It's around lunchtime in the narrow corridors of Lot 10 Hutong, the "heritage food village" in the basement of Kuala Lumpur's upscale Lot 10 Mall. A man in his early fifties with a distinctly Chinese face is bent over his plate, his suit jacket hung over the back of the restaurant chair. He is eating a dish of dark, soy sauce-soaked char kway teow – a popular Malaysian take on fried rice noodles – which set him back the equivalent of NT$100.
"You don't have black bean soy sauce like this one in Taiwan," the man says in Hokkien, the language known as "Taiwanese" that originated in China's Fujian Province and is widely spoken by ethnic Chinese throughout Southeast Asia.
The noodle eater is billionaire Francis Yeoh, managing director of YTL Corporation, a highly profitable conglomerate spanning energy companies, luxury hotels, shopping malls and a 4G mobile network.
On Oct. 21, 2011, Yeoh took a private plane to visit the Taiwanese offshore island of Jinmen (also known as Quemoy) from which the Yeoh clan hails. After stepping off the aircraft, he knelt down to kiss the soil of his ancestral homeland.
Yeoh conceived of Lot 10 Hutong – which features the signature dishes of local eateries that have been around for at least two generations – with the culinary preferences of his parents in mind. He wanted them to have easy access to their favorite dishes and snacks such as prawn noodles, char kway teow, and roti, the South Asian grilled flatbread."All four generations in our family eat these.
The younger generation has stopped eating these dishes. I really fear they could vanish one day," he remarks.
Jinmen Island is the native land of Yeoh's grandparents. The dormitory, library and auditorium at National Quemoy University were all donated by the Yeoh clan. But in other parts of Taiwan, few people know about the clan's influence and largesse.
In terms of revenue, YTL Corporation is Malaysia's largest ethnic Chinese business. As the largest private infrastructure company and public utility business in Asia, YTL Corporation counts among only a handful of Malaysian multinationals. The conglomerate earns 85 percent of its revenue and profits overseas.
YTL group companies provide electricity to the entire state of South Australia, generate one third of Singapore's electricity, and supply 1.2 million households in the southwest of England with water and wastewater services.
Malaysia's Largest Ethnic Chinese Business
Also part of the YTL empire are two power plants in Malaysia, luxury hotels in France, Japan and other parts of Asia, two upscale department stores on Singapore's Orchard Road, the luxury retail malls Starhill Gallery and Lot 10 Mall, two five-star hotels and two holiday resorts in Kuala Lumpur.
Yeoh was the only entrepreneur in the entourage of Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak when he addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in late January.
Less than a month later, on Feb. 19, Najib and Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong announced plans for a high-speed rail link between Singapore and Malaysia to be built under a BOT public-private partnership. The new rail link, expected to be operational by 2020, will shorten train travel time for the 315-kilometer distance between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore from six hours now to just 90 minutes, making daily commutes between the two metropolises possible.
In announcing the project at a joint news conference, Najib said: "It will change the way we do business, the way we look at each other, the way we interact." Getting the costly train link back on the drawing board (it was shelved during the Asian financial crisis) was the handiwork of Francis Yeoh, who began to lobby the two governments, raise funds and plan the project seven years ago.
Yeoh is not a newcomer to railway transport. YTL holds a 50-percent stake in two train services linking KL International Airport and the city's central station, and it operates the Eastern & Oriental Express luxury train, which services routes linking Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Laos.
The furniture and interior decoration of Yeoh's office in the YTL Headquarters are very British. Visibly relaxed Yeoh sits on an English sofa with his left leg crossed under the right knee, drinking English tea, as he takes time out for an exclusive interview with CommonWealth Magazine. Yeoh was born in 1954, the year of the horse in the Chinese zodiac, which explains the ubiquitous presence of horse figurines in his office.
He charms the interviewer with his witty humor and chats animatedly and eloquently, freely sprinkling his fluent British English with Malay, Mandarin and Hokkien expressions.
Forbes magazine lists Francis Yeoh's father Yeoh Tiong Lay as Malaysia's seventh richest man, worth US$2.8 billion, making him a member of the global billionaires' club. Fortune magazine ranked the son as one of Asia's 25 most powerful business personalities.
Yeoh's father, Yeoh Tiong Lay, founded YTL in 1955 as a construction firm. Before Francis took over in 1988, YTL Corporation only contracted small projects such as repairing military camps and building government projects such as armories, schools and clinics.
Under the stewardship of Francis, who has a civil engineering degree from Britain, YTL expanded over the last 25 years into a multinational cross-industry enterprise with seven listed companies and 12 million customers around the globe. The conglomerate is now active on three continents and boasts annual revenue in excess of NT$300 billion. Aside from the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, stock market listings of YTL or one of its affiliates include Frankfurt, Tokyo, New York and Singapore.
While the rest of the world has caught "China fever," Yeoh has kept a cool head, and remains wary of investing in the utilities industry there.
"Why can't we do it in China? I cannot do it in India yet, nor Vietnam or Indonesia, but I can do it in Singapore, Britain and Australia where the regulatory framework is very transparent. Why am I in Australia, Singapore, and Britain in utilities? Because they have a regulatory framework, there is no black box, no corruption. Business is clear. Malaysia's regulatory framework is not as mature as that of Singapore or Britain or Australia," Yeoh states frankly.
It's not that Yeoh has not toyed with the idea of making it big in China. In the early 1990s he tried to tap the China market, like other entrepreneurs at the time, filled with enthusiasm over the huge opportunities there.
He signed an exclusive agreement with local government officials in Jiangxi Province for the construction of a power plant. However, not much later he found out that similar agreements had been inked with six other competitors. "They don't understand that regulations and contracts are inviolable," he comments.
Yeoh is generally known to be a prudent investor with a long-term outlook.
"What led to the economic disaster?" he muses. "The whole world, including the legal system, government, people, couldn't stop their short-term thinking. It was too good, too profitable, and nobody wanted to question it."
Yeoh's aversion to what he calls "short-termism" becomes apparent in his investment strategy. YTL buys up companies during economic downtimes and favors public utility concessions that guarantee stable returns over a long period. As a result, YTL's compound annual growth rate before taxes has averaged an astounding 55 percent for the past 15 years.
"If you invested in me US$1 million, today it'd be worth US$150 million. That's not too many years. In 30 years you have 150 times profit," Yeoh says.
Yet in the financial markets, the prevailing focus is on dividends and short-term gain, and his company's stocks remain unfashionable.
"Nobody likes to buy my stuff," he concedes. "They like to hear Enron stories. 'What's the next quarter?'"
American energy company Enron's once soaring profitability came derailed by an accounting scandal, and ultimately bankruptcy, in 2001.
Yeoh is also well aware of the importance of good service.
"I got 12 million customers in the world," he says. "I am not a politician. Politicians got five years to do something. I don't have. Because if my service is no good, my 12 million customers will become zero tomorrow."
A devout Christian, Yeoh suggests that business people think long term for the sake of bettering people's lives. "If you are given the privilege of being president of a company, you can make a difference," he says.
Yeoh's war chest is filled with cash in the order of NT$100 billion and he frankly admits that he eagerly awaits the next financial crisis to go on his next buying spree. He believes the bubble needs to burst to bring investors to their senses and restore discipline in the markets. The YTL business empire always expands when others are hit by crisis.
Thriving Amid Crises
In 1992 when Malaysia suffered a major blackout, Yeoh convinced the government to privatize the country's power industry. Subsequently, YTL was awarded the country's first independent power producer (IPP) license.
During the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Yeoh bought up several luxury department stores in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur at bargain prices. He also acquired PowerSeraya Ltd. from Singapore's state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings. Now called YTL PowerSeraya, it supplies one third of the city state's power needs. In 2000, Yeoh bought a stake in ElectraNet Pty. Ltd., which owns and operates the power transmission grid for the state of South Australia under a 200-year concession.
He is also proud of having shown up Japanese competitors in the construction business.
"Japanese people at that time were competing against us. They lost to us all the time. 'How can a Japanese company lose to a local Malaysian company?'" Yeoh recalls triumphantly.
YTL had introduced slip forming systems which allow pouring concrete round-the-clock by continuously sliding the formwork vertically or horizontally. "We worked 24 hours. We scared them. They woke up the other day and the building was taller by two stories. Because we can do 24 feet in one night"
But YTL, then virtually unknown in the West, truly moved onto the international stage with a takeover bid in 2002.
Beating out formidable rivals such as Hong Kong property magnate Li Ka-shing and the Royal Bank of Scotland, YTL bought Wessex Water, a water and sewage services company in southwest England, from Enron's water utility company Azurix.
Britain's Daily Telegraph commented on the unexpected deal with the irreverent headline "Who the Hell are YTL?"
An opera lover, Yeoh came up with an ingenious idea for showing his clout and winning local customers' trust: He flew the world-known "Three Tenors" – Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti – to Bath in England for a free concert. The ensuing flood of thank-you letters showed that public misgivings had been dispelled.
A world in crisis is the best hunting grounds. When his prey is starving, Francis Yeoh is most likely to pounce on the market. Amid the current global economic downturn, Yeoh, sitting on hundreds of millions of cash on hand, is widely expected to go on another hunt for easy prey.
By Monique Hou
From CommonWealth Magazine
Published: March 06, 2013 (No.517)
Translated from the Chinese by Susanne Ganz
More : Corporate Princess 3 : Ruth Yeoh and siblings
英國人 都喝他的水 楊忠禮集團總經理 楊肅斌
天下雜誌 517期
馬來西亞「楊忠禮集團」第三代，楊恭耀父親為「楊忠禮集團」總經理楊肅斌，家族資產超過1千7百億台幣。整個澳洲南部的電力、新加坡三分之一的電力，和英格蘭西南部一二○萬人的用水，都由楊忠禮集團所供應。
馬來西亞第一華商「楊忠禮集團」總經理，掌握澳洲的電、英國的水，是亞洲最有權力的25位企業家之一。
中午時分，吉隆坡精華區「十號廣場」百貨公司的地下室，走道曲狹的「十號胡同」美食街裡，一名五十歲出頭、華人面孔的男子，西裝掛在椅背上，正低頭吃著一百元台幣一盤，黑呼呼的炒粿條。「這種黑豉油，你們台灣沒有，」他用閩南語說著。
他是楊肅斌，楊忠禮集團（Y TL）總經理，馬來西亞第一大華商，亞洲最有權力的二十五位企業家之一。
十號胡同，是楊肅斌為方便父母品嘗，將蝦麵、炒粿條、烤餅等父母愛吃的小吃攤邀集一處。「我們一家四代都吃這些。年輕這一代突然都不吃了，我很怕它們哪天會消失。」
而金門，則是楊肅斌祖父母的故鄉。金門大學的宿舍、圖書館演講廳，都來自楊家的捐輸。但楊肅斌家族的顯赫，除了金門人之外，台灣少有人識得。
楊忠禮集團不但是馬來西亞營收最大的華商集團，且是馬來西亞少數世界級的企業、亞洲最大的民營基礎建設及公用事業公司。該公司八五％的營收和獲利，都來自海外。
整個澳洲南部的電力、新加坡三分之一的電力，和英格蘭西南部一二○萬人的用水，都由楊忠禮集團所供應。
ＹＴＬ 大馬第一華商
此外，該集團還擁有大馬兩座電廠，在法國、日本和馬來西亞擁有飯店，以及新加坡烏節路上的兩間百貨公司、吉隆坡頂級百貨公司升禧藝廊、十號廣場、兩家五星級飯店和兩個度假村。
一月底，馬來西亞總理納吉，到瑞士「世界經濟論壇」發表演說，楊肅斌是唯一陪同前往的企業家。
二十幾天後，納吉和新加坡總理李顯龍，宣布以BOT方式，興建吉隆坡和新加坡之間的高鐵。七年後通車，六小時車程將縮短為九十分鐘，星馬一日生活圈即將形成。
「這鐵路網將會是一大變革，兩邊經商方式勢將隨之改變，」納吉在聯合記者會上說。
星馬高鐵的成形，正是因楊肅斌七年前便開始積極向兩國政府遊說，籌資及興建計劃均已備妥。
楊肅斌並非經營鐵路的生手。吉隆坡機場捷運，以及行駛於星、馬、泰和寮國之間的豪華火車——亞洲東方快車，就是他的。他還很喜歡講，他向亞洲富人推銷「搭火車進行家庭旅遊」的故事。
「我原本希望他們能夠了解旅行的浪漫，」楊肅斌哈哈大笑。「結果他們說，別鬧了，火車上沒賭場、沒情婦，要他們三天兩夜和太太在一起，又不能中途跳下車，給他們錢他們也不去。」
在YTL總部，辦公室的擺設流露著濃濃的英國味。喝著英國茶，楊肅斌左腳縮到英式沙發上，壓到右腿下面，放鬆地接受《天下》專訪。一九五四年出生的楊肅斌屬馬，辦公室裡到處都擺著馬的雕像。
他為人風趣，聊得興起便滔滔不絕，流利的英文裡夾雜著馬來文、中文和閩南語。
《Forbes》評楊忠禮為馬來西亞第七大富豪與世界華人富豪之一。《Fortune》則將他的兒子楊肅斌，列為亞洲二十五位最有權力的企業家之一。
一九五五年，楊忠禮創立YTL。
在楊肅斌於一九八八年接手前，YTL公司還只是一家承包地方性道路和軍營的小建築商。
到了有英國工程教育背景的楊肅斌手裡，二十五年間，已發展成七家上市公司、營業額逾三千億台幣、在三大洲擁有一千兩百萬客戶的世界級集團。股票掛牌的地點，包括法蘭克福、東京、紐約和新加坡。
然而，對於眾人皆染上的「中國熱」，楊肅斌冷眼以對。
「我為什麼不去中國，就跟我現在還不去印度、越南或印尼的原因一樣。我能在新加坡、英國和澳洲做生意，因為這些地方沒有黑盒子、沒有貪污，一切透明，這些國家都有相同的法治架構。但連馬來西亞在這方面都不成熟，」楊肅斌直言不諱。
楊肅斌並非沒有做過中國夢。九○年代初，他也跟很多企業家一樣，滿腔熱血進軍中國。
楊肅斌和江西地方政府簽訂排他性協議，準備在江西蓋電廠。後來卻發現，除了和他，當地政府還簽了六份類似的協議。「政府沒有完全理解法治和契約的神聖不可侵犯，」楊肅斌說。
「是什麼原因導致經濟災難？全世界包括政府、人民、企業，都是短期思考。因為短視太好賺，沒有人質疑它，所有規定，所有人都牽涉進去，我稱之為短視主義，」楊肅斌說。
過去十五年，YTL靠著購併和公用事業特許經營權及穩定利潤、公用事業長期合約，創造出每年稅前盈餘平均複合成長率，高達五五％的驚人戰績。
「如果你和我一樣著重長期績效，三十年前投資我一百萬，現在值一億五千萬，三十年一五○倍哦，」楊肅斌說。「但資本市場裡，沒有人喜歡我這種公司。他們要的是像安隆那種故事：下一季有什麼題材？」
美國能源公司——安隆，因爆發假帳醜聞，最終宣告破產。
「靠政治、靠短視，是無法持久的。政治人物有五年時間，我可沒有。如果我的服務做得不好，我一千兩百萬客戶會轉眼變成零，」楊肅斌說。
他建議，企業家和政治人物應做長期思考。「如果你被賦予做總統或經營企業的特權，你就能讓世界變得更好。這是上天給你的機會，要好好珍惜。」
馬來西亞第一華商「楊忠禮集團」總經理，掌握澳洲的電、英國的水，是亞洲最有權力的25位企業家之一。
儘管感嘆世人短視導致災難，手握千億台幣現金部位的楊肅斌承認，他其實「熱切盼望每次金融危機的到來。泡沫就該讓它破滅，這樣大家才會更自律。」
楊忠禮集團每次變大，都正好是別人遭逢危機的時候。
最歡迎金融危機的企業
一九九二年，馬來西亞大停電，楊肅斌說服政府，成為馬來西亞第一家民營電廠。
九七年亞洲金融風暴後，楊肅斌趁機低價掃進吉隆坡和新加坡的頂級百貨公司，並從淡馬錫控股公司手裡，買下供應新加坡三分之一電力的西拉雅能源公司。
二○○○年，楊肅斌買進擁有兩百年經營權、供應南澳全部電力的電網營運商——耐特電力公司。
「當時日本人跟我們搶，怎麼也想不到會敗給一家馬來西亞公司，」楊肅斌回憶。
「那時，我們已使用最先進的連續循環式滑動模板工程，二十四小時不停工。日本人一覺醒來，我們的樓已經長高兩層，把他們嚇壞了，」工程師出身的楊肅斌，談起這一段，興奮之情溢於言表。
真正讓楊肅斌威震國際的，是二○○二年的一場戰役。
當時安隆倒閉，楊肅斌擊敗李嘉誠和蘇格蘭皇家銀行，從安隆手中買下英格蘭區域性水力公司——韋塞克斯，震驚歐美。
媒體都在問，「YTL是誰？英國人喝的水，怎會是馬來西亞人供應？」
為了除卻輿論的質疑，和拉近與韋塞克斯區民眾的距離，楊肅斌請出好友——三大男高音帕華洛帝、卡列拉斯和多明哥，在英格蘭南部舉辦免費演唱會。事後，民眾道謝信件如雪片般飛來。
危機中的世界是最好的獵場。獵物饑腸轆轆的時候，就是楊肅斌大發利市的時候。一般相信，手上現金超過千億台幣的楊肅斌，一定會趁此波全球經濟低迷之際，尋覓獵物再度出手。
楊忠禮集團
■成立時間―1955年
■旗下事業―
水力：英國韋塞克斯（Wessex）水力公司
電力：澳洲耐特（ElectraNet）電力公司、新加坡西拉雅（PowerSeraya）能源公司、馬來西亞兩座電場
交通：亞洲東方快車、吉隆坡國際機場捷運及廉價機場捷運
