David Magson
| David Magson | |
|---|---|
| Born | David William Magson 4 May 1945 |
| Nationality | British and Australian |
| Education | Mathematics |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Employer | Ksatria Pty Ltd |
| Title | Chief Executive |
| Known for | Humanitarian recovery effort following the 2002 Bali bombings; chairman of YKIP, 2003 to 2008 |
David William Magson (born 4 May 1945) is a British and Australian businessman who spent more than twenty years in the mining industry before moving to Southeast Asia. Magson is best known for his role in the recovery effort that followed the first Bali bombing in October 2002, for which he was appointed MBE in 2003, and for his subsequent chairmanship of the Bali based humanitarian foundation YKIP from 2003 to 2008. He holds dual British and Australian citizenship and lives in Perth, Western Australia.
Magson is currently chief executive of Ksatria Pty Ltd and a board member of MediRecords Pty Ltd. He has previously chaired Mitrais Pte Ltd, the Bali International School, Oniqua Pty Ltd and Auslang International Pty Ltd, and was a founding vice president of the Australian Indonesian Business Council in Bali.
Early life and education
Magson was born on 4 May 1945. The dossier underlying this article does not record his place of birth or details of his family background. He trained as a mathematician. Magson later became a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a former fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Career
Mining industry
Before moving to Southeast Asia, Magson spent more than twenty years working in the mining industry, with postings in the United Kingdom, Africa and Australia. The dossier does not give further detail of his specific roles or employers during this period.
Bali bombing recovery and chairmanship of YKIP, 2002 to 2008
On 12 October 2002, two bombs were detonated in Bali, killing more than 200 people, both Indonesians and visitors. Immediately following the bombing, Magson assisted wounded Australians to evacuate the island and then worked for four days in the morgue on behalf of the British Consul.
Magson subsequently accepted the role of chair of YKIP, or Yayasan Kemanusiaan Ibu Pertiwi (the Humanitarian Foundation for Mother Earth), a body established within days of the bombing to help the people of Bali through health and education programmes. According to YKIP, the foundation is intended as a living tribute to the 222 dead and 446 injured victims of the two blasts. Under Magson, YKIP acted as a donor agency for other organisations working on projects in Bali, and also ran its own programmes, including the KEMBALI Scholarship programme, the KIDS scholarship programme for survivors of the bombing, and vocational and university scholarship programmes.
Magson held the chairmanship of YKIP from 2003 until 2008. For his contribution to the recovery effort, he was appointed MBE in 2003. According to YKIP's own account of its history, Magson continued afterwards to support the foundation through Mitrais, the company of which he was chairman, providing serviced office space, volunteer webmasters and information technology support.
Company leadership
Magson has chaired several companies and institutions, including Mitrais Pte Ltd, the Bali International School, Oniqua Pty Ltd and Auslang International Pty Ltd, and was a founding vice president of the Australian Indonesian Business Council in Bali. Magson is currently chief executive of Ksatria Pty Ltd and a board member of MediRecords Pty Ltd. The dossier does not specify the dates of his tenure at Oniqua, Auslang or the Bali International School, or give further detail of his work at Ksatria or MediRecords.
Assessment
Magson's public recognition rests principally on his response to the 2002 Bali bombing and his subsequent eight years chairing YKIP, rather than on the mining and business ventures that occupied most of his career; his MBE recognised the former, not the latter. As a company leader, the dossier records a long run of chairmanships and directorships across several companies in Australia and Indonesia, but gives little detail of specific business decisions or their outcomes, aside from Magson's continued in kind support for YKIP through Mitrais after his chairmanship of the foundation ended. Judged purely as a business record, the available material is thin. Judged as an account of an executive who used a company's resources to sustain a disaster recovery effort for years after the emergency itself had passed, Magson's record is a distinctive one.