Kopitiam Kong Thai Lai

This is Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew's favorite table....















The old name sign board, Kong Thai Lai


































The frontage of an ordinary kopitiam

Kedai Kopi Kong Thai Lai
Kopitiam Kong Thai Lai is an typical Penang coffee shop, Hainan style. It looks ordinary. What is so famous about this coffee shop?

It is located at a pre-war double storey shop at Hutton Lane, Penang. A walking distance from the T junction of Penang Road and Campbell Street. This coffee shop served the best kopi-o(black coffee or coffee without addition of milk). The shop is famous not only because of its coffee, but because of the story or history of its relationship with the famous personality, the late Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew, the richest man in Penang and the founder of Honda Motor.

Tan Sri Loh was a regular customer of the coffee shop. His favorite table was the first table when you enter the shop. It is an ordinary wooden table. Why not the marble top table at the center, or the tables at the corners? I believed it was his favorite because it has the view of the street, overlooking the activities of the street. May be the location of the table will provide him inspiration for his business venture, may be it will remind him of the memory of his old days as motor apprentice at Maxwell Road, where he frequently having kopi-o at an old coffee shop at the end of a hard day.

When we visited the shop, the table was occupied. Hay, what is the feeling of sitting at the table, where the late Tan Sri Loh had sat. Feel like a billionaire?

Tan Sri Loh frequently visit the kopitiam was because he still cherish his time relaxing at the coffee shop, when he was an ordinary person. May be the coffee shop was the place he make his first decision, that lead to his successful business career. He still want to be an ordinary person, the feeling and to regain the ordinary life that he had lost when become billionaire. He just want to be an ordinary person at the kopitiam.......

The life of billionaire is lonely, and an ordinary person is much better where you can talk of anything in the kopitiam. The favorite past time for old Penang resident is sipping cofee in kopitiam, talking about local politic, comment on international affair, the latest news in town, or just bullshit all the way...... nobody care, people just listen... with the same goal of passing time...

An ordinary life, that was what Tan Sri Loh lost , after become a rich man....... he may be lonely......he need simple friendly relationship...... at kopitiam, like you and me, an ordinary person,ordinary Penanglang(Penang people).. ...

Loh Boon Siew(1915-1995)
Tan Sri Dato' Loh Boon Siew 1915-1995 (Chinese: 駱文秀) also known as “Mr Honda” was a Penangite tycoon and the first sole distributor of Honda motorcycles in Malaysia.

Boon Siew was born in Hui-An, Fujian province of China(中國福建省惠安縣赤石鄉). He spent his childhood collecting pig dung (then used as fuel) to make a living. At age 12, he arrived in Penang in a small boat from China with 5 friends namely Loh Poh Heng and Loh Say Bee. He could speak only Hokkien (Min Nan) and had virtually no formal education. He worked as an apprentice car mechanic (earning three dollars monthly) upon his arrival. It is said that Boon Siew's sifu used to hit him in the head whenever he did something wrong. He stayed in a ‘coolie keng’ (workers' quarters) at 4, Katz Street, Penang and he supplemented his income by washing buses at night for 10 cents per vehicle.

At age 18, Boon Siew purchased 11 buses using his $2,000 in savings. He reconditioned the buses and sold them for $12,000. Next, he used the money he earned to buy another 39 buses. In 1942, during WWII, all his hard-earned money was confiscated by the invading Japanese army. But Boon Siew did not give up. After WWII ended in 1945 and the Japanese were defeated, he started selling bicycles, tyres and motorcycle accessories, and soon he expanded his business to used cars, transports and buses(Yellow Bus Company).

In the 1950s, Boon Siew made his first of many forays into property development with his friends Say Bee and Poh Heng by building residential villas in Taman Saw Kit in Penang. Today, his work is continued by his Boon Siew Group and new residential areas are currently being built in Casa Permai 2.

Honda Cup
In 1958, Boon Siew noticed the widespread popularity of the Honda Super Cub motorbike which just introduce in Japan. He believed that this low-cost, high-efficiency machine would find a similarly receptive market in the rapidly urbanizing areas of Malaysia. Boon Siew arranged to meet with Mr. Soichiro Honda, the bike's creator, and quickly convinced him to set up a Honda subsidiary in Malaysia.

Not surprisingly, the first Malaysian Honda showroom was set up on Pitt Street in Penang, very near the home of Boon Siew. As a sign of their deepening bond of trust and respect, the Japanese Honda Motor Co Ltd soon appointed Boon Siew the sole distributor for Honda motorbikes in the country just as the historic first 50 units of Honda 4-stroke cub were being imported into Malaysia.

A factory was built in Penang to assemble the Honda Cub and the Honda motorcycle assembled in Malaysia was renamed the Boon Siew Honda. The Honda Cub became the best selling motorcycles in Malaysia and Boon Siew was recognised as the first person to bring the Honda Cub motorcycles into Southeast Asia. The popular Cantonese word Cub仔, which means "small (Honda) Cub" and is now a generic for small underbone motorcycles in Malaysia, originates from the Honda Cub.

In 1963, Tan Sri Loh listed his companies as Oriental Holdings Berhad. In 1970, he further ventured into plantation after acquiring estates formerly owned by Jardine Matheson.IN 1978, he ventured into Hotel sector by building a 40 rooms motel at Batu Ferringhi, Penang. Today the hotel venture has expanded ,it is now known as Bayview International Hotel & Resorts. In 1980s, the company ventured into manufacturing of the car components for export market in Thailand.

Tan Sri Loh died in his sleep at the age of 79 on Feb 16, 1995.
(source: wikipedia)

So you want to sit at the table, where Tan Sri Loh once sit ?

Places after his names:
- Jalan Loh Boon Siew( 骆文秀路)is named after Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew. It is a road between Burmah Road and Jalan Padang Victoria. Near Westland Primary School and Chinese Recreation Club(or CRC).
- Boon Siew Flat in Tanjong Bunga,
- Wisma Boon Siew, Butterworth.
- Boon Siew Group, a pioneer developer in Penang, is named after the late Tan Sri Dato' Loh Boon Siew.
- The Loh Boon Siew Scholarships from the Loh Boon Siew Benevolence Sdn Bhd

He contributed much to Lam Wah Ee Hospital and Penang Old Folks Home. He was the largest donor.

骆文秀，马来西亚檳城大亨.早年从福建移民,后在通过二手车生意,获得成功.后在马来西亚贩卖本田摩托.是馬來西亞華人企業家「白手興家」的典範。

幼年在中國福建省惠安縣赤石鄉撿拾豬糞供做燃料，完全沒有機會接受教育。十二歲離鄉別井到檳城謀生，初時找到一份汽車修理學徒的工作，在晚上還幫人洗巴士掙錢，每輛收10仙，月薪只有三元。

18歲的那一年，利用他的2000令吉積蓄，一口氣買下11輛殘舊巴士。過後，他將這批修復過的巴士，以1萬2000令吉脫售。他雄心萬丈，再利用這筆錢買下39輛巴士。

1942年第二次世界大戰期間，他的財產被入侵的日軍充公，變成一無所有。在1945大戰結束後，他東山再起，轉賣腳踏車、輪胎及摩多零件等。過後，他將業務擴充至售賣二手汽車，同時涉足運輸業及巴士業。

一九五八年，是駱文秀事業中的重要轉捩點。這一年，他創立了東方實業，開始經營地產生意，在檳城與友人合資興建高級住宅，是檳州最早的發展商之一。
(source: wikipedia)


駱文秀路　王國的起點　傳奇一生成典範
2004-2-23
文：周秀惠，梁俊琳 圖：伍志強，周達萬


提起駱文秀，那曾經是全馬無人不知無人不曉的大實業家、大慈善家，可問起駱文秀路在哪，可能還會有人呃、呃，說不出來。

原來駱文秀路就位于距離車水路1926古迹酒店只有不到2百公尺的一條橫路，那是一條全長只有0.2公裏的街道，寂靜的駱文秀路，只有一排18間排列整齊、古樸典雅的雙層排樓。

相較于駱文秀對國家經濟、社會慈善所作的貢獻，全長只有0.2公裏的駱文秀路就顯得有些微不足道。

在一個天氣還算晴朗的午後，我們從車水路直駛，經過著名的“台灣古早味”後左轉，映入眼簾的是右邊漆上鮮豔色彩的“秀秀蝦面”。“秀秀蝦面”後就是駱文秀路上唯一一排18間的雙層排樓。這排象征著小資産階級的建築物可說是駱文秀路的特色，其中大部分還保留爲住宅之用，只有兩三間被用來作商業用途。

在這雙層排樓的對面，就只有一棟占地寬闊的獨立洋樓。根據在當地住了20多年的伯伯告訴我們，在這條駱文秀路上，沒幾樣東西和駱文秀扯上關系，唯一一樣的就是這棟價值150萬令吉的獨立洋樓。

“這棟洋樓的業主就是駱文秀，以前駱文秀在世時雖不住在這裏，不過三天兩頭就會過來看看，可是現在聽說要賣了”。

駱文秀曾經是名字響當當的人物，紀念他的道路卻靜靜的躺在鬧市中，誠如他精彩的一生，最終還是歸于平淡。

傳奇一生成典範
已故丹斯裏駱文秀是中國福建惠安縣赤石鄉人，生于1916年，1995年在槟城逝世。丹斯裏是大馬著名的大實業家、大慈善家，雖未踏進校園一步，卻走出成功，精彩的人生，其人生奮鬥精神已經成爲白手起家的典範。

12歲搭船來馬
12 歲時駱文秀離鄉背景，搭上鼠疫肆虐的大船，來到馬來西亞槟城謀生，第一份工當的就是機械學徒，工余則靠幫人清洗巴士來賺取外快，18歲時駱文秀已經成爲槟島很出名的機械技師，同年他以2000令吉的積蓄買下了11輛二手巴士，翻新後賣出又賺了一筆，過後創設建黃巴士公司，爲未來的鴻大業奠下基礎。

1958年駱文秀的一趟日本之旅。成了他人生的一個轉捩點，他取得了本田摩多在大馬及新加坡的代理權，由于駱文秀經營有方，在1990年以前本田摩多一直是大馬銷量最大的摩多品牌，除了本田摩多外，文秀集團也取得本田汽車的代理權。

日本行成轉捩點
不過，最令人津津樂道的是駱文秀憑著一個信念：“人口會增加，土地卻不會”而大量購買土地，並因此成爲槟城地産界的佼佼者。駱文秀的成功因素之一是他具有高瞻遠矚的眼光，除了代理本田摩托車和汽車外，他也炒地皮，投資生意多元化。丹斯裏駱文秀經營多種生意，包括車業、摩托車、工廠、地産、建築、金融、園丘、酒店等，營業遍及美亞各國，以銷售本田摩托車馳名，以擁有多地産飲譽大馬。

駱氏所經營的商業機構，遍及馬新等地不下40余家，包括文秀有限公司、東方企業有限公司、槟威實業有限公司、槟城實業有限公司、文秀發展有限公司、嘉摩多、北馬工程貿易有限公司、大威有限公司、勇士機件工業有限公司、真白利發展有限公司、大石水泥有限公司、南方銀行、南霹雳種植有限公司、黃色巴士車有限公司、N.G.K.有限公司、湯淺電池（馬）有限公司等。

熱心教育
丹斯裏駱文秀爲一名熱心慈善教育公益事業、急公好義、爲善最樂的人士，同時提倡文教、劍及履及，素爲各族所共欽。他曾任病老院、中華總商會、槟州華人大會堂、駱氏同宗社、惠安公會、鍾靈中學、槟華中學、協和中學、中華中學、菩提中學及其它社團、慈善機構、各男女學校的主席、董事或名譽主席要職。

駱文秀不但是一名成功的實業家，更是一名慈善家，他生平捐給學校、醫院、社團及福利團體的金額超過千萬令吉，特別是當年槟城民間發動籌建南華醫院基金，駱文秀即以一元對一元的方式前後爲南華醫院捐出了7百萬令吉。

一元對一元捐7百萬
駱文秀生前也非常孝順母親，爲了紀念已故母親蘇桔女士，他在南華醫院紀念館內建了一個蘇桔紀念堂。

坐擁數十億資産，駱文秀仍不改他樸實，隨和的作風，坐的仍是本田汽車，出入也沒保镖隨行，因爲根本沒有人會想要傷害這麽一個好人。

Related books/articles:
1. Tan Sri Loh Boon Siew: the life and times of a fire dragon(2006), by Raymond Flower, Winston Lim, Cheng Yean Loh (Dato'.), published by SNP Editions.