Secret of Success

What's the secret to success?

No DaVinci Code to success!

No Mission Impossible!

No New Economic Policy & Scholarships!

No need for MCA or UMNO!

No need any kind of fallacious Agenda and APS!

These people came from poor families, never complain of uneven playing fields nor ask for APs.

What they had is sheer energy and passion to succeed. They slogged and thrives in diversities. It was blood and sweat. The end result - they become rich and remain humble.
Case studies...



RM6mil a year in her cookie jar

As a young girl, Yo Bee Kiow loved baking cakes. Today, she has a full-fledged cookie factory with an annual turnover of RM6mil. “I remember seeing my father cooking when I was a small girl and as I grew up, that passion grew with me. I sold my first batch of sponge cakes when I was 18,” said Yo, 45.

“I sold them to my neighbours and remember being so happy when I saw that people actually loved what I had baked."

Yo from Kudang Ulu in Muar, Johor, was then working as a logistics clerk in a furniture factory in Muar. It would be another 10 years before she ventured into commercial baking. When she was around 30, Yo considered opening her own bakery with her sister-in-law, and in 1992, the two women started their first factory – Ever Delicious Food Industries Sdn Bhd. From an initial investment of RM60,000 for the factory which generated a turnover of some RM300,000, Yo’s factory has today expanded to accommodate 80 staff with an annual turnover of RM6mil.

Yo got to know a Hong Kong agent based in Malaysia who was sourcing for homemade cookies for export. She baked some samples, and the rest was history. Orders started pouring in from countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Mauritius and Ghana.

The mother of four is now targeting ISO 22000 food safety management certification for her company. “I am also planning to set up a factory in Muar by the end of next year,” said Yo, adding that she now manufactures more than 30 types of cookies in three categories – crispy, soft and centre-filled. Besides the Hong Kong agent, Yo said the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) had also helped her.

Secret Recipe, a 100% Malaysian brand name, opened its first café outlet in 1998 and, within the short period of eight years, had stamped its position as the leader in the sector.

Its has nine outlets in Singapore, four in Jakarta, Indonesia, and one in Bangkok, Thailand.

Steven Sim Leong Thun , founded Secret Recipe Cakes & Café and Modern Mum in 1998 and successfully transformed a small family business into a market leader within a short period of time. Mr Sim has cultivated an energized team of people, which grew from six to over 300 today. His drive for high standards and to surpass his past accomplishments has resulted in exceptional retail growth with 50 cafés in the country. Defying the statistics of an economic crisis, he steered the companies to register annual growth of 30% for the past three years, whilst profits leaped 300% in 2002.

Without any professional training in baking, he has developed the “Secret Recipe” brand into a regional player with 4 cafes in Singapore and 1 in Jakarta.

Most well-known for its award-winning cheese cakes, the company now has 35 Secret Recipe outlets in Peninsular Malaysia, mostly located in the Klang Valley, and three other outlets in Singapore.

Under his leadership, Secret Recipe received numerous quality and excellence awards for its products throughout the five consecutive years since inception.

Shirtless and barefoot towkay is a millionaire

He can easily adorn himself with Gucci belts and Bally shoes, but this millionaire from Serendah walks around town shirtless and barefoot, with his shorts held up by raffia string. He is Mr. farmer Foong Bang Loy, 53. As if his choice of attire is not bizarre enough, he sometimes dons a long, curly wig or hats made from newspapers – whenever it strikes his fancy.

“People think I am crazy. Let them talk. I am living life my 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 the same kind, hardworking and loving person she had known since she was 10. “He has disliked wearing shirts and shoes for as long as I can remember. When he was young, the only shirts he wore were for school. “While he may not dress to convention, he is really likeable. He showers me with affection and we love to sing karaoke together,” said Seck, who is in her 50s.

Folks in Serendah have become accustomed to this barefooted millionaire –who has no qualms riding his horse to town shirtless or walking into the bank to see the manager in his usual shirtless and shoeless self. While this may raise eyebrows, it is his wealth that is the talking point. Foong is one of two licensed sand miners in town, and he owns the largest vegetable farm in Serendah. He also owns a mini-market, three shoplots, a Mercedes and a BMW.

The locals remember him and his wife coming from Ampang to farm in Serendah more than a decade ago. They were poor. “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.

The couple still work hard. Seck 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 learned to operate the excavators and repair the machines to save on labour costs. “My children work for us. We pay them wages. Some say we are tight with the children. I believe 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.

Klang's king of mini markets

Running a grocery business with a RM200mil annual sales turnover, Lee Thiam Wah, 42, is the founder of the 99 Speedmart chain of stores is Klang’s undisputed “Mr Mini Mart” and runs his business empire from a wheelchair.

At eight months old, he was struck with polio, rendering his legs unusable. The disability had in no way affected Lee’s zest to succeed in life and business. Pointing to his wheelchair, he said: “This is nothing.”

“Life should not be lived bemoaning what you don’t have. Rather, it is about using what you have to build something for yourself, your family and the community,” added Lee, whose journey to success has been one of blood, sweat and tears.

Life has thrown challenges at Lee at every turn. He was born into a poor family and his hawker mother and contract labourer father fended for their 11 children as best as they could.

However, the financial burden was just too much. His parents cried when they told Lee he could not attend secondary school because the journey was too far and they just could not afford the transport fare.

“I was sad but undeterred. I borrowed textbooks from neighbours and read them at home. I also read the newspapers and magazines,” Lee recounted.

At 23, he opened his first grocery shop in Jalan Tepi Sungai here.

“I took to trading because there were not much employment opportunities for me. Let’s face it, a man in a wheelchair with a primary education is not exactly in high demand.”

In a few years, his shop became the best grocery store around – known for its good customer service, fair price and variety of goods.

Business was good but Lee wanted more challenge. He sold the shop to a relative and opened a mini-market in Klang Utama with RM300,000 seed money in 1992.

Lee who now owns 44 convenience stores here and in the Klang Valley. While the business has given Lee a tremendous sense of achievement, it is his wife Ng Lee Tieng, 27, and their two children, aged four and six, who have brought him much joy and a sense of completeness.

“Lee Tieng (his wife) is my source of strength. Her vivacity complements my more reserved nature.

“More importantly, my wheelchair is invisible in her eyes and those of my kids. Their love allows me to walk tall, run, sprint and race towards success.”

How is it that such people without NEP, MA, APs, Scholarships, government's charitable acts, rent-seeking opportunities, etc ... they could succeed?

It's ... SHEER HARD WORK, TOILING DAY AND NIGHT, SAVING UP WHATEVER LITTLE THEY EARNED AND REINVESTING THEM IN THE BUSINESS.

They knew success and prosperity cannot be attain overnight. It is through a period, a long, long years of struggle, sacrifices, determination, frugality and knowing your risk. Most of all, they keep what they earned and they remember it is hard earned money. They postponed all their wants and expectations of what many like to call quality life and funs and holidays. Now they can afford all those things they wanted. They can go for luxurious holidays and buy properties of their selected choice.

Yet, they remain humble.