 Larry Lam Choon Seng: 1951 - 2014 Larry Lam, founder of Portek International and its MD and chairman until it was sold to Mitsui & Co in 2011, died yesterday (Feb 11) of cancer. He was 62. His career and personal success had humble beginnings in Batu Pahat district (population: 402,000 in 2010) Johor, Malaysia, where he came from. He was bright, winning an Asean scholarship awarded by the Singapore government to study in a Singapore school. Subsequently, he enrolled in the University of Singapore, and graduated with an honours degree in mechanical engineering. After stints in several jobs, he founded Portek in 1988 at the age of 36. He then went places literally -- to Indonesia (initially as a sales agent for a Swedish crane component manufacturer) and then Algeria, Malta, Gabon and Rwanda. Thus, long before other Singapore businessmen sought opportunities in such far-flung places, Portek was already operating port terminals there. In 2002, at the age of 50, Larry listed Portek on the Singapore Exchange. Portek grew its business to encompass 3 key areas -- port operations and management, port engineering, and port IT and automations solutions. It established a track record that eventually attracted competing takeover offers from International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) of the Philippines and Mitsui. The latter's winning offer in 2011 valued Portek at S$213.5 million, and gave Mitsui immediate access to Portek’s 8 terminals. Larry stayed on as Portek chairman for about another year. Cancer would strike him shortly and the best medicine could only delay the inevitable. His passing shocked many people, one of whom told NextInsight: "He was very health-conscious. I remember him looking trim and fit. He took up roller-skating in later years, and would roller-skate with his daughters. "I know when he was in Algeria for business, he would find time to meditate in the Sahara Desert." He left behind his wife, Lynn Isabel Yeo, and two daughters -- Shumei and Shushan - who are in their 20s. |
Larry Lam at a class reunion of his alma mater, High School Batu Pahat, in 2004. Photo: www.geocities.ws/hsbp1969/album2004.htmlGenerous and astute
From the cashpile he collected after his and his family's 41% Portek stake was sold to Mitsui, Larry gave a few million dollars to his staff, according to someone who knows him.
"He was a people person. He got along well with many people and he was generous," said the source.
"While Portek gave stock options to its staff, Larry himself did not collect any. In addition, his salary was not the highest in the company and he flew economy as he considered business class to be expensive."
He had benefited from the generosity of others in the early days of Portek. Someone allowed Larry to operate from his office for free, and that solidified what was to become a lifelong friendship.
After Portek became a listed company, this friend acquired some of its shares and emerged as one of its top shareholders, as listed in the FY2010 annual report.
Larry's alma mater. Photo: http://bagataphotography.blogspot.sg A character Larry did business with was Adam Iskounen, who was then living in the US and working for General Electric.
Larry would buy generators from General Electric for Portek's port operations in Indonesia. Years on, Iskounen returned to his home country, Algeria, where he was instrumental in helping Portek win rights to operate a port in Algeria.
As Portek's business thrived, Larry developed an astuteness regarding the geo-political risks of the region.
He decided not to enter Libya although Western countries and even some Singapore businesses were developing an enthusiasm for it.
Instead, he embraced opportunities to run a port in nearby Malta and in Gabon.
"I have spoken with Larry about the risks of doing business in these places and he came across as being savvy," said a former Portek shareholder.
Portek shareholders were often on edge over the perceived instability of these places and worried how Portek might be affected. 
Larry Lam being received by the Prime Minister of Rwanda, Bernard Makuzwa, in 2011. Photo: http://www.primature.gov.rw/And then there were challenges that few knew about. Prior to starting its Algerian port operations, Portek bought used cranes and shipped them over only to be told they could not be allowed in until they had a fresh coat of paint.
Larry was stumped. Not only were there extra expenses to incur, there was also a deadline he had to beat to start operations.
It was by a stroke of luck that he quickly learnt from a contact that he could ship the cranes to Turkey, which was not too far away, for the paint job.
Larry's knowledge about the idiosyncrasies of doing business in these places and the geo-political risks as well as the port industry as a whole came through in frequent articles that he penned for industry publications and in interviews he gave. (Examples: Interviews with Container Management and TPI ).
His legacy goes beyond sharing knowledge with peers and enriching shareholders of Portek.
"Larry’s venture into faraway places like Algeria helped to improve the well-being of the locals by modernising the operations of the ports, which contributed to lower cost of goods for the man in the street," noted an investor.
Many third-world ports are poorly equipped for loading and unloading cargoes. Ships calling at the ports often stayed longer than necessary for their turn to be served. Tracking of cargoes on the quays is also problematic, resulting in delay and spoilage.
Larry had recounted to some shareholders instances of failures to connect refrigerated containers to the quays’ power supply, resulting in huge losses of frozen meat and other fresh produce
Portek equipped its terminals with modern quay cranes which speeded up loading and unloading, and this lowered freight costs and spurred more shipping firms to call at the ports.
Computerisation and mechanisation also helped in cargo processing at the quay. Refrigerated containers that have been unloaded from ships and are not connected to the power supply now give off warning signals to remind workers to do the needful. 
Portek stock started 2011 at 48 cents and nearly tripled in price on 2 takeover offers in that year. Chart: Bloomberg.
After selling his Portek stake to Mitsui, Larry went on to found Azul World, his family-owned investment holding company focused on investing and developing infrastructure in emerging markets.
His daughter, Shumei, who had worked in Australia and Europe after completing her studies in Melbourne and Madrid respectively, was assisting him.
Larry's untimely death will be mourned by many.
Portek issued a statement on its website, saying: "Mr Larry Lam, through his enterprising and “can-do” spirit in business, has impacted the lives of many, directly and indirectly. His generous nature extended beyond business into areas of community work and philanthropy as well. As for those of us at Portek, we will always remember him fondly as our mentor and our friend."
The daily wake is held at Church of St. Ignatius, 120, Kings Road (off Farrer Road), and the funeral mass will take place at 9.30 am, 15 Feb.
Comments
You post useful stuff. Keep it up.
Personally, I have known Larry for 7+ years and can attest to whatever written above is 100% true. He has good foresight and insight into a wide spectrum of matters but he never fails to listen to people's inputs. He is generous in his dealings with people, engaging a Win-Win mentality and not a Win - ALL mentality. His passing will indeed be mourned by many.