Country: Malaysia
Most Significant Contribution/Involvement in Halal/Islamic Economy: Reviving the Itqan concept through Strategic Leadership in Pioneering initiatives for Halal Industry
Started in the Year: 2005
Significant Position(s):
- Halal Industry Strategist (2018-Present)
- General Manager, Group Halal & Government Relations (2008-2017)
- Business Manager (2005-2008)
Contact/Info Link(s): roziosman.com
Personal Introduction
Ms Roziatul Akmam Osman is well-known within her career network as Rozi Osman, whilst her family, relatives, and those who know her before her working life know her by her second name – Akmam, or Mam in short. She loves spending precious, quality time with the loves of her life as well as cuddling and playing with her beloved felines. She enjoys walking to exercise her body and taking up word and puzzle challenges to stimulate her intellect.
Ms Rozi Osman is a citizen of the beautiful tropical country – Malaysia, located right in the middle of South East Asia. A nation of lush green forests and white sandy beaches, and home to cuisines that are now world-famous. She was born in August 1966 in Klang Valley, an urban conglomeration in Malaysia centred in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, together with its adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. She has lived in several locations in Klang Valley throughout her life and has now settled in a town located about an hour away from Kuala Lumpur. She is married to Mohd Wazi Mohamad Awal, whom she met while studying at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM, then known as Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM)). He is presently a principal at an audit & accounting firm in Shah Alam.
| I’m no superhero, but I humbly pray that my sharing would be inspirational in one way or another for you to shape the future for the benefit of humankind. |
Ms Rozi Osman is a true-blue Malaysian and has only ventured out of the country for work, vacation and, of course, for Hajj. She spent her early childhood in Kuala Kubu Bharu before moving to Kajang following her father’s postings as District Officer in these two locations. Upon her father’s transfer to a Federal Government ministry, the family settled down permanently in Petaling Jaya.
Ms Rozi Osman completed her primary education at Sekolah Rendah Assunta (1), Petaling Jaya. She continued with her secondary school level at Sekolah Menengah Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya (1979-1983). One of her memorable educational achievements then was being the best student for the state of Selangor for the Malaysian public examination taken by Form Three students (equivalent to 9th Grade in the United States of America or Year 10 in the United Kingdom).
Subconsciously inspired by the two dedicated, life-long Accountants that everyone has – the ones assigned to be with every human being 24/7 right from the start of one’s life; Ms Rozi Osman started her first step towards achieving her ambition to be holding a similar responsibility by studying for the Diploma in Accountancy in UiTM (1985-1987) in which she excelled by being on the Dean’s List every semester. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Best Student for the course and the School of Accountancy.
Ms Rozi Osman loves to challenge herself to do things out of the ordinary as she opines that such challenges would further enrich her. Her first self-challenge was to take up the professional accountancy course offered by the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA), the only Malaysian-grown Professional Accounting Body, en route to becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA); instead of furthering her studies with a bachelor’s degree. Failed she did – several times for the two levels of examination she needed to complete, despite taking the course as a full-time student at UiTM (1988-1992). After passing those written examinations, she earned the CPA title in May 1996 upon fulfilling the compulsory 3 years of working experience.
Keeping true to her self-challenging traits to enrich herself, Ms Rozi Osman further strived to get herself certified as Halal Executive and as a certified Halal Internal Auditor under the Halal Professional Board, Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) when these courses were first offered to the public almost a decade after she ventured into the Halal industry.
Ms Rozi Osman is also a certified Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Green Belt. LSS is a method that uses collaborative team efforts to improve performance by systematically removing waste and reducing variation. She took up the course as another self-challenging venture which proved to be a worthy endeavour as the techniques are enablers for her quest towards achieving Itqan (Excellence/Perfection) and reviving the Ibrah Seerah (Wisdom from Prophetic Biography) for the ultimate achievement of Allah s.w.t.’s pleasure.
Ms Rozi Osman truly believes that her work is part of her Ibadah and that diligently pursuing her passion will bring her closer to Allah s.w.t. via continuously earning and saving sustainable beneficial rewards from Him.
She also strives to live up to and be true to her name, which she was informed that in Arabic رزية الأكمام means “Knowledgeable, who loves to try; Who is kind and a giver, also one who is strong to cling to”.
Professional Introduction
Ms Roziatul Akmam Osman (“Ms Rozi Osman”) is a Halal Industry Strategist, specialising in Strategic Halal Leadership and Management along with Strategic Halal Marketing and Continuous Improvement. Her accumulated wealth of experience and expertise from over 15 years of exposure in the Halal industry, combined with more than 20 years of involvement in the accountancy profession, form the underlying strengths of the services she provides through her firm – Rozi Osman International PLT.
Ms Rozi Osman had her first taste of employment when she took up the temporary teacher post at her former school – Sekolah Menengah Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, in 1984. The experience also honed her current passion for sharing her knowledge and experience in the Halal industry with others through delivering training and presenting papers at national as well as international seminars and conferences by being guest speaker, presenter, panellist, moderator and chairperson.
Ms Rozi Osman was a member of the audit team at KPMG (1992-1995) before moving to work in the Finance department of CCM Chemicals Sdn Bhd (CCMC), a subsidiary of Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad (CCM) (1995-2005). She was first appointed its Finance Officer and later promoted to Finance Manager. One of her most significant milestones during her 10-year stint at CCMC was successfully setting up regional offices in Singapore and Jakarta, Indonesia. She also held the function of Company Secretary during this tenure. She was the primary liaison for the Company’s legal matters with appointed legal firms, especially for business contracts and debt recoveries.
Moving away from accountancy, she accepted the role as one of the Business Managers of CCM Pharmaceuticals Sdn Bhd (CCMP), a sister company of CCMC (2005-2008). During this time, her key focus was to market CCM’s Over the Counter (OTC) products within the Malaysian market and to support its export-based marketing activities, targeting to trigger and create public awareness of the Halal status of CCM’s products. She played an instrumental role in initiating the promotion of the intrinsic meaning of “Halalan Toyyiban”, which promotes safety, effectiveness, quality, and hygienic values in addition to being permissible for consumption as Food & Beverages (F&B), as well as other consumable goods such as pharmaceutical products.
In April 2008, Ms Rozi Osman moved up her career ladder to become Senior Manager at CCM’s Head Office with the primary responsibility of spearheading CCM’s Halal initiatives for the whole CCM Group of Companies. She was later promoted as CCM’s General Manager, Group Halal & Government Relations, the position she held until she took up the offer for the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS – a work redundancy scheme), which took effect in January 2018.
During her stint at the Group level, Ms Rozi Osman also played a pivotal role in spearheading Malaysia’s National Agendas, namely Halal and Bumiputera Agendas for CCM, along with its contribution to the nation.
Ms Rozi Osman was an active member of the protem committee established in 2009 by the Halal Development Corporation (HDC) – an agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia (MITI), to draft the Halal Pharmaceutical standard for submission as a new proposal to the Department of Standards Malaysia (DSM) – a department of MITI. She was a pioneer member of the Technical Committee for Halal Pharmaceuticals, formed by DSM and a key member of the respective DSM’s Working Groups, which developed the World’s First ISO-level Halal standards for Pharmaceuticals (2009-2012) and Chemicals (2013-2015). She was also a pioneer member of the Halal Professional Board (HPB), established by the Malaysian Government under the Malaysian Department of Islamic Development (JAKIM), as well as the Technical Committee for Halal Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia.
After her taking up the VSS from CCM, Ms Rozi Osman was appointed by DSM as the Subject Matter Expert tasked to be part of the Working Group to revise the Malaysian Halal Standard for Pharmaceuticals, as well as to develop another world-first ISO-level Halal standard, i.e., the Halal Standard for Medical Devices. This appointment took effect from 2018 to 2022.
She continues participating and contributing actively to the Halal industry via national-level meetings and discourses, as well as domestic and international conferences, particularly relating to Halal Pharmaceuticals, Strategic Halal Leadership, Management, Marketing and Continuous Improvement. She has been recently appointed as part of the team who developed the module and conducted the inaugural Professional Certificate of Halal Pharmapreneur course offered by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
Ms Rozi Osman aspires to impact and benefit many more as part of her Ibadah, her lifelong passion, with Allah s.w.t’s Mercy, Blessings & Guidance.
Interview Questions:
What inspired you to start your initiative/organisation in the Halal/Islamic Economy?
I was the Finance Manager of CCM Chemicals when I was spotted promoting the sister company – CCM Pharmaceuticals’ Halal-certified vitamins and health supplement products to the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the Chairman of the holding company – Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad (CCM). At that time, it was a government-linked company (GLC) listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia, the stock exchange of Malaysia. The majority of CCM’s share then was newly acquired by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), a Federal Government-owned investment company (GLIC) and one of Malaysia’s largest fund management companies. A few months later, the Group Managing Director informed me that I’d be transferred to CCM Pharmaceuticals as their Business Manager, focusing on creating public awareness of the Halal status of CCM’s products.
Alhamdulillah, this move made me realise that work is also a form of Ibadah. This realisation was further affirmed when I was told that since there was no one else doing something similar to what my Company and I were doing with our CCM Halal Initiatives at that time, then the initiatives were not only considered as a fulfilment of Fardhu Kifayah (shared responsibility among community members) but it can be regarded as a Fardhu ‘Ain (individual obligation) to me and my colleagues who have the knowledge and expertise and been given the various responsibilities to implement and execute CCM Halal Initiatives.
What were the challenges you had to overcome in the initial stages of starting your initiative/organisation?
Definitely there were many challenges because CCM Halal Initiatives were all pioneering projects. There was practically no reference relating to Halal for the products which CCM provides. Coupled with that, during that time (and even now), one can sense the mixed reactions each time “Halal” (the non-English word which originated from Arabic) is first mentioned to a group of people: laymen or learned people, the general public or business community, Muslims from different ethnics and regions, what more non-Muslims from various backgrounds. Furthermore, there is an acceptable (mis)understanding that there should not be any due concern for pharmaceutical products to be Halal certified as medicines are a necessity – a Dharurah (exigency; emergency, urgency) item. Added to these, I didn’t have any marketing or pharmaceutical knowledge during that time with regard to my readiness in terms of personal capacity and capability. What I know of science are those I learned during my primary and secondary education. Thus, as an amateur, I was often challenged by colleagues, peers, and those I reported to directly and indirectly.
“Allah does not burden any human being with a responsibility heavier than he can bear.”( Al-Baqarah (2):286 (Excerpt)). “For truly, with hardship comes ease. Indeed, with hardship comes ease.”( Al-Inshirah (94):5 & 6). These are two of the most comforting promises from Allah s.w.t. – a source of motivation and morale booster.
Alhamdulillah, I was very much blessed to be guided by Allah s.w.t to be surrounded by loved ones and kindred spirits who provide support, understanding and reminders to keep me on track and/or bring me back on track when derailed.
Alhamdulillah, I was also blessed to meet with people that have the expertise and experience, as well as those in leadership roles, be they in decision-making or influencing positions, or both, which, through strategic collaboration, cooperation and teamwork, we were able to come up with solutions and alternatives which contributed towards the successful implementation and execution of CCM Halal Initiatives. Nevertheless, meeting up with them, collaborating, cooperating and coming up with solutions and alternatives definitely did not come immediately nor all at once. There are also times when everything comes simultaneously on a silver platter, which can be a challenging prioritising task. Take, for example, the journey to get the pharmaceutical products to be Halal certified – it started for CCM in 1999; I got entrusted to get the buy-in for the concept of Halal-certified pharmaceuticals in 2005, and then was tasked to spearhead it more aggressively in 2008. The world’s first ISO-level Halal Pharmaceutical Standard – the MS2424, was finally published in 2012, with JAKIM opening the scheme for certification of pharmaceutical products later that year. CCM’s products became the world’s first to be certified with the renowned Halal Malaysia certification for its Over-the-Counter (OTC)/non-prescribed pharmaceutical products in early 2013, whilst for its prescribed medicines in early 2017.
| Together with my credential as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt holder, all these conventional business approaches have contributed towards my flair for strategising and positioning Halal as a Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) initiative. |
Alhamdulillah too; my experience as an Accountant forms the core of the professionalism I incorporate in executing CCM Halal Initiatives, particularly the learning and experience in strategic leadership and management. My stint as the Business Manager proved beneficial in gaining insights into the pharmaceutical industry. Together with my credential as a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt holder, all these conventional business approaches have contributed towards my flair for strategising and positioning Halal as a Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) initiative, which became the differentiating factors that led CCM, and consequently, Malaysia, to be a global leader for Halal Pharmaceuticals. (Note: the legacy of CCM Halal Initiatives for Pharmaceuticals is now being continued by Duopharma Biotech Berhad (DBB), whose majority shares are owned by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB)).
What is the most important thing you feel anyone needs to do to build a successful initiative/organisation in the Halal/Islamic Economy?
Seek solace and take comfort by embracing Allah s.w.t.’s decree in Surah Al-Imran (3): 200:
“O you who believe! Persevere patiently, bear (hardship) steadfastly, be ready (for the right deed), compete in such perseverance, strengthen each other, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, that you may be successful.”
I believe this Ayat can be taken into context with the well-known conventional project management tool for implementing Continuous Improvement, i.e., the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle:
- Your belief drives your intentions (i.e., your niat) = Plan
- Persevere patiently, bear (hardship) steadfastly, be ready (for the right deed), compete in such perseverance = Do
- Strengthen each other = Check
- Be careful of (your duty to) Allah = Action
What were the most important learning experiences you would like to share?
Appreciate and recognise all contributions, big and small, just as you wish yours to be appreciated and remembered. Even though, more than often, yours will be overlooked, your intention to be involved may be misunderstood or misconstrued, being regarded as someone who “pulls string” or “bulldoze”; you get to be taken for granted and/or taken advantage of; so long as you know sincerely that your intention is ultimately to obtain Allah s.w.t.’s pleasure, then it is their loss, not yours. There is no harm in feeling frustrated and crying a little – we are human after all, and Allah s.w.t. has made us have these feelings. After that, stay on with, and value those who understand and accept you as you are; move on stronger, keep on pioneering, with more confidence in Him s.w.t; and strive to be even more successful than ever in this life, the hereafter and both.
What advice would you give aspiring leaders in the Halal/Islamic Economy?
I’m no superhero, but I humbly pray that my sharing would be inspirational in one way or another for you to shape the future for the benefit of humankind. May this piece I wrote on 1 January 2023 be food for thought:
“Here’s wishing you continuous blessings in your life journey; some days taking giant steps, some days inching little by little; knowing every day may not be good, but there’s always good in every day; penning inspiring and fascinating jots in your heart and mind.
Let’s continue to capture the good times, develop from the negatives, moving on to take more shots from existing focus and new ones while at the same time optimising the previous ones – both good and negative.
Have a blessed journey ahead, together and apart, with a common ultimate aim – niat to achieve His pleasure and receive the book, containing our jottings, from the right lovingly from Him.”
Let’s be heartened and encouraged by what Allah has stated in Surah Al-Ahqaf (46): Ayats 15 (Excerpt) and 16:
“My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me and my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims. Those are the ones from whom We will accept the best of what they did and overlook their misdeeds, [their being] among the companions of Paradise. [That is] the promise of truth which they had been promised.”
