56 | theceomagazine.com
Go-GetterGo-Getter
The
Sharifuddin Al-Manaf had never worked in the shipping industry before,
but he took what he learned from his studies and hobbies to lead
Orkim to new heights.WORDS SHARON MASIGE • IMAGES ROB WALLERtherapy if you like. After work, I go there to
meet up with friends.”
Two months before the launch of Pince &
Pints, however, Sharifuddin was headhunted for
a position at Orkim. “It was an interesting
challenge,” he reflects. “I had never done
shipping before. Orkim had ambitions to grow
and I’ve always been a go-getter, so I thought
‘Okay, I’ll try it’.”
Sharifuddin joined Orkim in May 2016
and found his aeronautical engineering degree
still applicable to the role. “All was not lost,”
he says. “The fundamentals of aeronautics
helped me understand how our vessels operate- fluid dynamics, propulsion, maintenance
philosophy, control systems and more.”
But if there is one thing Sharifuddin
believes has truly shaped his capabilities in
the shipping industry, it is his passion for
classic cars. His most recent endeavour was
the restoration of a Jaguar XJ6, which had
been immobile for 12 years.
“I’ve always loved classic cars,” he says.
“I tinker with them, making them reliable
and safe. It’s a philosophy I have used to
guide me in managing and operating at
Orkim. There’s always science and
mathematics in whatever we do. So if
you ask if it was my degree or my love
of classic cars that helped the most, it’s »
W
e don’t always end
up in the career we
envisioned for
ourselves when we
were younger. That was
certainly the case for
Sharifuddin Al-Manaf, CEO of Malaysia-based
shipping company Orkim. “I grew up wanting
to be an aeronautical engineer but as soon as
I got into the course, I realised it was not quite
for me,” he laughs. “I was attracted to the then
glamour of the airline business but wasn’t good
at trying to reduce the vortices coming off the
wingtips of aeroplanes.”
Despite this realisation, Sharifuddin
continued to persist, completing his
engineering degree before joining Shell
Malaysia. He worked his way up to Country
Manager of Shell Gas in Brunei and later
became Country Manager of Shell Bitumen
for Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
After 13 years with the oil giant,
Sharifuddin moved on to become head of
Petrolink Energy Services in Malaysia. During
his four years there, he grew it from zero
to 30 employees. He then decided a career
break was due and established the Pince &
Pints lobster restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.
“We celebrated our two-year anniversary
in August 2017,” Sharifuddin says. “It’s myINSPIRE | Interview