2 days ago
Life of legacy, vision, resilience
Lau sees failure as a chance to improve.
ACADEMICIAN Prof Dato Lau Siu Wai is always happy to meet up with writers, often telling people that his door is always open to like-minded people wishing to have serious conversations.
At age 95, his mind is as sharp as any young academic, able to cite everything out of his memory just like that.
I would describe our recent interview as 'an amazing experience'.
Lau definitely has a very good memory when it comes to facts and figures.
'I believe many people half his age do not have such a remarkable memory like him,' says lawyer Lily Puk, a long-time friend.
Lau and his long-time friend, Puk, at his office.
Coming a long way
When it comes to the property sector, Lau has always been associated with Miri's urban transformation in the last half-century.
'With over RM2.7 billion in development expenditure under my leadership, excluding current projects and permanent assets, and more than 15,000 residential and commercial units constructed, I can say that I have come a long, long way from the thin young man who came to the shores of Miri to work with Shell.
'I've built Merbau Garden, Piasau Garden, Hilltop Garden, Lai Pau Garden, King's Park, Piasau Shell Camp, Bintang Jaya Commercial, and currently, I am involved in the Desa Senadin mixed development,' says the founder and executive chairman of Miri Housing Development Group of Companies.
Despite having made Miri his base, Lau was actually born in 1931 in Zhaozhou, Guangdong in China.
He later received education at St Joseph's College in Hong Kong, and on July 2, 1953, he on arrived in Miri after having secured a job with Sarawak Shell Oilfield Ltd through a British firm.
'I started as a typist and later moved to the accounts department.
'In 1957, I passed the Cambridge Higher School Certificate qualification as a private candidate. I had to sit for the examination in Kuching and I was lucky that my fees and travel were sponsored by Shell.
'It was a no mean feat to actually sit for the examination in Kuching.'
After transferring to Shell's engineering department after getting his Cambridge Higher School Certificate, Lau rose to the position of second-grade foreman, but he was part of the retrenchment exercise in 1964.
Turning adversity into opportunity, he became a Shell civil engineering contractor and co-founded the Miri Private Secondary School.
It was his dream to help the less-fortunate youngsters who could not continue their studies after failing the Primary 6 entrance examination.
Certain disagreements, however, led to his departure from the school in 1967.
Pioneering Miri's property landscape
In 1966, through persistence and foresight, Lau obtained two plots of land released by Shell and began developing Merbau Garden, hailed as Miri's first major housing project.
Then this was followed by Piasau Garden – it is interesting to note that Piasau is a colloquial Malay word meaning 'coconut'.
'The oil crisis in 1973 had increased the cost of materials by 200 per cent, and there was no reliable water supply.
'Back then, I even built my own water filtration plant,' he recalled.
Having faced financial losses and the departure of shareholders, Lau courageously took sole responsibility for the company's debts.
He later completed Piasau Garden through Shell contracts, including 100 bungalows in Piasau Camp and a crude oil terminal in Labuan.
'Life is full of ups and downs, and one must never feel defeated,' says Lau.
Photo, taken in 1966, shows a younger Lau (right) with former head of state Tun Pehin Seri Abdul Taib Mahmud – then the state minister of development and forestry – in front of the Miri Secondary School.
In the late 1970s, he moved his family to Perth, Australia, and worked as a part-time immigration consultant.
It was not easy at all for him, but he never gave up.
He soon returned to Miri to develop Hilltop Garden on a shoestring budget.
'To save money, I survived on leftovers from a restaurant behind Miri Hotel.
'I would wash, boil and eat them again. People thought it was for my dogs,' he recalls.
Because of malnourishment, he once collapsed during a meeting.
A good friend took him to a clinic and he soon recovered.
'I vowed to never be undernourished again. I have been taking great care of my health since.'
Resilience paid off when he won a tender for Shell's land drilling work in Pasir 3, which provided the capital to complete Hilltop Garden by 1985.
In 1987, Lau tried his hands at a sheepskin tannery venture in Bangkok, Thailand, only to be voted out two years later.
Setbacks never deterred him. Returning to Miri from Bangkok in 1990, he transformed the old Miri Private Secondary School site into Bintang Jaya Commercial Centre, later expanding to Bintang Megamall and Meritz Hotel.
Today, Bintang Megamall is still a leading and popular commercial establishment in Miri.
Lau's latest flagship is Desa Senadin — a massive residential and commercial development with 30,000 units already built, and 1,200 units on-going.
Education as a cornerstone
Lau has always been very passionate about education.
'Education is my foundation.
'It's what built my career and my ideals.
'I studied hard in Hong Kong.
'I passed my Cambridge examination, and I established a school for dropouts to give them a second chance in life.
'And when I saw a chance to get a university started in Miri, I seized the opportunity like a mad man!'
In 1998, Lau met Curtin University vice-chancellor Prof Lance Twomey in Perth, proposing a branch campus in Miri.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in May 1998, set on establishing the Malaysian campus for Curtin University in Miri.
He also contributed to the establishment of Tenby International School in 2012 and was involved in founding Pei Min Middle School and Riam Road Secondary School in Miri.
Besides giving others a chance to pursue education, Lau himself went on to make his own academic advancements.
Lau has PhDs in engineering technology, business administration and project management from InterAmerican University, and two honorary doctorates from Hanshan Normal University in China and three.
He is regularly invited to present lectures around the world, and has represented Malaysia in business forums in South Korea and Singapore.
Lau shows his book, 'The Man With Iron Will', published in 2020.
Family man
Lau is blessed with four sons, four daughters, 19 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
However, he lives on his own.
'Living alone doesn't mean being lonely,' he says.
'It means enjoying peace and reflection.'
His sons now manage the group's operations in Miri.
'They're good boys. I'm quite happy with their performance. I'm semi-retired now,' he smiles.
Asked about the secret to his longevity and success, he simply says: 'Be content, stay happy, and value your friends.
'In business, self-discipline, confidence and contentment matter the most.
'Never be greedy.'
On the future of Miri, Lau sees it as a unique city.
'Miri has an immense potential of becoming a hub for tourism, commerce and education, but tourism still plays a very important role in its economy.'
Lau also advocates a life of charity.
Over the years, he has contributed greatly to the betterment of the community, having reached out to and helped many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Miri Palliative Association.
Photo from Lau's album shows him receiving a letter seeking for sponsorship for the 'Run For Love' event from Miri Palliative Association treasurer Richard Wong, with other association members (from left) Margaret Wong, Veronica Wong and Catherine Goh looking on.
'Hospitals generally do not have a specific palliative ward and so, I am glad that the Miri Palliative Association provides services like wheelchairs, hospital beds and nursing care to the cancer patients.'
As a strong advocate for education, Lau always welcomes former teachers who come to visit Miri.
He recently hosted Lo Syn Jyn, who was a teacher of a Chung Hua School in the 1950s, where they had a luncheon with friends and former colleagues.
Lau (seated, centre) and Lo, on his right, during a luncheon with other teachers and friends in Miri.
On his life in Miri, Lau stresses the importance of never giving up.
'I've been living in Miri for 72 years.
'I failed in business three times, but I never gave up.
'To me, failure is just a chance to improve.
'The word 'impossible' is never in my dictionary. I owe my survival to faith, perseverance, and also those who always stand by me.
'I still surround myself with writers, people with good minds, and people from all walks of life.'
Lau presents a signed copy of his book, 'The Man With Iron Will' to journalist George Francis Bennet.
