Alhamdulillah, it was truly an honor and blessing to say a few words of appreciation on behalf and a tribute to my father, Datuk Dr. Ir. Hj. Abdul Latif Mohd Som, Executive Chairman and Co-founder of KL Prima Consult Sdn Bhd.
After all these years, this was actually the first time I got to attend his company event, being away from the family while we were residing in Miri for 16 years.
It was a sight to behold, to witness this large gathering of staff with their families. As my father recapped in his speech, the company has come a long way from their humble beginnings in 1996 with only 17 staff with their Civil engineering roots in Buildings and highways, expanding to over 90 staff, diversifying their portfolio into rail and transit projects.
It's always inspiring witnessing this in hindsight, thnking back of his humble origins...
Papa was raised in a kampung, Kota Lama Kanan in Kuala Kangsar, Perak. His father passed away when he was only 7 years old, and his mother - my grandmother, Pah, may Allah have mercy on her - would go around house to house to teach children to recite Quran to make ends meet.
To go to school, every day he would need to take the bicycle, take a boat acros the river, and lot more walking. It would take him a solid hour of effort just to arrive school. And back then in those days, in the '60s, with our country only recently achieving independence there was no environment or "success story" of local Malaysians becoming professionals. The highest post people would aspire to is a clerk for the government district office.
Who knows what was the significance of "good education", and what was even possible?
And as I sat throughout the dinner event, it dawned on me: If one were to live back then in the ‘60s, who would have thought, that this little ambitious boy from the kampung would now be standing here, fifty years later, giving a speech as Executive Chairman for his company’s Gala Dinner, celebrating 28 years of achievements?
Observing their family day gatherings every year, my mother once made a remark: it’s amazing to see these staff bring their families every year, and we get to witness them growing up. They used to be little kids running around, now they're all grown up... some of them are parents!
I took the opportunity in the speech to remind myself and the rest, events like this should remind us to be grateful to Allah for the favours and blessings: How, Allah provides jobs for these families through this company.
The company went through some turbulent times, especially during the COVID19 pandemic, when, like many other industries, all projects grinded to a halt.
The situation was so dire that the directors had to fork out money from their own personal savings to keep the company afloat, while retaining all of the employees. My dad remarked, in hindsight, “not only did we not get paid, WE had to pay”. And it was no small amount (angka dirahsiakan 😊). Not a single staff was retrenchend.
For us to truly appreciate this move, we need to put ourselves in their shoes and understand the context that they did this. Back in those pandemic days, nobody knew how things were going to turn out. When - or even IF - the pandemic was going to end? How was the economy going to be like, after the pandemic? Is it even worth keeping them here?
There was no guarantee of ‘greater returns’ or big projects to come.. They just took a calculated risk, strengthen their business development to diversify their portfolio into rail, and tawakkal, put their trust in Allah.
And Alhamdulillah, it was a good call. Not only did they make it through those hard times, but have now come out strong with a new niche and sought-after area of expertise.
The heart of every long term success is a strong team. Special props to Ir. Narizal Nosri - head of Civil Department - who has been with the company since 1997: a whopping 27 years of service, staying loyally all the way.
And highest appreciation goes Executive Director, Ir. Dr. Salehin Salleh - who co-founded the company with Papa. Out of the other 3 shareholders who co-founded the company, he is the only one left, steadily running the operations.
May Allah continue to put barakah and success in dunya and akhirah for my father and all of his team at KLPC. Kita akhiri dengan ucapan Alhamdulillah dan serangkap Pantun, courtesy of tuan Husaini...
Sejarah diukir 28 tahun,
Berdedikasi semangat membara,
KL Prima terus membangun,
Tulus berkhidmat untuk negara.
86 projek angkanya besar,
Projek diurus dengan cemerlang,
Inovasi baru terus disasar
Agar generasi kekal gemilang.
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