Robert Kuok, Malaysia-born ‘Sugar King of Asia’, feted on 100th birthday

Hong Kong tycoons Li Ka-shing and Lee Shau-kee are among those who have extended warm wishes to Malaysia’s richest man on his centenary
Kuok is among a handful of Southeast Asian entrepreneurs who were tempered by the horrors of war and built businesses that evolved with newly independent nations

Malaysia

Denise TsangandBhavan Jaipragas

Published: 11:44am, 6 Oct 2023

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Robert Kuok, the Malaysian-born Hong Kong magnate renowned for his political savvy, daring and extensive connections, turned 100 on Friday feted by a regional elite in awe of his lifetime achievements.

Born in 1923 in Malaysia’s Johor state to Fujianese parents, Kuok stands among a select group of Asian entrepreneurs who, tempered by wartime horrors and colonial injustice, built businesses that evolved with the newly independent nations succeeding vast Western empires.

Hong Kong’s wealthiest man, the 95-year-old Li Ka-shing and his son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, 59, were among those congratulating Kuok on his centenary. In a message sent to the Post, the Lis said: “Happy birthday, Robert! Wish you continued good health and happiness! We treasure very much your friendship and the great times we have spent together. You have been a great friend.”

The Lees of Henderson Land Group, a leading Hong Kong developer, also extended their warm wishes. “Your visionary leadership and remarkable contributions to the industry have left an incredible mark. Here’s to a century of achievements, good health, and continued happiness,” said a message sent to the Post by the company’s 95-year-old founder Lee Shau-kee and his sons Peter Lee Ka-kit, 60, and Martin Lee Ka-shing, 52.

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Joe Tsai, chairman of the Post, which was once owned by Kuok before he sold it to the Alibaba Group in 2015, also offered the centenarian his best wishes.

“Mr Kuok has mentored me on being a good custodian of such an important Hong Kong institution as the South China Morning Post. I want to send my warmest congratulations to him on his 100th birthday,” Tsai said.

Although a Hong Kong resident since the 1970s, Kuok’s 2017 memoir revealed his enduring affection for Malaysia, despite his disdain of its preferential treatment of the majority Malays.

In 2018, after the Malay nationalist Umno party’s election defeat, Kuok accepted a position on an advisory council to the new multiracial government.

Kuok, the youngest of three sons from a prosperous family, faced challenges in his rise to corporate success. After his father’s death in 1948, his brothers and cousin took over the family’s rice distribution business.

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing (left) and Robert Kuok at the opening ceremony of the Post’s new printing plant in Tai Po. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Kuok referred to his “humiliation … at the hands of the banks” after taking over the business. “Now, if that doesn’t drive you forward in life to make as much money as possible so you can thumb your nose at those bankers, then what will?”

By the 1960s, the tycoon had diversified his business and was known as the “Sugar King of the East”. Today, Forbes estimates his wealth, spanning a region-wide property-to-logistics empire, at US$10.3 billion, making him Malaysia’s wealthiest man.

His Shangri-La Group, established in 1971, now owns, operates and manages more than 100 hotels and resorts in 78 destinations.

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Kuok’s political connections have been described as unrivalled in the Asian business world. During his brief 1941 stint at the prestigious Raffles College in Singapore, he came to know Lee Kuan Yew. Born 20 days earlier than him in the same year, Lee would later become the island’s independence leader.

Lee sought Kuok’s counsel during the early years of his 31-year stint as Singapore’s prime minister. When Lee died at age 91 in 2015, Kuok hailed him as “the greatest Chinese outside mainland China”.

His relationship with another of Southeast Asia’s political titans, the Malaysian elder statesman Mahathir Mohamad, was also one of deep mutual respect.

Robert Kuok (left) with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in Beijing. Photo: Goh Eck Kheng

Mahathir, a long-time stalwart of the Umno party that had governed Malaysia since independence, quit the group and joined former rivals to win the 2018 election on an anti-corruption platform.

Weeks after the election, Kuok met Mahathir – serving his second stint as premier after holding that position from 1981 to 2003 – in the prime minister’s office and saluted the veteran politician in front of cameras, saying: “I salute you, you’ve saved the country.”

Mahathir, who appointed Kuok to his council of advisers, replied: “We need your help now.”

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On the Chinese mainland, Kuok’s vast commercial interests across industries are underpinned by his careful nurturing of ties with Beijing from the early years of his business – when he traded rice and sugar with the behemoth Asian economy.

In 1993, China appointed Kuok, by then a long-time Hong Kong resident, as an adviser ahead of the 1997 sovereignty handover.

That same year, Kuok’s Kerry Group acquired a controlling interest in the South China Morning Post from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, holding it for 22 years, until 2015.

During the Kerry Group’s stewardship of the Post, Kuok once said: “l am a firm believer in freedom of the press and I am also a firm believer that the Hong Kong press and media must work for the good of Hong Kong.”

The China World Trade Center (left) in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Among Kuok’s best-known mainland investments is the China World Trade Center, which opened in 1990 in Beijing’s Chaoyang business district. The project, comprising two office towers, Kuok’s flagship Shangri-La hotel and a massive convention hall, was the largest foreign investment in China in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

The mega development was also a major vote of confidence by Kuok in the country that earned him a lot of goodwill.

In his memoirs, Kuok referred to the venture as “one of the best investments anybody has made in China”, saying it opened the floodgates for others to also bet on the country’s property market.

Robert Kuok (left) with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2016. Photo: Goh Eck Kheng

He also revealed how his love for Malaysia remained steadfast even as he described himself as a patriotic Chinese who felt duty bound to help China, the birthplace of his parents, during its economic transformation and rise on the global stage.

China’s rise during Deng Xiaoping’s tenure as leader, and the country’s development under President Xi Jinping were discussed by the tycoon in his memoir, who at one point in 1973 also helped China avert a sugar crisis.

The very private father of eight dedicated the book to the two guiding lights in his life. The first was his Fuzhou-born mother Tang Kak Ji, whom he called the “true founder” of the Kuok empire and the reason for his lifelong interest and patriotism towards China, and the second, his brother William, “a great human being who died too young”.

Known for his humility and compassion as much as for his business acumen and charisma, Kuok ended his memoir with the contemplative question, “What is wealth for?”