Compilation of articles by asiaone.comCompilation of articles by asiaone.com

15 CEOs 15 CEOs in Singaporein Singapore who went from who went from rags rags

to richesto riches

Necessity is the mother of invention.

This saying, which may sound trite to some, resonates resoundingly with the stories of these CEOs, who have all risen from humble beginnings to conquer the business world - and

their personal circumstances.

Thanks to a combination of innate smarts, hard work, and a bit of luck, they have turned their life around to become successful

entrepreneurs who can well serve as inspiration for a new breed of businessmen.

So who are these homegrown towkays who went from rags to

riches?

Chong Phit Lian, Jetstar Asia Her family struggled financially after her father, the sole breadwinner, died just before her O-level examinations. While several of her siblings stopped schooling to go to work, the Malaysia-born headed to Singapore on her own to study. To pay her living expenses and school fees, Ms Chong had to take up several tuition assignments and apply for grants. After graduating from polytechnic in 1975, she did three jobs - as a technical assistant, selling insurance and giving tuition - before she saved enough to apply to a university in Birmingham. While there, the hardships followed her - she had to work part-time as a factory hand while studying and even needed to borrow money from a professor once to foot her school bills. Her never-say-die spirit is what drives her in her work, she said. "It doesn't matter if people say I cannot make it, I'll just do my best," she said. The engineering graduate has indeed come far. She was the first woman CEO of Jetstar Asia when she took the reins in 2006 - the previous three CEOs were men and from Australia.

Olivia Lum, Hyflux Unlike most entrepreneurs whose tales begin with the struggles of setting up a business, Ms Lum's started way before that - as a child worried that one day, there would be no food on the table and no roof over her head. It would be an understatement to say that life was hard for Ms Lum as she was growing up. An orphan, she was brought up by a doting grandmother in Kampar, Malaysia. Yet the gambling habits of her grandmother left Ms Lum in constant fear that one day, the two would be homeless and hungry. True to her fears, the gambling habits of her grandmother led to disaster. They had to downgrade from their terrace house with a garden, to a small wooden home. The maid they used to employ had to be let go because they could no longer afford to pay her salary. With little money, she resorted to working during her free time - giving tuition, working as a promoter in department stores, and going door-to- door peddling everything from cosmetics to flower pots. A 'spur of the moment' decision saw the gutsy woman plonk down $20,000 in seed money from her own savings to distribute water treatment equipment and systems. Of this amount, half was spent even before the business started operating, said Ms Lum. The Malaysian-born entrepreneur has since turned water treatment firm Hyflux from a three-man operation into a 2,000-strong company. In June this year, she clinched the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year (WEOY) award.

Neo Kah Kiat, Neo Group Mr Neo's family was so poor that utilities got cut off every once in a while, and they had wooden planks nailed to the windows to keep out the sun and rain.

"If the planks fell off, we'd use cloth to cover the gap. When there was no electricity, we'd use candles," he said.

He was a top student but chose to drop out after Secondary 2. His family was desperately poor at the time and he wanted to start earning money as quickly as possible.

In 1992, with a capital of $15,000 borrowed from relatives and friends, he leased a small kitchen in Joo Chiat and hired eight staff.

Today, Neo Group is the parent company of three catering businesses, a wine cellar, a Japanese food-outlet chain, a restaurant and a yacht catering service.

Patrick Liew, HSR International Realtors (HSR) As a child, Patrick Liew's family of seven stayed together in a tiny room only 200 square feet in area - he slept under his grandmother's bed. Today, the 53-year-old is the chief executive officer of HSR International Realtors (HSR) - the biggest property agency in Singapore, with more than 7,000 employees.

Annie Gan, Jian Huang Construction All Ms Annie Gan wanted, when she went to Singapore more than 18 years ago, was a good job to help pay for her part-time studies here.

At 21, and armed with just a Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) - the equivalent of an O-level qualification - she arrived here in 1992 and found work as a clerk at a sub-contracting firm.

'I did everything at the company, even my colleague's share of work, and I didn't complain because I was hungry to learn,' she recalled.

She could hardly have dreamt of how far she would come. Today, she is at the helm of Jian Huang Construction, a multimillion-dollar building firm with a fast-moving global operation.

Linda Onn, restaurateur and celebrity 11 years ago, she started off as an office administrator with a salary of just RM700 (S$296) a month.

When she got TV offers and became a spokesperson for various products, her savings grew. In fact, it grew to such a point that six years ago, Linda didn't know what to do with her money.

"So I decided to go into business and open up a family restaurant because my parents had the experience and most of my family cook well."

From only one in 2004, she is now the proud owner of five restaurants.

Yeo Thian In, Yeo’s Mr Yeo's family left China for Singapore in 1938 due to the Japanese threat in China. He and his brothers had to work doubly hard after their first factory in Outram Road was bombed by Japan in January 1942.

As it turned out, the bombing was a blessing in disguise.

He remained humble; even though he may have been the boss of what is known today as the multi-million dollar company recognised internationally for its beverages, canned foods and instant noodles, people who came to the office often mistook him for a clerk because he 'had no airs'.

Eric Chan, Partyworld When he was about eight, his parents were so poor that they could not afford to feed their five children and sold off one of his sisters to a temple.

He recalls: "I got by with only 5 cents a day for pocket money. Some days, we had to go without a single meal."

Enamoured by music, he became a regular on the Chinese xinyao circuit here.

Later, he ventured into the new thing on the entertainment scene then, KTV disc-jockeying. He resigned from his day job and with $10,000 from his savings, opened a part vocal school, part "mobile KTV" business.

He is now managing director and founder of Partyworld, one of two chains that dominate the KTV business here.

Eldwin Chua, Paradise Group A mini restaurant empire, a three-room Robertson Quay condominium and two luxury cars, including a Mercedes - this is a life he never dared dream of.

Second of four children, his father was a lorry driver at his grandfather's gunny sack trading company, while his mother was a part-time baby-sitter.

Although the family was not poor, finances were tight and the family lived frugally.

In 2002, his grandfather asked him to help run his coffee shop in Defu Industrial Estate. He quit his property agent job, sank $10,000 of his savings into the stall and became a cook.

He is now chief executive officer of the Paradise Group of Chinese restaurants.

Michael Tien, Atlas Sound & Vision His story, though not quite a rags-to-riches one, comes close. When Mr Tien's parents' 20-year-old sound systems business failed in the 1980s recession, the family was left with nothing save 'the clothes off our backs'. It was thus a 'no-brainer' for the young Mr Tien, fresh out of national service, to abandon plans for university and go into business.

With affirmation from Bose Corp's founder Dr Bose, the Tien family decided to start over. The new Atlas Hi-fi was profitable within a year, and hit its predecessor's peak turnover of $3.5 million within three years.

Mr Tien took over from his late father in 2003 as the company's CEO, and decided to move Atlas from being a family business to an enterprise.

Jennie Chua, Ascott Group Her beginnings were humble, as a junior teacher in St Margaret's secondary school in the 1960s.

'I had to leave university because my family was so poor that I had to go out and work,' she says. 'And the only job that was available to me was teaching."

In 1971, Ms Chua joined the Mandarin Hotel as a trainee. 'I was paid $650 a month, after hard bargaining,' she recalls. 'They wanted to pay me $400, but I said no. But $650 was big money then.'

She took charge of CapitaLand's subsidiary the Ascott group in 2007, and soon she became CapitaLand's chief corporate officer. She is concurrently president and CEO of the Ascott Group; and holds directorships and chairmanships in other companies.

S.M.A. Jaleel, MES (Mini Environment Service) In his youth, he slept out in the open at his father's wooden stall in a back lane off Stamford Road. A thin blanket provided cover.

For 12 years, he used public latrines or a standpipe to bathe and to do his daily washing in between hasty packet meals and helping to tend the stall which sold odds and ends.

He left school in Secondary 2 because his father couldn't afford the fees and, after selling lottery tickets to supplement his income, started cleaning choked drains and, later, clogged canals.

Now, his company owns four multi-million dollar hostel projects and is fast expanding in the Middle- East in places like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha.

Anastasia Liew, Bengawan Solo Born Tjendri Anastasia to a housewife mother and provision store owner father in Bangka Island off Palembang, Indonesia, the third of eight siblings grew up in Palembang.

After civil unrest in the country in the 1960s forced her to stop school at Secondary 3, she signed up for baking and cooking classes to upgrade herself.

Two years after marriage, the restless housewife began making butter and chiffon cakes from the kitchen of her four- room flat in Marine Parade to sell to friends.

By 1987, Bengawan Solo had five stores and a central kitchen in Harvey Road. It became so successful that investors knocked on her door with huge bids to buy over the company.

Lim Hock Chee, Sheng Siong Supermarket In the early 1970s, he was feeding pigs and cleaning pens on his father's farm in Lim Chu Kang.

By the early 1980s, the farm had already been relocated by the Government.

'The Government literally broke our rice bowl as they phased out pig farming in Singapore,' quipped Mr Lim.

Left with stocks of pork to clear, he stumbled upon a mini-supermarket owner who was willing to rent him space to sell the meat.

Now, he runs one of Singapore's fastest growing retail chains, Sheng Siong Supermarket.

Dennis Ng, Einsoon Pets Supply Growing up, Dennis Ng did not have much to look forward to. He lived with his family of six in a one-room flat, too poor to even think about a dream job for the future.

Though he was faced with a life of hardship, Mr Ng remained optimistic and studied hard, obtaining a diploma from Ngee Ann Polytechnic while working as a part-time cashier at Cold Storage.

Today, he is the founder of Einsoon Pets Supply, a distributor of pet food, grooming products and cat litter in Singapore, with profits increasing by the year.

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More than 220 interviews/features in 5 years from local and international media

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