PROACTIVE - ROBERT KUOK

Robert Kuok Hock Nien, a Malaysian businessman of Chinese origin, he was born in Johor Bahru, on 6 October 1923. Today, Kuok owns multiple enterprises across Malaysia and he has investments across the countries like Australia, Fiji, Singapore, Philippines, Mainland, Thailand, Indonesia and China including 10 Coca-cola bottling company.  He also owns the Beijing World Trade Centre. Kuok’s diverse business fields include thesugar refineries, sugarcane plantation, oil, mining, finance, trade, property, freight, and publishing. He owns Transmile Group, for air transportation cargo transport between India and China, and Malaysia International Shipping Company’s shares.

As we take one of the example of successful entrepreneur in Asia featuring Robert Kuok Hock Nien as our role model in entrepreneur fields. The richest man in Malaysia and also known as Asian Sugar King, Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Niencourage to seize opportunity at home and abroad, and used his excellent connections with government and industry to rapidly scale up his empire. Sincehe looking for opportunities, he knew his strengths and weaknesses are and being considered as perceptively person. This helps him identify the opportunities that are most relevant for him, and understand which skills he need to work on. He said focus makes him a successful Sugar King.

Proactive  means that an entrepreneur’s ability to turn ideas into action. It not only includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, but also to plan, in order to manage the project's ability to achieve the objectives. This supports individuals in the workplace in being able to seize opportunities, and more specific skills and knowledge needed by those establishing or contributing to social or commercial activity. This should include awareness of ethical values and promote good governance.

Tan Sri Robert Kuok is known as an proactive entrepreneur. He started his business, it has not been taken up by another entrepreneur in Malaysia. Tan Sri Robert Kuok was known for his proactive where he was the first people that engaged in the sugar business in Malaysia. It was courageous,he wants to start sugar industry because no one has been engaged in this business before. He said that he would take the initiative at the start of his trading business in the sugar business because the sugar was very important in the food sector.In addition, he started the sugar business because he believed that sugar business was a simple business which with the cheapest raw sugar, a person can get rich.

In 1959, Tan Sri Robert Kuok formed Malaysian Sugar Manufacturing in collaboration with two prominent Japanese partners. He also brought many influential Malay elite into his company as directors and shareholders, including UMNO politician and Malay royalty. In 1968, he expanded his sugar trading business into sugar production. Tan Sri Robert Kuok was awarded the sugar production monopoly in Malaysia. He began to sugar cane plantation, and started a joint venture with the government. Then, he established Perlis Plantation Berhad (PPB) with the Perlis state government to clear 5,800 hectares of FELDA owned land for cultivation of sugarcane.

In the early 1970s, he established a second sugar mill, Kuala Perlis FeldaSdnBhd with FELDA near the plantation. Tan Sri Robert Kuok continued to make every effort to expand his international sugar business. In the late 1960s, he expanded his business in Indonesia, he buying cheap sugar from India before the prices soared. Tan Sri Robert Kuok operated in southern Sumatra and expanded sugar plantations with mills and refineries together withsugar producer and refiner, LiemSioeLiong. Eventually, he had to control 80 percent of the Malaysian sugar market with production of 1.5 million tonnes,  equivalent to 10 percent of world production.  He’s a greatproactiveto venture sugar business gave him an opportunity to built a business empire,known as “Sugar King of Asia”.

Tan Sri Robert Kuok is a proactive entrepreneur andalso remarkable ability to plan or predict for the long term. His appearance as an entrepreneur is impressive. In the 1980s, when he first came to China, he had the foresight,China will become the most prosperous country in the future of tourism, because of its historical relics. Then, he first forays into the hotel industry in mainland China. He built Shangri-La Hotelto help the development of China's tourism industry and promote China as a tourist destination. In 1984, Tan Sri Robert Kuok opened its first hotel, the Shangri-La in Hangzhou, China as Hangzhou renowned for its famous historical relics and natural scenery  like West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda and Hangzhou City Gate. In 1989, Shangri-La launched the second hotel in Beijing. In May 1996, there were 12 new hotels, Tan Sri Robert Kuok is built in China. Currently, there are 34 Shangri-La Hotel built in China, and 28 hotels under construction.

Today’s China has become a large tourist country with boast numerous attraction from historical sites, cultural sites to tourist attractions. His prediction about the China as a large and prosperous travel and a tourism country have been proven. His proactive had turned China to become a big tourism country and successfully formed the biggest, most profitable chains of luxury lodgings of the Asia region, so that make him dubbed as “Hotel King”.

Tan Sri Robert Kuok ability to identify opportunities and thus a good timing. Opportunities are difficult to be found, but everyone can find them if we use a thoughtful and deliberate approach. He was able to find and seize an opportunity when they appear. His first foray into the sugar trade immediately when he knew that there is no set up Chinese network in this sector, which is controlby a British trading house, Guthrie. Therefore, he seeks out the opportunities from domestic and abroad to grow its sugar business. In 1957, he took a chance and imported cheaper sugar India and Cuba. Therefore, he replace as the major importer and distributor of sugar in Malaya.

“A good opportunity is seldom presented, and also easy to lose.”To become a successful entrepreneur, you must needkeep your eyes to be proactive, ready for a good opportunity, and then grab it at a right time. In short, Tan Sri Robert Kuok proactive seeks out and seizes every opportunityin his sugar business and thus earned a nickname “Sugar King of Asia”.