 Tan
Sri Lim Goh Tong (February 28, 1918 – October 23, 2007) was a prominent wealthy Malaysian
Chinese businessman. He was renowned for his vision and courage in transforming
Genting Highlands from an unexplored hilltop to one of the world's most
successful casino resorts. He was once the 3rd richest man in Malaysia with a
net worth estimated to be 4.2 billion USD, making him the 204th richest person
in the billionaire list compiled by Forbes.
Early Life
Born in 1918 in Anxi, a mountainous county in southeastern Fujian province,
China, Lim Goh Tong is the fifth child in his family. His dad is Lim Shi Quan
and his mother Goh Ban. He has an elder brother, three elder sisters, a younger
sister and a younger brother. Lim was born into a rustic environment in a
village, during that time, China was in a period of turmoil and unrest after the
Xinhai Revolution, but life was relatively sheltered for Lim in the village. He
grew up peacefully and had the opportunity of studying in school. However,
disaster struck and his father passed away when he was 16. Lim was forced to
leave school and being the oldest son, he had to take over the heavy burden of
feeding his family.
As China's situation was becoming worse, Lim Goh Tong decided to take the plunge
in venturing out to Malaysia (known as Malaya at that time) following his
cousin's footstep. He left China through Xiamen in early February 1937 at the
age of 19. He worked for his uncle as a carpenter in the first two years,
learning the Malay language in the meantime. After gaining experience he went on
to become a building sub-contractor and completed his first job of building a
two-storey school. He returned to Anxi in 1940, but went back to Malaya the next
year amidst deteriorating war environment.
Career and Business
The Japanese invaded Malaya in 1942 and caused Lim to have a few near-death
occasions. During the early Japanese Occupation, he earned a living as a
vegetable farmer, but decided to switch to petty trading for a better living.
Later on Lim ventured into scrap-metal and hardware trading. When the Japanese
Occupation ended, there was an urgent demand for heavy machinery for resumed
operations in mines and rubber plantations, Lim seized the opportunity and
engaged in second-hand machinery trading, making his first fortune.
From used machinery trading, Lim strayed into iron mining fortuitously. Lim
joined as a partner in an iron mining company which couldn't settle the
outstanding payment of two bulldozers with him, and this proved to be a
successful venture as he earned a substantial amount of profit from the mining
industry, including forming a joint-venture tin mining company which was one of
the first Chinese tin companies to utilize dredges in mining tin.
While dealing in heavy machinery, Lim accumulated a wide range of reconditioned
machines as well as a substantial amount of cash to move into the construction
and related industries. In the name of his family construction company, Kien
Huat Private Limited, Lim began taking on several contracting jobs with help and
guidance from his uncles. Kien Huat won accolades and became recognized as one
of the leading construction companies after successfully completing many major
projects. Among the biggest projects completed was the Ayer Itam Dam, the first
time a local contractor had been given the construction job of such magnitude.
Lim went on the brink of bankruptcy when construction work was facing problems
in the Kemubu Irrigation Scheme, but managed to overcome the obstacles and
completed the project.
Developing Genting Resort
The idea of building a hilltop resort was first conceived when Lim Goh Tong was
having a dinner in Cameron Highlands. As he was enjoying the soothing cool
breeze of Cameron Highlands, an idea struck him that as the standard of living
rose steadily in Malaysia, more and more people would visit mountain resorts for
relaxation and recreation, but
Cameron Highlands was too far away from the
capital city Kuala Lumpur, therefore building a mountain resort nearer to Kuala
Lumpur would have great business potential.
After doing some research, Lim found Gunung (mountain in Malay) Ulu Kali at a
place called Genting Sempah to be an ideal location for his plan. He formed an
expedition and explored the place, collecting a wealth of data on the
topography, drainage, soil conditions and other relevant aspects of the region,
this proved to be very useful in drawing up the plan for developing the resort.
Upon conceiving this idea, many naysayers were skeptical of Lim turning a
wilderness into a tourist resort. Most thought it was really risky and reckoned
Lim who was financially comfortable to be foolish to invest heavily in money and
time to develop Genting, but Lim brushed off all these negativities and went
ahead firmly with his plan.
After getting approvals from the federal and state governments, Lim began the
project in the face of a colossal task. Among the problems were building the
access road towards the hilltop, water and electricity supplies, sewerage system
and fire safety. Lim managed to build the access road towards the summit in
three years when it was estimated to take fifteen years. Several sources of
water in the mountain were identified, water supply was secured by building
water-collection stations and water filtration plants with treated water stored
in reservoirs. Electricity is supplied through a central electricity generation
system with 12 big generators.
During the construction, Lim survived six close brushes with death. Meanwhile,
Lim had to administer another major project in Kelantan, the Kemubu Irrigation
Scheme at the same time. This stretched his physical endurance to the limits as
he had to shuttle between Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan and he worked seven days a
week.
During the Genting project, Lim spent all he had without earning any income. He
sold an 810-hectare rubber estate to raise RM2.5 million. In addition, he
invested all the money he had made from iron mining, sub-contracting and
hardware business. The project was a heavy drain on Lim's finances. When asked
to invest in this project, Lim's friends turned him down and counseled him to
drop the entire scheme instead.
Genting was granted the only casino license after
Tunku Abdul Rahman, the prime minister of Malaysia then, visited Genting
Highlands and commended Lim's effort to develop a resort contributing to
Malaysia's tourism industry without government help.
Lim managed to obtain a pioneer status for Genting Highlands and tax incentives
despite its resort development not qualifying for it. He did so by convincing
the government that tax incentives in the early stage of development of Genting
Highlands were not only vital for them but also profitable to the government
later on.
The whole Genting project was completed in January 1971, but prior to officially
commencing business, Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas were hit by the
worst rainstorms in a century, the road to Genting was closed by landslides at
180 locations, the damaged sections took four months to repair. Genting opened
its door for business on May 8, 1971.
In the next 30 years, Lim continued to develop and expand Genting Highlands
beyond its original idea of a hotel with basic tourist facilities. Among the
projects were the construction of more hotels, indoor and outdoor theme parks,
and a convention centre. A new road was built to shorten the journey to Genting
from the northern states, and RM120 million was invested to widen a 10 km
stretch of the access road to reduce congestion. Another RM128 million was spent
on constructing a cable car system to provide visitors with an alternative mode
of transportation.
In 1993, at the suggestion of Tun Mahathir, the prime minister of Malaysia then,
a township was developed on an 81-hectare piece of land around the site of the
Genting Skyway cable car station. It was named Gohtong Jaya after Lim as a token
of remembrance for his efforts in the development of Genting Highlands.
As of now, Genting Highlands is one of the most successful casino resorts in the
world and is one of the primary tourist attractions in Malaysia. Lim's company,
Genting Group operates Genting Highlands and has diversified into many other
industries such as plantations, property, paper, power generation, oil and gas
exploration and cruise industries. In the process new company brands were
created that have become distinctive names in their respective fields, namely
Asiatic, Genting Sanyen and Star Cruises.
On December 31, 2003, Lim handed his chairmanship of Genting Group over to his
son, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay.
Personal Life
Lim Goh Tong is married to Lee Kim Hua, together they have six children and
nineteen grandchildren. The six children are Lim Siew Lay, Siew Lian, Siew Kim,
Tee Keong, Kok Thay and Chee Wah.
Throughout his life Lim has had a few medical crises, among them were a
malignant tumor and cardiovascular problems, which he pulled through after
several surgeries.
Lim wrote his autobiography "My Story - Lim Goh Tong" and it was published in
2004. In the book he wrote about his early life, how he started off with nothing
to building a world-class casino resort through hard work and perseverance
confounding skeptics, and the people he acknowledges.
Achievement and Awards
Lim had won many awards together with his company Genting Group for his
entrepreneurship and his contribution, among them were:
- Malaysian Entrepreneurs Award 1985
- Manager of the Year Award 1986
- Business Achiever of the Year Award 1994
- Number 1 ranking of 10 Malaysian Leading Companies 1996
- The Best Employer Award 1996
He was conferred the title "Tan Sri" by the government of Malaysia on 6 June
1979 in recognition to the contribution he has made to the country.
In 1978 Lim set up Yayasan Lim, a family foundation that donates regularly to
educational and medical institutions, old folk's homes, various organizations
for the physically handicapped and other charitable causes.
Death
Lim died at 11.20am, October 23, 2007, at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC).
He is survived by wife Puan Sri Lee Kim Hua, and their six children and 19
grandchildren. His body will be laid to rest at Gohtong Memorial Park at Gohtong
Jaya on Monday October 29, 2007.
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