Dr Amerjit Singh’s phone has been buzzing ever since he picked up a prize at the 3rd Asean Public Relations Excellence Awards, recently.
The Information Department of Malaysia’s Media and Communications director won the bronze for the Best PR Practitioner award.
The Diamond winner was Pujo Pramono, from Indonesia. Gold went to Cira Ly-Le from Vietnam, while the silver award went to Ron Jabal of the Philippines.
“This win is for Malaysia … it’s not for Amerjit Singh, but for Malaysia,” was Amerjit’s response to Twentytwo13 this morning.
“It’s a meaningful award for the public relations fraternity in Malaysia. Meaningful, in the sense that we are recognised for what we have been doing. PR is a team effort, not an individual endeavour.”
“It so happened that I headed several task forces, including the National Day celebrations, which is a significant event, and we managed to garner good coverage, both by the local, and international press.”
Amerjit is retiring in June next year. He described the award as a good recognition of his service.
“I’ve received quite a number of congratulatory messages from my colleagues.”
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications and Media Studies from Drake University and a PhD in human communications from University Putra Malaysia.
Amerjit admitted the public relations landscape has changed over the decades.
“Those days, our job was from 8am to 4pm. No one could contact us after office hours. There were no emails, smartphones, or digital mobile applications.
“Today, the scenario has changed. These days, it’s about digital communications, and the department has also been moving into the digital PR sphere.
“We cannot escape social media, and we need to use it to disseminate information. Any PR effort must be done in real-time,” he added.
