A sea of change
Datuk Simon Foong found a niche in educating the public about conservation through Aquaria KLCC.
PROFITABILITY is a key purpose of a company. Cash is, after all, the lifeline of a business.
But having a convincing purpose makes the journey of running a business more exciting for Aquawalk Sdn Bhd group executive chairman and managing director Datuk Simon Foong Choong Heng, 62.
The entrepreneur has been in business since 1982, when he started a computing company. But nothing gives him more satisfaction than his current business of operating public aquarium, Aquaria KLCC.
Why? Because it makes a difference to society at large, he says.
“I get asked a lot about why I go into a business that is so different and so challenging from what I was doing previously. My answer is simple, it is in line with what I believe in,” he explains.
Fong was entrepreneurial from the very beginning. But he had started out with a different kind of belief.
Back then, he had a firm believe in himself, that he could build any business he wanted as long as he was willing to work hard at it.
While studying in the UK, Foong had the opportunity to work as a business analyst for a defence contractor there. During that time, he found that micro computers were very useful devices.
When his father asked him to come back to Malaysia after completing his studies in business administration, he returned and started looking for opportunities to distribute such computers locally.
Together with a few partners, he founded a company to distribute micro computers in Malaysia and Singapore.
However, the arrangement of the business did not sit well with Foong. He had to work hard to build the company, and in return, he takes a monthly salary and holds a minority stake in the company.
He was basically “just an employee with equity”.
Somewhat dissatisfied with where he was going with that venture, Foong looked to his wife, Datin Mina Cheah Kim Choo, 57, to explore other options.
“As we were doing quite well, I asked my wife, who was a systems engineer, to explore other business opportunities. Being quite an activist herself in issues such as conservation and human rights, she naturally started a business that revolved around her passion,” Foong says.
Cheah founded Rampai-Niaga Sdn Bhd, which is the sole franchisee of personal care products The Body Shop in Malaysia, in 1984.
Being rooted in The Body Shop founder Anita Roddick’s philosophy that “the business of business should not just be about money, it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good not private greed”, Rampai-Niagara's busi ness was heavily involved in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activies.
Foong sold his stake in the IT company in 1994 and joined his wife to grow the business further.
Rampai-Niaga started off with seven The Body Shop stores and quickly expanded into five to seven new outlet a year.
Today, they have 88 stores in Malaysia and 21 stores in Vietnam.
While running various CSR campaigns for Cheah’s company, Foong came to learn that one can also make money while doing good. This changed Foong’s take on business — it was not just about working hard to build a com pany. A business can also be a platform for doing good.
“Throughout my time working with my wife, I learnt that making profit with principles is important. Making money is important. We need money to carry out CSR activities. But we have to be able to do good concurrently with other business activities,” Foong shares.
In 2003, an opportunity came for him to make a difference through business.
Some New Zealand investors were looking for partners to construct and manage a public aquarium in Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. They had incorporated Aquawalk Sdn Bhd in 2001 but had yet to start work on the aquarium.
Foong recalls many an occasion when he brought his sons to visit public aquariums while on vacations abroad. To Foong, these are places where the young could learn about the bigger world that they live in, where they share the earth with other living creatures.
Partnering with these Kiwi investors felt like a good opportunity to run a business that gives back to society through education.
His friends didn’t think so. Some said he was losing touch with reality. "What are you offering to the people? You are only showing them fish,” said one.
But it was more than that. He did not see the venture, as some have said, as
“throwing money to the seas”.
“It is an opportunity for Malaysians to get to know marine life. You can do conservation more effectively if you know and love what you are conserving,” Foong says.
Additionally, Foong had caught a passion for environmental conservation since working with his wife in The Body Shop and hoped that future generations could still enjoy and appreciate the beauty of marine life for many years to come.
Foong took up a minority stake and worked as an executive director in Aquawalk.
The company leased the space below the KL Convention Centre and constructed the public aquarium. He worked closely with contractors and marine biologists to ensure that the whole setup will be a place that Malaysians would love to visit and learn something from. Of course, it was not all that simple. “We have to ensure that the waterproofing is thoroughly done and that everything we do complies with environmental protection best practices,” Foong says.
The total construction cost of the aquarium was about RM64mil.
One of the challenges faced by the company is working with the forces of nature.
In 2004, the tsunami overflowed their supplier’s sea pen in Sri Lanka, where the fishes were destined for Foong’s aquarium. Not only did they lose their fishes, they also lost their star attractions — two sand tiger sharks.
The recorded loses for the sand tiger sharks alone was just under RM200,000.
“When we opened in 2005, I gave visitors a 30% discount to compensate them for not being able to see these fishes although nobody knew or would expect such fishes to be there,” Foong says.
Aquawalk launched the 60,000 sq ft public aquarium with about 5,000 fishes swimming in its tanks.
That same year, Foong also became the majority shareholder in the company.
With his staff of about 90, mainly aquarists and customer service assistants, the team works hard to ensure that the aquarium life is well taken care off and that the public enjoys a good learning experience.
“We ensure that our staff are well trained so that they understand their jobscope well,” he says.
With an average of between 800,000 and 900,000 visitors a year, the company achieved a revenue of RM40mil in 2016.
Foong’s belief has taken him this far and he is now developing public aquariums in Indonesia and Thailand, slated to be opened by the first quarter of 2017 and 2018 respectively.