Shooweb.net - Just blogging

I had a lunch meeting yesterday with the A1 Team Malaysia management team - Owen Leeds and Azrai at the Olive, Pacific Regency Hotel. The lunch meeting was basically an appreciation lunch on a work well done. We did their data processing, printing and sending out of about - lets see about 13K of their A1 Caps to their fan base around the world. In the meeting we basically talked a lot about the Malaysian motor sport industry which I was shocked that a lot of it I did not know and I thought I was a motor GP fan (Formula 1 actually but once in a while follow the A1 races).

Did you know that …

… all of the cars in the A1 grand prix uses the same Ferrari engine and fuel system.

… Fauzy and Alex Yoong are the two A1 drivers & that Alex Yoong is the part owner of the A1 Team Malaysia company, together with a loaded UK investor.

… Fauzy raced and excellent race at Zandvoort, Netherlands and came out 1st. Team Malaysia now tops the standing.

… Fans or fans wannabe could get free tickets to watch the A1 Race in Malaysia this November.

… and prize money for first place is about USD 250,000.00 - that’s a lot!

Fauzy winning the race in style -Pictures with compliments of A1 Team Malaysia

The A1 Team car which main sponsors are - Proton, Tourism Malaysia, MAS Kargo and Mayflower. I wouldn’t mind sponsoring - it would be so cool to have my company’s logo on the car.

More information about A1GP :

• An entirely new concept in motor racing:
  A1GP pits nation against nation in the “World Cup of Motorsport”
• A level playing field:
  Drivers from more than 20 nations compete as equals without financial or technological advantage
• Inclusive not exclusive:
  Despite its glamorous profile, A1GP is both accessible and affordable to everyone
• Speed and glamour combined:
  A1GP offers a series of fast, adrenaline-fuelled weekends set in sensational locations across the world
• High speed action at every turn:
  Tight, twisty street circuits and world-famous venues guarantee excitement
• A wider audience:
  In addition to the traditional motorsport fan base, A1GP attracts a new audience passionate about their country and heritage
• Interaction with teams & drivers:
  Over three days of on-track action A1GP builds a close affinity between fans, teams and drivers
• A new medium for national & international brands:
  A1GP offers a unique opportunity for brand exposure on a global scale

I have been invited by Owen to join the team to the Malaysian A1 Team GP at Sepang this November. Hmm.. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Get your free grandstand A1 GP Malaysia tickets by registering as Fan Club with A1 Team Malaysia.

Click here!

by Hazlin Hassan

In Kuala Lumpur - WHILE the world is reeling from what is possibly the worst global economic crisis since The Great Depression, most Malaysians have been too preoccupied with its own political drama to pay much attention to the financial meltdown.

Everyone is busy talking about politics. The opposition taking over, the opposition not taking over; the PM stepping down, the PM not stepping down; who will become the new PM’s deputy, who will not; is Anwar guilty of sodomy, is he innocent.

Based on the newspaper headlines, many seem to think that it only affects the US, Europe, and other countries in the region. Malaysians tend to think that based on strong commodities and crude oil prices that Petronas is selling, we are somehow insulated from what is happening elsewhere.

Well, if they have been reading reports closely, they would see that palm oil and crude oil prices have plunged also.

Local newspapers have not been reporting the meltdown on a big scale. The coverage is still mainly limited to the business or foreign sections, and tend to present the ‘official’ side of things.

In today’s publication of The Star, the biggest English daily, a story on local banks focused on the positives.

The lead story of the business section of The Star said that banks were turning cautious but have not put the brakes on lending to businesses.

It also stressed that the country’s high savings rate and healthy foreign reserves would enable local banks to weather the global credit squeeze.

As a result, perhaps not many Malaysians are even aware of the spreading fear in global markets.

This sort of thinking is perhaps further boosted by the country’s leaders who kept insisting that Malaysia’s economic fundamentals are strong, rather than preparing the ground for what is to come — slower economic growth, and perhaps job losses.

Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcob was quoted in today’s papers as saying that Malaysia is unlikely to enter into a recession. He did admit however that “if the crisis creates a recession in the US and Europe, all countries will be affected.”

Mass-selling Malay-language Utusan Malaysia played up Nor Mohamed’s comments and made it their lead story for the business pages, with the headline saying “Malaysia confident will not fall into recession.”

Quoting the central bank, the government has said that both direct and indirect exposure of Malaysian financial institutions in terms of holding of securities linked to the US sub-prime mortgages and lending to entities associated with them, accounted for only 0.3 per cent of the banking system’s capital base.

Further supporting this argument is the fact that the Malaysian bourse also has not plunged to the depths seen by neighbouring Indonesia, which was forced to close for two days this week after huge falls.

But observers cautioned that Malaysians must pay careful attention to events happening elsewhere before they end up being taken by surprise.

Some say this time, if the recession lands on Malaysian shores, it might well be worse than the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis.

First to go could be Malaysian exports, 20 per cent of which go to the US. A drop in exports could cause major job losses. This would then affect consumer spending and curtail growth.

We are already seeing the prices of commodities fall, particularly fuel and palm oil, two commodities which Malaysia depends on heavily for its earnings. This could result in a vicious bite soon enough unless prices recover.

A big chunk of the Malaysian government annual revenue, about 46 per cent, comes from the petroleum funds. So falling oil prices could mean the government might have to crimp on building infrastructure and rural projects, like schools and drainage.

Also, many palm oil growers are rural Malays in the government-backed Felda estates. During the Asian financial crisis, the sentiment against the government in the rural areas were negative because many growers found it tough to make ends meet.

And job losses jumped as electronics factories closed or pared operations.

All these means that, like it or not, whether they pay attention to it or not, the global meltdown will soon enough knock on the doors of many Malaysians.

“Take note Malaysians”

I have never been able to control this aspect of my life. I answer all calls and attend to all of my customer’s needs irregardless of time and day - I am like 7-eleven - always open. Being in the business process outsourcing business : data processing, variable print and mail business we are bounded by strict guidelines and datelines. And I am the type of person that doesn’t say no to my customers. If I know I can do it and have to open the grave yard shift, I will do it. If my customers need it by tomorrow knowing that I have to get my staff to work overtime, I will do it and If no one else wants to do it, I will do it myself. I can’t help it - I will just do anything for my customers.

Its sad I know but I am a slave to my customers. I have canceled holidays for my customers, spent on the phone & working on my notebook most of the time when I should be enjoying my holidays, worked on public holidays and important dates when I should be spending time with family.  Its sad I know but it did  pay off in other ways - my customers has always relied and stood by me - my first and biggest customer is still with me and we have become close friends.

I still say “ok” and “yes” to crazy datelines but I have also learned to say “no” … not all the time of course and you know what … they understand and compromise. Today I no longer work the graveyard shifts anymore - I have learned to juggle my priorities (which before has always been my business & its change a little now) and in the mean time make my most demanding customers happy at the same time.

Southeast Asia’s Billionaires:
Net Worth in US$/ Country / Business Owned

1. Robert Kuok,$7 Billion, Malaysia (Kuok Bros.Sdn.Bhd.)

2. Ng Teng Fong,$6.1 Billion, Singapore (Sino Group)

3. Ananda Krishnan,$6 Billion, Malaysia (Maxis Telecom)

4. Wee Cho Yaw,$4.7 Billion, Singapore (United Overseas Bank)

5. Kwek Leng Beng & Family,$4.3 Billion, Singapore (Hong Leong Bank)

6. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi,$3.4 Billion, Thailand (Chang Beer)

7. Chaleo Yoovidya,$3.1 Billion, Thailand (Red Bull)

8. The Hong Piow,$3 Billion, Malaysia (Public Bank)

9. Quek Leng Chan,$2.9 Billion, Malaysia (Hong Leong Bank)

10. Lee Shin Cheng,$2.6 Billion, Malaysia (IOI Corp)

11. Henry Sy,$2.6 Billion, Philippines (SM Prime Holdings)

12. Jaime Zobel de Ayala & Family,$2.6 Billion, Philippines (Ayala Corp)

13. Dhanin Chearavanont & Family,$2.4 Billion, Thailand (CP Group)

14. Lucio Tan,$2.3 Billion, Philippines (Philippine Airlines)

15. Huyn Phi Dung,$2 Billion, Vietnam

16. Yeo Tiong Lay & Family,$1.7 Billion, Malaysia

17. Zhong Shen Jian,$1.7 Billion, Singapore

18. R. Budi Hartono & Family,$1.5 Billion, Indonesia

19. Robert Friedland,$1.4 Billion, Singapore

20. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary,$1.3 Billion, Malaysia

21. Tiong Hiew King,$1.1 Billion, Malaysia

Out of the list of 21, there were 8 (eight) Malaysians who made the list, 5 (five) Singaporeans, 3 (three) Thais, 3 (three) Philippines, 1 (one) indonesian and 1 (one) vietnamese. We should be quite proud to have made the top of the list with the most number of billionaires in south east asia in the top 21.

More appealing is that out of the top 10 - 5 (five) of them are Malaysians, 3 (three) of them are Singaporeans and 2 (two) of them are Thais. So with this stats, lets not be dishearten by the global economic situations or our political situation - we should strive to be better citizens (like we were always born to do - and not knowingly we are a very competitive bunch of people).

A lot of people these days wish to have their own business but whenever someone tells me that I have it all when going into my own business, I just keep it quiet and smile. Not everyone has what it takes to go into their own business. More have tried and failed. In fact I have failed a couple of times but every time I failed I learned from my mistakes and become stronger.

I was also a corporate man before - working in a large organisation and loving the constant salary, travels, incentive trips, occassional lepak session, great recognition when your mum tells her friend her son was in so and so company… but when I made the switch it was a whole different story. Everytime I look at a person opening their own boutique, restaurant - the first thing I would notice is the crowd. Is there a crowd in the restaurant / boutique - what is the rental like, renovation cost, staff force, etc. Mentally I would make a rough calculation and in a couple of minutes I can tell if the business is doing well or not. A lot of business owners or business wannabe just jump into a business without giving much of a thought. Of course there is the dream to grow big, own a chain of restaurants and be financially free but before one can achieve all these, they have to face what I would say tortured life.

The realities …

When I started my business, I had no life. I still do not have a life but it is slowly becoming more relaxed. Business doesn’t grow or become better overnight - it is not a get rich quick scheme. It is a hard and long torture - trying to stay a float with practically nothing for the first 2-3 years, pumping back into the business the little that was earned. Forget about lavish holidays - forget about holidays altogether! I worked on christmas nights, labour days and every holiday I have ever known. My mother did it when she opened a bakery shop and I have a lot of respect for her - the endurance she had to run this business marathon and I have seen some run this business marathon for 26 years.

My no. 1 priority in owning a business is…

If you cant see yourself earning a salary more than working in a corporate after deducting all expenses after 1-2 years in the business, close it. No point struggling a business that wouldn’t pay at the end of the day. No one works for love. If I was earning RM20K a month, I should be earning more than that when running my own business. That is my motivation and if I see that I wasn’t earning that much at the end of the day, it isn’t good business sense to do this business - must as well just work for someone and get that RM20K.

So I hope those wishing to embark in a business some day will consider these points. Be very prepared to face the worst.