Met THE MAN

Yes, finally I had the chance to meet THE MAN personally.

So much that I have heard about him - from newspapers and from other reliable sources. About the elusive, low-profile corporate figure. About his generousities, his charities. About his conglemerate and corporate undertakings. Publicity shy and very rarely give any interview in the press. My friend Azam of Utusan got his chance of a lifetime to meet and interview the man last week - that interview came out in Mingguan Malaysia last Sunday. The Man said he gave the interview because he felt he was compelled to correct certain misunderstanding about him.

He is tall (I think he's a six footer). Lean body or may be he looked a bit thin because of his height. But, there's something charming about this guy. I guess may be because of his smile. The smile that never left his face during the meeting. Or may be because of his eyes. The eyes that showed the warmth and genuine interest when he listened to what others have to say during the discussion. He constantly cracked jokes at any given opportunity as if trying to water down the seriuosness of the matters on discussion.

I'm glad to have met him. Like I always do when I met any other successful malay corporate figures who are very humble and remain down to earth and more importantly they are god-fearing persons. Not that many that I have met so far though.

But still there is hope. If there was any lesson that I learnt today, it was that you could still be a successful in this cut-throat business world without forgeting your root and more importantly without sacrificing your religion and your principles.