Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Shah bin Syed Al Bukhary

Biography

Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Shah bin Syed Nor Al-Bukhary was born in 1952 in Alor Setar, Kedah. According to Forbes, he is currently in the 8th richest Malaysian with a net worth estimated to be US$2.90 billion. He was involved in the different business area such as plantation, property development, logistics, defense armory, engineering and power generation.

His family came from Hadhramaut, Yemen. His father was a trader who has travelled to Central Asia and Thailand before deciding to live in Kedah in mid-1940’s. He is the third child of the seven siblings. His higher education was only until form five at the Saint Micheal’s School. He never went to university. He had to work in his early life due to his family’s mediocre to poor background. He helped his mother by planting of vegetables and selling them in the market while he learned book keeping through assisting his father. (Skor Career Malaysia). All his knowledge and experience about business and entrepreneurship was gained during his youth time.

After finishing school, Syed Mokhtar helped his father in breeding cow business but the business washed away by foot and mouth disease. He starts over by selling meats and then move on to packaging the meats and start selling them wholesale.　

His next move was in the logistics business, by transporting their trading materials. More success followed and he moved to rice trading business. He then awarded the rice trading license from Lembaga Padi Negara and was later awarded successions of supplier contract government-linked corporations.

He currently owns a share in the Malaysian Mining Corporation (MMC). BERNAS, Malakoff Berhad,Johor Port Berhad, Impian Teladan Sdn Bhd, and many others　

• Philanthropy

Albukhary Foundation

Albukhary Foundation established in 1996 to help the poor, especially in the field of education. Until now, Albukhary Foundation has spent more than RM300 million for religious activities, culture, and education. The foundation also provides aid to people in the countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

Among the major projects is complex al-Bukhary worth RM400 million in Kedah. The complex equipped with various facilities such as mosques, medical centres, community centres, orphanages, special academy for the elderly and higher education centres.

The Foundation is also developing the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur worth RM100 million. The four-storey building is the first museum in the Asia Pacific region, which showcases the art of Islam. Yayasan Al-Bukhary also built 16 mosques around the country.

Albukhary Foundation also involved in the construction of Masjid Al Bukhary which is located near Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

5 Entrepreneurial Traits　

1. Failure is an option

Syed Mokhtar never gave up in business. He sees failure as an option for success. He started to venture in business by helping his father in the cattle business. However, in the mid-1970s, the cattle business washed away by foot and mouth diseases. The outbreak of disease spread throughout southern Kedah, Perlis, and Thailand which hit their livestock. Nevertheless, he took the failure as a challenge and he decided to venture into the business of selling meat. Syed Mokhtar packaging the meats that he bought from the vendors in Alor Setar and then resold to aborigine traders. Then, he diversified his business more too many areas such as transportation, logistic, cloth, rice, and sugar. Any failure and business losses that he faced make him become more confident and courage in handling the business activities and careful to make any future decision. (Halimah Abdul Manaf & Ahmad Martadha Mohamed, 2014).

2. Visionary

Syed Mokhtar is a visionary person. He never stops to expand his business or try a different type of business. After his meat business success, Syed Mokhtar moved on to the transportation business named Syarikat Pengangkutan Sentosa. Followed by more and more successful, he moved to the rice trading business. He then established Shah Company after awarded the rice trading license from Lembaga Padi Negara or BERNAS. He also getting involved in clothing and manufacturing industry. Today, Syed Mokhtar, as a business empire has grown into many areas and he currently holding share in BERNAS, Mining Corporation Berhad (MMC), Johor Port Berhad, Malakoff Berhad, and many more.

3. Open risk taker

Syed Mokhtar is a person who ready to take risk for his business. He take a risk by apply for MARA loan for RM110, 000 to buy two lorries Mercedes 911LS to starts his business in 1972. He dare to try many kinds of business such as logistic, food, plantation, manufacturer and many more.

4. Proactive

Syed Mokhtar is proactive person. He always has an alternative and prepared for the future. He does not stop on making one business only, but expands to various field. For example, he involved in many type of business such as clothing, shipping, water, engineering and so on (Rosli Mahmood et al., 2010).

5. Networked

In order to expand his business, Syed Mokhtar stays connected to people involved in business. In 1978, Syed Mokhtar had invited to participate in a trade expo in China. There, he ran a barter system by exchanging his cocoa product with tea from China. Besides that, he also involved himself with Defence Ministry by supplied 120, 000 shoes and 330,000 uniform for military. By doing so, he finally establishes clothes and shoes business successfully. (Rosli Mahmood et al., 2010).