Dr. Ir. Ts Mohmad Asari Daud is a Professional Engineer, Professional Technologist, Corporate Leadership Competent, NRW Management Competent, SPAN Qualified Person and a water sector enthusiast.

In 1984, he started as a water engineer in the Government as planner, then as designer and later as operator of water facilities encompassing dams, water treatment plants, distribution systems and customer services associated activities.

In 2002, he left the Government and joined a construction company before managing his own business in 2004.

In 2012, he was appointed by the Government of Selangor to sit in the Water Monitoring Committee of Selangor until 2018. He had served as SPAN Commissioner 2020 - 2023. He also provides consultancy services on water related projects.

His passion towards water made him involved and participated actively in NGO activities. He is currently the President of the MWA, Founding member of Friends of Rivers Malaysia, and Exco member of Malaysian Water Partnership.

He is currently the CEO Syarikat Air Perlis and Chair of HRDCorp Sectoral Training Committee (Utilities & Services).

Speaker Session:
Topic: Handling water challenges - engaging stakeholders, public and customers

The Hon Karlene Maywald is the South Australian Water Ambassador. She has extensive experience in water policy development and reform across the Australian irrigation, environmental and urban water sectors.
She was elected to the South Australian Parliament between 1997 and 2010 representing South Australia’s largest irrigated horticultural region.
Karlene served as Minister for Water Security in the South Australian Government during the millennium Drought (the worst drought in recorded history).

Karlene is most noted for her significant contribution to progressing national reforms to the transboundary management of the Murray Darling Basin in Australia and setting the direction for long term water security in South Australia.
At the National level, Karlene was a Member of the Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council from 2004 to 2010 and she chaired the Australian National Water Commission between 2012-2015.

Karlene is currently Managing Director of Maywald Consultants and holds a portfolio of Board positions including Chair of WaterAid Australia, Chair of the Peter Cullen Environment and Water Trust and she is a Director of WaterAid International and the Australian Water Association.

Karlene lives with her family on their irrigated vineyard and equestrian property near Adelaide in South Australia.

Flowing River Without Borders

Hon. Karlene Maywald
South Australia Water Ambassador

The management of the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia has been contentious since the early 1900s and continues to be a matter of debate for governments, community and business along the breadth of the basin. The fact that the river crosses different state government boundaries only adds to the complication of securing a future productive and healthy working river system. The South Australian Water Ambassador, the Hon Karlene Maywald, will talk about the key factors that underpin the current Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the key issues related to the management of a water resource that spans different jurisdictions.

Ir. Ts. Ahmad Shahrir, Director of Perak State Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID Perak), is responsible for carrying out department’s broad range of duties particularly water resources management and hydrology, river basin management, eco-friendly coastal zone, river engineering and agricultural drainage.

Previously, he served as the Director of Operation, of SMART Control Centre, DID Kuala Lumpur and over the span of his career in the DID, he has helmed various senior positions. He has over twenty years of extensive professional experience in river management, good technical skills and proven track record in policy making, strategic planning, negotiating and project management.

Ir. Ts. Ahmad Shahrir played an instrumental role in leading the department in implementing Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) during his service at the River Basin Management Division, DID Malaysia. He also represented the department as a taskforce member in drafting the National Water Resources Bill.

As a top-level manager, he will ensure DID Perak will go beyond in managing water resources for economic and environmental sustainability and quality of life, and always strive to provide the best service to public.

Dato’ Ir. Nor Hisham Bin Mohd. Ghazali is the Vice-President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). He is also an independent non-executive director at Pengurusan Asset Air Berhad and Chairman of the Malaysian Water Partnership. He retired form Government service as Director-General of the National Institute of Water Research Malaysia (NAHRIM), and prior to that, he was the Director General of Department of Irrigation & Drainage Malaysia (JPS). He holds a B. Sc. in Civil Engineering from California State University and a Masters’ Degree in Coastal and Maritime Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Dato’ Nor Hisham has over 35 years of service and experience in operational, technical, research, management and policy positions. Trained as a coastal engineer, he pioneered the Integrated Shoreline Management Program in 1997 which led to Malaysia’s first coastal development guidelines. Since 2008, his focus has been on planning and implementing projects related to water resources and water-related disaster risk reduction. His recent achievements include establishing the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre and the planning and construction of the first concrete Sabo structures to mitigate debris and mud flood flows at Yan and Kuala Muda, Kedah.

Through MyWP, he aspires to accelerate the education and awareness of Integrated Water Resources Management amongst all levels of society particularly amongst decision-makers, administrators and development planners.

Associate Professor Dr Rasyikah Md Khalid is an academic member of the Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and an associate member of the Fuel Cell Institute UKM. She obtained her PhD from UKM, Masters of Law (LL.M) from Universiti Malaya and Bachelor of Law (LL.B Hons) from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. In 2012 she completed the postgraduate courses in Building Resilience to Climate Change (BRCC) from the United Nations University (UNU) Tokyo. She was a visiting researcher at the UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee Scotland. She has been consulted by federal and state agencies, the World Bank Group, and mass media on matters pertaining to environmental issues. She has been a Board member of the International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) since 2021, and published books and journals on water law, energy law, heritage law, environmental federalism, climate change governance and sustainable development. She has also organized environmental awareness programs for school children, community leaders and government officers in the country.