This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 28, 2017 - September 3, 2017
Tan Sri G Gnanalingam is known as the self-made billionaire co-founder of Westports Malaysia. Seasoned Corporate Malaysians, however, would know “Tan Sri G” is also widely regarded as Malaysia’s first homegrown marketing guru.
Tan Sri G or “Super G”, as he is fondly known, first made his mark as marketing director of a consumer-based multinational corporation in the 1970s and was credited with helping to raise the money that enabled Malaysians to watch live, for the first time, World Cup football matches in our living rooms in 1982.
“It was called the People’s Live Telecast for those of us who remember,” says Ho Kay Tat, The Edge Media Group publisher and group CEO.
Tan Sri G went on to successfully commercialise the operations of Radio Televisyen Malaysia. His marketing consultancy, G-team Consultants, helped make the 1989 Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur a profitable and successful event.
“He was so busy during that period,” recalls his eldest son, Ruben Emir Gnanalingam, CEO of Westports Holdings Bhd. The 41-year-old says his younger brother Surin and he used to hang out at their father’s office and watch him work.
But Tan Sri G’s greatest achievement was to come after that. In 1994, he won the concession to run a port terminal.
“The move shocked many of his friends and business associates because it was something totally alien to him, and Malaysian ports did not make money,” Ho says. “It was a privatisation project fraught with high Capital expenditure and risks for him and his partners. The port started in 1996 with only 10 cranes and one year later the Asian financial crisis struck. The timing could not have been worse.”
Ruben, who was 18 in 1994, recalls how his father took the family to Pulau Indah one evening to see the site. “We honestly thought he was nuts to think he could turn it into a transshipment hub but he was very, very excited and determined. He had a vision and he stuck to it.”
And because Tan Sri G persevered against all odds, today, 23 years later, that “barren, swampy island” is now a port and transshipment hub that employs over 4,600 Malaysians, many of whom are from Pulau Indah, the island that Westports calls home. Strategically located along the Strait of Malacca, Westports is the leading terminal operator in Port Klang, commanding 76% of container volume throughput as at end-2016.
Westports Holdings is worth RM12.4 billion and is one of the 35 largest companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. If one were to count only non-government-linked companies, it would be among the top 20 in terms of market Capitalisation at the time of writing.
“I’m absolutely delighted [with the award],”
Tan Sri G, who is Westports Holdings executive chairman, tells The Edge. “It is the most prestigious award I have ever received ... the impact it has made. I didn’t realise that we were so large. I’m glad my efforts have been recognised.”
An earlier recognition of his success came in 2000 when “Superman” Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Whampoa took a 30% stake in Westports ahead of its IPO in 2013.
Not only is Westports now one of Asia’s busiest ports, the lives and livelihoods of people in Pulau Indah have improved due to Tan Sri G’s perseverance and belief that “charity begins at home”.
“And our home is Pulau Indah. That is why all our [corporate responsibility] efforts are focused on the island,” Ruben explains when asked about Westports’ CR programmes and the people in Pulau Indah.
“We have now expanded to help the people on the island with medical assistance, security and also education assistance for their children.”
A source close to Tan Sri G says, “He gives Astro box sets to employees as bonus so that their children can watch National Geographic. He set up an ‘along’ fund to help people get out of their loan shark debts, allowing them to repay him through wage deductions. That’s the sort of man he is.”
What is the secret of Tan Sri G’s success and the best advice he gave his eldest son?
“Hard work, adapting to the times and doing the right thing always,” says Ruben, who accepted The Edge Billion Ringgit Club Value Creator: Outstanding CEO of Malaysia award on his father’s behalf at a gala dinner in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 21. Also present at the ceremony was the honoree’s wife, Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam.
“Most of what I have learnt in business and in leadership I have learnt from him. You are only a leader if you make people around you better. He has instilled a strong commitment of governance within the company and in me as well. It is something very dear to his heart,” Ruben says of his 72-year-old father who is still “very much involved” in running Westports today.
“He does the parts he wants to and I handle the rest. It works out well and I would not have it any other way.”
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