Koon Yew Yin's Blog
Rags to riches Koon chafes at human greed - Koon Yew Yin
Koon Yew Yin
Publish date: Sat, 14 Mar 2015, 08:37 AM
Koon Yew Yin
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An official blog in i3investor to publish sharing by Mr. Koon Yew Yin.
All materials published here are prepared by Mr. Koon Yew Yin
All materials published here are prepared by Mr. Koon Yew Yin
By Terence Netto
Retired civil engineer Koon Yew Yin possesses an instinctive understanding of Walter Bagehot’s aphorism that “To the rich, poverty is an anomaly. They can’t understand why those who want dinner don’t ring the bell.”
The famous founding editor of The Economist, the world’s top newsweekly, had a way with words as Yew Yin manifestly does not, but in this description of the psychic gulf between the rich and poor, the engineer most certainly concurs with the editor.
Multi-millionaire Yew Yin comes from a background which equips him to grasp the psychological terrain behind Bagehot’s meaning. Yew Yin was born into poverty, the third of eight children of a coffin-selling father who married again when his first wife died and had four kids with the second.
“Imagine, with so many of us around, what the lunge for food on the table at meal times was like!” reminisced the 81-year-old, while relaxing in the roominess of his minimally, yet tastefully, furnished home in the Meru Golf Resort in Ipoh earlier this week.
For many who have emerged triumphantly from its clutches the experience of grinding poverty in youth is something that must be expunged, like stains on fine linen. To others -- Yew Yin among this few – its memory lingers fitfully in the recesses and is only assuaged by the slow drip of aid to the needy, extended as much from empathy as from the need to lay the ghosts of the past to rest.
In pursuit of the latter, Yew Yin, six years ago, announced his willingness to donate RM30 million to build a hostel for students at the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) campus in Kampar. The gesture was prompted by the memory of his days of penury as a schoolboy in St John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur and after his Senior Cambridge, which he passed with flying colors, his time at the Technical College in Gurney Road where he began studies in civil engineering in 1952. The cash strapped youth was bright enough to pass his exams which only accentuated his need for the pocket money that eases a precocious student’s way in the world. Yew Yin was always broke.
His offer to fund the building of hostel quarters for students at Utar was ignored by the Malaysian Chinese Association-linked tycoons who owned the 1300 acres of land in and around Kampar where Utar is located. “I think they would have liked me to just hand the donation to them outright rather than insist on the specific purpose of building students’ hostels,” said Yew Yin. “They did not like what a charitable purpose-driven donation would do to property prices in the projects that were to come up in the vicinity of the university – it would lower them,” he said, as explanation of the motives of his interlocutors on the issue.
The offer was ignored, to Yew Yin’s acute disappointment. He then re-directed his efforts in aid of poor students trying to scratch together funds to put them through university to the scholarships he annually awards the deserving needy – those whose parents earn RM3,000/- a month and less but have obtained the grades to qualify for tertiary education at Malaysian institutes though they are unable to afford it.
To date, more than 200 students have benefited from the Koon Yew Yin scholarship fund. These efforts have gained Yew Yin inclusion among five Malaysians who in 2011 were in a list of 48 Asians that the magazine, Forbes Asia, honored as “Heroes of Philanthropy”.
Having risen to the financial heights where altruistic behavior is both a compulsion and an obligation, especially for one who constantly remembers his impoverished youth, Yew Yin has in recent years focused his attention on how best to eradicate poverty, not just alleviate it, and how best to hasten the economic development of the country.
In 2012, he published a book, Malaysia Road Map for Achieving Vision 2020, which was a compilation of articles on development he wrote, mostly for websites and news portals. Tengku Tan Sri Razaleigh Hamzah penned the foreword where the former Finance Minister urged politicians on both sides of the political divide to pay attention to Yew Yin’s advice on development issues.
Yew Yin’s impressive resume bespeaks his qualification to give such advice. He was a member of Malaysian Board of Engineers for three 2-year terms and was responsible for drafting the SIRIM-approved standard for cement and concrete. In addition, he was
for nine years secretary general of the Malaysian Master Builders Association. He founded Mudajaya Corporation and IJM Corporation Berhad, two leading listed construction companies in Malaysia.
A central concern of Yew Yin’s is how to prevent corruption that he argues is a cancer eating away at the country’s innards. “We have simply to follow the World Bank procurement guidelines to prevent corruption and abuse,” Yew Yin insisted.
For him, the template was the way the World Bank-financed Muda Irrigation Project was handled in the mid-1960s. When his colleagues and Yew Yin tendered successfully for the gigantic scheme project, the government engaged a reputable engineering consulting firm which had experience with similar projects to put up a proposal and to open the project bidding to all contractors to tender.
Yew Yin said the most important element in this process is that the consulting company responsible for the tender process be independent and possess no interest whatsoever in project implementation.
“This ensures that there is no hanky panky or ‘insider trading’. After the contract is awarded, the consultant makes sure that the project is completed within cost and on scheduled time,” said Yew Yin, extrapolating on a paper he wrote of his experience of involvement in the Muda Irrigation Project.
Yew Yin emphasized that all contractors must be pre-qualified based on their technical and financial ability. They must submit tenders conforming to the original design so that the cheapest tender can be selected. He said if all the contractors are pre-qualified, the government tender board has only to look at the tendered price.
“It is important not to allow anybody from the government to negotiate with any contractor to avoid corruption. Transparency and accountability requires that all documents on the proposal be placed in the public sphere – not just limited information but detailed and full breakdowns in accordance with international best practices. This will ensure public monitoring and curbing of cost overruns which have plagued all mega projects in the country,” wrote Yew Yin in the paper he presented on Muda.
It all sounds good and proper, but like the donation the generous Yew Yin was prepared to give towards hostel-construction that would have benefited poor students at Utar, the realities of human greed often defeat the ideals of the altruistic few. But as Koon Yew Yin knows from the testimony of his own up-from-the-bootstraps life, the quest after the ideal of a better life has a way of taking vengeance on the folly and greed that, often and everywhere, momentarily imprisons it. Sipping a glass of a much acclaimed red wine in the roomy interiors of his house, with vistas on the lovely green sward of a golf course on one side and a hushed forest on the other, it was easy to believe that lofty ideals can defeat grim realities.
Ends.
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Discussions
1 person likes this. Showing 50 of 97 comments
If BM was strong in their vocab we use it why not? But the case is the language is weak in vocab and hv to borrow many words from the English language. Even Bahasa indonesia is using English pronunciation for their lacks vocab
2015-03-15 17:58
So don't claim ppl don't want to learn BM the % of non Malay who can speak BM is very high compared to otherwise. Yet everyone want to do business with China and India. The lack of that gives you only option in Indonesia. Even so Bahasa Indonesia has evolve to closer to english. If you go to the large hospital like Sdmc, Pantai, read the Bahasa Indonesia and see what is the word for international
2015-03-15 18:04
Kenapa cina tak Mahu BM, sekarang budak 3 tahun pun tahu. Itu macam suruh budak pilih makanan tak sedap. Lagi BM lagi gostan gear.
2015-03-15 18:20
Mesti tak ada rugi,if you can master more than 1languageSome ppl still hide in the well,and the sky looks so small to them becos they refuse to jump out ot the circle and still believe that their native language is most superior
2015-03-15 19:04
i more prefer mahathir become PM
after mahathir
PAKLAH najib what they do
lagi lagi teruk & much corruption
when you re still complaint this & that
i guess they have switch MYR to USD already
my friend said najib son is not holding malaysian citizen
he have migrate to new zeland dont know is true or not
2015-03-15 20:29
If Chinese are stupid, the top students in Malaysia are all Chinese and Indian. Tq
2015-03-15 20:29
It shows that the chinese who were labourers in early day rise up to become rich ppl while the lanun, till today depend on crutches since you put it that way ....
2015-03-15 20:36
The non Malay are the race that brought good name to Malaysia.....Lee Chong Wei, Nicol David, Robert Kwok, Ananda, those in MIT, Harvard, those who won international cooking award, ......what does that mean. ? Everyone hv progress except lanun
2015-03-15 20:41
they still don't know why CPO export cannot increase for Malaysia to China. While Robert Kwok in Indonesia now is making headways
2015-03-15 20:55
ehh, budak si'bodoh' ni otak udang ke bangang? I have alot of malay frens which I study and play together. Dia orang ok je..
Buat pe nak rasis sangat? Nak tunjuk pandai?
klu you pandai, u dah jaya top rank in Msia dah, tak ya menganjing di sini!
2015-03-15 20:58
Low class AMNO members always hate Chinese like hell, mainly due to self inferiority complexity...while high level AMNO members likes Chinese very much...for example Jho LOw to ROsma, Kok Thai, Francis, Vinvent to Dr.M...dunno why.....
2015-03-15 21:01
Cina sini boleh Pakai BM lawan bahas. Lu boleh guna bahas cina lawan kah. Itu Pakai BM punya orang , ikut atau tiru pun tak boleh. Cara masak pun Mahu tiru.
2015-03-15 21:07
PLEASE STOP ALL THOSE NONSENSE COMMENTS...NO POINT ARGUING ...TILL TOMORROW WILL NEVER ENDS!
2015-03-15 21:09
Apasal Rosma n ajib sukak jho low?sanggup bagi billion billion ringgit via pakai?
2015-03-15 21:10
Chinese work with the smart Malays here while those on crutches continue to be hypocrite
2015-03-15 21:11
gua baru lepas berak...
amat terkejut baca forum ini..
woi manusia hidup sementara..
sedarkah kamu hidup ini hanya untuk seketika?
melayu, cina , india semua bersatu hati..
semua bagus , semua sama rata..
minta tolong jangan terlalu angkuh
esok mati Tuhan tak tengok kulit atau bangsa
Tuhan Maha Kuasa tanya - lu ada buat dosa ke tidak.. itu saja
dosa ditimbang bukan pakai kilogram atau kulit..
apabila lu mati, saya mati - kubur sama saja.. satu lubang
jangan bongkak, sombong dan memaki sesama bangsa dan negara..
bertaubat lah..
cakap lah pasal saham
cakap lah pasal tahi..
elak kan lah berak forum macam ini..
besok mampus.. jawablah dengan Tuhan..
sudah lah... semua kawan kawan mah..
insaf sikit bang
2015-03-15 21:11
berkata kata pasal tahi lebih mulia dari memaki semasa sendiri..
think deep.
2015-03-15 21:12
Indonesia sikalang alu alu cina. Cina lar wang lari, Nevada goyang. Sikalang Indonesia Ada suratkahbar cina, tv channel cina, sekolah cina, perayaan cina, minister cina, BM dan Indonesia perlu cina,
2015-03-15 21:15
(((( glotec ))))
aku faham maksud tu wahai sahabatku yg mulia..
kikikiki
kakisaham Katakan tahi jadi emas lebih bagus
15/03/2015 21:14
2015-03-15 21:15
Calling Rockford, murali, cinabodoh, Ny036, apini Yisunaka etc etc please respect one another...PLEASE!
2015-03-15 21:17
Kingcobra, I respect all races, i m responding fairly without condemning any race.
2015-03-15 21:19
Kalu kau orang nak bergaduh...nah sorang ambil kapak dan sorang lagi nah parang masuk stadium sumatec gaduhlah
2015-03-15 21:21
bila mati..
Tuhan tak tanya lu bangsa apa
bila mati
Tuhan tak tanya lu dari negara mana
bila mati
cuma tanya ..
apa salah, apa dosa bikin
baik dan buruk.. itulah yg di adili..
ada kitab/buku suci baca
ada amalan, buat selagi masa masih ada
hidup singkat, jawablah di akhirat sana
menang bersorak didunia tak bermakna
hidup singkat ... meninggalkan dunia itu pasti
kekal selamanya - insaf dan buat baik.
2015-03-15 21:26
kalau lu orang mau gaduh.........
pilih lah stadium emas!
pilih lah cme,
glotec dan pworth..
gua mau semua bangsa
semua rakan rakan
semua kawan dan sahabat dunia
beli
glotec, pworth and cme
esok esok naik.. derma lah dengan orang sudah
Pasti diberkati....
2015-03-15 21:33
if all of you must quarrel.. by all means and what is dear..
buy Glotec, Pworth and CME!! negara pasti aman makmur..
kikikikikiiii
2015-03-15 21:35
tolong bawa kapak
tolong bawa parang
kita sama sama fight dalam....
kaunter emas 2015........
Glotec, Pworth and CME
satu malaysia! yeahhhh
hahahahahahahhahahaaaaa
2015-03-15 21:37
Tq ...I the midst of opinion also got stock call.
Ayamtua what is happening in this few stock
2015-03-15 21:38
end of the day.. duit melayu, duit cina, duit india , duit kadazan, duit iban.. will help our economy.. please dont fight among each others....... peace
we all need each others..... more than ever
.... we are all investors and punters of the world......
stay cool.......
Rockford
70 posts
Posted by Rockford > Mar 15, 2015 09:38 PM | Report Abuse
Tq ...I the midst of opinion also got stock call.
Ayamtua what is happening in this few stock
2015-03-15 21:46
Tu dia baru diam....kalu tak diam kan sorang2 aku humbang dalam telaga emas
2015-03-15 21:50
watch Lords of The Ring......
The Humans, The Elves, The Dwarves ..
all work together for peace....
Remember Avatar .... hihihihi
2015-03-15 21:51
kakisaham mari.. semua orang gaduh.. diam!
power sungguh kuasa kakisaham mempengaruhi dunia
kikikikiii
kakisaham
2440 posts
Posted by kakisaham > Mar 15, 2015 09:50 PM | Report Abuse
Tu dia baru diam....kalu tak diam kan sorang2 aku humbang dalam telaga emas
2015-03-15 21:52
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Lanun memang tak percaya lanun...
2015-03-15 17:51