By Aznan Mat Piah
KUALA LUMPUR, 22 June 2021: The election of Vice President of the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia (IPRM), Mr. Jaffri Amin Osman as an executive board member of the Switzerland-based Global Alliance (GA) for Public Relations and Communication Management from 2021 to 2023, would mean a lot not only to the public relations profession in the country, but also to its development regionally and internationally.
Jaffri’s appointment carries with him as the GA Chair for the Asia Pacific region and a delegate-at-large for GA.
Jaffri is an accredited PR (APR) and also a Fellow of the Institute (FPR) and has been active in the field for more than 30 years. As managing consultant of World Communications Network he manages public relations and communication activities with private companies, government linked companies as well as government agencies in training and consultancy works.
His appointment was considered timely in the light of the growing dynamism of the Asia Pacific and the economic and social challenges that would influence public relations and communication practices.
Jaffri will advocate GA’s recently launched 2021 Global PR and Communication Model, a roadmap for corporate excellence anchored on research in his newly-minted position.
At the KLIP 2020 held in November 2019, Jaffri’s World Communication Network hosted an international public relations conference that brought several practitioners from public relations fraternity from across the globe for a sharing session to discuss strategies and actions to further enhance the profession.
In his elected positions, Jaffri will coordinate activities with Asia Pacific countries through close cooperation with IPRM, the ASEAN Public Relations Network (APRN), and public relations associations and partners in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand.
GA Secretary and Chairperson of Public Relations Institute of New Zealand, Fiona Cassidy who had worked closely with Jaffri described him as “a dynamic communicator and an outstanding professional”. Meanwhile, former BERNAMA chairman, Datuk Seri Azman Ujang said Jaffri played his role well in assisting many multinational companies and government-linked companies (GLCs) in their media relations and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.
Prof. Datuk Sri Dr. Syed Arabi Idid, a senior professor of the Department of Communication, IIUM, who was also the former President of IPRM, had high praises for Jaffri. He said, “Jaffri is one of the most active propagators of public relations in the country, not just for IPRM but also internationally. As such, I am looking forward to institutions of higher learning in Malaysia to get even greater exposure in the global scene.”
To IPRM President, Datuk Seri Ibrahim Abdul Rahman, Jaffri’s multiple roles and the 2021 Global PR and Communication Model are synergistic to IPRM’s vision to elevate Malaysia’s public relations with best practices and knowledge acquisition. ***