How HELP University grew

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Dr Paul ChanTuck Hoong never envisioned that his small shoplot education business would grow to be a multi-millionringgit venture with an international appeal.

The co-founder and president of HELP University College decided on education after experimenting with limited success on a number of other businesses. But education was what he knew and what he was most passionate about, and that was where he made his mark.

Datuk Dr Paul Chan Tuck Hoong says setting up an education business was his calling.

He decided to set up an education business given his sheer love for teaching and wanting to impart knowledge, despite not knowing how to go about running an education outfit.

All he knew was that he wanted to make tertiary education readily available to Malaysians.

Chan and his wife, Datin Low Kam Yoke, started HELP in 1986 with a capital of RM25,000. He was 43 then.

The higher learning centre first started business in a small shoplot with only two classrooms and some 30 students in Kampung Attap, Kuala Lumpur, offering the BSc Economics external programme from the University of London.

Since then, HELP has grown into a large-scale education business operating locally and overseas with close to 14,000 students. It was listed as part of a larger group, HELP International Corp Bhd, in 2007 and has a paid-up capital of RM71mil as at the end of the financial year on Oct 31, 2010, with a turnover of RM105.2mil and net income of RM19.1mil for the year.

While Chan, his wife and two grown kids Juliet and Adam still own some 8.62% of the company, the major shareholder of HELP International now is property developer Selangor Properties Bhd with a 51% stake.

Selangor Properties first bought into the company in 1992 with a capital injection of RM3mil and its entry as a shareholder paved the way for HELP to re-locate to its current premises in Pusat Bandar Damansara.

Chan, who left his teaching career in Universiti Malaya to start the education business, admitted to knowing nothing about running such a business initially.

“But our minds were open like a parachute, which was our greatest asset,” he said in an interview with StarBiz.

An economist by training, Chan said his upbringing had limited his ability to dream big and he had to unlearn many things he had grown to know.

“When we first started, there were no examples of how big a private university college could be. We only had public universities at that time. I didn't have the vocabulary to think about conquering the world but the digital age has enabled us to think big,” he said.

The 68-year old said setting up an education business was his calling, after having dabbled in several other businesses such as manufacturing and construction.

The passion for learning and reading combined with the thirst for acquiring knowledge, was the perfect formula in establishing an education business.

“I believe it takes at least 10 years to hone your skills. Whatever you do, it has to come from conviction and you need to enjoy what you are doing. We decided on education as we wanted to create access as well as the opportunity for Malaysians to enter tertiary education (back in the 80s),” said Chan.

HELP was able to carve out its niche by offering external and twinning programmes, which worked out to be a lower-cost option for individuals seeking overseas accredited university degrees.

Since then, it has continued to offer attractive twining courses and as HELP offered a wider range of programmes drawing in more students, HELP attained the “university college status” by the Government in 2004.

But Chan is quick to add that success does not come without its fair share of failures or pitfalls.

“When I was about to leave my teaching career, I was involved in several types of businesses. And I never took the trouble to really learn the businesses and thought I would succeed.

“Even though I made a little money, I never continued so I never became an expert. I was involved in construction and made a little money but I never continued. Then, I was involved in doing oil filters and lost money but I never continued. I was involved in making rubber gloves and did not succeed but I never continued.

“So I was more a watering can than a laser beam. But that cannot be because to succeed, you need to be driven and focused,” he said.

Chan had a difficult upbringing having to tough it out in the slums of Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, and being born into a large family.

Until he was 10 years of age, he lived with his aunt while his father supported a family of nine on his wages as a petition writer.

The greatest lesson Chan has learnt is having self-awareness and knowing one's limitations.

“Self-awareness and self-questioning keeps us on alert. Many of us don't have self-awareness and that is why we can't break certain habits. After all, one's character is an accumulation of habits the way we think, act and conduct ourselves. It gives us the composite of our personality and if we develop a certain thinking or decision-making process or associate with a certain group, that is who we are,” said Chan.

He added that self-awareness is pivotal in what one does, what decisions are made and whom one associates with.

While the day will come when Chan needs to relinquish his position within the education company, he said he would never retire from education.

“There will always be other avenues for me to continue contributing (to the group). One aspect we are trying to build now is the (right and sustainable) culture within an organisation. It provides the climate for each individual to grow and define themselves,” he added.

It's evident that Chan's love for education has helped him build a successful and profitable business, which should continue to flourish with the right culture in place.