumer events, social media and issue management to reinforce our Group’s market leadership. She also helms the Group’s corporate responsibility and sustainability functions, including Yayasan Astro Kasih.

In addition to her existing responsibilities, on 1 March 2021 she was appointed as Director, Group Marketing and Communications where she is responsible for leadership in marketing and branding strategies for Astro corporate and content brands across multi platforms.

Tammy has vast experience in overseeing strategic communications for public listed corporations like Gamuda, Alliance Banking Group, Maybank, Tesco as well as national family-owned business Royal Selangor in a broad array of industries.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from University of Malaya and serves on the World Vision Malaysia board of trustee.

Mazhairul Jamaludin (MJ)

Director, Corporate Relations

Malaysian, Male, 50

Mazhairul Jamaludin (MJ) joined Astro on 16 January 2019 as Director, NJOI and OTT. He has provided executive leadership and strategic direction to drive the NJOI business and was instrumental in launching NJOI HD.

MJ was appointed as Director, Corporate Relations on 1 May 2021 and took on the responsibility of developing new partnerships and strengthening relationships with key stakeholders and corporates for our core businesses.

MJ was previously Financial Controller and Senior Vice President, Commercial Services Multichannel TV at Astro until 2010. He has diverse experience in the media, assurance, advisory, telco and private equity industries. Prior to joining Astro, he was in senior roles with Ekuinas and Celcom. He also served at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young where he provided assurance and advisory services.

He holds a Bachelor degree in Accounting and Finance from Lancaster University, UK, and is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) UK. He has also been accorded Chartered Accountant Malaysia as well as ASEAN Chartered Professional Accountant. He is currently a member of the Professional Accounts in Business (PAIB) Committee of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and sits on the board of AXA AFFIN Life Insurance Berhad.

Laila Saat

Director, Regulatory

Malaysian / Female / 51

Laila joined our Group on 3 May 2005 and was appointed as Vice President, Regulatory, Intellectual Property Protection & Industry Affairs on 1 April 2009.

In her current role, she is responsible for providing specialist advice on the Malaysian regulatory framework and facilitating a conducive regulatory environment for the execution of our Group’s strategic imperatives. Working closely with industry stakeholders and the relevant authorities, she is instrumental in spearheading antipiracy initiatives in the industry, which are crucial for the protection of our Group’s intellectual property.

She has 26 years’ working experience both in local and international markets. Prior to joining our Group, she worked in the communications and property industries, including UEM Holdings Bhd.

She received a Master of Science in Corporate Communications from University Putra Malaysia and holds a Bachelor of Education in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from University of Malaya.

Liew Wei Yee Sharon

Company Secretary

Malaysian / Female / 48

Sharon joined our Group on 1 March 2002 and was appointed as the Company Secretary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad since its incorporation in 2012.

She is responsible for the overall corporate secretarial and corporate governance functions of our Group. Her responsibilities include advising our Board on its role and responsibilities, managing our Board and shareholders’ meetings, as well as providing efficient administration to our Group entities with regards to compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. She also acts as the focal point for shareholders’ communication and is a conduit between our Board members and SLT to ensure proper communication.

She has over 20 years’ working experience in the corporate secretarial field and is a licensed secretary approved by the Companies Commission of Malaysia. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of London and was issued the Certificate of Legal Practice by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board, Malaysia.

Rizal Khalid

Head of Corporate Assurance

Malaysian / Male / 38

Rizal joined Astro in November 2019 as Vice President, Head of Corporate Assurance, responsible for leading the independent internal audit function that reports functionally and administratively to the Audit and Risk Committee.

Prior to joining Astro, he has held roles including the Chief Internal Auditor of PLUS Malaysia Berhad, internal auditor of PETRONAS and the Head of Group Internal Audit and Risk Management of Petra Energy Berhad. He also served at Ernst & Young where he provided assurance and advisory services.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Finance from the University of Melbourne, Australia and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.