The photograph above shows my seat in the office during my Practical Training SKU 3910 in Lian Pang Refrigerator & Electrical Sdn. Bhd.  The person sits on the chair is the Managing Director of Lian Pang Refrigerator & Electrical Sdn. Bhd., Mr. Lua Yang Ho.  The person stands beside Mr. Lua is Mr. Kang Chuen Tat (me!), the trainee from University Technology Malaysia (Skudai).  During this Practical Training, I am very appreciate the advices, chances and helps of Mr. Lua who is so willing to share his personal experience with me.

Introduction to The History Of Lian Pang Refrigerator & Electrical Sdn. Bhd.

        Lian Pang Refrigerator & Electrical Sdn. Bhd. was established in 1969 by Mr. Lua See Giok, the father of the recent managing director Mr. Lua Yang Ho. During that time the company was situated in the corner shop lot in Kampung Pasir Mas, Tampoi and there were only about six workers who did the job of trading and servicing of the refrigerators. As the earlier stage of the business in Lian Pang was based on trading and set-up but not on the production, most of the materials required to construct a refrigerator were taken from Kuantan.

        Latter, with the diligence of the workers and the determination of Mr. Lua See Giok to research and produce better refrigerators by his own, Lian Pang then became a manufacturer of the refrigerators and cold rooms. Meanwhile, Lian Pang had expanded and three more branches were established since then.

        In 1973, Lian Pang was moved to a corner shop lot in Skudai. Due to the climate of expansion, the employees in Lian Pang had increased to more than fifty. This number includes experienced and inexperienced site workers, office clerks and designers. To meet the requirement of the market, the company had expanded its branch to Singapore.

        During the zenith of Lian Pang, most of the employees had to do overtime jobs to meet the sales orders from Singapore, Brunei, East Malaysia and mostly from locals. The production rate was approximately more than 100 refrigerators per month. At that time Mr. Lua See Giok’s elder son, Mr. Lua Cheng Huat assisted his father to manage the company. In 1976, Lian Pang had built a factory in Skudai where the land was rented from Ketua Kampung near the company. This factory was illegal, as the land rented cannot be used for industrial purpose according to law.

        In 1977, the recent managing director, Mr. Lua Yang Ho, the second son of Mr. Lua See Giok, joined the company. He is a certified accountant graduated from Nanyang University Of Singapore.

        Unfortunately, the company had faced the most serious financial crisis in 1986 since its establishment due to global economic recession. The sales had decreased vastly and many employees had to be retrenched. That was the most difficult period in the history of Lian Pang. In the same year Mr. Lua Yang Ho took over the management of the company. He had proposed various plans to solve this critical problem. Various steps had been taken to restructure the system of the company, to search for new market and other corrective action to sustain the company. The Lua’s family strived very hard to save and plan for the future of the company because they love the company very much. They had to support the company from collapse.

        During 1990, the economy of Malaysia recovered and this was so for Lian Pang. The number of employees increased gradually with the sales of refrigerators and cold rooms. To improve the management of the company, punch-card system and computer accounting (recently is UBS) system were first introduced in the company. In the year of 1996, the management of Lian Pang bought a factory in the Industrial Area III of Senai as a plan to move away from the illegal factory in Skudai. In 1997, the building was completed. In 1998, Lian Pang received a Certificate Of Fitness and they had left the old and illegal factory and move to PLO 112, Kawasan Perindustrian Senai III. According to Mr. Lua Yang Ho, he preferred Taman Universiti to Senai Industrial Estate which is greater in size.

        Recently in 1999, Mr. Lua Yang Ho’s latest plan is to expand the business of Lian Pang by co-operating with the engineering company to produce refrigerators with better quality suitable for the tropical region especially in Malaysia and Singapore. During these two years, there should be an increased requirement for refrigerators for the storage of meat like pork, mutton, beef, chicken and so on. This is especially true as the Government Of Singapore will enforce a law to make the cold storage of meat in the refrigerator in the wet market compulsory. So, this is the time for Lian Pang to plan properly for the future. This good chance should not be missed and there should be improvement in the strength of the company to compete with other refrigerator company to ensure the prosperity in the future.

About The Pioneer of Lian Pang, Mr. Lua See Giok Before The Establishment of Lian Pang

        To understand the history of the establishment of Lian Pang, it is important to know better about the pioneer of the company. Mr. Lua See Giok, who established Lian Pang during his 50-year old age, is originated from the district of Jin Jiang, China. Same as other Chinese during the early of the 20^th century, Mr. Lua See Giok had decided to search for better life in Nanyang with other Chinese who had undergone a very tough life due to political and social instability in China.

        After Mr. Lua See Giok had reached Singapore by ship, he had been left alone. With the determination of Mr. Lua to strive for living, he continued to walk alone in the street to search for jobs or to explore a chance of living in Singapore. Fortunately, he met a person who latter brought Mr. Lua See Giok to a clan house to search for job. Mr. Lua was being introduced to do a job of picking the pinang fruits. At one time he became a sailor too.

        After that, Mr. Lua See Giok moved to Bundut (near Pontian), Johor, the place of birth of Mr. Lua Yang Ho, the second son of Mr. Lua See Giok and also the recent managing director. The Lua’s family opened a sundry shop and managed the business of rubber in that place. Due to the great decrement of the price of rubber during the global economic crisis in 1930, the business of rubber estate collapsed and the family moved to Melacca and worked as a hawker.

        Latter, the Lua’s family decided to move back to Singapore to do the business of the production of the skin of lap cheong with other friends. Singapore is also the place of birth of Mr. Lua Eng Peng, the forth son of Mr. Lua See Giok and also the recent Head of the Workers. Due to certain reasons, Mr. Lua See Giok closed the business in Singapore and moved to Tampoi to start the business of refrigerator until now.