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| Ignatius and Pauline, 2017 |
When Ignatius
returned to Ipoh in 1982, a fresh graduate from the UK where he attained the
distinction of top student in psychology he was tasked to understudy the
business from the management.
His wife
Pauline Hsu, a graduate of accounting was computerizing the company’s accounts
system at the time.
Ignatius and
Pauline overshadowed the management in the early years to learn the operation from them .
When news
that the senior management had retired was announced Ignatius was put in charge
of sales while Pauline took charge of the workshop and operations at Kampar
Road.
During this
period of recession both Ignatius and Pauline were sent to Thailand to learn from Mitsuro
Sato, the President of Asian Honda Motor Co Ltd.
Sato’s style
had a profound impact on Ignatius so much so when he returned he changed Ban
Hoe Seng.
He refurbished
the showroom and adopted the management style that he learnt from Mitsuro Sato.
The results
from the training proved itself when Ban Hoe Seng won the first Honda Dealer of
the Year in 1990.
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| Standing left Pauline Hsu, Ignatius (4th form left) and Agnes (Ignatius sister, last). Seated :Chew Choon Kok (4th from left). Pix dated 1991 |
In 1994 Chew
Choon Siew died and that same year Ignatius father Choon Kok retired.
According to
Ignatius Honda was a product that sold itself. He theorized that if you have a
good product all you had to do was to manage and service the product and it
would do well.
When the
Asian Financial Crisis occurred in 1996 / 97 Ban Hoe Seng was well poised to
weather the storm once again.
As had been done
in the 1985 crisis Ignatius’s conservative style and prudent management once
again helped the company get through the crisis.
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