THE SUGAR KING

Interesting insight into how success comes about.

Robert Kuok Hock Nien's notes on the past sixty years

(On the occasion of Kuok Group's 60th Anniversary 10 April 2009)


[Robert Kuok is the boss of the Shangri-la Hotel Group and many other industries as stated at the end of the article. He had been named as "The Sugar King" of the world in the early days. He always stayed at a very low profile. It is a good article to read and understand the philosophy of a successful person, even though he has abundance of wealth!]


(1) My brothers and I owe our upbringing completely to Mother. She
was steeped in Ru-Jiao ? the teachings of Confucius, Mencius, Laozi and
other Chinese sages. Ru-Jiao teaches the correct behaviour for a human
being on his life on earth. Mother gently, and sometimes strongly, drummed
into the minds of her three boys the values of honesty, of never cheating,
lying, stealing or envying other people their material wealth or physical
attributes.


(2) Father died on 25 December 1948 night without leaving a will.
Following the Japanese surrender, he had re-registered the firm as a sole
proprietorship. We went to court to get an appointment as managers,
permitting us to continue to manage Tong Seng & Co. The judge said that,
as there were two widows, the firm and the estate should be wound up.


(3) We decided to establish Kuok Brothers Limited. In mid-January
1949, five of us met at a small roundtable in our home in Johore Bahru.
Present were my MOTHER, cousin number five HOCK CHIN, cousin number twelve
HOCK SENG, my brother HOCK KHEE nicknamed Philip (a.k.a. cousin number
seventeen), and myself (a.k.a. cousin number twenty). We sat down and
Mother said, "Nien, would you like to start?" I said, "Fine, yes I will
start." To cut the long story short, we got started, and commenced
business from a little shop house in Johore Bharu on 1 April 1949.


(4) As a young man, I thought there was no substitute for hard work
and thinking up good, honest business plans and, without respite, pushing
them along. There will always be business on earth. Be humble; be
straight; don't be crooked; don't take advantage of people. To be a successful
businessman, I think you really need to brush all your senses every
morning, just as you brush your teeth. I coined the phrase "honing your
senses" in business: your vision, hearing, sense of smell, touch and
taste. All these senses come in very useful.


(5) Mother was the captain of our ship. She saw and sensed
everything, but being a wise person she didn't interfere. Yet she was the
background influence, the glue that bound the Group together. She taught
my cousins and my brothers and me never to be greedy, and that in making
money one could practise high morality. She stressed that whenever the firm does
well it should make donations to the charities operating in our societies.
She always kept us focused on the big picture in business. For example:
avoid businesses that bring harm, destruction or grief to people. This
includes trades like gambling, drugs, arms sales, loan-sharking and
prostitution.


(6) We started as little fish swimming in a bathtub. From there we
went to a lake and now we are in the open seas. Today our businesses cover
many industries and our operations are worldwide but this would not have
been possible without the vision of the founding members, the dedicated
contributions and loyalty of our colleagues and employees, and very
importantly the strong moral principles espoused by my mother.


(7) When I hire staff I look for honest, hardworking, intelligent
people. When I look candidates in the eye, they must appear very honest to
me. I do not look for MBAs or exceptional students. You may hire a
brilliant man, summa cum laude, first-class honours, but if his mind is
not a fair one or if he has a warped attitude in life, does brilliance really
matter?


(8) Among the first employees were Lau Teo Chin (Ee Wor), Kwok Chin
Luang (Ee Luang), Othman Samad (Kadir) and an Indian accountant called
Joachim who was a devout Roman Catholic and who travelled in every day
from Singapore where he lived.


(9) I would like on this special occasion to pay tribute to them and
in particular to those who were with us in the early days; many of whom
are no longer here. I have already mentioned Lau Teo Chin (Ee Wor) and Kwok
Chin Luang (Ee Luang) and Othman Samad (Kadir), there are others like Lean
Chye Huat, who is not here today due to failing eyesight, and Yusuf Sharif
who passed away in his home country India about one and a half years ago
and the late Lee Siew Wah, and others who all gave solid and unstinting
support and devotion to the Company. It saddens me that in those early
difficult years these pioneers did not enjoy significant and substantial
rewards but such is the order of things and a most unfortunate aspect of
capitalism. However through our Group and employee Foundations, today we
are able to help their descendants whenever there is a need to.


(10) I have learnt that the success of a company must depend on the
unity of all its employees. We are all in the same boat rowing against the
current and tide and every able person must pull the oars to move the boat
forward. Also, we must relentlessly endeavour to maintain and practise the
values of integrity and honesty, and eschew and reject greed and
arrogance.


(11) A few words of caution to all businessmen and women. I recall the
Chinese saying: shibai nai chenggong zhi mu (failure is the mother of
success). But in the last thirty years of my business life, I have come to
the conclusion that the reverse phrase is even truer of today's world:
chenggong nai shibai zhi mu. Success often breeds failure, because it
makes you arrogant, complacent and, therefore, lower your guard.


(12) The way forward for this world is through capitalism. Even China
has come to realise it. But it's equally true that capitalism, if allowed
to snowball along unchecked, can in many ways become destructive.
Capitalism needs to be inspected under a magnifying glass once a day, a
super-magnifying glass once a week, and put through the cleaning machine
once a month.

In capitalism, man needs elements of ambition and greed to
drive him. But where does ambition end and greed take over? That's why I
say that capitalism, if left to its own devices, will snowball along, roll
down the hill and cause a lot of damage. So a sound capitalist system
requires very strongly led, enlightened, wise governments. That means
politician-statesmen willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of
their people. I don't mean politicians who are there for fame, glory and to line
their pockets.


(13) To my mind the two great challenges facing China are the
restoration of education in morals and the establishment of a rule of law.
You must begin from the root up, imbuing and infusing moral lessons and
morality into youth, both at home and from kindergarten and primary school
upward through university. Every Chinese needs to accept the principle of
rule of law; then you have to train upright judges and lawyers to uphold
the legal system.


(14) Wealth should be used for two main purposes. One: for the
generation of greater wealth; in other words, you continue to invest,
creating prosperity and jobs in the country. Two: part of your wealth
should be applied to the betterment of mankind, either by acts of pure
philanthropy or by investment in research and development along the
frontiers of science, space, health care and so forth.


Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien (born 6 October 1923, in Johor Bahru, Johor), is an influential Malaysian Chinese businessman. According to Forbes his net worth is estimated to be around $10 billion on May 2008, making him the richest person in Southeast Asia. He is media shy and discreet; most of his businesses are privately held by him or his family. Apart from a multitude of enterprises in Malaysia, his companies have investments in many countries throughout Asia. His business interests range from sugarcane plantations (Perlis Plantations Bhd), sugar refinery, flour milling, animal feed, Palm oil and mining to finance, hotels, properties, trading and freight and publishing.