He recalls waiting for days to meet a bank manager for a RM20,000 overdraft facility back in the early 70s. At that time, Teh had just ventured into dry rubber product manufacturing.

His company, Kumpulan Jebco Sdn Bhd, had just opened its factory in Sungai Buloh to manufacture anti-vibration rubber mounting for engines and powertrains. For the layman, these are parts of the engine to prevent it from vibrating when in operation.

“It was difficult then. I spent several hours each day, over several days, just waiting outside the manager’s office to see him,” he told FMT Business.

But Teh took it in his stride. “Being an entrepreneur at that time, we had the energy to fight,” he said.

He had worked at an international synthetic rubber company in the UK for three years when he was sent back to Malaysia as its representative.

But not long after returning home, he decided to venture out on his own.

“The Chinese in me wanted to do business by myself. We like to be bosses, to be entrepreneurs. That may be part of the reason I ventured out on my own rather than work for others,” he said.

It is also such determination that has driven Jebco to its current top position in the anti-vibration products segment.

Teh recalls also serving as the salesman for Jebco. “I was driving around in a small car, selling and promoting synthetic rubber to all the big companies,” said the engineer trained in polymer technology.

In the five decades since it was established, Jebco has come a long way. Rather than being merely a manufacturer of rubber products, it is now a solutions provider.

“This means that we design products to meet specific needs of our customers,” he said.

The process involves producing a prototype that is then put to the test. Production only starts once the prototype has proven that it meets all requirements. “Only then do we go into full-fledged manufacturing,” he said.

At his age – Teh is 74 – most people would have already retired and perhaps be playing with their grandchildren.

But he still has a mission to accomplish. “There is a bright future for this industry, especially if we focus on being designers and inventors given that things are growing and changing so fast.

“We always have to take it a step further. We should aim for IR 4.0 (Fourth Industrial Revolution), go for automation and rise to a higher standard by offering niche solutions,” he said.

In fact, rubber moulding is no longer Jebco’s mainstay. “We now have a polymer combination, which involves not just rubber but also liquids for some of the engine mounting,”  he said.

But he is not stopping there. “Rather than just supplying parts to our customers for them to assemble, we now want to manufacture the entire unit. That is my mission, if time permits me,” he said.

More than 30% of Jebco’s products now reach the US and Japan, but Teh is already looking beyond those markets.

Like any astute businessman, he sees crises around the world, such as the trade conflicts between China and the West as well as the fallout of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as opportunities to tap.

It is a matter of knowing when to strike.