The inspiring Keppel
men
Sunday Times, The
(Singapore)
Sunday Plus! Page 4
September 10, 2000
Author: RICKLIM
LIFE'S LESSONS
With their tales of humble beginnings, hard work, and bold
risk-taking, the tough men of Keppel Shipyard inspire equal
diligence and dedication
RECENTLY, I was asked to nominate a colleague to give a talk on
journalism to a workshop comprising junior college students.
Ordinarily, I would nominate someone who could do it without too
much fuss, and forget about it.
But this time round, I nominated myself, since I thought I was of
an age when I should be taking on more civic duties such as this
one, and not push them to my younger colleagues.
But when the organisers of the workshop finalised the date and told
me that my slot was an 8 am one, I almost wished I hadn't nominated
myself.
It meant my having to get up before 7 am, since the venue was more
than half an hour's drive from my home, and goodness, when was the
last time I had to get up at even 8 o'clock? It must have been more
than 10 years ago, when I had to attend a friend's breakfast
wedding ceremony.
I did it anyway - I hope I acquitted myself well - and only because
I reminded myself of the story the widow of Mr Chua Chor Teck
recounted to me back in 1993, when I interviewed her for a
commissioned book to mark Keppel Corporation's 25th
anniversary
...................
IF MR CHUA'S story is an inspiration, so are those of Mr Loh, who
became the MD in 1986 and retired in June last year, and of Mr Sim
Kee Boon, who was chairman of the group from 1984 till the end of
last year, when he too retired.
....................
When Mr Sim was appointed executive chairman Keppel in 1984, he was
55, and had already put in 30 years of illustrious service in the
public sector. Keppel had fallen into a hole then, as he described
it, its cash purchase of Straits Steamship in 1983 saddling it with
a debt of nearly $845 million. His job was "to get it out of the
hole".
As if that wasn't bad enough, the shipbuilding and ship-repair
business during that period was pronounced a sunset industry by the
pundits, and in 1985, after its study of the two shipyards, the
American management consulting firm McKinsey & Co proposed that
Keppel and Sembawang be merged.
The study, commissioned by the two yards, was believed to have cost
$1 million. But Mr Sim didn't think a merger was necessary. He
rejected the "expert" proposal, which led to the Wall Street
Journal and The Economist anticipating blood on the floor.
Yet by the end of 1986, he had turned Keppel around coolly. And he
never had to look back - over the next decade, he grew it into a
Singapore flagship company. During all that time, he was also the
man behind Changi airport, as chairman of the Civil Aviation
Authority.
I took away from my one interview with Mr Sim this invaluable
lesson in management: He said: "I give my managers far more
direction and power than a lot of other people. I don't see them
for days, even weeks. I don't keep them on a leash ...
"My philosophy is this: This is your job, you do it. If you can't
do it, I'll take it back. If you can, I'll give you more. If you
have any major problem, let me know."
I thought about these tough men when I visited the showflats for
the new Keppel showcase which is coming up in the place of the old
shipyard. An era has passed.
* Richard Lim's website is at http://LimRichard.tripod.com
Copyright, 2000, 2004, Singapore Press Holdings Limited
