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� Tracy Sua
AT 72 years old, he was a declared bankrupt. But in-stead of giving up and fading into retirement, Empori-um Holdings Group boss Lim Tow Yong became amillionaire all over again at the age of 82.
And much of the thanks goes to his former em-ployees, who inspired him to carry on.
Mr Lim and his brother started the EmporiumGroup in the 1960s and saw it grow from a turnoverof $10 million in its first year to $300 million at itspeak in 1984.
Known as the Emporium Kings, the brothersspread their retail empire to Malaysia and HongKong.
But the recession of the mid-1980s saw the compa-ny crippled with debts of more than $100 million.Eventually, Emporium was bought over by a Hong
Kong firm and Mr Lim was declared bankrupt a fewyears later.
He struggled to move on. But, just as his moralereached its lowest ebb in 1996, 800 of his former em-ployees threw him a dinner party to cheer him up.
It worked, spectacularly.“I was just so touched by what they did. They
didn’t have to do it, as I hadn’t been their boss for 10years, but they did,” he said.
“It just touched my heart and I have never forgot-ten it. I’ve thought about it every day for the last 10years and I told myself that I must work harder andone day pay them back.”
To remind him, he framed pictures taken duringthat dinner and looked at them every day to strength-en his resolve.
After he was discharged from bankruptcy in 1999,he began to open stores partnering local retailers in
Sabah, Labuan and Brunei. Slowly, through sheer leg-work, he built up the business, leading teams of buy-ers to wholesale sources to hunt down supplies. Attimes, Mr Lim even carried bags of goods himself.
Together with his partners, he opened 17 stores inSabah, three in Labuan and seven in Brunei.
Now his stores in Brunei and Labuan have a tidyturnover of more than $100 million a year.
Last year, he and his partners made a modest for-tune selling 17 stores and supermarkets in Sabah for10 million ringgit (S$4.2 million).
Now, 10 years on from the dinner party his formeremployees threw for him, it was his turn to throw adinner for all of those employees.
He placed invitation advertisements in the Chi-nese language newspapers on Oct 20 and was over-whelmed when almost 1,500 came forward.
The sheer numbers forced Mr Lim to change the
dinner venue from the Qian Xi Lou restaurant inTanjong Pagar to a ballroom at the Swissotel theStamford. The date of the dinner had to be pushedback from Nov 29 to Dec 20, as the ballroom wasfully booked.
Talking about the response to the dinner invita-tion puts a smile on Mr Lim’s face, even though thewhole thing will cost him about $300,000.
His former employee, Mr Wang Ting-Min, says itwas Mr Lim’s generosity and openness towards hisstaff that forged the bond between them.
Mr Wang, 59, who spent five years at Emporiumas a market researcher and public relations manag-er between 1978 and 1983, said: “When former em-ployees see him on the street they will still greethim and call him ‘second boss’. I still call him bossafter 22 years.”
He recalls that even after Mr Lim left the compa-ny, staff would visit his home every Chinese NewYear to see him.
Ms Annie Boey, 57, who has worked for Mr Limfor the last 38 years, said: “Mr Lim had a nev-er-say-die spirit, even in times of extreme financialdifficulty. Even when some thought it was time tolet it go he would say ‘Never mind, I will still go onfighting’.”
She remembers that when Emporium was in fi-nancial difficulties, he tried to keep the jobs of themore than 3,000 staff.
Ms Boey, who still works as his secretary, saysshe has caught him many times staring at the pic-ture of that dinner 10 years ago.
Mr Lim said: “I think about that dinner everynight and every day. It touched me. It is the rela-tionship, the bonding and the strong sentimentsthat make me want to give back to them.
“That dinner is the thing that brought back somefinancial fortune for me.”
Asked if he would retire now that he has madehis second fortune, Mr Lim said: “Retirement is nota word in my vocabulary.”
� Melissa Sim
WHEN his wife of 80 years died in July, Mr Tan Sw-ee, 103, could not bear the loneliness and wouldcry every day.
Ninety-eight days later, he too died – ending thestory of what may be Singapore’s longest marriage.
Mr Tan was at home resting when he died yester-day morning at around 11.25am. He had a historyof asthma and had been hospitalised the pastweek, but was discharged on Friday after his infec-tion cleared.
It is more likely that he died of a broken heart,his granddaughter, Mrs Geannie Chan, 45, said.
“Every day after my grandma passed away, hewould look at the photograph of my grandma,touch her face, and start to cry.”
Mrs Chan also related how for days, he would in-stinctively ask, “Where’s your grandma?”, before re-alising that she was no longer with them.
“He would then hit himself until he vomited eve-rything he ate in the last meal,” she said.
The couple were inseparable when they werealive. The little things they did showed how mucheach meant to the other. When her grandma wentdown to the void deck to chat with other elderlywomen in the neighbourhood, her grandpa wouldaccompany her but would sit at another table.
After his wife passed away at the age of 98, MrTan constantly told his granddaughter about howhe missed his wife.
Said Mrs Chan: “I’m saddened by my grandpa’spassing but he’s with my grandma now. I’m happyfor them.”
THE LOVING COUPLE in a picture taken in 1991. Married for80 years, they were inseparable when they were alive.
A DREAM BOSS, Mr Lim (centre) with his long-time secretary Ms Boey and ex-employee Mr Wang. Whenhis morale was at its lowest ebb in 1996, it was his former staff who threw a party and cheered him up.
PHOTO: JESSICA LIM
Crippled by the recession of the mid-80s after building a retail empire,he started all over again in his 70s and became a millionaire once more
Lonely grandpa,103, dies of abroken heart
82-year-old comeback kidBOUNCES BACK
FROM BANKRUPTCY
thesundaytimes October 29 2006 10news
