The passing of a towering Malaysian

One of the country’s most successful businessmen, Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, who founded and built up the diversified Naza Group of Companies, died of lung cancer on Thursday night (Malaysian time) in Los Angeles where he was being treated.

Nasimuddin was one of the finest examples of a New Economic Policy Bumiputera success stories.

Starting with RM80,000 at the age of 21, and ploughing back the gains he made selling imported cars through initial government support, he built a thriving diversified business empire.

Nasimuddin’s passing sent shock waves throughout the country, especially among those who knew him, as he had kept his illness under wraps.

Although he had been in the United States seeking treatment in early February, word of his illness only started filtering back last week when his condition worsened.

The Kuala Pilah-born Nasimuddin, who was well known for his philanthropy and support of charities and sports, had, at the time of his death, built up a multi-billion ringgit diversified business empire which included motor trading, manufacturing, transport services, engineering, plantations, animal husbandry, credit and leasing, properties, domestic and international hotel operations and insurance.

But he was best known for his penchant and involvement with automobiles, his first love.

Having been one of the recipients of Approved Permits (APs) in the late 1970s, he successfully imported re-conditioned cars from Japan and sold them here.

As his business grew, he ploughed back his profits, unlike the vast majority of other AP recipients who frittered away the rich pickings, leading lives of luxury, so much so that the APs came to be seen as a passport to wealth by many aspiring Bumiputera bu s i n e s s m e n .

But of all the hundreds who received the same opportunities, very few, such as Nasimuddin, through hard work and diligence, ventured into different aspects of the industry.

He assembled automobiles, set up plants here and abroad, and eventually became the largest automobile distributor in the country.

The Naza Group is known for its car-making businesses with South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp, and more recently, PSA Peugeot Citroen of France, and also distributes exotic marques like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Porsche, Bentley and D u c at i .

From that first RM80,000, the small shoplot in Taman Maluri and the initial 20 APs he “bought” from those who had received the permits, Nasimuddin’s business gradually became less dependent on motor ve h i c l e s.

He bought hotels and properties in the United States, in Britain and in Malaysia, displaying an uncanny trait for sensing when the markets were at their lowest ebb, and making manifold gains when the economy boomed.

Yet, despite the high profile of his original business of fast and luxury cars, Nasimuddin remained till his last days a soft-spoken, low-profile humble businessman, not showing in the least the traits of other nouveau rich who flashed their helicopters, private jets and yachts.

Most days, he would ride up front with his driver in a Toyota Land Cruiser and would only use his Mercedes Benz saloon on days he had to go for meetings and functions. On days when he had time, he would drive his favourite seven-year old Fer rar i.

He never lorded over his staff and employees, treating them more like colleagues and they, too, in their demeanour, showed respect and regard for him — never fear. It was no surprise that his friends ranged from the most powerful and f amous and the poor and ordinary.

Born in 1955, Nasimuddin was always interested in cars. After completing his Form Five education at SM Tuanku Muhammad in Kuala Pilah, he decided to learn business from his father, a contractor who was a prominent member of the Kuala Pilah community.

Nasimuddin’s father, S.M. Amin, was disappointed that his son did not want to pursue his studies, but respecting his wishes to be a businessman, asked him to work for his friend who owned the Lam Foong Transport Company as a dispatch super visor.

But the call of business was too strong and after a year, Nasimuddin —already married to his childhood sweetheart, nurse Zaleha Ismail — set up his own construction company.

He went into the automobile business in 1976, selling 10 to 15 units of imported Japanese cars each month.

In 1979, as business grew, he opened a branch in Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur. Nasimuddin expanded his business into the import and trading of reconditioned luxury cars and as a dealer for completely built-up Mercedes-Benz vehicles and assembling Kia models.

In 2003, the Naza Group became an automaker with the launch of its multi-purpose vehicle Naza Ria.

Priced at RM98,888, the MPV was the cheapest in its range at the time.

One of the keys to Nasimuddin’s success in transforming the Naza Group into what it is today is his RM500 million investment on an automotive complex in Gurun, Kedah.

This facility, set over 60ha of land, is where the bulk of the group’s car assembly is done, although another bigger factory is being built in Bertam, Penang.

In December 2006, Nasimuddin received one of South Korea’s highest awards for his contribution to the automotive industry through the partnership between Naza and Kia that started in 1996. He was given the Presidential Award industrial service medal from the South Korean president.

He was also named the Automotive Man of the Year at the NSTPAmBank Car of the Year Award and also the Tokoh Maal Hijrah, both in 2006.

His passing is mourned by all — employees, friends, the country’s leaders, and most of all by his family to whom he was more of a friend as he was a father and husband.