Norsiah overcomes challenges to become successful Labuan businesswoman
LABUAN: Many women are seen as powerhouses in business came from humble upbringings.
Even Datuk Norsiah@Emmy Abdullah, who leads the Labuan port operation through Tunas Rakyat Sdn Bhd (TRSB) and Labuan Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd (LLPM) had to prove herself and faced significant challenges inside and outside of the workplace before her rise to success.
Working their way up the corporate ladder through personal hardships while fighting gender discrimination, is a common life thread often seen among some of the most successful and famous women in business, and this is no exception to this Labuan’s woman entrepreneur role model.
Norsiah is the director of Tunas Rakyat, the main contractor of Labuan Liberty Wharf’s operator of LLPM to run the Labuan’s sole containerised port.
She is also the LLPM’s operation director, having endured challenges in the port operation especially handling the neverending port users’ issues.
Norsiah is indeed the only businesswoman in Malaysia who runs the port operation and holding the highest position in the port industry.
The year 1998 made history in her life, when she and her husband Datuk Seri Mohd Alias Abd Rahman, decided to venture into port business.
She used her valuable experience in the Labuan’s past glory of barter trade business, to run the port.
The various challenges from personal life to business issues never deterred her instead she endured them with determination and patience.
Norsiah is well-recognised among the oil and gas related industry players domestically and internationally.
This year marks the 21st year Labuan Liberty Port Management Sdn Bhd and Tunas Rakyat Sdn Bhd are in operation under her belt.
With only six staff when she started managing the port, the port operator now has more than 100 staff under several departments from human resource and administration, finance, warehouse, transportation, jetty and operation among others.
“Alhamdulillah, we have been able to stay afloat amid the trouble waters that taught me and my husband to be good sailors and we are becoming more self-resilient,” she quipped.
Norsiah also shared her appreciation to the loyal staff, who have been with her for the past 20 years in enduring the port challenges, no exception politically.
Norsiah has given away her luxury lifestyle to concentrate on the busy and challenging port business she runs through blood, sweat and tears.
She raised her five children not as a businesswoman but as a caring mother who realised education, self-motivation and honesty must be blended evenly to be a valuable individual for the family and the society.
Two of her five children have earned international degrees in foreign universities while the rest are running their own businesses independently.
“Despite my hectic schedule, I must have time with my kids…if they are not around sometimes, I must call and text them, so as the healthy family relationship can continue to flourish,” she adds.
The multi-talented professional as many viewed her, is also a philanthropist who is actively involved in the scout movement.
She is patron of the Baden-Powell Guild Labuan (a non-uniformed adult part of the Scout Association formed by Scouts and Guides).
“I never believed that work-life balance was possible, or that I could actually create a lifestyle that was equally challenging and fulfilling.
“What I found was that once I chose to honour my deepest desires, the world opened up to me in ways that I never thought possible.
“I experienced true presence, met amazing people in various industries, and built networking just by following my instincts.
“I’ve gained so much from the act of bravery years ago, not the least of which is the ability to work where I want, when I want, making as much as I want.
“It was a scary undertaking and certainly a leap of faith, but looking back, I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
“My life has changed completely — from being an ordinary worker, to becoming an entrepreneur which is in the port business
“I’ve learnt to trust myself and become independent,” she said.
This woman didn’t let any obstacle stand in her way.
As we can conclude, now Norsiah is making a difference by changing other girls’ lives because she has the strength and motivation to change her own life.