Chapter 22 Chapter 12 Entrepreneur and Educator Lee Kong Chian

Lee Kong Chian was born in Nan'an County, Fujian Province in 1893.His father, Li Guozhuan, started small businesses in Xiamen and Singapore.The young Lee Kong Chian was enlightened in a private school in his hometown. He came to Singapore at the age of 10, where he studied English and mathematics at the Anglo-Indian School, and went to Yangzheng School to learn Chinese on weekends. In 1907, the Qing government established Jinan School (the predecessor of Jinan University) in Nanjing to recruit overseas Chinese students from Southeast Asia.Due to his outstanding academic performance, Lee Kong Chian was sent to Jinan Academy in 1909 by the chairman of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.After graduating from Jinan Academy, he successively went to Beijing Tsinghua Academy (preparatory course) and Tangshan Road and Mine Specialized Academy for further studies. Returned to Singapore in 1912.When he went abroad this time, he was alone and had no relatives. His father had already returned to China.He first served as a teacher in Huaqiao Primary School and concurrently worked as a telecommunications translator for "La Pao". Later, he was admitted to a surveying college, and at the same time he was studying a civil engineering correspondence course at a certain university in the United States. After studying hard for more than 10 years, Lee Kong Chian became an intellectual who was not only influenced by Chinese culture, but also immersed in modern Western cultural and scientific knowledge, fluent in both Chinese and English, and had a relatively broad vision.But he failed to complete his studies as he wished. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Lee Kong Chian had no choice but to drop out of school and start a business because of the pressure of life. In 1916, in order to expand the European and American international markets, Tan Kah Kee recruited the young Li Guangqian to his account to handle Chinese and English letters and foreign liaison work.Tan Kah Kee appreciated Lee Kong Chian's talent and knowledge very much, not only appointed him as a department manager, but also married his eldest daughter to him.In Tan Kah Kee's company, Lee Kong Chian made a lot of contributions. At the same time, he also learned a lot of rubber management knowledge from his old father-in-law and established various business contacts.He has been influenced by his ears and eyes, and he is also influenced and nurtured by Tan Kah Kee in terms of words and deeds.All in all, Lee Kong Chian will benefit from the experience he has accumulated in Tan Kah Kee's company for 11 years.Lee Kong Chian will never forget Tan Kah Kee's kindness throughout his life. Even when the old man's career suffered a huge setback, he would not change his original intention.

In 1927, Lee Kong Chian started to operate independently.He first established a workshop-style rubber smoking room with sole proprietorship, and then established Nanyi Rubber Co., Ltd.Under his presidency, the business continued to grow.He not only operates traditional rubber and pineapple planting and processing industries, but also gets involved in the financial world, and is one of the shareholders of the famous Overseas Chinese Bank. In 1939 he was elected president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.By the eve of World War II, Lee Kong Chian was already a well-known industrialist, banker and overseas Chinese leader both at home and abroad.Since the 1930s, due to various reasons, Tan Kah Kee's business encountered many difficulties and officially closed in 1934. Lee Kong Chian continued to support Tan Kah Kee's patriotic and educational cause.

When the Pacific War broke out, Lee Kong Chian happened to be in Washington DC to attend the International Rubber Conference. Due to traffic interruption, he was forced to stay in the United States.When Japan occupied Southeast Asia, because he actively resisted Japan and saved the country before the war, his property was listed as "enemy property" and all his properties were confiscated.After the war, Lee Kong Chian returned to Singapore and Malaysia after the catastrophe, and served as a member of the Singapore Advisory Committee. While assisting in the reconstruction of Singapore, he also started to restore the rubber industry.At this time, Lee Kong Chian was just in his early 50s, and he was in his prime; his son in the United States returned from school and devoted himself to the business of Nanyi Company.Soon, the Korean War broke out, and the rubber industry as a strategic material was booming.In addition to the rubber industry, Lee Kong Chian also actively invested in other fields, gradually enabling the business to embark on a diversified group road. When Lee Kong Chian retired in 1954, his three sons, Cheng Yee, Cheng Zhi, and Cheng Wei, were in charge of the business of the Nam Aik Group, and the external activities were represented by the third son, Li Chengwei.By the time of his death in 1967, Nanyi Group had owned 26 companies, distributed in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Europe and the United States, operating rubber, food, planting, shipping, commerce, engineering, wood, printing and other industries.The main enterprises are Nanyi Group and Overseas Chinese Bank.The Lee family is estimated to be worth more than $1.6 billion.

What is the reason for Lee Kong Chian's great success in his career?The first is opportunity.Although Lee Kong Chian's business empire also experienced setbacks, on the whole, he laid the foundation before the war and seized the development opportunities after World War II.But more importantly, he has his own way of business management and has absorbed many advantages of Tan Kah Kee's company management.The son, who has received a modern Western education, also plays an important role in the management of Li's business, and the three daughters also hold shares in the business.Like Tan Kah Kee, Lee Kong Chian was just, honest and thrifty in his dealings, seeking the interests of the society and the country.He is a firm believer in Confucianism, applying Confucian ethics to enterprise personnel management, emphasizing the harmony of interpersonal relationships, caring about the suffering and promotion of employees, and forming a joint force and centripetal force of a big family in the enterprise.He was an entrepreneur with the highest level of culture and education in that era. He was proficient in Chinese and English. He often traveled to Europe and the United States, so he was also exposed to many modern corporate management methods of Western capitalism.Some scholars said that he promoted the enterprise management method of "combining Chinese and Western".For example, while adhering to the family ownership of the business, he also separated ownership from management, forming a family business management law based on the rule of law.The highest decision-making body of Nanyi Group is the board of directors of the headquarters. He and his three sons are all directors and are fully responsible for the business decisions of the entire group. However, they do not participate in the management and execution of the company. Professional managers are hired to take charge of these.When selecting these management and executive level cadres, they will fully consider the factors of family and friendship. Therefore, among the employees of Nanyi, overseas Chinese from southern Fujian account for the majority, but the primary conditions are still professional knowledge and conduct.Members of the Li family are shareholders of the company, and they can distribute dividends according to regulations at the end of the year, but no one has the right to embezzle public funds of the company.In this way, the top decision-makers are maintained by family ties, there is no conflict of interest, and everyone takes the development of the enterprise as their own responsibility.Professional managers perform their duties and do their best.In short, the basis of the Nanyi Group's management system is the rule of law, which effectively prevents some common problems of overseas Chinese companies, such as nepotism, favoritism, connivance, and abuse of power.At the same time, guided by Confucian ethics, it emphasizes loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, justice, forgiveness, respect and honesty, and emphasizes family affection and harmony in interpersonal relationships.So when he retired in 1954, the corporate baton was passed on in an orderly fashion.Lee Kong Chian established various welfare systems in the enterprise, used computers very early, and was a successful entrepreneur.He not only created a diversified multinational enterprise group that is still full of vitality, but also established a successful management model for the development of overseas Chinese family businesses.