Robert Kuok relates to us one episode of his experiences in running MISC, extracts (from Malaysiakini) as follows:
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"Meanwhile, the ugly head of racism was rising in Malaysia. Razak died in early 1976 in London, and Hussein Onn became prime minister. The Malaysian government requested that a man called Datuk Saffian sits on the MISC board.
"Saffian was virtually head of the prime minister's secretariat, a young man who had both ears of the prime minister. He was an ordinary board member, but he was quite aggressive at meetings and became increasingly personal," Kuok said.
Kuok, who was MISC chairperson, said in one board meeting, Saffian targeted the company's managing director Leslie Eu, whom Kuok admitted had hastily put together the board's papers.
As the meeting became heated, Kuok said he told Saffian the latter could raise a motion to sack Eu.
"Saffian insisted that he wasn't suggesting that we get rid of the managing director. I demanded, 'Then what are you saying?'. He got up and we almost came to blows - tempers were so frayed.
"I thought to myself: 'My God, what is going to be the future of this company?' From then on, I realised how impossible it would be for me to run such a corporation.
"I felt that in future it would be very difficult to operate this business properly, as for a business to succeed there must always be unity and harmony.
"It was likely 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.
"Saffian was virtually head of the prime minister's secretariat, a young man who had both ears of the prime minister. He was an ordinary board member, but he was quite aggressive at meetings and became increasingly personal," Kuok said.
Kuok, who was MISC chairperson, said in one board meeting, Saffian targeted the company's managing director Leslie Eu, whom Kuok admitted had hastily put together the board's papers.
As the meeting became heated, Kuok said he told Saffian the latter could raise a motion to sack Eu.
"Saffian insisted that he wasn't suggesting that we get rid of the managing director. I demanded, 'Then what are you saying?'. He got up and we almost came to blows - tempers were so frayed.
"I thought to myself: 'My God, what is going to be the future of this company?' From then on, I realised how impossible it would be for me to run such a corporation.
"I felt that in future it would be very difficult to operate this business properly, as for a business to succeed there must always be unity and harmony.
"It was likely 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.
I have personally come across such a clone of the above 'Datuk Saffian' when I was last working in KL. I was about to leave under 'friendly' conditions with a handshake and warm hug from my then-Boss plus cheers from my office mateys.
But alas, the HR bloke who was processing my departure was extremely hostile to me for no other reason than I was Chinese.
Now, how would I know that if not for the fact that he told me precisely in my face that to him, Chinese were a parasites, cheats and malingerers and should leave, nay, be kicked out from the company without any gratuities.
Needless to say, he made my departure procedures felt like hell and in that horrid process even deprived me of some due benefits. But I was so sick of him that I left quietly, glad to be FINALLY away from such a small-minded racist and his ilks.
Needless to say, he made my departure procedures felt like hell and in that horrid process even deprived me of some due benefits. But I was so sick of him that I left quietly, glad to be FINALLY away from such a small-minded racist and his ilks.
And everyone in the company, including my then-Boss, knew he was parachuted into the HR assistant manager's seat without any qualifications or proper interviews but merely because of his uncle who was a bigwig in the company.
The English word to describe the hostile (yes, hostile) arrogance of such people is 'insufferable'. Just my bad luck to meet him prior to my final departure from the company.
