Paradigm Shift

Dato’ Peter Tan, Group Managing Director, KLH Corporation Bhd

The shift from electronic engineer to entrepreneur has been dramatic for Dato Peter Tan. In the process, he has become a better leader and taken KLH Corporation to greater heights.

Going through the school of hard knocks and participating in Vistage has transformed Dato’ Peter Tan, group managing director of Kong Long Huat (KLH )Corporation, from an insular production engineer to a broad-minded businessman. This transformation has augured well for Peter as a CEO and KLH as a growing corporation.

On reflection, Peter says peer mentoring in Vistage has contributed to his transformation. ‘In the early years, I did a lot of things by myself. I was over-stressed and worried a lot about problems. After joining the Vistage group, I realized that there are many ways of doing things. I have higher confidence in approaching problems, less stress and less sleepless nights,’ he elaborates. He reckons that he can handle problems better because he is aware that he is not the only CEO with problems.

Peter adds that his earlier corporate experience limited to a manufacturing environment made him narrow-minded. He recollects that he adopted aggressive ways to get things done and used the factory management style to approach customers. ‘ I told some of my customers off,’ he recollects with humour. He learnt the hard way that he had to fine-tune his people approach. Interacting with CEOs from different businesses and background in Vistage has helped Peter to broaden his outlook. ‘The diversity in thinking and experience helps me to approach people better,’ he notes.

The changes in Peter has trickled down to the management and growth of KLH. Kong Long Huat Chemicals started in the 1940s as a business owned by the Heng family. Today, it is one of the top three leading distributors of inorganic chemicals in Malaysia. Peter entered the business in the 1980s as he is the son-in-law, married to Florence Heng. Together with his wife and management team, Peter has grown the family business to a professionally run entity with a turnover of RM350m last year.

KLH’s growth has been consistent since it got itself out of debts and limited financial resources 20 years ago. ‘We will never, never be in the red again,’ Peter emphasizes. He highlights that the company has the products, systems and people in place to ensure this. The company has widened its chemicals range from 20 products to more than 120. They are sourced from various parts of the world but sold mainly to domestic customers in various industries like food, metals, electronics, construction and oil and gas. KLH has also broadened its distribution base from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, Johor, Ipoh and Kuching. It has invested heavily in IT and logistics to improve customer service. The company is run by professionals with 98% of managers who are not family members.

Peter reveals that KLH is now focusing on regionalization of its sales offices in Asia and going into upstream manufacturing to move towards the next level of growth.