Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary
Friday, 14 October 2016 05:35 | Written by your name 0 comments
Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary was born in Alor Setar,
Kedah in 1951 at middle class family. His family hailed from Hadhramaut,
Yemen. Before deciding to live in Kedah, his father traveled as far as Central
Asia to trade. Then, his father went to Thailand, before finally deciding to
live in Alor Setar, Kedah in the mid 1940’s. This business leader has seven
siblings and he is the third child. Shortage of money led his family to send
him to live with his uncle, Syed Omar in Johor Bahru, to study there. Syed
Mokhtar lived in Johor Bharu and continued his studies there until form two,
before returning to Kedah to study up to form five at Saint Micheal’s School. His success story in business began by helping his parents in cattle
business around 1960-an. However, this did not last long due to the outbreak of
disease which hit their livestock. Hence, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar took other
initiative by applying for MARA’s assistance to start a lorry business in the
1970s. The lorry company which is known as “Syarikat Kenderaan
Sentosa” now owns more than 40 lorries.
Know as a man with a vision, his efforts did not
stop at that point. In 1974, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar bought his first shop house
under the hire-purchase agreement with Urban Development Authority of Malaysia
(UDA).
The next year, he expanded his business empire
by establishing Shah Company, known as a rice supplier to FELDA, MARA Senama,
Pernas Edar and Sergam Sdn Bhd after having succeeded in obtaining the rice
trading license from Lembaga Padi Negara or BERNAS. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar
described his achievement in business was the outcome of government’s
initiative in implementing the New Economy Policy (NEP).
Since then, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar’s business
continued to expand rapidly until he was awarded as one of the richest
Bumiputera corporate figure in Malaysia, received recognition from Malaysian
Business as the seventh richest man in Malaysia in 2005 and recently named as
the fiftieth richest man by Forbes in 2013.
Tan Sri Dato’ Seri
Syed Mokhtar Albukhary is one of Malaysia’s most recognised and successful
business figures. With a large and heavily-diversified business portfolio, he
brings exceptional knowledge, experience and foresight in managing diverse
business environments. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar’s breakthrough into mainstream
corporate activities came in the 1990’s, with controlling interests in several
public-listed companies including Johore Tenggara Oil Palm Berhad and Johor
Port Berhad. As a prominent corporate figure in Malaysia, with an estimated net
worth valued at US$2.5 billion according to Forbes, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar
manages the core of his multi-billion dollar empire via a well-diversified
portfolio, driven primarily through three investment vehicle companies - MMC
Corporation Berhad, DRB-Hicom Berhad and Tradewinds (M) Berhad. Tan Sri Syed
Mokhtar tried to look from another point of view and cause great idea. MMC
Corporation Berhad’s primary businesses lie within three sub-divisions: energy
and utilities, airports, ports and infrastructure, and engineering and
construction. MMC is the largest shareholder of Gas Malaysia Berhad, and also manages
the operations of Port of Tanjung Pelepas (Malaysia's largest container
terminal). Its engineering and construction division has established itself as
a leading player in the industry with several key developments including the
innovative Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) motorway, the
first-of-its-kind, dual purpose tunnel in the world.
