If you fall, get up and continue the fight

had little education because he gave up schooling during the second world war. However, he had a habit of reading newspapers and materials of interest. He was knowledgeable on world affairs and things around us. When I was just a very small kid he would bring me with him to work. He took every opportunity to teach me.

In retrospect, I learned the most, unconsciously, by working beside this amazing man.

What do you want to accomplish in the next five years? We believe that the convenience sector in this country is underserved and underdeveloped. The penetration rate is low. Therefore, there is still plenty of room to grow. Our new store opening is on track at 70 stores a year and we are confident that the rate could be increased in the future. Our revenue has been growing healthily at above 20% year-on-year. Likewise, our level of profit is increasing too. Barring any unforeseen circumstances that are beyond our control, we are optimistic of maintaining our growth trend.

In short, in the next five years we will continue to work hard in keeping up with our strong financial and operational track record in order to deliver on the expectations of our customers and shareholders while maintaining a competitive edge and our position in this industry.

Best piece of advice you ever got on your career. It wasn’t an advice but a priceless piece of observation on me by someone whom I worked for and highly regard. I was at my first job in a bank’s IT department.

The manager of my department was promoted to be a senior manager, supervising a few departments, including the one that I worked in. The new department manager did not appraise my performance well. One fine day my former-manager-turnedsenior manager approached me to ask if he could rewrite my appraisal, and that I would have to sign it again. I was absolutely surprised because it was unheard of.

The reason given was that the senior manager did not approve of my earlier appraisal but instead passed a comment that sounded like, “You all do not know this guy (me) well. He is the type who would never fall. Even when shot and wounded, he would still stand up and continue to fight on.”

That was when I realised that I never gave up no matter how difficult a task was assigned to me. The appraisal incident served as a reminder to myself that I will not fall and, if I did, I would stand up again and continue the fight.

Most admired business leader? Why? Steve Jobs. His business journey started from his father’s garage. He had nothing other than his talent to begin with and he went on to build Apple, which has now become the world’s most valuable company. He said, “Innovation differentiates a leader from a follower”.

How do you stay abreast of issues affecting your industry? By reading and travelling.

If you could have an hour with any thought leader in the world, who would it be and why? Any leaders will do. I will just tell them to do good for their country and the world. Leave a good lasting legacy. Plant seeds of the future for the whole country as if they are planting them for their own children and grandchildren.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced and what did you learn from it? Biggest challenge was when we went into a traditional business that dealt with a traditional product – the print media. When we first entered the business the traditional newsstand had never been updated. It was messy, cluttered and closedoff. Even more disturbing was the unsystematic and unprofessional manner in which newspapers and magazines were distributed in Malaysia. What did I learn from it? We tried very hard to improve the way things were done on a day-to-day and stepby-step basis. Like trying to make incremental changes. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. In fact, we upset our business partners who were so used to doing things the usual way. Eventually, we brought order to the industry and challenged how things were done. We reframed the business rather than just making incremental improvements. We had to revolutionise the whole industry and become a standard bearer. So the lesson is if incremental changes do not work, you have to reframe and transform.

Not long after having revolutionised the industry and become number one, we found that we were trapped in a sunset business. Digital media was fast replacing print. When a change is brought about by technology, it is beyond anyone’s control. We did not want to end up like Eastman Kodak. We had to innovate. I learned that to stay relevant we must continue to innovate.

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How do you expect policies on climate change to impact businesses in the future? Changing government policies, climate-related regulation and market incentives may cause a shift in product preference and price volatility. The climate change issue is relevant for all companies, varying in terms of physical and regulatory impact. It presents a wide range of risks, new opportunities to reduce costs, differentiate products, and working with suppliers and consumers.

Consumers who are environmentally conscious will factor into their purchasing behaviors; greener products, organic food and where they buy from, with a preference towards companies that share and embrace similar causes and purpose.

What are the top three factors you would attribute to your success?

Motivation Firstly, you must be motivated to do something. If you are forced into it by your parents for example, your venture has actually ended before you begin. I was motivated to break away from hardship. My parents were rubber tappers. I grew up in a large family. I was not willing to be permanently locked in the chain of hopelessness. I dreamt about bringing change to my life and my family.

Passionate Conviction To me, Malaysia is one of the easiest places to start a business. Get a wok, start a fire and you are already a businessman selling char koay teow by the roadside. Like me, I started a simple business: I sold newspapers.

But no matter what you do, you must have passionate conviction. It could be a million-dollar business to begin with if you are born with a silver spoon or it could just be a char koay teow business by the roadside but ultimately what determines its success is the passion and conviction to keep going even when the going gets tough.

If you do not stop like others when it gets tough, the winner will be you as the others fall off. I have been put through the fiercest fire and I know that it takes passionate conviction to save you from falling off the edge.

Execution Reward comes as a by-product of success. Not like the restaurant – eat first then pay. In life, you have to work first, then only get rewarded. Have you ever asked yourself why a lottery winner’s winnings don’t last long? Because he has not travelled the actual journey of building up his wealth and has not acquired the skill to become successful at keeping and growing his wealth.

After winning the lottery the only skill he has acquired is how to spend the money.