This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 18, 2023 - December 24, 2023

FOUNDER and group managing director of JF Technology Bhd Datuk Foong Wei Kuong was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) 2023 Malaysia at a black-tie gala dinner held in early December. He was also the winner of the Master Entrepreneur category.

Foong was selected from 14 top nominees and will represent Malaysia in June 2024 at at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) 2024 Award in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

JF Technology had humble beginnings, established in 1999 in Foong’s kitchen. His vision was for the company to be one of the world’s best providers of high-performance test interface solutions.

To date, JF Technology is among companies with the most intellectual property (IP) ownerships in Malaysia, with 88 patents filed worldwide. It is specifically focused on 5G and automotive testing applications, with 41 patents granted.

Suffice to say that Foong has achieved what he set out to do as the company’s headquarters is now located in Kota Damansara and it is recognised as one of the world’s top test contacting solutions providers and serves more than 200 multinational corporations worldwide.

One can say that this year’s theme “The Art of Entrepreneurship” is apt for 63-year-old Foong, who has suffered many setbacks as he worked at honing his skills in the specialised field of test interface solutions.

“The biggest triumph for me is being able to emerge from the difficult times and having confidence in what we do. We went through more than eight years of lawsuits after a competitor in the US sued us for infringing patent rights. We did not infringe. But we lost the case and that was challenging. But when one door closes, 10 windows open.

“After that defeat, we were selected by a Chinese-based technology company to be their partner. However, we faced problems there as well. But finally, we picked the right segment and we pursued the areas of [testing applications for] 5G and the automotive EV sector — that’s where we grew,” he told The Edge after the gala dinner.

Foong has also worked on future-proofing the company by ensuring that it collaborates with local universities to advance high-impact research and build future engineers the industry needs while naturally enhancing students’ employability in the semiconductor industry.

In his speech during the gala dinner, E&Y Consulting Sdn Bhd and EOY Malaysia Programme partner Philip Rao commended Foong for consistently finding new ways to innovate and repaint the business landscape.

“His determination to produce world-class talent, pioneer new technologies, develop game-changing products and build future-forward facilities enables JF Technology to stay at the forefront of the semiconductor industry. Foong’s resolve to reinvent the status quo in creating a better working world is what makes him an inspirational winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award,” he said.

Ernst & Young PLT Malaysia managing partner Datuk Abdul Rauf Rashid said the firm has been committed to supporting the entrepreneurial cause in Malaysia for more than 20 years. This coincides with the government’s focus on fostering entrepreneurship and grooming local entrepreneurs to take on the world market.

“The EOY programme is an annual awards programme that honours Malaysia’s top entrepreneurs for their contributions to the economy and society.

Their efforts have transformed lives, bolstered the small and medium enterprise sector, and served as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs have not only set out on their paths to success; they have done so with determination, continuously pursuing excellence,” he said.

Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz, in his keynote speech, said the government’s commitment to fostering entrepreneurial growth and participation in the global economy is a reflection of the country’s economic policies and, in more recent times, in the New Industrial Master Plan 2030.

“The awards’ theme, ‘The Art of Entrepreneurship’, encapsulates the very spirit of our entrepreneurs, whose creativity and innovation continually curate and shape our economic landscape. And it is this very spirit that we hope to nurture through our policies by, among others, strengthening existing programmes, fostering digitalisation and cultivating an ecosystem that encourages public-private collaborations.

On that note, I commend EY for their commitment in organising the awards programme, now in its 22nd year, and I hope to see the continuation of this effort towards fostering principled entrepreneurship in Malaysia for many more years to come.”

EY also presented three other awards for entrepreneurial excellence in other categories, one of which was EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2023, Malaysia, which went to Ian Chua and Venon Tian of Zuspresso M Sdn Bhd, which runs the highly popular Zus Coffee brand.

At the heart of its business, the duo shared, is the community that it serves. “Accessibility is something at the top of our mind. Be it in the number of stores we set up, creating a certain number of job opportunities and making sure that the product is easily accessible to everyone — price point and flavours.

“It has to be relatable to the community even when we expand outside of Malaysia. We have a store in the Philippines currently, with more to come, and it is the same thing — that is, to make sure that the products we sell are accessible and relevant to the community,” Chua said.

The EY Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 Malaysia award went to Giva Kuppusamy of GK Aqua Sdn Bhd, which is in the business of sustainable prawn farming.

Giva said he was honoured to be acknowledged for the award as it is a great opportunity to provide visibility to what he does — putting sustainable food on the table by utilising technology.

“We have just invented a new technology for feed that comes from sustainable local ingredients, especially local unutilised crops that can grow on marginal land. Next year, we plan to scale that up to feed our own prawns and eventually to chicken, fish and so forth.

This is where we are connecting the dots on the value chain to make every exercise in the value chain as sustainable as possible,” he said.

Last but not least, Lee Hui Jing of BilaBila Retail Sdn Bhd was named EY Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2023, Malaysia. She is a co-founder of contemporary convenience store chain BilaBila Mart that has made the kedai runcit cool again in the Klang Valley.

“This is a good platform for me to tell my story. I didn’t come from a privileged family and I actually went through a lot of hardship early in life — which was why I started working at 15 years old. Women need to be empowered and we need a platform to normalise both our struggles and success.

A lot of people will ask me about who my husband is because they assume that I depended on him [to get the business running]. I can be the one driving the business as well. I want my story to be heard so it can reach out to others who need to hear it,” said Lee.

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