MINDSETS

Robert Kuok believes that in order to success in a business, unity of the

employees in a company is highly important. All the employees are in the
same family and they have to work together without greed and arrogance.
We must practice the values of integrity and honestly. He quotes that
success often breeds failure, because it makes you arrogant, complacent
and, therefore, lower your guard. He is the best leader. He uses his willpower
and intelligent to overcome any of his problems he faced in his business. He
is also a firm believer of hard work, diligence, and a broad set of thinking. He
believes that these traits allow a person to achieve their goals, and enable
them to properly set the course of their life.
Roberts philosophy in business can be summed up into four words: work
hard, work smart. From a very young age, Robert has not only learned the
value of diligence and hard work, but he has also discovered that it takes
brains to become successful in the business world, and life in general.
Because of the life that he has experienced, Robert has made it a mission of
his to ensure that he gives the next generation the opportunity that he was
not able to get by his philanthropic work, the Kuok Foundation. This
charitable organization aims to provide scholarships for numerous Malaysian
youth to enable them to study and work in their area of expertise. From its
inception, the Kuok Foundation has given thousands of scholarships to
various students throughout Malaysia, giving hope to the future of the
country.
He always states that wealth should be used for two main purposes. One: for
the generation of greater wealth; in other words, you continue to invest,
creating prosperity and jobs in the country. Two: part of your wealth should
be applied to the betterment of mankind, either by acts of pure philanthropy
or by investment in research and development along the frontiers of science,
space, health care and so forth.
When he was young, he realized that there was no substitute for hard work
and thinking up good, honest business plans and, without respite, pushing
them along. There will always be business on earth. He stated that we have
to be humble, be straight, dont be crooked, dont take advantage of people.
In becoming a successful businessman, he practiced to brush all his senses
every morning, just as we brush your teeth. He coined the phrase honing

your senses in business where our vision, hearing, sense of smell, touch and
taste all come in very useful.
When he hires staff he looks for honest, hardworking, intelligent people.
When he looks candidate in the eye, they must appear very honest to him.
He does not look for MBAs or exceptional students as he stated You may
hire a brilliant man, summa cum laude, first-class honors, but if his mind is
not a fair one or if he has a warped attitude in life, does brilliance really
matter?.

BEHAVIORS
This love for the simple life has allowed Robert to remain humble in spite of
all his accomplishments, and has forged in him a lifestyle that he passed
down to his children, thus teaching them to wisely handle all the wealth that
they have. He stated in an interview with him:
Everything on earth is dynamic. I can only give my children a message,
not money. If they follow it, we can go another three or four
generations.
Despite of having wealth, power, and influence, Robert is a very humble
man, and prefers to live a simple life. He rarely indulges himself in the
pleasures of life, nor does he love to be in the company of the press. In fact,
Robert is known to be very media-shy, so much so that he only has had one
or two interviews over the course of his entire career.

ATTRIBUTES
Integrity and reliability traits are the key to be a bind successful
personal and business relationship and make them endure. This is the one of
the secrets for Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien as a key success in his
business. The driving force behind the growth of the Group is a quick family,
whose vision and commitment to hard work and excellence for more than
two generations have made Kuok Group market leader in many areas. From
the beginning of its operations, the Group has set forth the basic values of
integrity, reliability, loyalty and discipline too. From a trading post

established in Malaysia and Singapore, the Group has expanded its

operations in the 1950s and 1960s to Thailand and Indonesia. It focuses on
the activities of ancillary and related to growth and also pursues new
business and trade opportunities, particularly in commodities, resulting in a
trading relationship with companies in Hamburg, Paris, London and New York.
He had learned that the success of a company must depend on the unity of
all its employees. He said that we must be relentless endeavor to maintain
and practice the values of integrity and reliability. Integrity and reliability on
himself were built and sustain trust and confidence in his business. Tan Sri
Robert Kuok Hock Nien always find these two characteristic crucial to
become successful in his business life.
Tan Sri Robert Kuok as an initiative entrepreneur. He embarked on a
new venture or business that has not been taken up by another entrepreneur
in Malaysia. Tan Sri Robert Kuok was known for his initiative where he was
the first people that engaged in the sugar business in Malaysia. It was
courageous for him to start sugar business since no one has been engaged
in this industry before. He said that he took on the initiative in starting his
trading business in the sugar market because of granulated sugar was very
important in the food sector. He also said that sugar business was a simple
business which with the cheapest raw sugar, a man can get rich. Eventually,
he had control 80% of the Malaysia sugar market (production of 1.5 million
tons sugar) which equivalent to 10% of the world sugar trade. In short, his
great initiative to venture sugar business gave him a chance built a business
empire, and thus dubbed as Sugar King of Asia.
Tan Sri Robert Kuok is as a foresight entrepreneur who shows
remarkable ability to plan or predict for the long term. His presence as an
entrepreneur is impressive. Tan Sri Robert Kuok displayed foresight and
prescience to developed China as a prosperous travel industry. During 1980s,
when he first went to China, he had the foresight that China will become the
most prosperous travel country in the future due to its historical relics and
sites. Then, he first forays into the hotel industry in mainland China. He built
Shangri-La Hotel here to help Chinas travel industry to grow and popularize
China as a tourist destination. In 1984, Tan Sri Robert Kuok opened its first
hotel, Shangri-La in Hangzhou, China as Hangzhou renowned for its historic
relics and natural beauty like West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda and Hangzhou City
Gate. In 1989, Shangri-La launched a second hotel in Beijing. At present,
there are 34 Shangri-La Hotel built in China while 28 hotels under
construction. His prediction about the China as a large and prosperous travel
and a tourism country has proved strikingly prescient. His foresight and
prescience had turned China into a large tourism country and successfully
formed the biggest, most profitable chains of luxury lodgings in the Asia
region, and thus make him also dubbed as Hotel King.

Tan Sri Robert Kuok was possessed by time-competence trait in built

up his empire. He had the ability to seize opportunities and thus good timing.
Opportunities can be hard to spot, but everyone can find them if we use a
thoughtful and deliberate approach. The richest man in Malaysia, Tan Sri
Robert Kuok was able to spot and seize an opportunity when they appear. His
first ventured into the sugar trade immediately when he knew that there is
no established Chinese network in this sector, while it was controlled by a
British trading house, Guthrie. Consequently, he seeks out the opportunities
from home and abroad to grow its sugar business. In 1957, Tan Sri Robert
Kuok took a chance and thus imported cheaper sugar India as well as Cuba.
Hence, he overtook and replaced Guthrie as the main importer and
distributor of sugar in Malaya.

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES
Tan Sri Robert Kuok practices good democratic management style. As
the leader in his company, he always prioritizes and takes good care of the
employees as he believes employees play a crucial role to sustain the
business. Besides, his employees had proved that Robert has always
contributing in the team in a motivational way. Moreover, his team is able to
get specific percentages of shares based to their own contribution towards
the team. Also, Robert mainly recognizes honesty, hardworking and
intelligence as the core value of becoming his employees.
Robert also holds a very positive and good attitude no matter he is in
the workplace or family. To be a successful businessman, one must be
straight, humble and do not take advantage of people. Robert always
reminds himself and others, saying when is person is arrogant, his/her guard

will automatically lowered. As a result, the person will be defeated easily by

his rivals.
Robert also emphasized that one must always brush all his senses.
Generally speaking, he has the ability to be stay positive and aware of his
surroundings to react in the most appropriate way. In spite of all
achievements, Robert remains humble and passed down the simple values to
his children to always be humble and handle their wealth wisely.
Roberts philosophy in the corporate world can be summed up into four
words, work hard, work smart. Since young, Robert has not only learned the
value of hard work and diligence, but also became aware that it takes a
broad set of thinking to become successful in the business and in life.
Besides, he always makes a mission to also contribute back to the
society through philanthropic work by establishing the Kuok Foundation. This
charitable foundation aims to give scholarships to students from poor
background to pursue tertiary education. Robert strongly believed in social
responsibility where he is able to share his wealth with the less fortunate.
Despite being 91 years old this year, Robert continues to actively
participate in his business. Being a servant leader, he still serves as a voice
of counsel and reason, always encouraging and motivating the next
generation to put in their best effort to attain their goals in life.