ABOUT WONG CHUN WAI
62 Years of Age, Malaysian
Group Advisor of Star Media Group Berhad (“the Company or “Star”)
Wong Chun Wai was appointed Group Advisor of the Company on 1 January 2019. He has over 30 years of experience in the media industry.
Prior to this appointment, he held the post of Group Managing Director and CEO of the Company since November 2013. In 2008, at the age of 46, he was appointed the Group Chief Editor (GCE), the youngest to ever hold the position in the Company. Subsequently, in 2010, he was also the first GCE to be appointed as an Executive Director.
Chun Wai holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from National University of Malaysia (UKM), majoring in political science and history. He is now an adjunct professor at UKM’s Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. He has attended financial and leadership development programmes organised by the International Centre for Leadership in Finance at several American universities including the University of Stanford and University of Southern California. He was an adjunct professor at Northern University of Malaysia (UUM).
In 2003, he won the prestigious Best Journalist Award for news features from the National Press Institute for his investigative article on Malaysian terrorists and their arms training in Afghanistan. Chun Wai was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Media Industry by the World Chinese Economic Forum in Chongqing, China in 2014.
He is the first Malaysian to be elected into the board of the Paris-based World Editors Forum. He was a member of supervisory council of the national news agency (BERNAMA), chairman of the Bangkok-based Asia News Network, an alliance of 21 media groups in Asian cities and an Honorary Advisor (2016-2019) of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC). He has also served as a member of the Governance Council of the National Innovation Agency in the Prime Minister’s Department.
He is currently a director at the Asian Leadership and Strategic Institute, an independent think tank.
Chun Wai writes a weekly column in The Sunday Star called “on the Beat” which focuses on political and religious moderation, and a fortnightly travel column called “Off The Beat” in The Star lifestyle section on alternate Saturdays.
He is a strong advocate of moderation, commonalities and positive values for a well-balanced and sustainable society.
Chun Wai has also initiated a social media journalism project, where he uses Facebook and YouTube to discuss politics, business and economics.
