What kind of business was your father in?
He has passed away. He was in the transportation business.

Do you have any children helping you in your business?
No

What are their roles or responsibilities in your company?
Nil

Did they receive Singapore education?
Yes

What is their highest education attained? Did they achieve the same education level as you?
The elder daughter is a practising doctor at SGH
The younger son is in his final year doing law at the NUS
I graduated with a B.A. (Hons) degree in ARTS from NUS.

Does your wife work?
She quitted her job in the early 1980s. She has been helping at Unicurd Food Company ever since then.

Did you choose Singapore as the starting point of your business? Do you intend to expand your business in overseas or your company has already expanded in overseas?
Yes, no plans of starting another new plant either in Singapore or overseas. We are concentrating on our export business of tofu products to overseas countries like New Zealand, Europe, Israel & HK.

Why did you choose this location for our company?
In the 1990's the demand of soy based products had started to increase due to effluence of our society and better awareness of the nutritional value of tofu. We started to face space shortage and so needed a bigger factory. That was why decided to move to Senoko at Woodlands. This new factory site would not have been possible if not for the assistance we obtained from EBD and JTC.

Do you have any partners cooperating with you?
Yes.

Are they related? How?
He is my cousin. He is not active in this business.

Can you share with me some experiences about the hardships in starting a business from scratch?
Unicurd was bought over by us in the early 1980s. Originally, it was owned by 4 Taiwanese and 2 Malaysian partners. They worked hard in the business but due to cash flow problems, they decided to sell it off. So my cousin and I bought over their company which is now known as Unicurd. We were very new in the production of Tofu. We had no experience in this business and so we had to start right from the beginning. Though making tofu looked simple, but it took us a long time to master the trade and skill in making a good quality tofu. Having said this, beginning 1995 to mid 1996, we had invested massively on modern & automated tofu machinery. We faced teething problems in commissioning the tofu processing machinery. It was a big challenge for us then, as we had very little experience in these modern fully automated machines. We had to first understand the mode of operation of the machines, method of cleaning the machines & most importantly how to repair the machines. Afterwhich, we had do trial runs on the soybean processing machines to obtain the right texture and taste profile on the final product. This resulted in huge loss of soybeans for the first 3 months. I could not imagine that a simple thing like tofu making with automated machinery could be so difficult. Well, I persevered and here I am today.

What are some factors that you have applied in order to succeed?
To ensure success in any business, one must have the interest & passion in the business. The road to success is never an easy path/one. You will need to suffer some hard knocks along the way before you can enjoy the fruits of your labour. I believe the sky is the limit and if you can challenge yourself, and if you are keen to learn and explore new things then the journey becomes easier. Firstly you must know your own business very well. For example, in the Tofu business, I must know who are my competitors, how is the Tofu industry in terms of supply and demand in Singapore and in the other oversea countries? What are the future developments or progress in Tofu Industry and how can we create a niche for ourselves. As in the knowledge-based economy, we should develop a vision Then, planning has to take place. That was why I visited the Tofu industries in Japan, learnt about the automation system and different varieties of Tofu in countries such as America & Hong Kong. Some of my products were originally from Japan & Canada. Once you have a vision, you will have start planning for it. Secondly, working hard alone is not enough. I have to organize my staff and colleagues to work together as a team to work towards the same company vision.

Relate to me some of your best day in business.
I have enjoyed my work throughout the last twenty-two years. For the last 2 to 3 years, I had never expected that my company would able to export our Tofu to the oversea market. The sales of Tofu have increased tremendously. I have got a lot of encouragement from there. With good teamwork, dedicated staff and machinery that we had invested in which is working to the ultimate performance have contributed to the increase of tofu sales by 20%.

What about your worst day or bad experience in this line?
In 1995-96, we had invested more than 3 million in modern machinery to assist us to produce good quality tofu. However, we had faced a lot of machinery teething problems such as maintaining and repairing them. Because the machinery were too advanced and controlled by PLC programme, it took us a while to get understand the programme. However, the worst day has become the best once we overcame the problems.

Did you have the capital to start the business or did you get help from someone in order to start the business?
Yes. I had the capital to buy over this company in 1981.

Who competes with you?
There are about 40 Tofu factories in Singapore. Fortune is another company which produces and packs tofu in boxes. Lately there are some tofu imports from Malaysia. But it is not that serious.

Have you ever thought of co-operate business with them to achieve a bigger market in Singapore?
I have not really given a thought about it.

When did the idea of venture out by your own instead of working for someone else come into place?
On knowing that Unicurd, a tofu factory, was up for sales, my cousin and I thought that the business opportunity was potentially good so we decided to buy over the business.

When you started your company, what did your wife or family think ? Did they contribute ideas or comments about your business?
There were no objections from my family back in early February 1981 when I bought over the company.

Are there any stages In your business life that you experienced something so significant e.g. war, racial riot, economic crisis, new competition, shift in market behavior and trends that affect or influence your life and business that make you change the way you do business and thinking?
Not really a major problem since we are dealing with food manufacturing.

What would happen if you got sick? who would run your business in your behalf?
The important factor is to have a group of right people. They should know their responsibilities and able to operate independently. So even if I am away, the whole company is able to run smoothly.

How does your business work?
Regardless whether a company is a small or big enterprise, a basic structure is a necessity. It must have the basic structure like the personnel department, production department, quality department, financial department, administration, management control department.

What qualities that you have that are more outstanding or different from other businessmen in Singapore?
I cannot say whether I am more outstanding or different from other businessmen in Singapore. But I would like to state that I enjoy my work a lot and most of all I work wisely, systematically and consistently.

Why does someone decide to be on their own rather than join an existing company?
It is good to have entrepreneurial skills and venture out on ones own because the opportunity is tremendous in this knowledge based economy.

Tell me about your first few customers
Supermarkets like Yaohan, Fitzpatricks & NTUC.

What are the qualities that it takes to succeed in business?
3C's not 5/6 C's that is Consistency, Conscientiousness & Creativity

What would you advise young people to do today in starting a business?
I would like to advise the young graduates to develop entrepreneurial thinking. They must be willing to face challenges such as: a business is always a challenge. It is very different as compared to being an employee. The challenges are plenty and at the end, rewarding if you put your whole heart into it.

What do you do about retirement funds? You just save on your own?
I have some life insurances. Well, there is enough cash flow.

Did you ever think of expanding the business in some way or in multiple locations?
Not at the moment. We want to concentrate on R&D on product development and to develop the export business further.

As we try and pick the final 38 entrepreneurs from all the people we interview what qualities would you think a person should have to inspire others?
As I have said, one must have a clear vision together with a good planning. One must be willing to share his or her own past experiences with the younger generation so that they will have a better insight should they venture in their own business in future.

If you are chosen as one of the 39 winners will you come to the ceremony to be honored?
Honour to me is not important. The most important thing is that how can I contribute to the society.

Will you be comfortable with the press and TV asking you many of the same questions if you are a winner?
No problem.

Do you have any objection to this interview being posted on the Community Web Site or published in the newspaper prior to being chosen?
It depends on your objective.

If part of the Spirit of Enterprise is a scholarship given in your name directed to any school you would like to give it to: any idea now where that would be? You don't have to decide now, but if some day you are asked - any ideas? Primary school, secondary, college, technical or university?
Pursing food technology courses at the university and polytechnic . I have some joint projects with them.

In business line , is there anyone that you admire or respect?
I admire everybody.

Who do you admire in general in any field?
As I pointed out earlier, I admire everyone that is willing to work hard and wisely.

In your opinion, what are the factors that are essential in building up a successful and yet long-lasting business?
Interest in business. If u want to work in a 9 to 5 job, better give up doing business. Prepare to sacrifice long hours if you venture in your own business. Secondly, one must be keen to learn. And thirdly, one has to be proactive always on the look out for new developments. Let me give you an example on tofu - changes in the last 20 years have been fantastic for Tofu. The way tofu is consumed in many different ways in different parts of the world is interesting. Tofu, which was previously perceived as a poor man's food has grown by leaps and bounds. Today, tofu is positioned very differently. It is prepared and eaten very creatively in many cultures in the world. The mindset of the society has changed, so we the manufacturer have to always think of new ways of making tofu more palatable, nutritious & appealing in terms of packaging to the consumer.

Thank for your time.

Student Interviewer's Personal Comment