Every day, we go about eating McDonald’s, drinking Starbucks and buying stuff from 7-Eleven… but have you really stopped to think about how these stores first came about in Malaysia? All of these (and more!) was brought to us by one famous Malaysian man, Tan Sri Vincent Tan, the founder of Berjaya Corporation Group.
While he is undoubtedly a super rich man now, did you know that he started his fortune from humble beginnings and only possessed a Form 5 education? Yes, this Malaysian billionaire who is well known in the industry came from humble beginnings as his father was a lorry driver from Batu Pahat. He shared his inspiring story during one of the many talks he gave and The Star reported it. When he first finished his secondary education, Tan decided to come out and work as a bank clerk and insurance agent for AIA, which quickly showed his determination to succeed as he was promoted to be their youngest agency manager at the tender age of 21.
However, he said that he was lucky enough to catch two big breaks in his life, which has helped him to be the successful man that he is today. The 65-year-old said, “My two big breaks were buying the McDonald’s franchise when I was 28 years old and then later getting the government to allow me to privatise Sports Toto. While I was still in the insurance line in 1973, I remember reading a TIME magazine article, ‘The Burger That Conquered The World’, one day while waiting for a client.” Tan said that he was attracted by the idea and decided to pursue this dream of opening a McDonald’s franchise in Malaysia. “After that I started sending letters to McDonald’s over and over again, till one day they invited me to the opening of the first McDonald’s in Singapore. I thought I did not stand a chance back then, but they told me ‘We have met many people, but we like you the most because you are persistent and you never gave up’,” he explained.
McDonald’s gave him 51 per cent of the stake in the company after he put in RM250,000 and the rest, as they say, is history. He was only 28 years old at that time. That’s really young, though! The billionaire philanthropist then branched out to other businesses such as real estate, casinos, entertainment, hotels, telecommunication, football and so much more. Today, the Berjaya Corporation Group founded by Tan and various other private businesses all bring in a fortune of over RM32 billion worldwide.
Here are the life lessons that Tan Sri Vincent Tan has learnt throughout his vast experience:
1. Always work hard because you never know when an opportunity will arise. If you work hard, when the opportunity comes, you will be lucky too.
2. Your company succeeds because of you. Be a master of your trade.
3. Be determined to pursue your dream(s) and don’t give up easily because there are always bound to be obstacles and discouragement along the way.
4. The key is to stay focused on our goal so that we can become successful.
5. It’s okay to encounter a few bumps in the road but it’s how you handle them that matters. Tan said he used to own DIGI and Prudential, but during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, he had to sell those two crown jewels to help build Berjaya Times Square.
6. Learn from experience as life gives you the best education but don’t forget to get a university degree too!
7. Master the English language because English is the language of commerce and business. He also credits his English proficiency in helping him get his first big break of acquiring the McDonald’s franchise. “The world is very small if we can only speak Malay and Mandarin.” However, he also said that we should proudly use Bahasa Malaysia as a sign of love for our country.
8. A hallmark of his successful business empire is making sure that he sells for the right price and to always be open to new ideas.
Tan is also a very kind and charitable man as he has donated a lot of resources to charities close to his heart, saying “I have found my purpose in life. It is to make more money and then give more than half of it away.”
Read more at WOB: http://www.worldofbuzz.com/msian-billionaire-vincent-tans-rags-riches-story-teaches-us-8-inspiring-lessons/
Dalam 13 tahun tersebut, tentu sahaja perjuangan kaedah ini menerima kritikan dan kutukan, tetapi diteruskan juga kerana kaedah ini dapat sedikit sebanyak menjelaskan banyak perkara yang dahulunya "alah dah takdir biarlah" tetapi kini "oh begitu rupanya perjalanan tu" untuk membolehkan kita membuat strategi dan ikhtiar serta pemantaun yang lebih objektif.
Maka tak hairanlah jika ada pihak yang menentang kaedah ini... namun selama 13 tahun ini tiada seorang pun yang menelefon untuk mengajak untuk berbincang secara ilmiah tentang kaedah ini. Yang ada berterusan adalah kata2 atau teks2 serangan di laman media sosial.
Ruangan ini bukan untuk menegakkan kebenaran atau menghalalkan kaedah ini tetapi untuk kita renung dan fikir semula tentang apa yang kita menentang sangat tu.
Kaedah pernomboran yang memaparkan pola-pola angka dianggap sebagai "metafizik" kerana angka dikaitkan dengan fenomena, tetapi diikhtiarkan untuk dibentuk secara sains moden dalam perihal pemerhatian statistik (statistical observation).
Ramai orang menggunakan sepatah dari satu hadis Nabi saw yang panjang yang melarang berjumpa tukang tilik, tetapi mereka tidak melihat sejarah hadis itu sendiri yang mana Nabi saw menegur Aishah ra yang terserempak dengan tukang tilik dan menceritakan perihal itu kepada Nabi saw. Pada zaman tersebut, tukang tilik menggunakan pelbagai cara "bukan kiraan" seperti melihat nasib orang dalam air dsbnya. Dengan kata lain, membuat ramalan berdasarkan cara "bukan kiraan" seperti ilham, firasat, gerak hati yang terdedah dengan bisikan makhluk halus atau yang tiada asas objektif boleh menyebabkan mudarat. Ramalan zaman sekarang menggunakan data dan analisis bagi menzahirkan secara objektif dan dapat dibuat pengulangan kajian (repeatibility dan reproducibility).
Seperti biasa, sains itu membosankan jadi individu seperti Dato Eddy yang ada latar belakang sains (Sekolah Menengah Sains dan jurusan Biologi, Syracuse University, New York) kurang mendapat sambutan orang ramai untuk mendapatkan bahan ilmiah tentang metafizik. Kami mengikut cara mazhab Imam Syafie yang menyatakan bahawa segala sesuatu bermula dengan harus dan ianya menjadi haram jika ada unsur haram di dalamnya, maka kaedah metafizik pernomboran adalah sebentuk kajian sains yang dipelajari secara harus seperti fizik dan kimia. Jika pelajar kimia yang belajar tentang bom kimia dan buat bom kimia bunuh orang maka pelajaran kimia itu boleh haram. Kaedah pernomboran digunakan sebagai satu panduan untuk membuat pembaikian dalam perjalanan hidup. Setakat ini belum pernah dengar kaedah pernomboran digunakan untuk penyembahan jin atau untuk membunuh orang.. kalau ada pun nanti, itu bukan kami kerana kami lebih berminat untuk strategi kekayaan bisnes, pelaburan, kewangan dan kerjaya.
Namun, Dato Eddy telah di"banned" oleh Majlis Agama Brunei kerana mereka mengatakan bahawa Dato Eddy tiada kelayakan agama untuk membuat program Islamik seperti pegawai2 mereka lulusan Universiti Al Azhar Mesir. Sebenarnya kaedah metafizik bukanlah program Islamik seperti juga mana ada Fizik Islamik atau Kimia Islamik... dan mana2 agama boleh menggunakan metafizik tetapi Dato Eddy selitkan unsur Islamik di sini memandangkan diri sendiri dan ramai peminat kaedah ini adalah orang Islam. Takkanlah nak doa makan "allahuma bariklana" pun tak boleh dalam program metafizik sebab tak ada lulusan Al Azhar. Apabila Dato Eddy memperkenalkan konsep "western" metafizik yang menggunakan kaedah metafizik Dunia Barat, ramai pula condemn mengatakan khurafat. Tapi, kaedah metafizik adalah sains kajian bukannya dibuat untuk islamik.
Apa2pun perbincangan, teguran dan nasihat secara ilmiah adalah dialu-alukan, silalah hubungi terus. Usahlah terus condemn orang yang cuba mencari jawapan dalam kehidupan secara metafizik kerana diri sendiri tak rasa situasi perit maka mudah sahaja menghukum orang lain. Memang benar apa2pun Dia yang telah menentukan dan mengizinkan segala sesuatu, tetapi takkanlah bisnes rugi kita biar je, kita nak juga ikhtiar buat sesuatu sekurangnya kita dah ikhtiar dan minta izin Nya.