Malaysia: Moving Ahead

The national bureau is set to raise the country’s profile and contribute towards achieving the target of 30 million tourist arrivals and US$24 billion in tourist receipts in 2020.

Business events is a billion-dollar industry covering meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE), and governments around the world allocate resources to grow this sector. Malaysia is no exception, and the challenge of putting the country on the global map as a business events destination rests on the shoulders of the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB).

The bureau, established by the country’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, identifies potential business event leads, promotes government and industry collaborations, and provides event support and marketing services, as well as leveraging on the event to maximize yields and destination promotion.

This year, MyCEB celebrates its tenth anniversary with an enviable track record based on the long list of business events secured and supported. “Since inception until 2018, MyCEB, working with its industry partners, secured around 1,100 international business events with an economic impact of around US$2 billion,” says Datuk Zulkefli Hj. Sharif, CEO of MyCEB.

“Last year alone, we secured 152 business events ranging from conferences and corporate meetings to incentive programs and trade exhibition events with an estimated economic impact of US$380 million.”

Some of the headline-grabbing events in 2018 included the 9th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF9), SEMICON Southeast Asia, the 84th International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library and Information Congress, and the World Cancer Congress, among others. WUF9 attracted more than 25,000 delegates from over 160 countries, SEMICON brought in more than 6,000, while IFLA gathered 3,300 delegates from 107 countries.

Continuing its success story in 2018, MyCEB extended strong support to 300 business events in Malaysia that included 84 conventions, 195 corporate meetings and 21 trade exhibitions. These events attracted approximately 162,600 international delegates with an estimated economic impact of US$590 million.

For the first half of 2019, MyCEB secured 75 business events with more than 61,000 international delegates, contributing an estimated US$235 million in economic impact to the country. Meanwhile, top supported events this year include Asia-Pacific Association for International Education, the 21st Soroptimist International Convention, as well as Oil and Gas Asia, among many others.

To enhance professionalism and best practices within the industry, MyCEB organizes Malaysia Business Events Week (MBEW), an annual flagship event that serves as a platform for industry stakeholders to gather and discuss issues that impact the growth of business events and the challenges Malaysia faces as Asia’s business events hub. This year’s MBEW was held in conjunction with the World Tourism Conference.

“MyCEB is also an advocate for events and activities that focus on sustainability which help create positive impact for the nation. We hope to further encourage the transfer of technology and knowledge-sharing, and nurture a lasting green legacy that will benefit Malaysians.”

– Datuk Zulkefli Hj. Sharif, Chief Executive Officer, Myceb

Why Malaysia 

Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, is listed as one of the top five most visited cities in the world, according to Euromonitor International in 2018. The World Bank, meanwhile, ranked Malaysia as the 15th most competitive economy in the world for doing business in 2019 and has named
the country as being on track to becoming a high-income nation by 2024.

The country’s location at the heart of Southeast Asia makes it convenient as a gateway to other Asian destinations. Across Malaysia, there are six international and 16 domestic airports allowing for easy connection both within and outside the country while cities are equipped with modern telecommunications infrastructure as well as connected by extensive rail and road networks. For business events, there are around a dozen major convention centers supported by world-class hotels. The weather in Malaysia is warm and sunny all year round with occasional bouts
of rain.

English is the lingua franca among the country’s 32 million people, comprising a multicultural mix of Malays, Chinese, Indians and around 50 indigenous ethnic minorities—contributing to a unique potpourri of cultures, cuisines and traditions. Malaysia also enjoys political stability under the Commonwealth rule of law, which ensures peace and harmony.

To encourage event organizers to have a better experience in Malaysia, MyCEB has initiated the “Malaysia Like Never Before” campaign showcasing: the capital city Kuala Lumpur, which offers world-class amenities and endless shopping; the UNESCO World Heritage city of George Town, Penang, which offers Asia’s best heritage foods; the legendary Langkawi, which offers idyllic island escapades and rustic country landscapes; and the states of Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo, famous for the ethnic minorities and their warm hospitality, lush rainforests, flora and fauna. The “Malaysia Twin Deal” program under this campaign offers support and rewards to qualified incentive planners and organizers.

“On top of its unique attractions, Malaysia is also a value-for-money destination for event organizers in terms of venue rental, luxury accommodation and professional support services for event management. Delegates can enjoy a range of activities, from shopping, sightseeing and golfing to adventure sports or indulging in wellness and healthcare treatments,” says Zulkefli.

Forging Ahead

Moving forward, MyCEB will intensify its efforts to increase market share and improve Malaysia’s ranking as an ideal international business events destination. The bureau will continue to organize tradeshows, roadshows and sales missions to countries like China and South Korea, as well as regions such as Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, which represent its target markets.

“We have an ‘Industry Partner Programme’ that acts as a catalyst to improve the industry’s professionalism and core competencies in handling business events as well as creating business opportunities,” says Zulkefli.

“Our conference ambassador program, KESATRIA Malaysia, comprising leaders from local key industry sectors, has been successful in encouraging Malaysian associations to work with their international counterparts to pave the way for conferences to be held here and to promote Malaysia,” he adds.

Business events, which is expected to contribute US$936 million to the nation’s Gross National Income (GNI) by 2020, is recognized as a key economic growth sector that will help Malaysia achieve high-income nation status by 2024.

Steely determination and unshakeable self-belief have been at the heart of the remarkable success of oil and gas engineer-turned-entrepreneur Dato’ Dr. Ir. Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah.

Vision, tenacity, self-belief and singlemindedness—these are some of the common characteristics that can be found in many successful entrepreneurs. Few people however, have all these traits at just 28 years old, but that’s exactly what Dato’ Dr. Ir. Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah possessed when he started his company, Serba Dinamik, at that age.

After just five years of experience in the oil and gas sector, Abdul Karim ventured out on his own to start Serba Dinamik in 1993, and has since turned his company into an oil and gas services powerhouse, and one of the largest companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia in that sector.

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Serba Dinamik Holdings Berhad, Abdul Karim was ranked as Forbes’ 40th-richest Malaysian in its 2019 Malaysia Rich List, with a personal fortune of US$345 million. As a company, Serba Dinamik—a specialist in oil and gas maintenance, repair and overhaul services—has seen its revenue more than quadruple from US$180 million in 2014 to US$780 million in 2018.

But as impressive as those numbers sound, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Serba Dinamik and its 54-year-old founder.

“It was tough in the early years as the oil and gas business is a highly cash-intensive business,” he recalls. “Back then, I had no support from investors, family connections or money. All I had were self-belief and the tenacity that I could win projects based on the performance and quality of our engineering services.”

“My legacy for Serba Dinamik is to go out and show the world that, as a Malaysian company, we are ready to compete against global players in every part of the world.”

– Dato’ Dr. Ir. Mohd Abdul Karim Abdullah, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Serba Dinamik Holdings Berhad

Thankfully, Abdul Karim was able to weather the tough times by restructuring his company finances. Calling on all his determination and grit, he managed to regroup by offering his company’s expertise to an oil and gas company based in Ras Laffan, Qatar in 2001. The job involved the high-end upgrade of a General Electric (GE) gas turbine, and it is a project that Abdul Karim is particularly proud of because it showed the world that a Malaysian company could meet GE’s high standards.

“While we didn’t have a lot of capital or connections, this situation forced us to depend on our knowledge and quality. The key thing is, when we were pushed into a corner, we had to work hard to build confidence, so that our customers began believing in us. Nothing comes easy but once we showed our excellence, we gained respect and recognition,” says Abdul Karim. “We’ve been doing business in Qatar ever since.”

Going Public and Beyond

As successful as Serba Dinamik was operating under the public’s radar for 23 years, the engineer-turned-entrepreneur, who hails from Miri, Sarawak, had his eye on bigger things—specifically, the public listing of Serba Dinamik. This happened in 2017, despite the dismal performance of the oil and gas sector in the three preceding years.

“The proudest moment for me in the company was when we got the nod to list Serba Dinamik on Bursa Malaysia,” he says. “This validated Serba Dinamik as a company that has good fundamentals of revenue and profitability.”

Indeed, the markets have shown confidence in the company, raising its market capitalization from US$475 million to US$1.47 billion since it first became a public firm in 2017.

As well as inking a US$74 million contract between Serba Dinamik and Petronas Carigali on home turf in March 2019, Abdul Karim reveals that the company has also won new engineering and maintenance services contracts in three other countries—Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar—worth a combined US$110 million. He says Serba Dinamik has also invested US$100 million in Tanzania and is in the process of examining business opportunities in Bunia, Congo. The company also has a presence in Houston, Texas, as well as in the United Kingdom.

“Our order book target for the year is US$2.38 billion but I am happy to report that orders are already at US$1.97 billion,” he says. “From our order book target, we hope to gain about US$1 billion in revenue for this year, and this will put the company in good stead.”

There have been investments in renewable energy too, with Serba Dinamik’s US$166 million investment into several hydro-electric power generation projects in Malaysia, Laos and Indonesia.

“Renewable energy and sustainability are very important parts of our business strategy as it is pointless to just be successful now with conventional energy sources but with no sustainability into the future,” he explains.

The company is also investing US$7.1 million into information technology, particularly Industry 4.0 (IR 4.0), through its wholly owned subsidiary Serba Dinamik IT Solutions and eNoah iSolution, which the group acquired a 30% stake in recently for US$3.6 million.

“IR 4.0 is what I call frontier technology, meaning it is related to technology such as cloud computing, big data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI),” he explains. “The point is to use all of these technologies in concert with each other to improve the efficiency of our oil and gas assets. This includes using mixed augmented and virtual reality for predictive maintenance, IoT sensors to feedback data and AI to analyze the data faster than any human can—the aim of which is to prolong equipment’s lifecycle and keep customers happy by not having to service their equipment as much as before.”

A Vision for Success

So what is the secret to Abdul Karim’s success?

“As a successful entrepreneur, one must lead a company to gain certain core competencies and, in our case, it’s the maintenance, repair and overhaul of related oil and gas equipment. That is why we have established an advanced research and development group that looks into how we continuously improve ourselves.

“As for stakeholders, they include our investors, partners, customers and employees, all of whom contribute directly to the success of Serba Dinamik. As its leader, I must always ensure that the promises I make to every stakeholder remain true so that trust is maintained.”

As to what continues to drive him to ever-greater heights, Abdul Karim reveals that he does not want Serba Dinamik to be a company merely known as a “jaguh kampung”, or a “home champion”.

“My legacy for Serba Dinamik is to go out and show the world that, as a Malaysian company, we are ready to compete against global players in every part of the world.”

“We also want to contribute to Malaysia and to this idea of ‘shared prosperity’, as we believe it doesn’t matter what racial background one is from—as long as one is able to help to grow our peer businesses and ensure a peaceful environment, we will experience this prosperity together.”

Founder Goh Peng Ooi reveals the thinking behind the motto that has underpinned the company’s three decades of success, and explains why the firm’s bold M&A strategy is reaping huge rewards.

From humble beginnings, Silverlake Axis has become a force to be reckoned with in the financial services industry over the past 30 years, and is now one of the largest homegrown financial technology (fintech) companies in Southeast Asia.

Founded in 1989, Silverlake Axis is today listed on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange and commands a market capitalization of more than US$866.77 million, with annual revenue exceeding US$119.14 million over the past five years.

According to Goh Peng Ooi, Founder and Group Executive Chairman of Silverlake Axis, the company’s success did not happen overnight, and has required thorough planning and execution during its various growth phases. “We started off with the first phase, which is about survivability,” says Goh. “The second phase is about organic growth and expansion of products. The third phase is about inorganic growth. We are now in the fourth phase, which is essentially about institutionalization.”

For most companies, institutionalization is mainly about building an organization from a single-leadership structure into a multiple leadership structure. However, Goh believes institutionalization is about “more than just having multiple leadership”.

“Institutionalization is about management by symmetry,” he explains. “It is about having the ability to raise huge sums of money. It is about managing hundreds of thousands of employees.”

Indeed, the word symmetry has been the backbone of Silverlake Axis’s achievements, and remains key to the company’s future plans. Although it has gone through various growth phases over the past three decades, Goh says the company has remained consistent in its motto ‘Symmetry at Work’.

“Symmetry at Work is about provision of choices,” says Goh. “It is also about preparing and planning for the future. When I talked about fintech disruptions 10 years ago, it sounded very futuristic and philosophical. Today, it sounds very logical.”

Growth through M&A

While some companies may experience slowing growth after 30 years of operations, this hasn’t been the case for Silverlake Axis. For its full-year ended June 30, 2019, the company recorded a 26% jump in revenue to US$162.23 million, while net profit jumped 83% to US$58.52 million. In addition, Goh also expects the company’s customer base to grow significantly this financial year.

“We are looking at aggressively growing our customer base this year. We are looking at substantial double-digit growth. By June 30, 2020, we will be in many more markets than we were a year ago.” he says. “It will mainly be driven by M&A (mergers and acquisitions). With M&A, growth can be very fast.”

However, Goh warns that M&A is not an easy route, as it has a lot of “traps and problems”.

“It is a multi-dimensional, multi-time variable issue. It is not a strategy that everyone can adopt successfully. We are able to do it because, when you practice Symmetry at Work, you are always prepared.”

Over the past six years, Silverlake Axis has embarked on numerous M&A activities. In 2013, it acquired controlling stakes in Merimen Ventures, a cloud computing software-as-a-service (Saas) platform for insurers. In April 2018, it announced the completion of three acquisitions: Silverlake Digital Economy, Silverlake Digitale and Silverlake One Paradigm.

Most recently, it acquired an 80% stake in Latvia-based electronic identity and payments solutions provider X Infotech Group. The acquisition, which is believed to be one of the company’s largest deals in recent years, was valued at more than US$19.41 million.

For Goh, Silverlake Axis’s M&A strategy has been a “huge success”, as most of its acquisitions are able to generate returns on investment of more than tenfold. On top of that, the company was able to consistently pay out dividends to shareholders during its acquisition spree.

“People always ask me: how can Silverlake Axis consistently pay dividends to shareholders and grow at such an accelerated pace via M&A without borrowing money? Well, it is achievable when you have been preparing for the past 30 years,” he explains.

“When you are prepared, you can do better than others. That’s why Silverlake Axis’s M&A are very successful—we are talking about four-digit (percentage) returns. Of course, there may be a few acquisitions that did not do as well, but our overall track record has been very strong—if we lose one million somewhere, we will make 100 million somewhere else.”

Another key ingredient for Silverlake Axis’s M&A success is its ability to remain focused on its growth objectives.

“We don’t do M&A just for the sake of it. When we do M&A in the tech world, we always look at the market and product first. So, the focus is on how the M&A can strengthen our product offerings and market presence,” Goh says.

These M&A will help pave a stronger foundation for Silverlake Axis, as companies around the world are moving towards the Industry 4.0 era, says Goh. He adds that these acquisitions can also help the company to remain resilient, regardless of the global economic cycle.

According to Goh, the ‘Symmetry at Work’ motto has also helped build Silverlake Axis into a company that is not too heavily reliant on the global economy. “We always make sure that we are more symmetry-driven than market-driven. Of course, you can’t erase market factors from your strategy, so it is important that the business model is solid,” he says.

He adds that there may also be opportunities during challenging economic periods. “Maybe 5% of companies may fold during an economic downturn. But the 95% that survive may want to invest more in order to stay relevant during the challenging period,” he says.

The Secret to Success

Goh, who grew up in Butterworth, Penang, is no stranger to awards and accolades. In 2014, he won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Malaysia, and in June this year, he was honored by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council with the ASEAN Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

When asked for his advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, Goh, who ranks 20th on the 2019 Forbes Malaysia Rich List with a net worth of US$900 million, highlights the importance of being a “good thinker”.

“In the new world, whether you want to be a doctor, a businessman, a politician, you need to be a good thinker. It is more important to be a good thinker than to be a top student or top scorer,” says Goh.

“In the old days, scores used to be very important, because people had no way of discovering one’s true ability. So, they looked at your scores. Today, employers don’t focus so much on your scores. They only care about your ability to think.”

After boosting its partner alliances, BookDoc is now focusing on Industry 4.0 healthcare, the application of digital technologies to patients in collaboration with healthcare providers.

Fueled by technological advancements, the world in which we live is changing rapidly year by year. And behind this transformation are two key concepts: digitalization and the fourth industrial revolution, also known as Industry 4.0 (IR 4.0).

The two concepts have overlapping ideas. Digitalization emphasizes the process of applying various aspects of digital technology onto conventional processes and legacy technology, thereby creating new business and consumption models aimed at benefiting society. IR 4.0, meanwhile, describes the realm in which digitalization is taking place, and how companies are using it to boost productivity and revenue while minimizing operational costs.

According to a Microsoft study, companies that have embraced digitalization have seen between 20% and 30% improvements in benefits across various business areas.

In the ASEAN region, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) notes that the increased productivity from disruptive technologies could potentially unleash an additional US$220 billion to US$625 billion in annual economic impact in ASEAN by 2030.

The ADB says IR 4.0 is a powerful force for economic inclusion and can create new ways for citizens to connect to each other while allowing them to gain access to new technologies such as financial, government, education and healthcare services.

The boon in healthcare services within ASEAN dovetails neatly with what four-year-old Malaysian startup BookDoc is trying to accomplish as it seeks to expand its services beyond its original vision.

“Industry 4.0 is not only about going digital but using that digital advantage for the betterment of society,” says Dato’ Chevy Beh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BookDoc. “In the healthcare realm, going digital means having your healthcare services available anytime and anywhere, and making these services work for you the way you want them to.”

BookDoc started out by matching individual patients with health professionals of their choice to create a sustainable ecosystem between doctors, patients and employers in 2015. The company achieved this by utilizing its eponymous mobile app, which to date has successfully connected licensed healthcare providers, corporate customers and the insurance industry in a sustainable and secure ecosystem. BookDoc has a presence in four other locations in Southeast Asia, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia—where it counts among its clients PT Siloam International Hospitals—and Thailand, where Bumrungrad Hospital is part of its network.

Since then, BookDoc has made strides to grow this ecosystem, and spent much of last year expanding its tie-ups with various Malaysian governmental agencies. These include the Ministry of Education, the Royal Malaysia Police Force and the Malaysian Army. In Asia-Pacific, it has also forged partnerships with the Special Olympics, where its app is used to monitor everything from athletes’ calories and steps walked to sleeping patterns and heart rate.

But Beh has grander plans for his vision of what IR 4.0 healthcare could be, as he believes the concept goes beyond the monitoring of patients and customers.

“Industry 4.0 is not only about going digital but using that digital advantage for the betterment of society”

– Dato’ Chevy Beh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BookDoc

“Industry 4.0 healthcare empowers patients as it gives them control over the benefits of healthcare as they see fit,” explains Beh. “It is also about bringing collaborative healthcare to the fore as my vision for it is to be the trusted platform for health, fitness and medical-related services. Trust is of paramount importance because we’re not talking about just any digital service—we’re dealing with people’s lives.”

Collaborative Healthcare Ecosystem

Underpinning Beh’s vision for IR 4.0 healthcare is the idea that patients can work in a symbiotic relationship with their healthcare provider by helping them make better decisions. He aims to accomplish this by getting patients involved in their own health status, something that hasn’t been easily achieved in the past.

“Of course, doctors are still very much needed to dispense clinically accurate advice and medical course of action,” he explains. “But that doesn’t mean that patients can’t help doctors make informed decisions as even the best doctors can’t monitor patients around the clock.”

Beh says this is where technology can help, as IR 4.0 healthcare is about the constant monitoring of patients’ health through wearable devices that can accurately collect vital health data.

“Using wearable technology, patients can be monitored around the clock and data captured can help doctors with better diagnoses,” he explains. “However, to do this, patients need to have access to their healthcare records via an electronic database and allow the doctors of their choice access to their information.”

“Through our eponymous app, BookDoc has made considerable inroads to help our members to stay healthy. But this is only the first step to the adoption of a more holistic digital healthcare system led by IR 4.0, a vision that is driving BookDoc forward.”

– Dato’ Chevy Beh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, BookDoc

Beh believes that monitoring is only the first step and that the next evolution is for the data to be fed into machine-learning systems, which could be taught to perform basic diagnostics so that patients could receive round-the-clock care. “This data can also be shared with doctors who will combine their clinical skills with data to make more accurate decisions,” he says.

Privacy and Security

Much of this may sound like science fiction, and Beh acknowledges that it’s still early days for such IR 4.0 healthcare initiatives as there are still two main challenges to overcome. The first concerns ubiquitous mobile connectivity while the second is the security and privacy of data collected.

ASEAN countries such as Singapore and Malaysia currently have better mobile connectivity than others such as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia. “This makes a lot of difference in how people will adopt digital healthcare, as I expect tele-health and tele-medicine services will be adopted more quickly in more advanced countries. But I’m confident that other countries in ASEAN will eventually pick up,” he says.

As far as security and privacy is concerned, Beh says this has to do with building confidence among all stakeholders by adhering to strict healthcare and privacy standards and laws.

“BookDoc complies with legislation such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) insofar as patients’ medical and drugs records are concerned,” he says. “To make digital healthcare work, trust is fundamental as we cannot allow what we do to be compromised. Connected to trust is education—the need to create awareness that Industry 4.0 can bring benefits not seen before to healthcare.”

Beh believes that when citizens become more comfortable with such new ideas in healthcare, IR 4.0 healthcare will truly take off in ASEAN.

“It will take time but it’s better to start now than not at all. When that happens, we can easily introduce other new services such as digital homecare in nursing homes as well as remote monitoring of patients,” he says. Healthcare will never be the same again, as it would move from being provider-centric to being patient-centric.”

The world’s largest manufacturer of gloves stays ahead of competitors through its commitment to high-quality products and continual innovation.

After just 13 years in business, Top Glove Corporation Bhd became the world’s largest rubber glove manufacturer in 2004, a remarkable achievement in such a short space of time.

Today, Top Glove is a textbook case of a Malaysia-based company that has gone global, serving 2,000 customers worldwide, including in its principal markets of North America, Europe and Asia. With 42 factories across Malaysia, Thailand, China and, soon, in Vietnam, the company has 682 production lines capable of churning out 63.9 billion pieces a year, and commanding 26% of the global market share. Products range from latex and nitrile medical gloves to surgical, household and industrial gloves, with condoms and dental dams being recent additions to their range.

“We hope to grow our global market share for rubber gloves to 30% next year and become a global top 500 company by 2040,” says Tan Sri Dr. Lim Wee Chai, Executive Chairman and Founder of Top Glove.

Lim, whose parents were rubber traders, grew up on a rubber plantation. He obtained his degree in Physics from the University of Malaya before pursuing his MBA in the US. In 1991, Lim started Top Glove with his wife, with just one factory, one glove production line and around 100 employees. In 2001, the company was publicly listed on Malaysia’s stock exchange, Bursa Malaysia, followed by a secondary listing on Singapore’s SGX in 2016.

For the financial year ended August 31, 2018, Top Glove reported 24% growth, with a record US$1 billion in sales revenue and US$105 million profit after tax. Since the beginning, the company’s compound annual growth rate has been around 20%, double the average market growth of around 10%.

Lim attributes his company’s meteoric growth to joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions under a strong management team. “But more importantly, we stay ahead of competitors by investing in talent and embracing innovation and new technology. For us to become a global top 500 company, we will need to recruit more talent and our sales volume will need to increase by 30 to 40 times,” says Lim.

Top Glove currently has around 18,000 employees, with more than 400 involved in research and development. The company introduces at least six new types of products every year, and some of its recent innovations include easy-donning and bio-degradable nitrile gloves.

Rubber gloves are considered essential items in the health industry and are relatively resilient to political and economic uncertainties. “The fluctuating economic cycles and the ongoing US-China trade war have little to no impact on our sales,” explains Lim when asked about external factors affecting company revenues.

Lim firmly believes that good business ethics are the hallmarks of a successful company, and he encourages employees to be transparent and above board in all business dealings. Staff wellbeing is also a priority at Top Glove. Employee benefits include free access to a full-size gym and a medical and dental clinic at the company’s 23-story headquarters outside Kuala Lumpur. Lim himself plays golf and practises yoga regularly. When reminded that he will be 82 years old by 2040, Lim quips: “I hope to live to 120.”