Christopher Raj, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of ShekhinahPR, obtained his Diploma in Public Relations from the Institute Public Relations of Malaysia and ICS London. He followed that with a Masters in Business Administration from University of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia.
He is an expert on Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) and his advice is often sought by corporate giants regarding public relation campaigns and social media strategies. He has close to 20 years of invaluable experience in Public Relations and Communications.
Christopher’s first encounter with the world of public relations was as a PR Executive with Pro-Sports Management, and after only two months, took on the challenging role of Media Officer with the Football Association of Malaysia.
He held the position from 1995 till 2003 during which time Christopher also served as Media Officer with the ASEAN Football Federation, Asian Football Confederation and also at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championships which was held in Malaysia. He was also the Media Centre Manager for cricket at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Always willing to try something new, Christopher gave sports journalism a shot and joined the New Straits Times Sports Desk in 2007 during which time he was assigned to cover numerous major sporting and news events till 2009.
In 2011 he decided to go solo and founded ShekhinahPR which went on to clinch many awards. Today, ShekhinahPR is a leading Sports PR and Media agency not only in Malaysia but throughout South East Asia.
However, the highlight of Christopher’s career came when he was picked as consultant for Cardiff City Football Club (2010-2012) and to manage and strategise PR campaigns involving English Premier League clubs in 2011 which featured Arsenal (July 13), Liverpool FC (July 16) and Chelsea FC (July 21) against the Malaysia’s national team at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. This followed by the Manchester City Summer Tour and Arsenal Asia Tour in 2012.
Having established himself as a reliable individual, Christopher was entrusted to support all initiatives in the ‘Protect the Goal Campaign’, a football-based HIV prevention programme headed by United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in collaboration with the Asian Football Confederation, Asian Development Bank and ASEAN Football Federation.
Among the many major events ShekhinahPR undertook since 2011 were the US$1 million Axiata Cup, FAM-Frenz Asian Champions Trophy Under-16, ISTAF SuperSeries Finals, FIH Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge Trophy, AFF Suzuki Cup, WWE Live Malaysia, TNB – Malaysian Hockey League and of late the Frenz Under-18 International Cup (held simultaneously in Kuala Lumpur and Palembang, Indonesia), Borussia Dortmund 2016 Asia Tour, Malaysian Badminton Purple League and the T2 Table Tennis Championship to name a few. ShekhinahPR has successfully managed and completed closed to 200 projects over the last eight years of its operations.
Christopher has also been serving the Asian Football Confederation as an external consultant since 2012 in various competitions in charge of media operations. He was the AFC Media Officer for the 2015 AFC Cup, 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, 2015 AFC Futsal Championship, 2016 Under-23 Qatar Final Rounds and numerous other AFC youth competitions.
Last year, he was the FIFA Media Officer for the FIFA Under-17 World Youth Cup in India, and has also been appointed as the FIFA Media Officer for the 2018 World Cup in Russia in June
Christopher also serves as an Executive Committee Member (EXCO) with the FA of Malaysia and was appointed by FAM President HRH Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim as the Chairman of Media and Public Relations Committee and Deputy Chairman of Marketing Committee.
Living by the motto ‘HardWorkBeatsTalent’, Christopher strongly believes in giving back to the community all that he has achieved in the PR business through sports and education.
