Chiau Haw Choon turned his back on a life of crime to build a brighter future for Malaysia. He tells his story to Generation T
In the showroom of 8th & Stellar, the newest Kuala Lumpur development of Malaysia’s Chin Hin Group, Generation T honouree Chiau Haw Choon recalls his latest adventure, the demanding climb to the Base Camp of Mount Everest.
Despite regularly working out and having run a number of marathons, the young group managing director, the youngest of a publicly listed Malaysian company, struggled to reach his target. “I thought it was just a normal mountain trek, but halfway through it struck me,” he says. “The oxygen was half of what we have normally, my heartbeat went from 60 per minute to 120… I was having altitude sickness.”
But his determination, and the company flag he was carrying, drove him on to success. “That experience made me believe that anything is possible—you just need to work on it step by step and eventually you’ll get there,” says the 34-year-old, adding that keeping himself in shape for such feats helps him run his business, Malaysia’s only building materials conglomerate, through which he is responsible for 1,400 employees.
“I didn’t expect to take over the family business… The only experience I had was being part of a gang”