Malaysia's open-door prince
What compelled you to join the diplomatic corps?
I always expected my career to be in diplomacy - I studied international politics at university, my father was an ambassador. I figured it was my destiny.
Two years after joining, I was sent to serve as second secretary in Paris, which was a great posting and a great start to a career.
Why did you leave?
After five years in the service, my father invited me to run the family business. The timing was partly related to a change in Malaysian economic policy.
What was your role in the business?
As chairman of Antah Holdings, I would oversee the board meetings and look after the interests of our shareholders, including Jardines. My [younger] brother, who was managing director at the time, did the day-to-day running of things.
What were some of the challenges you encountered?
In 1985, Jardines decided to pull out. Then in 1997, we really got hit. Our share price tanked, and we were forced to turn to margin-financing. We soon realised that we had to restart the business.
How did you get back on your feet?
In 2003, we found a white knight in the form of a Chinese firm. Our company rebranded itself as Sino Hua-An International Berhad, which became Malaysia's first listed red chip [a company with Chinese links]. Today, we mainly produce metallurgical coke for the steel industry.
Then in 2005, after our family was granted a licence to produce power by the Malaysian government, we built our first plant through another company.
In 2007, I started producing a larvicide to help eradicate dengue fever and malaria. We took the product to market through our biotech firm EntoGenex.
More recently, an Australian-listed company we invested in - Noble Mineral Resources - acquired and refurbished the Bibiani gold mine in Western Ghana, which [just went on line].
How did the troubles at Atah change t