Lim Goh Tong

Keywords: lim goh tong story, lim goh tong biography

The person who I admire most is Lim Goh Tong, and thus i had choosen him for my Malaysian Studies term paper topic. There are many great things of Lim Goh Tong that I always admire. He is not only a hardworking person, but also a smart businessman who do the right thing at the right time, I think its safe to say the greatest businessman in Malaysia. Lim Goh Tong was raised in an lower middle-class home, a rustic environment in a village, and was forced to leave school at 16, but yet this didn’t hold him back in achieving his dream. Malaysians, especially the young generation, have a lot to learn from Lim Goh Tong. His spirit and courage in meeting challenges have enabled him to rise from nobody to somebody. Even without the advantages of higher education, he has proven that nothing is impossible.

2. Parents and Background

He was born in 1918 in Anxi, a county in the region of Quanzhou, Fujian Province. Anxi is well-known for its Oolong tea, and Tiegunyin. His forefathers originated from Penglai, Fujian. At an early time, they migrated to Anxi and settled down there. His grandfather was Lim Mei Chow. His father, Lim Shi Quan, was the eldest of four boys in the family. The other boys were Lim Mo Zi, Lim Mo Sen and Lim Mo Jin. Like Lim Goh Tong, his father and grandfather was an upright man, loved and respected by anyone.

His mother, Goh Ban, did not come from a rich family. But she always had the principle of being a good wife and mother. A gentle, affable lady with strong religious beliefs, she loved her family deeply and set a great store by proper upbringing for her children.

His father own a business of dealing in vegetable seeds, rabbits and other items, while his mother took care of her seven children. Despite her bound feet, she had to do a lot of heavy work. But she never complained. The couple worked perfectly as a team, in line with the age-old Chinese thinking that the man should take charge of external affairs and the woman, domestic matters.

A good parental teachings is very important that could affect a child’s life through his behaviour and attitude. Same goes to Lim Goh Tong, his parent had been tirelessly teaching them with traditional Chinese virtues. They kept telling him the importance of hardworking and perseverance. Such parental teachings have a big impact on him and he always have the thought of once he make a commitment to do something, he must try his best to accomplish it. His parent frequently says: “Do good to others and you’ll be rewarded somehow.” this has been locked in his mind always, making him a humble man that respected by everyone that works with him.

3. Origin of His Name – Lim Goh Tong

The name Goh Tong is Fujuan dialect, in Chinese it would be Wu Tong, meaning the parasol tree. According to southern Chinese legend story, the phoenix, the legendary king of the birds, would rest only on wutong trees. There is even a saying of planting a wutong tree to attract phoenix for good fortune. His parents name him after wutong tree was to hoped to bring Lim Goh Tong a good fortune.

4. His Childhood

The 1911 Revolution led by Sun Yat Sen that brought an end to China’s long history of imperial dynasties. Fortunately, his life was relatively sheltered in village, his family was a warm and happy one, he had a happy childhood and opportunity to start studying the Chinese classics at the age of six, when he was not studying, he used to help his father selling vegetable seeds, tea leaves and other goods by the roadside or in the neighboring town of Yongchun.

But disaster strucked, his father passed away when he was 16. With the lost of his father, he was forced to leave school. As the oldest son, he had to take over the heavy burden of feeding seven mouths in the family. After getting over the shock and pain of losing his father, he took over his trading business, he faced all sorts of problems. On his first day of business in Yongchun, he had failed to make even a single sale. Life as seed seller was tough. He had to leave home before dawn everyday and walk all the way to Yongchun.

Two years passed. He managed to save up about 100 dollars. But due to continuing of civil war came the threats of banditry in his native place. Faced with security problem and declining business, he decided to give up trading to work as a carpenter. This was to be his line for next two years.

In the meantime, the situation in China was becoming more and more worrying. Apart from suffering the turmoil from fighting between warrng factions, the people were bracing themselves for a Japanese invasion. As it became increasingly difficult to support a family, many people were head to Nanyang for better opportunity.

5. Head to Malaya

Follow his forth uncle footstep, Lim Mo Jin, who had emigrated to Malaya many years earlier and started a contracting business, was already a successful Class A contractor in Kuala Lumpur, he decided to venture out to Malaya and asked his mother if she would lend him part of the money for traveling expenses. And she agreed. In 1937, the year the Japanese staged the Lugouqiao / Marco Polo Bridge Incident (a battle between the Republic of China’s National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army.). He set off for Malaya with a small suitcase and 175 dollars – 100 from his mother and 75 from his own savings. He was 20 years old then.

After sailing the South China Sea for eight days, he landed in Singapore, and left 120 dollars. He stayed for two days with his eldest sister before leaving for Kuala Lumpur by train. Kuah Shai Hai, elder brother of his eldest sister’s husband, paid for his train ticket and also gave him two dollars for pocket money.

In Kuala Lumpur, he lived with his fourth uncle, Lim Mo Jin, and worked for him as a carpenter. He was paid on a daily-wage basis. That meant earning 80 cents a day when there was work and nothing when there was none. Despite his low income, he managed to save up some money to send to his mother every month. In the mean time, he learn Malay Language while working for his uncle.

After two-year stint with his uncle, he decided that with the experience he gained, he decided to start out as a building sub-contractor. His first job was to build a two-storey school at the 9th miles, Cheras Road, Kuala Lumpur. He completed the job successfully and made a profit of more than 100 dollars. Three years passed by quickly, he decided to take a risk in returning home. On 29th November 1940, he left for Xiamen by sea via Singapore and continued his journey home by way of Tong’an. By then, the Japanese had overrun Xiamen but Tong’an remained in the hands of the Nationalists. To avoid trouble, the ship he was sailing on flew the Japanese flag when it entered Xiamen waters and switched to the Chinese flag as soon as it was out of the sphere of Japanese control. He was arrived in Anxi safely. He worked as carpenter in his hometown for 7 months and 7 days then only decide to go back Malaya as the war environment was getting worst. As soon as he back to Malaya, the Japanese restrict travels in and out of Fujian Province, if he were hesitated about leaving, Genting wouldn’t have exist now. About four years later, his mom passed away, sadly, he didn’t even have the chance to see her for the last time. He arrived in Kuala Lumpur on August 1941, his fourth uncle then made him a foreman to lead on contractor project.

6. Impact of Japanese invaded Malaya

As the Sino-Japanese war continue, rumour about Japanese going to attack countries in Southeast Asia were sirred up. To monitor the movements of Japanese warships, the British colonial government in Malaya decided to build an observation tower on a beach in Penang. His fourth uncle was awarded the job after a successful tender. He entrusted Lim Goh Tong with the task of overseeing the project. He left for Penang immediately to make the necessary preparations. But before he could commence work, the Pacific War had broken out and the project was abandoned. He hurried back to Kuala Lumpur as the strong rumours that a Japanese invasion was going to start. Soon after, the Japanese troops landed, swept through the country and began their brutal occupation that lasted three years and eight months. Kuala Lumpur was in terror after Japanese soldiers overran the city in mid Janyary 1942. Lim Goh Tong and his fourth uncle and Aunt was hid in a rubber plantation near Ampang New Village.

During the earlier part of the Japanese Occupation, he earned a living as a vegetable farmer, after eight months, he decided to switch to petty trading. By using his previous experience back home, he started by selling tea leaves, Tiger Balm and other goods in and around Kuala Lumpur. Every morning, he would set off on his bicycle, going from one village to another , shouting his wares along the way. In the course of moving around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, he came into contact with some others from Anxi who were doing well in second-hand hardware trading. After saving up some money, he joined their ranks. Soon with proper management, his business picked up quickly and he managed ti accumulate a good amount of savings.

In 1945, towards the end of World War II, a Japanese-owned steel mill in Klang bought a large quantity of scrap iron from him. Before its Japanese manager could settle the account, he was crippled after being involved in a gun battle with anti-Japanese fighters. Meanwhile, the war situation changed and all signs were pointing to an imminent Japanese surrender. Lim Goh Tong was worried as the debt owed by the steel mill would become irrecoverable, so he got someone to help him write letter for the Japanese manager to sign to certify that he had a large stock of unpaid-for scrap iron in the steel mill. This letter would enable him to claim it back from the relevant authorities that would take over the steel mill.

The Japanese finally surrender and British troops returned, with the letter signed by the Japanese manager, he succeeded in claiming back hundreds of thousands of dollars as the stock of scrap iron from British authorities. When the British returned to Malaya, they brought along large quantities of machinery such as cranes, bulldozers and concrete mixers for reconstruction of public facilities. Upon completion of various projects three or four years later, they sold the used machinery to citizen. Lim Goh Tong see the opportunity as many abandoned mines and rubber plantations resumed operations, there was an urgent demand for heavy machinery, especially in the mining sector, so he bought many of the second-hand machines on offer, then reconditioning them and giving them a new coat of paint and resold them at two to three times the prices he had paid for them.

7. Construction Company – Kien Huat

In 1951, he started buying used bulldozers from military airbases in Johor and Singapore then sell it off to British-owned oil factory, iron mining company and contractor to earn the profit of the price differences.. Ever since he started 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. It was first name as “Huat Kee”, until someone told Lim Goh Tong that companies that named themselves “xxx Kee” were usually small timers without great ambitions. In 1954, Kien Huat completed several government projects, including the construction of a 20-mile road from the Old Klang Road in Kuala Lumpur to the Majestic Cinema in the old town of Petaling Jaya. The project was completed in three years at a cost of $1 million.

Kien Huat was awarded a contract by the Kuala Lumpur Municipal government to construct part of a four-mile sewer from the Kuala Lumpur Railway Station to Klang Road. Each sewer section was 10 feet long, six feet in internal diameter and weighed six tons. The project cost $4.1 million. Construction of the other 1.5 miles of the sewer was undertaken by another contractor. It was a challenging project because two contractors has failed to complete the task, the first one had worked on it for only eight months before quitting without succeeding laying even a single sewer section. The second contractor, a reputable British firm that had demanded a price several times the original before agreeing to take over the job, also failed to complete it. It was due to the soil conditions actually, the soil structure contain 80 percent of rock overlaid with sand and a high water table, but Lim Goh Tong successfully completed the project by using gravel pump instead of water pump by keeping the soil dry enough for concrete to work out.

After four years of Kien Huat commencement, Kien Huat had proven its capabilities by successfully completing many major projects. In 1955, Kien Huat had upgraded to Class A Contractor, which means it is qualified to undertake public projects of any size.

7.1. Construction of Ayer Itam Dam Project in Penang

Of all the projects undertaken by Kien Huat in 1950s, the one that it took the greatest pride in was the Ayer Itam Dam in Penang. It was not only a milestone for the country but also a first for the local construction industry. The $12 million dam was the first to be built in the country; it was also the first time that a local contractor had been given a construction job of such scale. The dam project was commissioned by the Water Works Department of the Penang government to supply drinking water to the island’s residents. During the construction of Ayer Itam Dam, accidents do happens. The British consultant engineer was of the opinion the soil structure at the site was strong enough to support without using wooden until reach 10 feet deep. But Lim Goh Tong concern about the workers safety and it was unsafe to carry out excavation without supporting structures to prevent cave-in. Thus, he ignored the British advice and implemented wooden support for safety purposes, and the project progressed smoothly. One day, while Lim Goh Tong was away in Kuala Lumpur, the British engineer asked the workers to remove the wooden supports, and disaster struck, the cave-in occurred soon after killed five workers and injured more than 20 others. Lim Goh Tong rushed back immediately and the engineer admitted his mistake and apologised to Lim Goh Tong. The safety measure adopted once again, and the project was alright in the next four years and completed in 1962, which started in February 1957. The Ayer Itam Dam not only solved the drinking water shortage problem for the islanders, but also helped to prevent flooding during monsoon season.

7.2. Construction of Sultan Yahya Putra Bridge Project, Kota Bharu

Ever since Kien Huat had upgraded to Class A Contractor, Kien Huat has becoming busier. Apart from building the dam project in Penang, it also constructed the main building, the mosque and hostel of the Teacher Training College at Pantai Valley in Kuala Lumpur.

In 1962, Kien Huat was given the job of constructing the Sultan Yahya Putra Bridge in Kelantan. Costing RM5.2 million, the 2800-foot bridge linking Kotha Bharu and Pasir Mas and leading on to southern Thailand.

7.3. Construction of Hydroelectric Project, Cameron Highlands

In 1962, Kien Huat had the opportunity to work on the RM20 million hydroelectric project in the Cameron Highlands, Pahang, The mission of Kien Huat was to construct two dams, one at the seventh mile and another at the 14th mile Tapah-Tanah Rata trunk road and four power stations. The project was designed to meet the growing demand for electric power in Kuala Lumpur.

Upon completion of the project in 1968, he moved most of his heavy machinery to Kelantan to work on the Kemubu Irrigation Scheme project, which turned out to be an evenful one that almost make Lim Goh Tong to bankrupt

7.4. Construction of Kemubu Irrigation Scheme, Kelantan

The Kemubu Irrigation Scheme is the second largest in Malaysia after the Muda Irrigation Scheme in Kedah, it was implemented by the Agriculture Ministry with a Rm30 million loan from the World Bank to enable farmers to carry out cropping on 47,000 acres of rice land in Kelantan. Kien Huat won the contract with a bid of Rm 54 million, a whopping RM 10 million lower than the closest rival bid of RM 64 million. Many in the same trade think that Lim Goh Tong has gone crazy with the huge lose of money, but instead Lim Goh Tong didnt give up but wanted to prove them wrong.

The project was a complicated one that called for the construction of a network of some 570 km of criss-crossing irrigation canals. More than nine million cubic yards of irrigation canals. More than nine million cubic yards of earth had to be excavated and 2000 reinforced concrete structures fabricated for diverting water into paddy fields. In addition, they had to build more than 200 bridges that used up some 20000 feet of concrete pipes of diameters ranging from 3 to 6 feet. Based on Lim Goh Tong calculation, he would be able to make RM 3 million from the project.

Work commenced on 1st August 1968 after the contract for the project had been signed. The French firm of Sogreah acted as project consultants. In the months that followed, the project face many problems, like delay in the Government’s acquisitions of land, thefts of equipment and materials from work sites, severe flooding due to monsoons and the May 13, 1969 incident. Progress of work slowed down greatly. All the problems causes RM5 million loss at the end of the first year and causing financial problem. Just when the problem happened, Mr Chin Sophonpanich, then chariman of Bangkok Bank, gave him an overdraft. At that time his overdraft account with Bangkok Bank was more than RM5 million in the red.

Cash flow problems aside, he then continue with his project, but unfortunately at the end of the first year, Kien Huat had managed to complete only five per cent of the project. And thus, the projects consultant was unhappy, and in the next two months, they kept issuing warning letters to Lim Goh Tong. In a single day on 19th August 1969, he received 29 registered letters, all with the same contents saying that they would sue him and make him a bankrupt. Lim Goh Tong decide to hit back and to meet with project manager, telling them the delay of project was created by late land acquisitions from the Government, all proven by documents and hence it is unfair to put the blame on Lim Goh Tong. Lim also make a bet of if he could finish only another five or six per cent of the project after six months, then the project manager could sue him to bankrupt, they have granted him permission to continue with the project then.

Lim Goh Tong the scaled down the structures as he found the structure was over design, the consultants too approved his proposal. The change resulted in a much simpler and faster way of working, less than 4 months he had completed about 60 percent of the whole project. And eventually the Kemubu Irrigation was completed on schedule, Kien Huat not only managed to make a profit of RM4 million, but also help the Government save more than RM10 million in costs.

8. Join in Southern Bank

While Lim Goh Tong was building the Ayer Itam Dam, he used to get his fuel supply from a petrol station at the foothill. In the view of frequent transactions, He decided, for convenience, to make out a RM 5000 cheque then have his purchases deducted there from, upon depletion of the amount, he would top up with another RM 5000 cheque. By chance, he knew the petrol station boss – Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew, a well known Malaysian enterpreneur now. Later, Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew invited Lim Goh Tong to jon him, Low Yat, Tan Seng Kee and Lim Chong in establishing Southern Bank, Penang first local bank. Each of them own 20 per cent stake. Lim Goh Tong stake in the bank was then taken over by Tan Teong Hean, his eldest son-in-law and son of Tan Seng Kee. Today, Southern Bank is one of the 10 core banks in Malaysia.

9. Development of Genting Highlands

His idea of developing a mountain reort was not the result of an active search for business opportunities, in fact it was pop up in his mind in one night in 1963. At that time, he was sub-contractor for the Cameron Highlands Hydroelectric Project. That night, he had dinner in Cameron Highlands with the German firm’s General Manager, chief engineer and nine other people. After a few rounds of liquor, he felt hot and went out for some fresh air, as he stood there taking in the enchanting highland night view, cool breeze blew over him. It was so soothing and refreshing that he just closed his eyes and took a deep breath of mountain air. Then a train of thought ran through his mind. The first thing that struck him was that in tropical Malaysia, everybody likes to retreat to a cool mountain resort for a holiday every noe and then. This could be seen from the popularity of Cameron Highlands with the local as well as foreign tourists. But Cameron Highlands was a good four or give hours drive from Kuala Lumpur and the roads uphill were narrow and winding. He was also convinced that as the standard of living rose steadily in a fast developing Malaysia, more and more people would visit moutain resorts for relaxation and recreation.

A Kuala Lumpur resident for many years, he was familiar with the terrain of its surrounding areas. He knew the only likely place to find a mountain high enough for a resort was around Bentong in the east. The moment he returned to Kuala Lumpur, he got hold of a topographical map of the Bentong district and scanned it. Gunung Ulu Kali at a place called Genting Sempah caught his eyes immediately. Within days, he assembled a team to explore the mountain and its surrounding areas. During the expedition that lasted nine days and eight nights, they gathered a wealth of data on the topography, drainage, soil conditions and other relevant aspects of the region. During their survey, they discovered that the little known mountain is in between border of states of Pahang and Selangor.

In te latter part of 1963, he began by putting in an application to the Pahang State Government for the land at Genting Sempah for development of a tourist resort. The Bentng District Officer advised him to approach the Federal Government directly as the yalready had a plan to develop Genting Sempah. Tan Sri Haji Mohd Noah bin Omar introduce him to Tunku Abdul Rahman, our first Prime Minister. Tunku Abdul Rahman confirmed that the Government had wanted to develop the mountrain, but the plan had been postponed due to the road of access that require about 15 years to complete. Moreover, the country was confronting with Indonesia. Putting huge amount of funds into the development of a holiday resort at that time would give ammunition to the opposition, thus Tunku Abdul Rahman decided to allow the private sector to carry out the project. After preparing a project paper within a week to Tunku Abdul Rahman, he approved Lim Goh Tong to start the project.

On 27th April 1965, Tan Sri Haji Mohamad Noah and Lim Goh Tong incorporated a private company called Genting Highlands Sdn Bhd. For the next five years, they applied to the Pahang and Selangor State Government for 4940 hectares and 1110 hectares of freehold land respectively. With Tunku’s recommendation, the Pahang State Government approved their application. However, the Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Harun Idris would only give the land on a 99-year lease. Lim went to see Datuk Harun and explained to him that he needed a freehold land because it would take 30 to 40 years and enormous investments to build roads, hotels, staff quarters and to install water and electricity supplies in the jungle area. At last, his request has been granted.

On 8th August 1965, he led a team of technicians and workers to begin work, the government then agreed to build a telecomunications tower half-way up the mountain for better reception but with condition of the road has to be completed in three years and promised giving RM900,000 subsidy. Since he had to complete it fast, he make his construction team to work in two shifts round the clock, seven days a week. Besides working flat out on the job, he also threw in all the resources and equipment of his family company, Kien Huat, including bulldozers, tractors, air compressors and lorries. To complicated matters, around this time Lim had to start work on th Kemubu Irrigation Scheme in Kelantan, the contract for which he had bid earlier. Supervising and co-ordinatiing the two projects at the same time stretched his physical endurance to the limits. He shuttled between Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan, to him there were no rest days on Sundays and public holidays. Fortunately they did meet the deadline and receive the promised RM900,000 subsidy, a big amount at that time and a great help to them.

There was, however, another problem happen before Genting’s official opening. When it was all geared up to commence business in January 1971, Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas were hit by the worst rainstorms in a century. The road to Genting was closed by landslides at 180 locations. It took them some four months to repair the damaged sections. Finally, Genting opened its door for business on 8th May 1971. It was a dream come true for Lim Goh Tong

9.1. Development of Genting Casino

Lim Goh Tong original vision for the Genting resort was a highland retreat where the old and the young families could come to holiday. On 31st March 1969 when our Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman made his first visit to Genting Highlands. In his speech, the Tunku said he was moved by Lim effects to develop, without Government help, a highland resort for all Malaysians and thus greatly contribute to the country’s tourism indusry. To help improve Genting to a better tourist spot, Government would consider an application from Genting to operate a casino. On 28th April 1969, Lim submitted his application for a casino licence to the Government through the Tunku’s Private Secreatary, Datuk Nik Hassan. Later in afternoon, just six hours after Lim submitted his application, came the good news that it had been approved and he was asked to collect the approval letter, thus, Genting Highlands became the first and only casino licence holder in the country. The May 13th incident happened soon after that, the government stated policy that no more casino licences would be approved.

Soon after that, Lim Goh Tong proceeding to Macau to meet Mr Stanley Ho, the owner of Macau’s only casino, to discuss the issue of co-operation in running the casino. However, for certain reasons, they did not succeed in reaching an agreement. Two years later, Lim finally struck a deal with Chun Rak Won, the operator of the only casino in Seoul, Korea. They signed a three-year agreement with his company which was to provide the expertise in managing the Genting casino. Unfortunately, the co-opetaion lasted only nine months before it was terminated by mutal consent, Genting took over the entire casino operation, learnt the ropes of the trade over time and eventually mastered the management skills.

9.2. Obtain Pioneer Status from Government

Based on an annual taxable income of RM 2 million, Genting would be paying RM800000 income tax every year (the corporate income tax rate then was 40%), or a total of RM4 million for five years. It was critical to the company during the period when it had to invest heavily in resort infrastructure development. A five-year tax holiday would enable Genting to plough back all its profits into developing hotels and other tourist facilities, including a man-made lake, a cable car system, a golf course and the Chin Swee Temple. Upon completion, these facilities would attract more visitors and generate earnings many times what the resert would otherwise be able to. More importantly, the government would have fattened a revenue cow that promised to keep on giving good milk for a long, long time. The officials saw merit in his argument. On their recommendation, Genting was granted a five-year pioneer status with effect from 8th May 1971. It is proved to be a win-win decision. The tax the Government collected from Genting later was far greater than the amount exempted during the tax holiday.

9.3. Development of Gohtong Jaya

In 1993, at the suggestion of Dr Mahathir, Genting Development Sdn Bhd, started started developing a township on an 81 hectare piece of land at the seventh milestone of Jalan Genting Highlands, around the site of the Genting Highlands, around the site of the Genting Skyway cable car station. The Prime Minister offered many valuable ideas on the development of the township. Its name, Gohtong Jaya, was chosen with Dr Mahathir. The name “Jaya” which means success in Bahasa Melayu.

9.4. Development of Chin Swee Temple

In 1966, when construction of the access road had reached the site where the Chin Swee Temple stands now, several workers and Lim Goh Tong spent the night in a cave at the end of a hard day’s work. During his sleep, he dreamt of the Chin Swee god a god widely pray in his native Anxi county in the Fujian Province. Chin Swee god told him kindly that he could stake everything on the development of Genting Highlands because it was a promising land that held a bright future for him. He woke up with renewed confidence and made a secret swear that if he succeeded in developing the resort, he would build a temple.

In 1975, he set up a temple-building committee to take charge of the implementation of the project. Work on Phase One of the project started in 1976 and was completed after three years at a cost of RM1.6 million. Lim Goh Tong even made a special trip to Anxi to bring back a statue of the Chin Swee deity which was officially installed in the temple on 20th September 1979.

After 18 long years and costing over RM10 million, the Chin Swee Temple was officially opened on 29th March 1994. Chin Swee Temple is now a popular place of praying as well as a tourist attraction of the resort.

10. Origin of the Name “Genting”

Genting Sempah, the orignial name of the place, sounded simple and pleasant enough to Lim Goh Tong and he liked it. However, he found it quite hard to pronounce for the name of a company and a resort, so he decided to drop the second word and retain Genting only.

At first, the Chinese name Yin (Silver) Ding (Top) is used, since Cameron Highland in chinese is Jin Ma Lun (Jin means gold). Lim Goh Tong thought that Yin Ding was a fitting choice because it contains the silver, and to the Chinese, jin (Gold) and yin (Silver) symbolising wealth and prosperity. But it turned out many has start criticizing after the name of Yin Ding has put into use, many think Yin Ding doesn’t have anything to do with a resort on top of mountain, and it was vulgar to have a name just to associated with gold and silver.

At the end, his wife (Lee Kim Hua) suggest to use Yun Ding (Cloud Top) since genting is located on top of a high moutain where people can touch the clouds floating around she said. Yun Ding has been in use ever since.

11. Rest in Peace

Lim Goh Tong died on 23 October 2007, at Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC). He is survived by his wife Puan Sri Lee Kim Hua, and their six children and 19 grandchildren. His body was laid to rest at Gohtong Memorial Park at Gohtong Jaya on Monday 29 October 2007

12. Conclusion

The story of Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong is an inspiring one, beginning with nothing to his name, he turned difficulties into opportunities, took much calculated risks and confounded sceptics through sheer foresight and perseverance. it gives us a lot of inspiration as we want to become a businessman. He work hard for his entire life to realise his own dream. He success to realise his own dream but his previous own dream is not for himself but is for the “world happanies”. Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong is also one of the greatest history ever told, with his strive he turn the impossible to the possible opportunity. He change the negativity to real such a positive impact.

May God be with you, Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong and condolence to his family.