For the young aspiring businessperson, Dr Peggy Wong has a simple formula, which she calls the “5 F’s”. They are: Faith, Family, Finances, Fitness and Friends.
Her Keray Group of Companies is today involved in investment portfolios besides developing a strong presence in the fields of information technology and communications.
“My five F’s are like the five poles that hold a tent together,” says Wong, who is widely known to her social and business circle as a corporate matchmaker and a visionary philanthropist. Despite being very successful together with her husband Foo Kong running the Keray Group of Companies, Wong’s formula is something she wants to share with everyone.
She begins her list with the word Faith. “One must have faith in God. It is this that will put all the other things into the right perspectives,” she explains. “Without faith in a living God, everything will just go haywire. This is pivotal in my life, very much like the central pole that holds a tent together.”
In her series of little books, “Life’s Little Secrets” she wrote: “We enter into this world with nothing and we will leave this world with nothing too.” Life is but a mist, come today, gone tomorrow. Let us do whatever good we can, while we are on earth. Since four years ago, she has always given priority to her time spent with God.
After Faith, the other four `F’s are equally important, like the four poles that hold the tent together. A firm believer in the family unit, Wong places her Family, which consists of her husband and two sons, as a single highest priority in life.
“You can be very successful, but if at the end of the day, your family is not with you, what is there left for you?” she asks. “When you are down and out, it is your family who stands by you. So, never ever neglect your family when you are climbing up the ladder of success.”
The third F is Finances. A very downright person who would not mind speaking her mind, Wong say, “Love cannot live on air and water. At the end of the day, every family has to learn to manage their finances. Many marriages have unfortunately ended up with divorces when financial crises hit the couple. Be content with what you have and thank God for the blessings.”
On finances, Wong’s advice to the young entrepreneurs: “Contentment is priceless. Are you rich? There is always someone who is richer than you. Are you poor? There is someone who is poorer than you are.”
Adding to the list is Fitness. “When you are financially strong, without good health, life can be very miserable. Therefore, I have always added Fitness as my priority,” she says. “I do exercises to keep myself healthy and learn to eat right. This itself is very challenging with all the good food available in Malaysia.”
It’s sad for her to see many of her very successful friends who die young because of they neglected their health. “Otherwise, they could have enjoyed their family, their health and wealth,” she adds.
A socialite, who now believes in matching corporate philanthropists with the needy in our midst, Wong says her circle of friends have always been very generous towards the urban poor. Together with her friends, they have raised millions of Ringgit for charitable organisations like the WWF, Kosovo Victims, JE Victims, the Tsunami Charity Fund, Asrama Cahaya and Rumah Hope, where she sits in the board as its Vice-Chairman as well as Chairman of the Rumah Hope Education Fund. She is also the Charter President of Kiwanis Club of Bukit Bandaraya.
“When you are very successful in business, everyone wants to become your friends. When you are down and out, that is when you will find out who your true friends are. We have to learn to value true friendships. True friends are people who will tell you the truth, without fear or favour, and are with you during difficult times.”
That’s why she has added the fifth `F’ – Friendship – to her formula for success. Her strong desire to help herself and her friends has motivated her to recently start a special support group for ladies. “We want to maximize and integrate God-given talents among ourselves,” she explains. “We want to encourage ourselves to reach out to other women in need of support.”
Tatler, in its 2005 list of successful entrepreneurs, aptly describes her: “When we think of a role model for the next generation of women, the name Peggy Wong comes readily to mind as she has exhibited flair and balanced corporate life with charitable causes for over 20 years. Charity is second to her nature, it’s almost like breathing.”
It is traced back to her grandparents. “For me, charity has always been very close to my heart,” she says. “My grandfather used to dispense medications to Chinese immigrants free of charge and my father, Chan Chee Kheong was always helping the poor people in Ipoh. He was the moving force behind many Chinese schools in Perak. I had very good role models.”
She feels that she is well placed among the rich and famous for a good reason, which she puts in her own words: “To draw out the noble hearts of successful businesspeople and socialites and encourage them to be philanthropists with a beautiful heart of compassion and love.”
It takes someone who is a visionary philanthropist as Peggy Wong to create a spark that sets off a of firecrackers to celebrate the restored dignity of those who are otherwise deprived of the better things in life.
“It is not just about me doing my bit; it’s about creating a momentum when we join forces to contribute back to society, especially the underprivileged children and single parents.”
Today, she is delving very much into emotional healings of the abandoned, abused and neglected children. “This is the one major reason why many of them do not do well in their studies,” she said. “There is a lot of work that needs to be done to help them heal emotionally.”
She did not earn her honorary doctorate from the University of Honolulu (affiliate of UNESCO) for nothing. It is the University’s recognition for her 20 over years of involvement in charitable work and her business acumen in corporate re-engineering, a skill that not many people possess. Yet, she is finding her own five F’s a constant challenge. She smiles: “I am still struggling to keep them in perfect balance. Without it, success in business is meaningless!”
END
Monday, May 28, 2007
DAVID ONG OF REAPFIELD PROPERTIES
The business success that real estate businessman, David Ong Thian Choy, 49, has achieved is an inspiration to many who believe in second chances.
His introduction to the real estate business was when he first sold a house belonging to a neighbour in Jalan Limau Manis, Bangsar, back in 1983. The house was sold for RM135,000 and he earned a handsome sum of RM2,700.
“It was such a great feeling. It was the start of a new journey in my life,” he recalls. “That was the same year I married my wife, Serene Lock. As I reflected back, my life has taken on a 180 degree turn.”
Today, Reapfield Properties’ nine offices in the Klang Valley is a beehive of activities for 250 real estate negotiators working with him. Most of his time now is devoted to training and building a strong team of real estate negotiators who want to succeed in life.
Ong’s story is one that is unusual – perhaps, one in a hundred thousand.
He was a dadah addict. His career in his early days was unimpressive. Who would imagine a social outcast could today live in a home in Bandar Utama, and enjoying good family life with his lovely wife and three teenage girls?
Ong’s real estate business has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 20 years. The business had gone through two cycles of recession, and is today, one of the fastest growing real estate companies in the country.
It shows that, whatever state of condition one may find himself in, there is always second chances for success. It takes a little determination and perseverance in life, and, in the words of Ong himself, “the blessings of God from above.”
Last year’s real estate sales value turnover for his company had exceeded RM700 million, and he is going for the next undisclosed target, which he believes, together with his powerful team of negotiators, Reapfield Properties is set to achieve.
Most of the Reapfield offices in the Klang Valley are focused in the Residential Secondary Market. The Reapfield Group is also affiliated with NAI, which is a global real estate service provider with more than 270 offices covering 340 markets in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Asia Pacific. We are associated with Reapfield Property Singapore in marketing foreign properties mainly in Australia and New Zealand.
Wife, Serene Lock assists him in managing the finances of the business as the finance controller, where they operate out of their headquarters in Damansara Perdana.
His education is traced back to Methodist Boys’ School in Kuala Lumpur, where unfortunately, Ong’s education had to stop short when he failed his Lower Certificate of Education (LCE, equivalent to PMR today).
“I went on to Methodist Afternoon School, passed my LCE examination, and went on to Form Five to do my Malaysia Certificate of Education (MCE, equivalent to SPM) at Sekolah Menengah Kampung Kerinchi. I only passed two subjects in my MCE, that is, English and Geography,” he said. “Then, I went to work as a clerk in a brick works factory for one or two months.”
The rest was history. He left the bricks factory to join United Engineers as an apprentice fitter for a short stint of six months, and another few months in different companies.
The family moved to Bangsar. Due to peer pressure back in 1973, he started smoking cigarettes, which gradually led him to take ganja and heroin.
By then, he was spending between RM20 to RM50 a day, and before long, he found himself shoplifting, stealing and borrowing money to support his habit. When his parents discovered that he was on drugs, they tried many different methods to get him out of his dependence on drugs.
“I was taken to a private clinic, then referred to the General Hospital for detoxification. I also went to see a psychiatrist, a bomoh and finally a private rehabilitation center run by an ex-gangster chief in Batu Maung in Penang. They beat people up the moment the dadah addicts replapse to instill fear to keep them from drugs. The fear method did not work.”
The psychiatrist advised me to change my environment. “I went down to Singapore a second time, and stayed with my relatives. It was there that my mother through a church leader organized a group of friends, who were ex-Changi prisoners, whose lives had been transformed. I had an encounter with God at the meeting.”
He was later introduced to Joe’s Corner in Section 11 Petaling Jaya, where he spent two years in a drug rehabilitation regime. “It was effective. Once every fortnight, we would sit down together in the `Light Group’, where we would open up ourselves to one another, speaking the truth in love, correcting one another and helping to renew our mind.”
Gradually, his rebellious heart softened towards his God, and together with fifteen others in the rehabilitation center, they graduated. “Even after we completed our rehabilitation process, I had to live under the care of a pastor, who would gather us together and provide counseling. The whole process helped us transit back to society and to our family and loved ones.”
He decided to try sales. “The earnings from my car trade was five or six times more than the salary I was earning as a clerk,” he said. “Later, I started selling forklifts for another one or two years.”
It wasn’t until 1984, when he started Reapfield in a small office in SS2 Petaling Jaya. “The recession hit, and I was forced to close the office,” he said. “Times were bad, but my spirit never dampened. I still believe in the real estate business.”
In 1987, he joined a partnership known as PTL Realty. When it was time to part, Ong decided to reactivate his own company in 1989. Since then, the property market has been great, until the financial crisis hit in 1997/98. “All housing loans for property above RM150,000 were frozen and interest rates skyrocketed. Property did not pick up again until 2000,” he said.
Having weathered through two recessions, what is Ong’s advice for other businessmen and women? “Don’t get into debts. Be as debt-free as possible. When we are hit, we will not be so badly shaken.”
And, most importantly, referring to his company mission statement, he places great emphasis on divine help. “This is why I have built Reapfield Properties with the mission `to honour God by providing real estate services of the highest standards through equipping and developing our people’,” he said.
END.
His introduction to the real estate business was when he first sold a house belonging to a neighbour in Jalan Limau Manis, Bangsar, back in 1983. The house was sold for RM135,000 and he earned a handsome sum of RM2,700.
“It was such a great feeling. It was the start of a new journey in my life,” he recalls. “That was the same year I married my wife, Serene Lock. As I reflected back, my life has taken on a 180 degree turn.”
Today, Reapfield Properties’ nine offices in the Klang Valley is a beehive of activities for 250 real estate negotiators working with him. Most of his time now is devoted to training and building a strong team of real estate negotiators who want to succeed in life.
Ong’s story is one that is unusual – perhaps, one in a hundred thousand.
He was a dadah addict. His career in his early days was unimpressive. Who would imagine a social outcast could today live in a home in Bandar Utama, and enjoying good family life with his lovely wife and three teenage girls?
Ong’s real estate business has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 20 years. The business had gone through two cycles of recession, and is today, one of the fastest growing real estate companies in the country.
It shows that, whatever state of condition one may find himself in, there is always second chances for success. It takes a little determination and perseverance in life, and, in the words of Ong himself, “the blessings of God from above.”
Last year’s real estate sales value turnover for his company had exceeded RM700 million, and he is going for the next undisclosed target, which he believes, together with his powerful team of negotiators, Reapfield Properties is set to achieve.
Most of the Reapfield offices in the Klang Valley are focused in the Residential Secondary Market. The Reapfield Group is also affiliated with NAI, which is a global real estate service provider with more than 270 offices covering 340 markets in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Asia Pacific. We are associated with Reapfield Property Singapore in marketing foreign properties mainly in Australia and New Zealand.
Wife, Serene Lock assists him in managing the finances of the business as the finance controller, where they operate out of their headquarters in Damansara Perdana.
His education is traced back to Methodist Boys’ School in Kuala Lumpur, where unfortunately, Ong’s education had to stop short when he failed his Lower Certificate of Education (LCE, equivalent to PMR today).
“I went on to Methodist Afternoon School, passed my LCE examination, and went on to Form Five to do my Malaysia Certificate of Education (MCE, equivalent to SPM) at Sekolah Menengah Kampung Kerinchi. I only passed two subjects in my MCE, that is, English and Geography,” he said. “Then, I went to work as a clerk in a brick works factory for one or two months.”
The rest was history. He left the bricks factory to join United Engineers as an apprentice fitter for a short stint of six months, and another few months in different companies.
The family moved to Bangsar. Due to peer pressure back in 1973, he started smoking cigarettes, which gradually led him to take ganja and heroin.
By then, he was spending between RM20 to RM50 a day, and before long, he found himself shoplifting, stealing and borrowing money to support his habit. When his parents discovered that he was on drugs, they tried many different methods to get him out of his dependence on drugs.
“I was taken to a private clinic, then referred to the General Hospital for detoxification. I also went to see a psychiatrist, a bomoh and finally a private rehabilitation center run by an ex-gangster chief in Batu Maung in Penang. They beat people up the moment the dadah addicts replapse to instill fear to keep them from drugs. The fear method did not work.”
The psychiatrist advised me to change my environment. “I went down to Singapore a second time, and stayed with my relatives. It was there that my mother through a church leader organized a group of friends, who were ex-Changi prisoners, whose lives had been transformed. I had an encounter with God at the meeting.”
He was later introduced to Joe’s Corner in Section 11 Petaling Jaya, where he spent two years in a drug rehabilitation regime. “It was effective. Once every fortnight, we would sit down together in the `Light Group’, where we would open up ourselves to one another, speaking the truth in love, correcting one another and helping to renew our mind.”
Gradually, his rebellious heart softened towards his God, and together with fifteen others in the rehabilitation center, they graduated. “Even after we completed our rehabilitation process, I had to live under the care of a pastor, who would gather us together and provide counseling. The whole process helped us transit back to society and to our family and loved ones.”
He decided to try sales. “The earnings from my car trade was five or six times more than the salary I was earning as a clerk,” he said. “Later, I started selling forklifts for another one or two years.”
It wasn’t until 1984, when he started Reapfield in a small office in SS2 Petaling Jaya. “The recession hit, and I was forced to close the office,” he said. “Times were bad, but my spirit never dampened. I still believe in the real estate business.”
In 1987, he joined a partnership known as PTL Realty. When it was time to part, Ong decided to reactivate his own company in 1989. Since then, the property market has been great, until the financial crisis hit in 1997/98. “All housing loans for property above RM150,000 were frozen and interest rates skyrocketed. Property did not pick up again until 2000,” he said.
Having weathered through two recessions, what is Ong’s advice for other businessmen and women? “Don’t get into debts. Be as debt-free as possible. When we are hit, we will not be so badly shaken.”
And, most importantly, referring to his company mission statement, he places great emphasis on divine help. “This is why I have built Reapfield Properties with the mission `to honour God by providing real estate services of the highest standards through equipping and developing our people’,” he said.
END.
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