Towkay or Kuli?

Shirtless and barefoot towkay is a millionaire

BY LOONG MENG YEE, The Star; 7th. November 2005

What's the difference between a millionaire and a pauper?

Not everyone is born into a rich family and inherited millions. Those who came from humble beginning need to strive hard, earned good money, and save their spoils to achieve prosperity and financial freedom.

The Star today frontpaged an article of a self-made millionaire and his rag-to-riches story is for us to learnt and ponder.

The local people of Serendah remember him and his wife coming from Ampang to farm in Serendah more than a decade ago. They were poor then. He is always shirtless and wears shorts held up by raffia strings. He is often barefoot.

But he owns two licensed sand mines, a large vegetable farm, a mini market, three shoplots, a Mercedes and a BMW.

He is Foong Bang Loy, 53-year-old, and he is from Serendah.

How did he become so rich? Many in Serendah believed he had struck lottery.

“Nonsense!” said Foong. “Whatever we have, my wife and I earned it the old-fashioned way – through hard work.” “We did everything ourselves to save money. We planted vegetables, transported them to the market and sold them there. We were tired to the bone but kept working to make more money. We invested with the money we had, such as in the sand mine,” said Foong.

Foong's wife, Seck Sow Yan sends the vegetable to the Selayang wholesale market at 1am and returns home around noon to sleep. Foong keeps his morning busy tending to the vegetable farms and the sand mine. He operates the hydraulic excavators and repair the machines himself to save cost. His children work for him and they were paid wages because he believed they should earn their keep.

“What I have will eventually become theirs. However, they must know that our wealth did not fall from the sky, lest they squander the money,” said Foong.

"I live my life my own way. I am happy, I hurt no one and more importantly, my wife and children accept me the way I am,” said Foong, the father of four grown children. Wife Seck Sow Yan, described him as a kind, hardworking and loving husband and father. “He is really likeable. He showers me with affection and we love to sing karaoke together,” said Seck, who is in her 50s.

Would our young graduates achieve what this Chinaman does?

Lets hear what the graduate youngsters had to say:

"I don't like what I'm studying and will not work in my field of study. I would prefer to work office hours and hope I won't need to work in shifts," said Farhanis Shahida Mohd, 22, a final-year architecture student.

"I expect a salary of RM2,400 and will give myself 2 years to be promoted. The employer must also provide good insurance cover as my job will expose me to safety risk," said Han Chung Dean, 23, a final-year electronic and electrical engineering student.

"I do not want an office-based job. Field work suits me as I hate being stuck in an office," said Delsond Bungku, 23, a final year electrical engineering student.

"My eldest son, an accountancy graduate, managed to land himself a job before he graduated in 2001. He has always been a top student in college. He now works in Britian. My 22-year-old second son, a final-year electronics and electrical student had been urged by his boss (during his internship) to join the firm upon his graduation. Students taking up internship in the corporate world must remember that their performance could determine their potential future employment," said 52-year-old Wai Sau Kam.