HE was an orphan at 8, a coolie at 18 and a boss at 33.
Today, multi-millionaire businessman Robert Khoo, 68, is semi-retired and acts as a consultant to his firm, Opto-Pharm, which specialises in producing and marketing contact lens solutions.
For his achievements, Mr Khoo will be one of the 10 recipients of the Eye and Vision Health Awards.
The awards will be presented at the annual National Congress of Optometry and Opticianry today. The congress will also help prepare eye care practitioners here for the new Optometrists and Opticians Bill, expected to be passed in Parliament next month.
Mr Khoo was born in Thailand, where his parents died in 1947. He and his sister went to live with an uncle in Penang.
There, he dropped out of school after Secondary 3.
Desperate for work, he came to Singapore in 1957 and became a coolie with a shipping company at Telok Ayer Basin.
'Jobs didn't come easy. I took whatever I could get,' Mr Khoo said.
His pay: $5 a week.
Later, because of his English education, he was offered a position as a clerk in the same company.
He then became a management trainee at what is now known as Getz Corporation. It was a distributor for optical products such as spectacle frames and lenses, and this marked the start of his long career in this line.
He constantly upgraded his skills and the company sent him to attend management and accounting courses at the then University of Singapore.
He rose through the ranks at Getz, and later held managerial positions in two other optical companies.
Then in 1972, at the age of 33, armed with savings of $10,000, he left to set up his own company - Hilite.
His core business was in marketing optical products such as contact lenses and lens-care solutions.
Said Mr Khoo: 'I managed to establish good relations and trust with my clients and suppliers. I treated them like friends.
'That was why I succeeded.'
In 1980, he expanded into manufacturing - producing his own line of lens care products and multi-coated lenses.
In 1987, he sold 70 per cent of the company to French firm Essilor International. But he stayed on as the managing director of Hilite.
That year, he set up Opto-Pharm to manufacture a range of pharmaceutical products complementary to those produced by Hilite. In 1992, he sold his remaining 30 per cent stake in Hilite to Essilor and became executive chairman of Opto-Pharm.
He sold Hilite for more than $10 million.
He said: 'I am totally for the idea of constant upgrading and staying relevant. I don't even have O levels and it is by sheer hard work and good luck that I made it to where I am today.
'Although I'm not a certified optometrist, I think it is absolutely important to be properly trained to maintain high standards in the industry.'
That is why Mr Khoo has made sure that all his children received a university education. Three of his four children are in the optical industry.
Since late last year, he has been spending most of his days at his bungalow off Bukit Timah, where he enjoys the company of his seven grandchildren, aged 6 months to 13years.
Spring Singapore has invited him to give talks on entrepreneurship.
He is also working with the Singapore Polytechnic as an adviser for their diploma course in optometry.
Source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg 
Linear Mode
