Wan follows her heart into PR

Wan Norhiyati, the former vice-president of Public Affairs and Brand Management for the Maybank Group, may be a public relations specialist, but she claims her sociable personality is a poor reflection of who she really is. 

ON the surface Wan Norhiyati Ibrahim, the former vice-president of Public Affairs and Brand Management for the Maybank Group, seems like a very sociable person. She is a lively, expressive conversationalist and possesses a warm, friendly demeanour.  

Her gregarious personality, however, is not an accurate reflection of her true nature. 

“People who don’t really know me don’t realise that I’m a very homely person,” she reveals. 

“I go out to social events mainly because it’s part of my job.”  

Reading and not partying, says Norhiyati, is her favourite pastime. Her lifelong love of books is clearly reflected in the interior of her home in Bangsar. There are rows and rows of bookshelves holding a vast array of titles on every subject from religion to biographies. 

STARpic by Samuel Ong

“You can see that there are hardly any decorative items in my house,” she says. “There are only books.” 

Norhiyati is currently reading a religious book and explains that many people find it surprising that she is a spiritual person. 

“I may have a modern outlook and all, but in my heart I am spiritual,” she reveals.  

Another frequent error concerning Norhiyati has to do with her name. “Its spelled N-o-r-h-i-y-a-t-i. But the pronunciation is Norhayati,” she explains.  

Apparently there was some kind of mistake when her father registered her name in the 50s when she was born. 

“I think they spelled it as “hi” as in the word “hi”,” she says with a laugh.  

But there is nothing inaccurate about Norhiyati’s highly successful career. She has held a number of high-profile jobs in the course of her illustrious career and is something of a public relations specialist. She was involved in setting up public relations divisions in both Bank Negara and MBF before moving to Maybank where she remained for nine years. 

Her tenure with these prestigious organisations and her involvement in various other independent projects has had her rubbing shoulders with the nation’s movers and shakers, including the current and former Prime Ministers, but Norhiyati displays no trace of arrogance or conceit.  

Rather, she seems to have that special knack of being able to make everyone around her feel at ease – an ability that, no doubt, fuelled her success in her profession. 

It all began, relates Norhiyati, when she was an undergraduate at Universiti Malaya. Although she graduated with a bachelor’s degree and later earned a master’s degree in sociology, Norhiyati says that her earliest ambition was to become a lawyer. 

“All my life I wanted to do law and when I graduated, I applied for law at UM and got accepted,” she says. But when she was on the brink of beginning life in the law faculty, Norhiyati had a sudden change of heart. 

“I don't know why but I just couldn't imagine myself as a lawyer and at the same time, I was taken in by the idea of doing social science.”  

Norhiyati was fascinated with social science because it required students to dissect and analyse human behaviour, culture and society at large. 

“Before classes actually began, I went to the Arts Faculty and met the dean to try and change my course.”  

Unfortunately, Norhiyati faced an unexpected obstacle in the dean’s office. 

“He looked at me and he said, ‘Wan, if you were my kid, I’d give you a good spanking.'“ 

The dean's admonishment came about because he felt that unlike law, which is a course that is reserved for exceptionally high achievers, social science was more suitable for average students, says Norhiyati. 

But she persevered and was eventually allowed into the Arts Faculty with the condition that she studied Economics as well. 

“The dean hoped that at the end of the year I would change my mind,” she says. “But I never did.”  

Norhiyati graduated from Universiti Malaya in 1978 and married her husband, Dr Wan Mohamed, almost immediately. She soon had to leave for New Zealand where her new husband was pursuing a PhD programme. During this period, Norhiyati had her first child, a daughter named Wan Hazeline.  

(Ironically, her daughter would later turn to the profession that her mother had passed over. Wan Hazeline is now a qualified lawyer although she has chosen not to practise.)  

Norhiyati's second child, a son named Wan Harith, is now 11 years old and was born in Malaysia.  

During her first six months in New Zealand, Norhiyati began to think about what she wanted to do with her time. As a Bank Negara scholar, she had taken time off from her first job at the bank to go with her husband.  

Thrilled at having some time on her hands, she spent one Christmas working at a chocolate factory where she had access to a never-ending supply of chocolates. 

Fortunately, says a relieved Norhiyati, the chocolates did not increase the size of her waistline. The job, however, did increase her social circle. 

“So many Malaysian students worked part-time at the factory and I made many friends,” she says.  

Norhiyati eventually began studying for her Master's degree in sociology. 

“I got so tired of explaining that I was there as ‘the wife' because the Malaysians there were all students,” she says with a smile.  

Norhiyati had no problem fitting into life in New Zealand for her duration there. She had learned, early on, to adapt to vastly varied environments and cultures. 

Growing up, Norhiyati was surrounded by boys. As the only girl in a family of five brothers, she would reach for a pair of shorts before she even considered a pretty dress. The “all-boys” atmosphere at home, however, was soon to be replaced by a totally different ambience.  

When she had to go to secondary school, Norhiyati was promptly sent to Tengku Kurshiah College, an all-girls boarding school. She got over the initial culture shock and was soon thriving both academically and socially. 

“I really enjoyed boarding school and I still keep in touch with many of my friends from there,” she says.  

At 17, she was offered an opportunity of a lifetime. 

“After form five Yasmin Yusoff and I were selected to go for one year to the US under the American Field Service programme. I was sent to Lubbock, a small town in Texas and she went to San Diego.”  

Is she referring to former Miss Malaysia Yasmin Yusoff? 

“Yes, I am. We were classmates. We kind of lost touch over the years but every time we meet, it’s like old times because we have so much history together.” 

Her eyes light up as she describes her year in the US. That was in the 70s and she remembers a sense of freedom and friendship from that time in her life. 

“I attended so many activities and it was wonderful,” she recalls. She still keeps in touch with her American “foster parents” who write to her regularly.  

She relates the love and support she received right after the tragic events of Sept 11, 2004. 

“My foster parents from the US wrote to me to tell me that nothing had changed and I was really touched,” she says.  

So what’s next for Norhiyati? “Well, I am on the board of a private PR firm and I am also working in an advisory capacity with the Perdana Foundation which is close to my heart.” 

There is also one other project she is involved in – the details of which she is not at liberty to reveal. 

“I can say that the project is very interesting and I’m working with a foreign consultant who is an expert in strategic communications.” 

She then pauses before adding mysteriously, “You will hear all about it one day.”  

Norhiyati says that in her life, when there was a battle between her heart and her mind, her heart almost always won. 

“I follow my heart, my instincts,” she says.  

Just like all those years ago, when she followed her heart and stood by her decision to give law a miss. 

“Imagine if I had done law,” she says, gesturing around her. “All this would not have happened to me!”