Jayang Jhaveri
CEO
Entrepreneur, broadcaster, producer, musician, teacher and technologist, Jayang brings to Network South Asia over 30 years of experience in a wide variety of industries. NSA is the result of his vision of a global media organisation that serves the 40-million strong South Asian diaspora.
Jayang built a career as a consultant in sectors such as e-commerce, technology, banking, media and entertainment, healthcare and luxury retail for clients including HSBC, Star TV, National Semiconductor and Microsoft. In 1998, he and three other co-founders built an online retailer of music and movies which was acquired by Tom.com, controlled by Asian tycoon Li Ka Shing.
These days, you can often listen to Jayang profiling great vocalists of the world on RTHK Radio 3, where he also hosted a weekly show for the South Asian community from 1988 to 1993. In 1996, he led a project to launch a satellite radio channel for South Asia at Star Radio (a division of Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star TV).
Jayang chairs the South Asian Arts Academy, a non-profit in Hong Kong that promotes education and awareness of fine arts from the subcontinent. He has produced several concerts and festivals bringing together artists from the subcontinent with symphony orchestras and renowned names in Asian jazz. He is also a teacher and practitioner of Hindustani music, which he imbibed from the legendary vocalist Kishori Amonkar.
Jayang holds an MBA from London Business School, and speaks six languages.
Saadia Usmani
Director - Programming
For Saadia, Network South Asia is the culmination of a dream that she had when she was 19: to unite and engage South Asians of all ages on the airwaves … and she did it!
Brought up in the UK with an Indian / Pakistani heritage, Saadia’s broadcasting career started in her early 20’s co-presenting ‘Asian Voice’ on BBC Radio Bedfordshire. However, she felt that the Asian output lacked lustre, engagement and creativity, and that’s when she proposed the idea for “Smit Petit and the Karachi Kid”. Jam-packed with banter, music, phone-ins, competitions, celebrity interviews and a good serving of samosas on air, the show was a roaring success with a legendary following over two years and was adopted by other BBC local stations, including Greater London Radio (GLR). After relocating to Wales and Scotland, she continued as presenter, researcher and contributor on BBC Television Wales, Swansea Sound, Red Dragon and BBC Radio Scotland.
From 2000 onwards, Saadia moved into public relations as the Head of Media for WRVS, a large charity supporting older people in the UK. Her broadcasting skills were instrumental in her creating bespoke media and crisis management training courses. In 2011, she founded Shor Communications (now known as "Saadia"), a communications consultancy specialising in presentation skills training (saadiausmani.com).
In 2016 Saadia moved to Hong Kong and returned to broadcasting as a freelance presenter and producer for RTHK Radio 3. This set the wheels in motion for her dream to go global with Network South Asia!
Muskkan Samtani
Director - Audience & Marketing
A Canadian Punjabi who straddles the world of business and performing arts in the East and West with equal poise, Muskkan brings to Network South Asia a zesty and at times feisty vibe!
NSA for her means giving back to South Asian communities worldwide and preserving a rich and vibrant culture - which has been a huge part of her upbringing. As a young mother of two, she recognises the pressures of society and the challenges of passing these values to her children. NSA excites her to the core. "Radio is alive and kicking, and it is a great way of connecting generations and highlighting our timeless traditions”, she says
Born in Pune (India), brought up in Toronto and currently living in Hong Kong, Muskkan built a career in marketing, beginning in General Motors (Canada) and culminating in her own digital marketing consultancy. Along the way, she did ad films, performed with symphony orchestras, emceed South Asian shows, ran several hospitality ventures, mentored fitness freaks - all while juggling a family.
Muskkan has been active in the non-profit sector in Hong Kong, advising family offices and charitable foundations on giving and community building. Fitness and mindfulness are her passions, together with a lifelong interest in Hindustani classical and contemporary Punjabi beats. She speaks fluent Hindi and Punjabi, as well as a typically Torontonian variety of English.