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Tan Sri Dato Seri Lee Loy Seng
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Subject :Tan Sri Dato Seri Lee Loy Seng
Published By : None
Location : Ipoh, Perak
Estimated Year : 1985
Media Type : Photograph
Source : The Perak Community Specialist Hospital Centenary Book
Remark : Tan Sri Dato Seri Lee Loy Seng was born in Menglembu on 22 August 1921, the elder of twins in a family of tin miners. He received his early education at Yuk Choy Chinese School (Ipoh), transferred to SMI and graduated from the Senior Class in 1946 and then went to China at the age of sixteen to continue his education at a university there. When China was attacked by the Japanese, he returned to Malaya. He and his family members moved to Cameron Highlands during the Japanese Occupation and planted vegetables to support themselves. He returned to Ipoh and resumed his studies at St. Michael’s Institution after World War II. He was the oldest student in his class, aged twenty four, and completed his Senior Cambridge examination there. However, he was persuaded by his family not to further his studies of medicine in Sydney as he should instead help out his family's tin mining business.
The Lee family bought over the Kampar Rubber and Tin Co. with the purpose of converting their rubber estate into a tin mining land as the family was running out of mining land reserves. However, he was forced to learn about rubber plantations as the land contained a scarce amount of tin upon prospecting. Hence, he turned to the rubber plantation business strategically as tin-rich mining lands becoming less. He bought over the Parit Perak Rubber Co. Ltd., a company with 1,100 acres of rubber estate for $300,000 during the Emergency as the British planters were terrorised by the Communists, thus making the plantation companies generally undervalued. The Parit Perak Rubber Co. Ltd. went on to take over Glenealy Plantations, Batu Lintang Rubber Co., and Batu Kawan Rubber and Coconut Plantations successively. In 1967, he bought over the Duff Development and Ulu Benut Consolidated from the compensation money paid by the Penang State Government which amounted to $4,900 per acre for the 2,256 acres Pyre Estate, a subsidiary of Batu Kawan Rubber and Coconut Plantations.
After the May 13th 1969 riots, he acquired 5% of the Kuala Lumpur Kepong Amalgamated Ltd. for 60 cents per share. Then he went on buying until he gained control of the company and it became Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. During his leadership, the company diversified from rubber into the oil palm industry, and expanded its plantation land to over 150,000 hectares through acquisitions, systematically, to develop resource-based manufacturing activities. It subsequently becomes a diversified multinational company with shareholders’ funds exceeding RM 4 billion, with its headquarters in Ipoh. Besides that, he built the Wisma Taiko, one of the landmarks of Ipoh city.
Tan Sri Dato Seri Lee Loy Seng was an outstanding businessman with a common touch. He served the public as the President of the Ipoh Municipal Council in 1973 and a Senator from 1971 to 1983. He was also a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association and became the Chairman of the Multi-Purpose Holdings, the investment arm of MCA (The Malaysian Chinese Association), from its inception in 1977 until 1983. He was also well-known for his philanthropy, especially in education, and established the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Foundation to provide scholarships for needy Malaysian students to pursue their tertiary education. For his remarkable achievements to the society, he was awarded the titles of Dato Seri in 1974 and Tan Sri in 1978. Then, he was the President of Perak Chinese Maternity Hospital from 1978 to 1992, and also the benefactor of the Lucky Village Old Folks Home. Despite his exceptional success, he remained a simple man with many contributions in support of charitable activities, mostly being carried out quietly. He died in 1993 at the age of 72.
To read more about Yuk Choy Primary and Secondary Schools, Ipoh, click here.
To read more about St Michael’s Institution, click here.
To read more about The Perak Maternity Hospital / Association, click here.
The Lee family bought over the Kampar Rubber and Tin Co. with the purpose of converting their rubber estate into a tin mining land as the family was running out of mining land reserves. However, he was forced to learn about rubber plantations as the land contained a scarce amount of tin upon prospecting. Hence, he turned to the rubber plantation business strategically as tin-rich mining lands becoming less. He bought over the Parit Perak Rubber Co. Ltd., a company with 1,100 acres of rubber estate for $300,000 during the Emergency as the British planters were terrorised by the Communists, thus making the plantation companies generally undervalued. The Parit Perak Rubber Co. Ltd. went on to take over Glenealy Plantations, Batu Lintang Rubber Co., and Batu Kawan Rubber and Coconut Plantations successively. In 1967, he bought over the Duff Development and Ulu Benut Consolidated from the compensation money paid by the Penang State Government which amounted to $4,900 per acre for the 2,256 acres Pyre Estate, a subsidiary of Batu Kawan Rubber and Coconut Plantations.
After the May 13th 1969 riots, he acquired 5% of the Kuala Lumpur Kepong Amalgamated Ltd. for 60 cents per share. Then he went on buying until he gained control of the company and it became Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. During his leadership, the company diversified from rubber into the oil palm industry, and expanded its plantation land to over 150,000 hectares through acquisitions, systematically, to develop resource-based manufacturing activities. It subsequently becomes a diversified multinational company with shareholders’ funds exceeding RM 4 billion, with its headquarters in Ipoh. Besides that, he built the Wisma Taiko, one of the landmarks of Ipoh city.
Tan Sri Dato Seri Lee Loy Seng was an outstanding businessman with a common touch. He served the public as the President of the Ipoh Municipal Council in 1973 and a Senator from 1971 to 1983. He was also a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association and became the Chairman of the Multi-Purpose Holdings, the investment arm of MCA (The Malaysian Chinese Association), from its inception in 1977 until 1983. He was also well-known for his philanthropy, especially in education, and established the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Foundation to provide scholarships for needy Malaysian students to pursue their tertiary education. For his remarkable achievements to the society, he was awarded the titles of Dato Seri in 1974 and Tan Sri in 1978. Then, he was the President of Perak Chinese Maternity Hospital from 1978 to 1992, and also the benefactor of the Lucky Village Old Folks Home. Despite his exceptional success, he remained a simple man with many contributions in support of charitable activities, mostly being carried out quietly. He died in 1993 at the age of 72.
To read more about Yuk Choy Primary and Secondary Schools, Ipoh, click here.
To read more about St Michael’s Institution, click here.
To read more about The Perak Maternity Hospital / Association, click here.
Filename : 20080625-005