Tan sri lee oi hian biography definition

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 7, 2022 - November 13, 2022

"The values [of the company] started with [my father’s] values, which continue in the company — honesty, hard work and loyalty.

— Lee (Photo by Patrick Goh/The Edge)

In 1993, when Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian took over from his father, Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng, as chairman and CEO, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) was already one of the biggest oil palm plantation companies on the local bourse, with a sizeable land bank of over 100,000ha (252,000 acres) in Malaysia and some interests downstream.

Since then, the company has grown, expanding along the palm oil value chain as well as geographically with interests in Indonesia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and China, while increasing its total planted area to 284,000ha.

But Oi Hian, 71, sees himself as merely a steward of his late father’s legacy, watching over it for future generations and its stakeholders.

“KLK was taken o