IN a testament to the thriving pool of entrepreneurial talent in the country, Ernst & Young Malaysia (EY) announced 24 nominees for its prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 Malaysia Awards (EOY) on Oct 11 — the largest number of nominees since the awards were introduced 15 years ago.
Seven of the nominees are in the master entrepreneur category, eight in the emerging entrepreneur category, five in the technology entrepreneur category and four in the woman entrepreneur category.
“Each of these top nominees has an inspiring personal story. We believe their contributions should be recognised and their person celebrated. We have 24 top nominees this year [from companies] whose combined revenue totalled RM7.6 billion, [with] net profit of RM726 million and who employ nearly 16,000 people,” said EY country managing partner Datuk Abdul Rauf Rashid. Abdul Rauf’s speech was read by EOY Malaysia programme director Philip Rao.
Abdul Rauf said the programme in Malaysia had recognised 171 nominees in the last 14 years, 35 of whom were women. The entrepreneurs’ companies had made RM45.5 billion in revenue and RM4.6 billion in net profit and employed 54,000 people.
“These exceptional entrepreneurs (comprise) the innovators and game changers of tomorrow — on the national and global platforms. Identifying and recognising the achievements of outstanding entrepreneurs behind successful, growing and dynamic businesses, we aim to celebrate their important contribution and encourage even greater entrepreneurial activity locally and around the world,” he said.
The diversity, reach and quality of nominations this year impressed judges, said Datuk Tan Say Jim, a member of the judging panel and EY Entrepreneur of The Year 2015 Malaysia.
“We spent many hours reviewing and deliberating on the entrepreneurs’ submissions and were inspired by the stories and calibre of our Malaysian entrepreneurs,” said the Iris Corp Bhd managing director and CEO.
In his introduction of the nominees, Tan related his eye-opening experience at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year event in Monte Carlo this year. “Although I did not win, I was treated like a winner by EY because it honours what entrepreneurs do, (which is) creating employment for the world.
“There is no greater deed than giving employment to people who, in turn, give education and provide shelter and food for another,” he said.
In conjunction with the announcement of the nominees, a panel discussion titled “Reshaping our world, building legacies” was moderated by The Edge Media Group publisher and CEO Ho Kay Tat.
The panellists also included former international trade and industry ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, BFM radio station founder and CEO Malek Ali and Loob Holding Sdn Bhd founder and managing director Bryan Loo.
One of the questions raised during the discussion was whether the business industry was facing problems with government regulations, to which Malek replied that BFM, which is regulated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, faces content limitations.
“We cannot be completely forthright. It has become really difficult to truly express what is going on out there. We try to express it by making people read between the lines to decode what we are saying. We are heavily regulated,” he said.
Karex Bhd CEO Goh Miah Kiat, a nominee in the master entrepreneur category, said his nomination has been satisfying considering his challenging 17-year journey in growing the company. “The nomination is not just for me but for my team as well and we hope to take it one notch higher. Karex makes one in five condoms in the world.
“Our journey has always been in creating value for consumers and shareholders, so the nomination gives us an assurance of what we are doing,” said Goh. Since 1999, he has grown the RM7 million-revenue company into a global leader with a RM343 million topline (in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016).
Technology entrepreneur category nominee Edwin Lim Beng Fook, co-founder and executive chairman K-One Technology Bhd, said he aims to grow his logistics business in Asean. “Asean is a region with a younger generation, thus we want to grow our parcel and courier business in the next three to five years due to the growth in the e-commerce sector,” he said.
Two other heads of public-listed companies are among the nominees. They are Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd group managing director and CEO Datuk Lim Kuang Sia and Riverstone Holdings Ltd co-founder, executive chairman and CEO Wong Teek Son. The latter is a Malaysia-based but Singapore-listed cleanroom glovemaker.
Winners of the four entrepreneur categories, as well as the winner of the highly coveted EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 Malaysia award, will be announced at a gala event in December. This year’s Malaysian Entrepreneur of the Year will then join country award recipients from around the world in Monte Carlo next June to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 award.
The Malaysian event is co-hosted by Credit Suisse AG, which has been collaborating with EY in recognising the best entrepreneurs in the country since 2008.
Those in the running
Emerging Entrepreneur category
• Desmond Teo Kok Mon,
Infinite Data Sdn Bhd
• Teoh Wee Kiat,
Kitchen Chemistry Sdn Bhd
• Rubaneswaran Thevasenabathy,
Knowledgecom Corp Sdn Bhd
• Kong Len Win,
La Juiceria Sdn Bhd
• Muhammad Iqbal Ameer Ali,
Livescape Group Sdn Bhd
• Dereck Ng Kian Wei,
Mine Logistics Sdn Bhd
• Stalin Thangaiah Vijaya Kamaraj,
N’osairis Technology Solutions Sdn Bhd
• Ko Chuan Zhen, Poh Tyng Huei and Ryan Oh,
Plus Solar Systems Sdn Bhd
Technology Entrepreneur category
• Datuk Ir Muhamad Guntor Mansor Tobeng,
Gading Kencana Sdn Bhd
• Chuah Wan Pin,
Infopro Sdn Bhd
• Chan Kok Long and Lim Kok Hing,
IPAY88 Sdn Bhd
• Edwin Lim Beng Fook,
K-One Technology Bhd
• Sia Hui Yong,
Tranglo Sdn Bhd
Woman Entrepreneur category
• Eva Poon Chui Shan,
Cuir Group
• Stephanie Khor See Voon,
Inmagine Inc
• Goh Ai Ching,
Piktochart Sdn Bhd
• Sharala Devi Axryd,
The Center of Applied Data Science Sdn Bhd
Master Entrepreneur category
• Datuk Sean H’ng Chun Hsiang,
HNG Capital Sdn Bhd
• Goh Miah Kiat,
Karex Bhd
• Datuk Lim Kuang Sia,
Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd
• Tan Soo Kuok,
Munchy Food Industries Sdn Bhd
• Wong Teek Son,
Riverstone Holdings Ltd
• Loi Tuan Ee,
The Holstein Milk Co Sdn Bhd
• Sharan Valiram,
Valiram Holdings Sdn Bhd
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