This Malaysian Billionaire Was Seen Picking Up Rubbish In Bandar Sunway
Well done, sir!
By John Lim — 15 Sep 2016, 04:25 PM
A part-time lecturer's casual stroll at Bandar Sunway was met with surprise as he stumbled upon a group of people picking up rubbish along the sidewalks with...
... one of the richest men in Malaysia, Jeffrey Cheah!
Yup, the founder and chairman of Sunway Group was spotted collecting trash!
In a Facebook post that has since gone viral, Gary Chong described the encounter during his walk.
"Today, I was taking a little evening stroll around Bandar Sunway when I chanced upon a group of mature and elderly looking Asian gentlemen who were walking in a pack and picking up little bits of trash on their way, be it small bits of used tissue paper to little strands of plastic strewn on the pavements and the green landscape around the surrounding buildings," he wrote in the post dated 10 September.
Through his first impression, Chong assumed that they were Japanese, since he had witnessed such behaviour in Kyoto and Osaka
"At first, by their actions and mannerisms, I assumed that they were a bunch of Japanese tourists due to the fact that the last time I observed such pack behaviour was in Osaka and Kyoto."
But curiosity got the better of Chong. As he moved closer to the group, he heard the men speaking with a Malaysian accent.
"As I pranced closer, I overheard that they had distinct Malaysian accents. Could they be Singaporeans? I thought to myself, there is definitely no way they could be Malaysians."
When Chong walked past the men, he couldn't help but notice a very familiar looking face and much to his delight, it was Jeffrey Cheah leading the group!
“I walked past them, still mildly intrigued by who they were and saw a recognizably familiar looking face heading this pack of old gentlemen, wait…could it be? After a quick Google image search…it was none other than Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Jeffrey Cheah!”
Caught by surprised, Chong paid respect to the tycoon with a capital 'R', who he assumed was leading directors from the Sunway Group.
"Respect with a capital "R" to this guy for leading his team who by their age, should be corporate directors and the big guns of the Sunway Group," Chong expressed in delight.
As Cheah and his team moved towards Sunway Pyramid, Chong couldn't help but be amazed by their humble nature
“This is truly an amazing thing to see a billionaire and giant icon across a multitude of industries, doing something so simple and humble, literally without any press coverage, any sort of elaborate entourage of media/CSR presence via wearing corporate uniforms and etc.”
When Cheah left the shopping mall with his red Ferrari, Chong took a playful jab at the billionaire who was listed by Forbes as the 18th richest man in Malaysia with a net worth of US$865 million (RM3.6 billion)
"The only thing which would have been cool to seal the deal on his simple and humble act was if he exited the scenario via a simple Proton rather than a blazing red Ferrari," he joked.
The public display of Cheah's humble spirit sat well with many netizens. Some even said he did this regularly and that he's always known for leading by example.
Those who've worked with the tycoon have also said that he implements a strict hygiene and cleanliness policy on employees
Jeffrey Cheah, a former accountant, is the current chairman of the Sunway Group. The conglomerate operates in 12 industries, with core businesses in property and construction.
He's also the founder of The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation, where he gave away RM45 million to more than 3,000 students last year.
