The South China Morning Post has published excerpts from his book, “Robert Kuok, A Memoir”, which hit the shelves in Hong Kong and Singapore on Nov 25, with the Malaysian release set for Dec 1.
“In 1967, word reached my ears that the Blue Funnel Group was coming to set up the national shipping line of Malaysia.
“Blue Funnel was probably the largest shipping conglomerate in Britain at that time. It owned Blue Funnel, Glen Line, Straits Steamship Co in Singapore, and many other lines,” Kuok said in the opening lines under the chapter on how he launched Malaysia’s national shipping line.
Kuok recalled how the Blue Funnel executive chairman was making frequent lobbying trips from London to Kuala Lumpur.
“I was interested in applying for the licence, so I chatted with a few of my Malay civil-servant friends. They agreed that I should put in a similar application to set up the national shipping line.
“My interest was partly patriotism, that is a desire to help Malaysia to launch its own independent shipping line and not be tied to the apron strings of the ex-colonial government of Britain through Blue Funnel,” he said.
According to Kuok, who is currently Malaysia’s richest man, his interest in shipping began around 1964, with his ever expanding sugar business and other commodities-trading activities requiring international transport needs to meet the demand.
“In those days, shipping was quite volatile and freight rates could sometimes shoot up 25-30%. Since margins on sugar trading were small, you could easily make money on your trade, but lose on the freight.
“I looked for a partner and found him in the International Maritime Carriers (IMC) chairman Frank WK Tsao, who was introduced to me by a Malay civil-servant friend,” Kuok said.
He then roped in his staff, who was running his plywood factory, and who had been a manager at a Scottish liner previously to put pen to paper for a document firming up the agreement with Tsao to submit an application to the Malaysian government, in the joint names of Kuok Brothers and Tsao’s IMC.
“We called on as many important ministers as possible. From eight in the morning we whipped around Kuala Lumpur at a furious pace, such as you can’t do today due to the traffic, and saw seven ministers by lunchtime.
“Some of them gave us a good time and good hearings, and we told them the same story. In the afternoon, we visited one or two more.
“I remember calling on prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, his deputy Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, home minister Tun Dr Ismail, finance minister Tun Tan Siew Sin, works minister Tun VT Sambanthan and transport minister Sardon Jubir,” he said.
Tun Dr Ismail quit govt, made MISC’s first chairman
The meetings proved fruitful for Kuok and his partner as he said it was announced in a matter of two to three weeks, that the cabinet had decided to pick them to start the national shipping line, MISC.
“I provided the business management guidance while Tsao’s side provided the shipping expertise.
“Just around the time of MISC’s formation in 1968, my dear friend Tun Dr Ismail resigned from government when he found that he had cancer. I immediately invited him to be the first chairman of MISC,” Kuok said.
He added that following the May 23, 1969 racial riots, Tun Dr Ismail quit his MISC role to return to the government.
“I then took over the chairmanship until the 1980s.”
Kuok then related how the success of the MISC also became the cause for envy among some Malay leaders.
“Within a year of our launching MISC, Razak, who by then was prime minister, sent for me.
“Razak said, ‘I want you to make a fresh issue of 20% of new shares. I’m under pressure because there is not a high enough Malay percentage of shareholding.’
“I asked him if he was serious, and when he said yes, I said I would do it. I persuaded the board to pass a resolution waiving the rights of existing shareholders to a rights issue as MISC was not yet a public company,” Kuok said adding that Razak allocated all the new shares to government agencies.
The man who was once referred to as the “sugar king”, felt that it was likely that some people in the government thought that it was shameful for Chinese Malaysians to run the national shipping line.
“When I sensed that this was their attitude, it was time for me to call it a day.
“Kuok Brothers eventually sold all their MISC shares and pulled out of the national shipping company completely,” he said, adding that in the early 1970s, the Kuok Group started its own shipping company, Pacific Carriers, in Singapore.
Kuok: M’sia-S’pore Airlines split like separating Siamese twins