OUR CEO OUTLOOK 2003 today features the Malaysia-based CEOs of three of the largest IT corporations – Datuk Wong Siew Hai of Intel Corp, Khatijah Shah of SAP, and T.F. CHONG of Hewlett-Packard (HP). 

The three CEOs are looking forward to 2003 as they expect a pickup in the world economy will boost spending on IT. 

Wong has spent virtually his entire career with Intel, apart from a short stint with Dell. He joined Intel as a quality assurance engineer in 1976. 

As the economy returns to normalcy, Khatijah is steering SAP Malaysia to new heights as the company continues to help local businesses survive, re-engineer and grow through the effective use of technology.  

A 20-year veteran in the IT business, she joined IBM as an engineer in 1978 upon graduating from the then Institute Teknologi Mara with a degree in computer science. It was here that she cut her teeth on the industry.  

And to widen her experience, this mother of two boys moved over to Oracle Corp, which was more software-oriented. 

Chong has been in the IT business for nearly 20 years, starting with Philips. He was a pioneer with Compaq when it began operations in Malaysia in 1993.  

He was managing director of Compaq Malaysia and took over at HP when it acquired Compaq in one of the largest mergers in US corporate history.