Inspiring tales of triumph
Top Malaysian businesses reach a new milestone with their respective SOBA wins, with the prestigious awards programme honouring their journey in striving for success
AS the country prepares to move into the endemic phase, Malaysia’s best non-listed companies are well-geared to take the next step in growing their businesses further — bolstered by the encouragement of receiving the distinguished SOBA 2021 award.
Held at One World Hotel, PJ, with Carlsberg as official beer sponsor, the gala night was a testament to the excellence of the local business community.
Minister in Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) and SOBA 2021 guest of honour Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed emphasised the role played by awards programmes such as SOBA in helping move companies forward.
“[Programmes like SOBA are] one of the most effective avenues that allow organisations to evaluate and reflect on their past performances. It helps small and medium enterprises (SMES) better understand what works, what does not and more importantly, what more can be done,” he shared.
Adding onto this was Star Media Group Bhd (SMG) group chief executive officer (CEO) Alex Yeow, who noted that SOBA 2021 has been particularly memorable.
Pointing to the fact that submissions have doubled from the previous year, he said that it was a reflection of the maturity, professionalism and depth of understanding of participating companies.
He said, “Year on year, the quality of submissions improve vastly. It is clear that our companies are well ahead of the curve and are ready to take their place amongst public listed companies.”
The sentiment was echoed by RHB Bank Bhd group chief marketing officer Abdul Sani Abdul Murad, who said that this year’s participation has been ‘very encouraging’ as it shows that SMES are ‘much more confident in facing challenges’ and making a comeback
“The rise of SMES is inevitable and it’s good to see that they’re much more confident in facing these challenges and tonight is a night to celebrate their successes,” he said.
Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) deputy CEO (exporters development) Abu Bakar Yusof also said that the response during the SOBA 2021 Gala Night reflected the recovery of the confidence of businesses despite Covid-19.
He opined, “SOBA has been very instrumental in growing smaller companies and it is one of the best platforms for us to witness the success of SMES. We hope that they will become good examples for other SMES to emulate their success and nurture and grow their businesses, not only locally but globally.”
PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd group chief executive and managing director Datuk Seri Dr Michael Tio added that companies are now seeking to strengthen their branding via awards programmes like SOBA, which provide the visibility they need.
“Businesses are starting to reap the benefits of the strategies they have worked on in 2021, so they can now reap the benefits. It’s a good time for celebration, but businesses must also not forget to re-strategise the company and move forward again,” he said.
Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC) president and CEO Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak attributed this to the excitement of businesses in riding the wave of recovery with the opening of the borders between Malaysia and Singapore.
He added, “CGC has been partnering with SOBA for the past seven years and we believe that the objectives of SOBA are very much in line with our vision to promote the growth and development of competitive and dynamic Malaysian SMES.”
Salute to excellence
The most sought-after Malaysian Business of the Year awards won by Alpro Alliance Sdn Bhd in the Rm25mil and above annual turnover tier and Oasis Swiss Sdn Bhd for the up to Rm25mil annual turnover tier.
Alpro Alliance was also awarded platinum for the Best in CSR and Best in Customer Service under the above Rm25mil annual turnover tier, while Oasis Swiss won platinum for the Best Use of Technology and gold for Best Brand in the up to Rm25mil annual turnover tier.
The SOBA 2021 Gala Night also saw the recognition of two companies under the second batch of the Maxis Awards, namely SEAD Industries Sdn Bhd and Viva Odyssey Sdn Bhd
The Maxis Awards recognise innovative Malaysian ideas and projects that benefit the Malaysian society, as Maxis Business SME head Kevin Lee said, “Our aim is to find companies with these great ideas, via a grant and our Maxis Business solutions to help them realise their projects.”
For Oasis Swiss, its director Jaden Teoh shared that the company’s success was due to the bold transformation of its business model in 2019 before the pandemic, as it had been a traditional retail business operating offline from 2008 to 2018.
Leveraging on technology and social media platforms, Oasis Swiss evolved its business and achieved three folds in total revenue after its transformation, becoming one of the most famous names in the household and kitchenware segment in Malaysia.
In 2020, it also launched its own e-commerce marketplace, where it can garner big data on customer behaviour and needs to better develop its strategy.
“With the implementation of technology, the business model is sexy with bright prospects and the teamwork is very strong with the direction of ‘stay hungry and go the extra mile’ that we managed to build our own niche market within a short period of time,” he said, adding that the company set up a committee to seriously look into its submissions for SOBA.
By doing this deep dive, it also helped the company refresh its outlook on its achievements over the past year to ascertain how it can move forward.
In terms of the plans it is currently implementing, Teoh said that Oasis Swiss will start expanding its current customer base to the Malay market and added, “Our products are very suitable for this market, so we will be kicking off branding efforts across Malaysia starting Mother’s Day.
Its Singapore warehouse will be ready by next month, after which it will approach the market with the same business model: engaging customers on social media with influencers for branding and then recruiting women and housewives to be mobile ‘usahawan’, resellers who distribute the products.
“We are also developing more consumable products with a full range of cleaning detergents,” he said.
This was in addition to the sterling performance of the winners in the categories of Male, Female and Young Entrepreneur of the Year for both tiers.
The winner of the Par Excellence Achievement for Male Entrepreneur of the Year (Rm25mil and above annual turnover), Linaco Resources Sdn Bhd group CEO Joe Ling attributed the achievement to the group’s resilience through tough times to not only survive, but also break into new markets and strengthen its position.
He thanked the team for their combined efforts, adding, “The team behind this is also the reason for the submission to emerge at the top. It’s a whole package. Although it’s an individual award, it takes a whole organisation to move together for a particular individual to be recognised.
“Entrepreneurs are made because of the organisation behind them, the people beside them and the society around them.”
Further, Ling believed that a key differentiating factor was the culture of giving back to society, as he has a personal commitment to return at least 10% for every dollar that is made by the group to the community at large.
Linaco Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd also won platinum for the Best Innovation category under the same tier.
“We are already in progress in expanding our operations upstream. Internally, we will continue to groom successors, to prepare the leaders for our businesses as we expand locally and globally.
“The part of giving back has never been out of the equation of our business. As we grow in our business, we will also continue to grow our responsibilities in the community at large. This is forward planning for the generations to come,” he said.
Meanwhile, CTYMARY Resources Sdn Bhd CEO Siti Mariam Samad won the Par Excellence Achievement for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year (up to Rm25mil annual turnover).
CTYMARY, which owns the brands Faith Fleur and Leaf, was started by Siti Mariam and her husband Mohamad Abdul Halim Bahadorisam in 2017 and has grown exponentially since then.
Today, it has a corporate headquarters, three warehouses in Shah Alam, Kota Kinabalu and Bintulu, as well as hire more than 60 permanent employees and close to 100,000 of network agents to date.
She said, “We define business success through the growth of our business and how our business brings values and benefits to the society and people, as well as strengthening our control in this business niche.
“As a form of measurement to our business success, we are a strong believer in business financial statements; the satisfaction of existing, new and potential customers; performance reviews of both our employees and distributors and staying relevant and current on market trends, as well as realistically assessing our own expectations from time to time.”
The company’s long term plan is to explore the development of a franchise network programme and international market expansion, beginning with Singapore, Indonesia and the rest of Southeast Asia, focusing on Greater China and Central Asia as well as the Middle East.
WF Machinery and Hardware Sdn Bhd, on the other hand, emerged as the grand winner of the Rising Star category.
Its director Eva Wong shared that while light machinery remains a rather traditional industry – including the range of issues faced from the supply chain to the end user – WF Machinery and Hardware worked out a new business model that focuses on a win-winwin strategy.
“For the light machinery industry, the turnover rate for workers is very high because they can’t see a career path in this industry despite having good skills. This is the pain point we want to settle in-house, in terms of the benefits or the leadership and succession ‘family plans’ for them to see three to five years into the future,” she said.
On the customer’s end, she said that to ensure a competitive advantage over those in the same industry, the key is to focus on the added value that the company can give to its customers, instead of being involved in a competitive pricing war.
She added, “We thus offer them additional services like repair and warranty, where we also extend that warranty, for example, to add value for them. It’s to build trust and a strong relationship with the customer and help ease their issues in searching for replacement spare parts or repair services.”
The same attention to detail is paid to every link on its supply chain to optimise resources and ensure smooth cash flow.
With its third outlet in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan, Wong said that physical stores are very suitable for the industry to prevent the online price war, as customers need to experience the machinery on-the-ground.
Participating in SOBA gives great motivation to WF Machinery and Hardware, as she revealed, “Whichever industry you’re in, you have the opportunity to grow. Don’t underestimate the talent you have and awards like SOBA help give you that confidence.”
SOBA 2021 is organised by SMG with CGC, Maxis, PKT Logistics Group and RHB as main sponsors and Matrade as official trade promotion partner. Supported by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Bursa Malaysia, it is audited by BDO with 988 and Suria as official media partners.