ENGAGING SESSION: Mr Philemon Soon, an entrepreneur and a former journalist, conducting his talk titled, ‘Turnaround Entrepreneurship’ for UCSI students.

ENGAGING SESSION: Mr Philemon Soon, an entrepreneur and a former journalist, conducting his talk titled, ‘Turnaround Entrepreneurship’ for UCSI students.

TOTAL FOCUS: Participants paying close attention to the recent talk titled, ‘Turnaround Entrepreneurship’ conducted by Mr Philemon Soon, an entrepreneur and a former journalist.

KUALA LUMPUR: UCSI University’s Department of Management Studies – under the Faculty of Business and Information Science (FoBIS) – recently organised a talk titled, ‘Turnaround Entrepreneurship’ on March 19, which is in line with the department’s drive to promote the entrepreneurial spirit among students. 

Attended by more than 110 students from various programmes at the University – mostly from FoBIS – the talk was delivered by Mr Philemon Soon, an entrepreneur and a former journalist, who shared an insightful case study with the students in the University’s Year 3 ‘Entrepreneurship’ class. 

Interestingly, the case study focused on how an enterprising entrepreneur turned an ailing express carrier company into one of the most dynamic express carrier company in Malaysia: GD Express Sdn Bhd (GDEX). 

GDEX, a local express delivery company started its operations in 1997 and it was expected to be a significant industry player. However, in 1999, the company seemed to face a bleak future in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis, with the possibility of bankruptcy on its tail. 

In late 1999, Teong Teck Lean saw the opportunity to bring the company out of the dark. With absolutely no experience in running such a business, Teong bought the company and today, after 13 years, Teong has turned GDEX around and taken it to greater heights. Since its 2005 listing on Bursa Malaysia, GDEX has recorded an amazing Compounded Average Growth Rate of 26% per annum over an eight-year period. 

It was a truly inspiring story of a man who braved various challenges to turn an almost-bankrupt company into a successful one and Mr Soon told the tale well. 

The talk ended with a Q&A session and the students took the opportunity to pose questions to Mr Soon, seeking his views and insight on the case. 

It is worthy to mention that the event ended on a high note, leaving many of its participants inspired to pursue excellence even in the face of difficult challenges and setbacks.