Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary was born in
Alor Setar, Kedah in 1951. His family came from Hadhramaut, Yemen. His father
was always traveled till
Southeast Asia to trade. In the mid 1940s, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar’s father decided to settle in Alor Setar, Kedah. Tan Sri Syed
Mokhtar is
the third child of seven siblings. They are living in poverty as they live in wooden houses
that do not have a bed, table or chair. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar started school in Alor Setar but when
he reached the age of 9 years old, he was sent to live with his uncle, Syed
Omar in Johor Bahru. He lived with his uncle until form two. Then, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar back to
his hometown in Alor Setar and futher
his studies up to form five in Saint Michael's School.
Due to his family circumstances who are less
fortunate, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar helped his mother grow vegetables and sell them
in the market located at Jalan
Telok Wanjah to accommodate his
family income. He also sells roti canai in the same market. After school, Tan
Sri Syed Mokhtar helped his father
shearing the farm animals. However, in the 1970s, his
father's livestock business decline due to the outbreak of foot and mouth. All
animals die so soon. After that, he
moved to the transportation business. In 1972, he succeeded in getting a permit
for the four trucks of class A under Sentosa Motor Company. In 1974, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar
bought its first house in Telok Wanjah Department, Alor Setar below under hire
purchase agreement with Pebadanan Urban Development Authority (UDA). In 1975,
he set up a company and apply for a license Shah trading of Bernas rice
(formerly known as Lembaga Padi Negara). He managed to get a contract for the
supply of rice to the FELDA MARA, Pernas trafficking and several subsidiaries
of the Johor State Economic Corporation.
From supplying of the rice, he
then expands to other commodities such as sugar by Bukhari Sdn Bhd. which
remains till today. Now Bukhary Sdn. Bhd. reaching an annual turnover of £ 250
million. A year after Bukhary Sdn. Bhd. began operations, he established
Bukhary (KL) Sdn. Bhd. for a contract to supply rice, tea, powdered chocolate,
powdered milk, and ghee to the government. When he got the contract to supply
it, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar set up Susu Mas Sdn. Bhd. in 1979, a joint venture
with New Zealand Milk Products and markets its products under the brand
Fernleaf and Ancor. However, due to the economic crisis, he was divest its
stake in Milk Mas Sdn. Bhd, in the mid80s.
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar was invited to join the
Canton Trade Expo, China in 1978. During his stay in China, he has performed
with the barter system which converts the output of cocoa with tea from China.
He subsequently had stepped into manufacturing military uniforms for the
Ministry of Defence which is to supply the army of 120,000 pairs of shoes and
330,000 pairs of uniforms. As a result of this success, he founded Amtek
Holdings to manufacture shoes and Oriental Garments Uniform Division to
manufacture clothing. In 1998, Amtek Holdings was listed on the Second Board of
the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). The money raised from this listing
Spark Manshop he had bought for the manufacture and marketing of branded
apparel Crocodile. Now, a subsidiary of Amtek, Amtek Holdings Garments Sdn Bhd.
has released military footwear and clothing designer Lee Cooper and Louis.
He also has been involved with shipping
business by establishing Bukhari Shipping and register with the Treasury.
Bukhari Shipping acts as ships marker under the cabotage policy. Shipping
Bukhari also via Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar bought a German-made ship which was 28
years in the US1 million dollars. The vessel was named Angsa Mas and used to transport
rice from Thailand to Sabah and Sarawak. However, the business suffered heavy
losses forced him to sell his ship at US600,000 dollars. At the same time, he
began to get involved in a number of housing projects under Bukhary Development
Company.
Tan Sri Mokhtar also involved in the
privatization of Johor Port Sdn. Bhd. and Johor Tenggara Oil Plam Sdn. Bhd. He bought
Johor Port through tender at a price of RM 330 million. Johor Tenggara Oil Palm
Sdn. Bhd. was bought at the price of RM 135 million. Through the Johor Port
Sdn. Bhd, he was successful in their projects
Port of Tanjung Pelepas. He managed to popularize the port so that it can
convince the two international shipping company, Maersk Sealand of Denmark and
Evergreen Marine of
Taiwan to be moved from the Port of Tanjung Pelepas.
He also managed to
establish Equiventure Sdn. Bhd. (the privatization of the water), a joint
venture between his company, Business Dynamics and company Oneo of France.
Dynamic Kembangan holding in the company stood at 49 per cent. He also bought
the engineering company MMC Corporation at a price of RM 3 per share from Saham
Nasional Berhad (PNB). Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar also owns 22.7 percentage stake in
Malakoff Berhad, the electricity supply company and 20 per cent stake in IJM
Corporation Berhad where the main business is manufacturing.
In addition, he also
has 18 percent of stake in Bernas and a 32 percent stake in Pernas
International Holdings Berhad, a large conglomerate in the future. Meanwhile,
18.7 per cent stake in Fiamma Holdings Berhad, the marketing company and
distributor of electronics and a 100 percent interest in the company's retail
and distribution of books MPH.
Lastly, its clearly
shows that Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar is a proactive entrepreneur which always seems
tend to take action and persevere in challenging situations. He is very good at
locating opportunity and then pursuing it relentlessly.
No comments:
Post a Comment