Partnering Google, CBSA makes its mark
PETALING JAYA: A partnership between US giant Google Inc and little-known CBSA Bhd could throw the spotlight on the Malaysian firm, which has been flying under the radar of investors.
CBSA Bhd: Dare to Dream Big & Make it Big
May 2011
His mobile phone beeps. Sun Chee Kong takes out his phone to look at the text message bringing him news and congratulatory wishes. Shortly, many more text messages come his way. Little did he know on that day, the Group Managing Director and CEO of one of Malaysia's foremost IT companies would be one of only nine Malaysian companies to be recognised by Forbes Asia as the best companies in Asia with revenues under US$1 billion.
"In fact, I didn't know that I was shortlisted by Forbes Asia as we had nothing to do with them, so initially I thought it was a mistake. I used my phone to check the news online, and it was true. I was really surprised, really honoured," said Sun.
He helms CBSA Berhad, which deals primarily with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagging and encryption technology as well as media content and search. The accolade that Forbes bestowed upon themjoined many others that have, over the years, reaffirmed CBSA's position at the forefront of its industry.
Realisation of an Ambition
At a young age, Sun had already set his heart on becoming a programmer. After he obtained his high school diploma from Ontario, Canada, he went on to study computer science at the University of Louisiana, U.S,from which he acquired his degree.
"When I came back from overseas, I wanted to join the biggest IT company and those days IBM was the biggest and everybody wanted to join it," he said.
Joining the company in 1987, Sun spent 7 years with the technology giant before moving on to ply his owntrade.
"My time at IBM was the first and last time I was ever an employee at a company," he added. Sun left IBM in 1994 to found Cyber Business Solutions Sdn Bhd, his first company. It launched him on a trajectory that led to the fruition of CBSA Bhd, of which his first company is now a subsidiary.
"I started off without any grants or financial aid from the government. Rather, I used my own pocket money to fund everything. Because of that, I told myself that I could not afford to lose my company. My motto was'You cannot afford to fail, it is not an option. You have to make it.' and I stood by it," said Sun. "I started out 16 years ago and didn't know I could achieve so much. I only took things one at a time - and I had to, only having five people in the company when I started. Now we have about 250 people and in the Klang Valley alone we have 4 offices," explained Sun.
Sun points out that it was especially tough for his fledgling company during the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the burst of the dot-com bubble soon after. More recently he has had to bring his company through the 2008 world financial crisis.
"It's been a long journey since then and we've turned out to be a successful and consistent IT company in Malaysia--one that manages to make money every quarter, even during those bad times," he added.
Priorities and Philosophy
From the get-go, Sun had already known that just wanting to make money was not a good enough drivingforce to make one last in the business world, regardless of which industry one was in.
"Any business you want to venture into, you have to love your business. You have to be passionate about it.Without passion, you won't give it your hundred-and-ten. I like to come to my office, I like my job andlike meeting my colleagues. Meeting up with associates and socialising with them is also something I look forward to," he added.
Furthermore, he argues for the prioritisation of customers.
"Shareholders. Employees. Customers. A lot of people say the three are equally important. But this is nottrue; the customer is the most important. Without customers, there will be no income for employees and no dividends for the shareholders," said Sun.
"Fortunately, I have been able to satisfy my customers and in so doing benefit my employees and shareholders," he added.
Decisions That Paid Off
Sun had long wondered why Malaysian companies always sought to buy foreign software and set out tolocally develop technology and software for Malaysian companies and foreign markets.
"Have you seen an RFID tag before?" he asks.
Ever the proponent of technology, Sun takes out his wallet and shows one such tag taped to the corner ofhis wallet. He runs his index finger along the surface of the tag, showing how flat and unobtrusive it is.
"An RFID tag is basically a chip and an antenna. They come in different sizes and this one, for example, isused in Hong Kong International Airport," he said.
One might be surprised how widespread RFID technology has been integrated into one's daily life;Malaysian passports, Touch 'n Go cards and certain credit cards like the Visa Wave implement variantsof this technology. However, its use is only going to become more widespread.
"Years ago it was a difficult decision to adopt and develop RFID technology as it easily costs a millionRinggit for us to conduct R&D," said Sun.
"RFID is moving from strength to strength. Certain mobile phone models have RFID readers and others arethinking of implementing it in their own devices, so pretty soon it is going to be available to a largenumber of consumers. Now people are seriously considering using RFID in the course of their operationsand we are proud to be a leading company in this field. We believe we are in the right position in this marketto satisfy future demand and we know that our decision to develop this technology has paid off," he said.
Taking His Company Public
Sun had envisioned bigger things for his company since the earlier days, wanting to be a significant playerin his industry.
"It has always been a dream to take my company public. Meeting the requirements to take it public as wellas having a proven ability to grow the company were big factors to take it public, but it was also about thebigger picture," said Sun.
"When we started with five people, we could only take on small projects because of our low profile. Now thatwe do a lot of business locally, people are familiar with our company within Malaysia. However, we needed tobe listed on the Main Board to increase our profile to a level that instils confidence in regional clients to dobusiness with us," explains Sun.
Sun states that the recent transfer to the Main Board in November 2010 made it too early to tell how hiscompany's stock is performing. He nonetheless notes that it is currently at about two and a half to threetimes its IPO price - a feat few companies in the ACE Market can take pride in as many had their share pricefall below its IPO price.
CBSA has put in motion plans to pursue a series of investor relations programmes which will kick off in2011.
"Our stocks are quite low-profile at the moment, which may be good for investors at this juncture but in line with our expansion plans in the region, we need to increase the profile and value of our stocks," he said.
Growth and the Future
Sun regards CBSA's management team as being very strong and competent, pointing that it was able to identify technologies which had become obsolete, ones that were upcoming, and having the know-how to identify slumps in the economy and survive it.
Case in point, the team at CBSA had decided to move from generating income through project-based avenues to one that is recurring-income based. Its business listings directory is one such example that has a strong recurring income, boasting 48,000 listings and a renewal rate in excess of 80 percent. It is products like these that constitute a very important component of CBSA's business and helps them see through hard times.
Looking forward, Sun explains that CBSA's successes have spurred it to take on bigger challenges.
"We have grown to a certain extent where we have to move beyond Malaysia. The three-year plan that we have just put in place is one where we are seriously looking at the ASEAN region. There are about 650 million people in the ASEAN region, and that is big population. Our advantage is that we know the culture of the people in this area," he said.
His company is also looking at new businesses, which is why it recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International Halal Integrity Alliance, partly with the intention to promote Halal food among the Muslim communities.
"We have a partnership with Alibaba so we should be able to do that successfully," he added.
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