Chapter 6
The Role of the Wife in Overseas Chinese Family Businesses
Traditionally, in a Chinese family business founded by a male, the role of the wife is often invisible to the public. Nevertheless, wives’ contribution to the success of family businesses cannot be ignored. They generally are greatly respected and admired by their husband and children. They instill a sense of purpose, responsibility, and community in family members, as well as promote cooperation and spiritual values and provide unconditional support. They also help their husband pass on moral values to the children.
One example is Lee Kim Hua. She is the matriarch of Genting Group, a conglomerate from Malaysia that specializes in tourism, resorts, gaming, plantations, power generation, oil, and gas. Lee Kim Hua is the widow of the late Lim Goh Tong, the founder of Genting Group, who died in 2007 at the age of 89. They have six children and 19 grandchildren. The six children are Lim Siew Lay, Siew Lian, Siew Kim, Tee Keong, Kok Thay, and Chee Wah. Lim Goh Tong himself was known to be a very hard-working man and visionary and his wife has been a tower of strength, supporting him throughout the years. Lee Kim Hua did not interfere in the running of Genting when it was under her late husband; she also leaves the operations to her son today, whom she believes knows best. Genting Group was founded in 1965. Currently, it employs over 58,000 people globally. It has been voted Malaysia’s leading corporation and one of Asia’s best managed multinationals. The Genting Group is the founder of Star Cruises, the third largest cruise liner company in the world and largest cruise liner in Asia. An announcement was made on June 22, 2011, that Genting would become the new principal partner of English Premier League Club Aston Villa. The deal is to run initially for two seasons from July 2011 to July 2013.
Lee Kim Hua is the richest woman in Malaysia, but she is still known as a humble woman and tries to stay away from the limelight as much as she can. When Lim Goh Tong passed away, he left his fortune to his wife and family members, and the company is now run by his second son, Lim Kok Thay. Lim Goh Tong transferred the chairmanship of the Genting Group to his son in December 2003.
In the Gokongweis, Elizabeth Yu Gokongwei has passed humility and moral values to her children. All of her children are obedient, hardworking, and humble. Elizabeth Yu Gokongwei is the wife of John Gokongwei, the founder of JG Summit. Lance Gokongwei described his mother as a kindhearted, warm, and very true person. She is the type of person everyone follows not because they fear her, but because they want to make her happy and not disappoint her. John and Elizabeth Yu Gokongwei have six children, namely Lance Gokongwei, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Faith Gokongwei-Lim, Marcia Gokongwei-Sy, and Hope Gogkongwei-Tang. They hold various positions in the Gokongwei Group.
Felicidad Tan Sy, the humble and deeply religious wife of SM Group founder Henry Sy, Sr., is said to be the reason SM Malls hold Catholic masses every Sunday. According to her husband, his wife devotes almost all her time and money to the Catholic Church. She is the most devout among his family members.
When Panda Inn first opened in 1973, customers were scarce. Following Chinese superstition, the wife of Master Chef Ming Tsai Cherng, who is also Andrew Cherng’s mother, went outside and sprinkled salt on the sidewalk to remove any negative energy that might be keeping customers away. Today, there are over a thousand Panda Express fast-food restaurants in malls, airports, shopping centers, and other prime locations. Regardless of whether we believe in such superstition or not, this story shows the wife’s support for her husband’s business.
Nevertheless, nowadays the role of the wife in many Chinese family businesses has evolved beyond just moral support. Instead, wives actively participate in developing the business. They are involved in more business activities.
Wife as the Balance of the Husband
At the beginning, overseas Chinese family businesses were set up by male entrepreneurs, individually or with their male relatives. Subsequent generations see husband and wife working together. The wife typically works in specific areas, such as human resources, finance, and accounting. Her good financial investment, professional, technical, and administrative skills are often critical to the survival of the family business. Her ideas and actions often have impact on the company’s growth. The wife sometimes pulls back after the business has been developed, and then focuses on helping the family business develop and diversify into new areas of opportunity. The wife also mentors the children and encourages them to decide to choose the family business as a career option. They help children to understand the importance of the business to the family.
Today, while keeping their traditional roles and function, the wives in many Chinese family businesses are involved more actively in the company. Many of them have a better educational background, have strong entrepreneurial skills, and take the formal leadership role with greater independence and autonomy. Another new role includes introducing work–life balance and greater involvement in the local community, while the husband focuses on marketing and production activities.
Sinflora, one of Singapore’s largest wholesalers of fresh-cut flowers and plants, is one example of how a wife can contribute to the success of a family business. Occupying a land area of 100,000 square feet at 1 Seletar West Farmway 1, Sinflora is the single largest garden center in Singapore. The company was established in 1979 by Bernard Loo and his wife, Charlotte Lee, both now in their 50s. Mr. Loo’s father ran a successful business supplying flowers and plants to florists, but when he wanted to strike out on his own he decided to sell artificial flowers instead. “He did not want to clash with his father’s fresh flower business, so we started supplying artificial flowers to florists in Singapore and Malaysia,” recalls Mrs. Lee.
However, as quoted from the Straits Times (2009), Mrs. Lee’s involvement in the family business certainly was not part of the game plan when she married Mr. Loo. She was an air stewardess for about six and a half years before joining her husband at Sinflora. “At first I didn’t want to help him and neither did I want to get into the family business, but I just went with the flow and this was how things turned out,” Mrs. Lee said. Currently, she is the firm’s executive director. She remains optimistic about business prospects, despite the economic situation. “I don’t think the plant business will be affected by the economy too much because firstly, how much can a plant cost?” she said. She says her eldest daughter, who is now at university, and her two younger sons have all shown a keen interest in the family business. However, it hasn’t been decided who will take over the business.
Another example is Weili Dai. She is co-founder and former chief operating officer of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. We can say that Dai, the mother of two children, is one of the most successful businesswomen in the world today. She has succeeded in transforming Marvell, which was started in 1995, into one of the most reputable semiconductor companies in the world. For Dai, having a good and continuous relationship with customers is very important. Other characteristics that must not be compromised are professionalism, honesty, and integrity. Thanks to her significant contribution, Marvell has signed many profitable strategic partnerships. She also encourages the spread of technology to developing countries to improve the well-being of societies there, as well as to increase the involvement of women in science and technology. Newsweek named Dai one of the “150 Women Who Shake the World” for her work in promoting science and technology. Since Marvell was established, Dai has held top positions such as chief operating officer, executive vice president, general manager of the Communications Business Group, director, and corporate secretary of the board.
Dai also plays an active role in charitable activities. For example, she leads Marvell in a partnership with the One Laptop per Child program (OLPC). She also became a board member of Give2Asia, an organization that helps the victims of disasters. University of California, Berkeley, has built Sutardja Dai Hall in recognition of her contribution, along with her husband Sehat Sutardja, CEO of Marvell, and Pantas Sutardja, CTO of Marvell. Sutardja Dai Hall is home to the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).
Katherine Tan, the wife of Andrew Tan from Alliance Global Group Inc., Philippines, is the treasurer and sits on the board of his company. In one interview, Andrew said that when he married, his wife became the most influential person in his life. Today, they talk about business almost every day, especially when he has to make important decisions.
Wife as Complement and Driver
Complementary means forming and serving as a complement. A complement itself is something that completes or makes perfect. In the context of a family business, its success depends on its ability to make the business thrive while at the same time being able to maintain the family harmony for generations.
In many Chinese family businesses, a wife can be a complement to her husband. While the husband focuses his attention on the success of the business, the wife focuses hers on keeping the family together so that all of the members can work harmoniously.
Although not all the wives of Chinese family founders or leaders are actively involved in the business, their important role in keeping the family and business together is not in doubt. The wives, as suggested by Poza (2008), often see themselves as the glue that keeps everyone united through the challenges that families who work together commonly face. They act as healers and mediators for their family. They also often take responsibility for family initiatives, such as creating a family council, hosting family gatherings, and planning family vacations and multigenerational celebrations.
In the business context, a driver is an aspect that effects a change on another aspect of the business. A driver is most commonly a factor that contributes to the growth of a particular business. In a family business, the wife can also be a driver to the company’s growth. The wife in many Chinese family businesses is the initiator of professionalism and greater delegation so that the company will no longer be too dependent on the founder or senior leader.
Wife as the Secretary
A secretary is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives and using a variety of project management, communication, and organizational skills. A secretary personally helps top executives in an organization. In his or her work, a secretary can help multiple employees. A secretary can also be someone in a society or an organization whose job includes sending and receiving letters, acknowledging new people, and coordinating organization events.
A secretary has many administrative duties. Traditionally, these duties were mostly related to correspondence, such as typing letters, maintaining files of paper documents, and so on. The advent of word processing has significantly reduced the time that such duties require, with the result that many new tasks have come under the range of the secretary. These might include managing budgets, doing bookkeeping, and making travel arrangements. Secretaries might manage all of the administrative details of running a high-level conference or arrange the catering for a typical lunch meeting. Often executives will ask their secretary to take the minutes at meetings and prepare meeting documents for review.
In many Chinese family businesses, the wife is a reliable secretary to her husband, and often business operation activities cannot run smoothly without her. For the husband, his wife’s role as secretary is so important that there was one owner who said that his wife could not be fired since she is “one in a million.” In other words, his wife’s role as secretary is irreplaceable.
Wife as the Most Important Figure Following Her Husband’s Death
Following the death of her husband, the wife, who is also a mother, becomes the central figure not just in the family but in the business as well. Her role in keeping the family and business together is even more important following her husband’s death. She ensures that after their father’s death, the children will not be involved in a bitter conflict that could ruin the family and the business. However, this does not necessarily mean that she holds the highest formal position in the company.
One example of a wife who still has strong influence even after her husband’s death is Beatrice Campos. She is the widow of Jose Yao Campos, who co-founded United Laboratories (Unilab) along with Mariano Tan. Jose Yao Campos died in May 2006. Currently, Beatrice Campos ranks number 19 in Forbes Asia’s 40 Richest Filipinos. She also controls Singapore-listed Del Monte Pacific, run by son Joselito. Unilab is the biggest pharmaceutical company in the Philippines. Established in 1945, it was the first among local companies to go into industrial-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing. By 1959, it had a robust nationwide distribution and sales network. Its portfolio includes some of the biggest prescription and consumer healthcare brands in the country. The company has also consistently maintained a 20 percent market share, with many of its brands becoming the most trusted household names and leading in their therapeutic categories. Today, Unilab has affiliates in 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the Chinese tradition, it is the eldest son who usually takes over control of the family business. However, he also has the primary responsibility for the welfare of his mother after his father’s death. This is in accordance with the teaching of filial piety. He often defers to her wishes and always treats her with respect. This shows how a wife, who is also a mother, is the most important person after her husband’s death.
In 2008, Lim Kok Thay from Genting Group was presented with a professorship by Xiamen University of China. The news was accompanied by the announcement of an HKD 6 million donation from Star Cruise to the Tourism Department of the University for a building to be named after Lim Goh Tong, the late founder of the group. The donation and appointment ceremonies were held at Xiamen University. To show great respect for the occasion, Lim Kok Thay traveled with his mother, Lee Kim Hua, and his brother, Lim Chee Wah, from Malaysia to China to present the donation to President Zhu Chong-Shi, who received it on behalf of the university.
The Role of a Wife: A Breaker or a Binder?
Every family has its own rules regarding money, loyalty, togetherness, image, conflict, and roles, although these rules are seldom written. Role consists of a set of behaviors, rights, and obligations that should be performed. Role includes expectations regarding how family members should behave themselves. Each role is set by a rule. Rules about roles give family members clues regarding how they should live their life.
In a family business, rules about roles are often transferred from the family life to the business life. In family life, we find the wife (and mother) who tries to take care of everything, including business matters. She feels that if she does not do this, everything will be out of order. Therefore, although without a formal position, the wife might have great access to the business resources, particularly the financial ones. If not dealt with carefully, this could have a negative impact on the business. We can say that in such situations, the wife might play the role of a breaker who can potentially break the business. To overcome this situation, the role of the wife in a family business should be defined more clearly, including the ways in which she can make positive contributions to the business. This can be reached through compromise and negotiation between husband, wife, and children.
In a family business, the wife is not just the spouse of her husband. Instead, she is also the mother of their children. These children are expected to take over control of the business someday in the future. As a mother, she is expected to exert great influence in educating her children and to help her husband to prepare the children so that they are ready to take control of the business. She does that using her motherly touch. She also is expected to instill the sense of togetherness and pride in her children so that they are ready to give their best for the family and for the business. By educating the children well and by instilling the sense of togetherness and pride, a wife/mother plays her role as a binder, the one who unites her family so that the purposes of the family and the business can be accomplished.
Regarding the wife’s role in educating the children, again we take a look at Beatrice Campos. Her youngest son, Jeffrey Y.D. Campos, is now the chairman of the real estate firm Greenfield Development Corporation. Jeffrey attributes his family’s strategy of investing in numerous realty properties, from Metro Manila to sprawling landholdings in Santa Rosa, Laguna, to his mother.