ROBERT KUOK, truly remarkable man, at 94 years!

BOOK REVIEW by  Dr Clarence Lei Chang Moh on the book:

ROBERT KUOK, A MEMOIR WITH ANDREW TANZER, published in 2018, 24 chapters with 376 pages

The book title first caught by attention when Dato Dr Rohan Malek, Head of Urology Services of Ministry of Health of Malaysia included 2 slides regarding this. He was giving a lecture on the criteria for selection of new urology specialist trainees.  The 3 important criteria for employing new staff to the Robert Kuok empire are:

Integrity; talent/ability; capacity for hard work. The second slide is a reminder that material wealth is not a guarantee for happiness!  

I then asked my second son to search for a PDF version of the book so that I can read it on my laptop which I carry with me every way.  However, he came out with diferrent version. It is a 24-page article published in the Australian Economic History Review Volume 53 No. 3 in November 2013. The article was written by Lee Kam Hin et al of University of Malaya. It quotes Robert Kuok as the richest man in South East Asia, Forbes Asia in its March 2018 Issue (Page 24 to 28) also quoted Robert Kuok as a legendary tycoon.

I must confess that I read most of the book from my toilet seat in the morning.  This is possible because the book is written in small chapters. There is no real story line that “compels” one to read the entire book.  In the end, I completed reading the last few chapters in one night. 

I would not have read the book if my daughter has not bought (the “last” copy) while she was transiting at Heathrow Airport on the way back to Kuching; the book was priced at £25. Most parts of the book are about Robert Kuok’s personal dealings of his family business, in the sugar and oil business, complete with names, probably real.  Although he is less than complimentary on some of the business associates, he is usually full of praise for the government officials in Malaysia and Singapore.  

One usually looks for any underlying message in such a book, especially in somebody who is still healthy and alive at the age of 94 at the time of publishing the book in 2018. The self-declared principles are: Honesty, Humility, Hardwork, avoid Greed.  He also emphasises on a simple lifestyle to keep healthy. Basically, he admitted to being a responsible capitalistbut expects failures. He confronts problems but admitted to being a fatalist in a later chapter, However, his beloved brother died as a hard core communist in the Malaysian jungles. 

He is true to his roots: with his humble beginnings in his birth place of Johor Bahru, Malaysia.  He is proud of his parents’ home country in China.  His mother continues to be the “hidden captain” of his life. He has 2 wives and he established foundation for all the three important women in his life.  

I am impressed that the hidden captain has steered him away from “businesses like hospitals ... How can you insist on charging a sick patient who needs care but cannot afford it?......... (quote from Page 337). How I wish his charities can help the poor patients in Sarawak.

31^stJanuary 2019