Lim Goh Tong
[2] Born in 1918 in Anxi, a mountainous county in southeastern Fujian province, China, Lim Goh Tong was the fifth child in his family.
When the Japanese Occupation ended, there was an urgent demand for heavy machinery for resumed operations in mines and rubber plantations.
[5] While dealing in heavy machinery, Lim accumulated a wide range of reconditioned machines as well as a substantial amount of cash to move into construction and related industries.
In the name of his family construction company, Kien Huat Private Limited, Lim began taking on several contracting jobs with help and guidance from his uncles.
Kien Huat won accolades and became recognised as one of the leading construction companies, building the Ayer Itam Dam[6] and the Kemubu Irrigation Scheme.
As he was enjoying the soothing cool breeze of Cameron Highlands, an idea struck him that as the standard of living rose steadily in Malaysia, more and more people would visit mountain resorts for relaxation and recreation, but Cameron Highlands was too far away from the capital city Kuala Lumpur, therefore building a mountain resort nearer to Kuala Lumpur would have great business potential.
[8] After doing some research, Lim found Gunung (mountain in Malay) Ulu Kali at a place called Genting Sempah to be an ideal location for his plan.
He formed an expedition and explored the place, collecting a wealth of data on the topography, drainage, soil conditions and other relevant aspects of the region, which proved to be very useful in drawing up plans for developing the resort.
Among the problems were building the access road towards the hilltop, water and electricity supplies, sewerage system and fire safety.
[8] Lim managed to obtain a pioneer status for Genting Highlands and tax incentives despite its resort development not qualifying for it.
[8] In the next 30 years, Lim continued to develop and expand Genting Highlands beyond its original idea of a hotel with basic tourist facilities to an integrated resort.
[9] In 1993, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, a township was developed on an 81-hectare piece of land around the site of the Genting Skyway cable car station.
In the book, he wrote about his early life, how he started off with nothing to building a world-class casino resort through hard work and perseverance confounding sceptics, and the people he acknowledges.
More than 20,000 people, including royalty, Asia's rich and famous, politicians, friends, business allies and members of the public paid tribute to Goh Tong in their own ways.
Asia's second-richest man, Li Ka Shing (He is now first), sent a personal condolence note to the bereaved family, offering words that perhaps best captured the essence of who Goh Tong was.
"Genting is really a story of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, a story of success that is quite unprecedented even in Malaysia, where many people have met with a great deal of success" - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his speech during the Genting 25th Anniversary Celebrations on August 11, 1990 "Tan Sri Lim's ingenuity, single-mindedness and dauntless courage in meeting challenges have enabled him to rise from humble beginning to great heights of attainment" - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his foreword in Lim's autobiography "My Story published in 2004 "From harvesting lettuce and maple syrup, we have now become the most profitable resorts in the world.
– Tan Sri Dr Ng Lay Swee, president and chief executive officer of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.
