Competition Create Business

Yesterday, I was working until late night in somewhere near Subang Airport, the national main aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul centre (MRO). On the way back, I see how badly Subang Airport had turn out after the new KLIA had take on the operation of Subang Airport. Besides from the controversial Transmile Warehouse and some MAS building nearby, Subang Airport now looks like a piece of unwanted land. How sadly!!

Apart of busy schedule, I still have some free time to chuck in some reading, which I had been committed this year to increase my knowledge. I am a choosy person when come to reading books as I am not a book worms…So last week I end up buying books that got related to my idol, Tony Fernandes.
He was rank 2nd on my Idol Chart; second after the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong and a head above the late Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew. Tony use to be an auditor where he find audit is not his life (duh….I also feel so…) and he move on to Virgin Television and then music industry where he climb up the corporate ladder so fast that he was in the position of Vice President of Warner of South East Asia. But what interest me was, how come a person with ACCA, huge salary with stable work would dare to take so much risk by operating a low cost carrier, first in Malaysia and maybe in Asian…AirAsia success was an incredible story. As we know, AirAsia had always been competing with MAS, the baby of our government which always cause AirAsia struggling with unfair competition. But what we had see today, the Red Giant had not just stop growing but making sure people who had never fly, choose to Fly with them….what else can I say? Now everyone can fly…Malaysia Boleh, AirAsia Boleh…

No one success without scarify of time and effort. But what make people more successful is person who dare to take risk, taming those dangerous and turn it into opportunity. Erhemm….I can proudly quote what Tun Dr Ling said again…wakaka… “Crisis in mandarin (wei chi) is form from 2 words which is danger (wei sian) and opportunity (chi huew) and we must always juggle crisis from danger to opportunity.”

It was a struggle for those leaders for previous era to be successful. People like the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong and the late Tan Dri Loh Boon Siew did not born to be rich but what they have is a struggle to life in this competitive world…The story of how the late Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew arriving Malaya from China with only supplier of 3 dry biscuit (mind you…the boat from mainland of China to Malaya is 7 days) and changing his life to be the sole Honda Motor. On the other hand, I believe everyone know how Tan Sri Ling Goh Tong survive a hard life from China to Malaysia, and knowing only Hokkien can turn a virgin hill to be the number one hilltop entertainment city in Malaysia. It really inspires me and whenever I feel want to give up; their story had always encouraged me keeping on struggle, to move on with life…

Here come the Business Idol ranking (judge: Eddie Lim..)
1. The Late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, founder of Genting berhad
2. Datuk Tony Fernendes, founder of AirAsia
3. The Late Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew, founder of Boon Siew Honda
4. Ananda Krishnan, founder of Maxis
5. Tan Sri Dato' Lee Shin Cheng, founder of IOI Group
6. Robert Kuok Hock Nien, Sugar King,
7. Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow, founder of Public Bank
8. Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, CEO of Berjaya and Co-founder of Berjaya
9. Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling, founder of Sunway
10. Mr Eddie Lim….wakaka