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RICKY Toong, rearing chickens drew public laughter; two farms on, he graduates with Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Management and Science University (MSU) in 2014.

Fresh off the MBA education and encouraged by his exposure to the University’s culture of entrepreneurship, he went into entrepreneurial mode. He beat a path less preferred by the peers of his generation when he decided to farm chickens.

Ricky raising chickens for a living may have elicited laughter at the start but he kept at it while continuing on with further study at the MSU. With green chickens as his subject, he chose to study halal chicken production.

“My biggest challenge used to be the mortality rate, which normally in organic chicken is 10-15 per cent but I had 2,000 dead chickens in one day. After learning and changing many things, I managed to bring the figure down to 5 per cent.

The chickens’ green diet is also a challenge to maintain because it has to be sourced and put together from various suppliers – soy waste from tofu manufacturers, for example, and coconut waste from makers of kaya (traditional jam made from coconut and eggs).

Dealing with people, the suppliers as well as the customers, is always a challenge in any business. The skill is not something taught in school. You were taught only to be nice, but in business there is a lot of competition, so you learn to be strong instead.”

He advised to those who aspire to become entrepreneurs, “When you go through the problem phase in your journey, keep in mind that you are learning. When you have passed this phase, everything will stabilize. Your role then is to gain new knowledge outside, and to bring it back to your business, just as I am doing now in University.

With his research into halal chicken farming, Ricky is indebted to his family, colleagues and staff at MSU’s Graduate School of Management for all the support and encouragement that they have poured in. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Business Administration at MSU.

Management & Science University (MSU) is one of top university in Malaysia and placing 217th in the QS Asia Ranking 2018, the top 1.8 per cent among Asia’s best universities. It offers specialised programmes at the postgraduate and undergraduate levels in the areas of business, management, medicine, health sciences, information sciences, engineering, education and hospitality.

As a University that stresses the importance of graduates employability and their entrepreneurial capabilities, MSU works closely with the industries in order to ensure its relevance to current needs. The creation of an entrepreneurial eco-system across curriculum further provides students with an environment for the nurturing of graduates who are deeply rooted with traits of entrepreneurial know-how.

The University has been named the Most Entrepreneurial Private University 2016 by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, and accorded Best Brand in Education 2016 by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation.

For Management and Science University (MSU), making global impact transforming lives and enriching futures will take strides into excellence as well as MSUrians at all levels working even harder, together.

For more information on post graduate programmes offered at MSU, please call 603-5521 6868, email enquiry@msu.edu. my or visit www.msu.edu.my.