Chapter 18 My Businesses

Planters do not maketh a good businessman,sensitivities and instinct bore no truths,so I learned the hard way.It took a great failure to bring me back to my senses.Yes,I had a huge failure in fact it was really expensive lesson which ultimately destroyed me.That failure made me a bankrupt.The plunging into business in fact brought me down upon my knees.With that I had practically to crawl all my way back to Paradise the hard way.

I was devastated but I did not grieved very long over it or cried over split milk.Well,for one I had a family to fend for,at least that motivated me to survive on or gathered all my strength to fight back for survivor.

It all began in the my tenth year of service with the same old plantation company.I was doing fine in that plantation but the payment were not attractive compared with counterparts with the planting circle.Sad to admit I was really lowly paid.Sometimes,being contended in the job was important,but as time drifted by and with the children growing older,money became  matter of concerned.

I had every intention of moving on but with my extremely bad track record,applications to many plantation companies ended in utter failures.The odds were piled against me.Many of my applications ended up without even a single reply,maybe as trash.So in order to improve my position I was forced to indulge in business.

Business ? Well,I was never a businessman never good  at it but nevertheless I dived head on onto it without the experience nor sufficient capital to rely on.It proved to be a fatal move.I guess I was too straight forward to be a businessman.Yes,I learned the hard way to know that only crooks can be a good one.You need not agree with me.

Once indulged in it I never knew what hit me I was faced with heavy losses which I never anticipated.On paper everything seem so nice and profitable as well as lucrative but never so.Friends whom you thought you could had relied on betrayed you Soon you realized whom your enemies really were.One thing I truly learned was never trust absolutely anyone.

The business opportunity  came when the trench to utilize the rubber wood as timber were becoming popular.Rubber wood were in abundance and securing them were quite easy. All we had to do were to secure contract for felling of old rubber stand.For as long as you can offer better service and terms  for clearing ,burning and planting,the contract were well in hand. 

Sawing rubber timber were quite new and appeared extremely profitable.Well,at least on paper it was.But involved in it we were faced with numerous unthinkable problems.Problems which beyond our wildest imaginations.

Securing the required quantity of rubber wood were quite easy and the problems only began when we started our operations .We had insufficient capital initially so we invited a few shareholders to join us . Sort of sleeping partners.That was easily sorted out.

With the small capital we invested in three mini band-saws which could to move about from area to areas.When everything seem to run  smoothly we were confronted by the forestry people who rushed  in out of no where to chain-locked all our band saws.With that all our operation were forced to cease .

Before that happened we had actually tried to apply for a licence for our operations.We were misdirected to run  all over the state in fact the country,trying to locate whoever were responsible,from DFO to S FO,running - from departments to departments with no definite results.I mean no one seem to know what to advice us.For another all those Authorities do not know whether rubber wood could be considered as timber.That a cruel joke to us all.

When we questioned those who locked our saws,they replied weakly and negatively.It seemed all they knew was we required a licence to operate those mini-saws.There were no definations ,all they understood were saws whatever they be mini or otherwise.As far as we were told mini-saws were never listed as machinery to be licenced.Our saws had all the safety features before operation required.

The whole thing in sawn rubber wood was so new that was why all were caught in a lurched. and all  were ignorant with no one interested in committing themselves.Seeing no one claiming responsibility over it we cut those chains and moved to another spot.Somehow they caught us again and locked those once again Surprisingly we were never prosecuted in any court.All these "ding dong "battle went on for sometime with us moving around.

Somehow we were never issued any summons nor were we charged in court, so just carried on like fighting a "gorilla warfare" with them.All these cost us a lot of funds. So whatever profits we had were plowed back into the running about operations.There were other unnecessary expenses while on the move because it also involved many uncalled for pay off to those concerned when we  were left untouched at times.

Our problem did not stop short at that The freshly sawn timber had to be properly treated with insecticides,fungicides  and whitening agent.It surely ere difficult processes whereby the timber had to be immersed wholly in the mixture of insecticides,fungicides and whitening agent.One wrong move would render the timber useless being prone to boring insects attack.Not only that those timber ought to be air dried thereafter.

The timber would then be graded with cracks if any removed.Those with black pigments were similarly cut off.With that stringent grading much of the timber would have been rejected.All these reduced our profits.All  moldy materials were also excluded.

Further the graded timber had to be bind up into piles to ease handling.Thereafter delivered to furniture factory .There were not many of them around those days.The most notable one around was the factory for United Furniture based in Temerloh,Pahang.

Alas our problems did not end there,in fact they bugged us further on.The quality control in that factory were more stringent and their grading were not on the spot.Unpleasantly it took them quite a while maybe weeks  before the process our timber.That surely were not good for our air dried timber.

So before long it again turned moldy and before we knew it the whole delivery were rendered as inferior.The claimed were re-directed back to us and we had to send teams of workers to re-treat them..That of course burden us and ate away our profits.With that our pay cheques were butchered further,leaving us with very little on the plate.You think our were over then?

 But sad to admit."No - no way". We have to chase after them,making several attempts before we really secured them safely in our hands.All those trips to the factory cost us money,too.It was never cheap traveling to Temerloh for them.At the end of the day our profits went to nothing and we were drained down to heavy losses.The seemingly profitable business venture were loaded with heavy debts.

Our shares holders started to cause troubles and after a series of quarrels we decided to close shop with heavy losses.Another thing I learned from this business venture was never involved others who had no ideas about the industry . Another thing for sure was that what ever business you do you must be the sole controller of it otherwise just forget it.

Beside that rubber wood business I was also involved in estates supplies business.I had great fate in many plantation  friends ,but how wrong I was.Their supports I foreseen never materialized,all backfired and I was again devastated here.

Armed with that believe that many so called friends would support me I opened up businesses for estate supplies.This proved to me that I should not had placed my confidence in them to support me.Friends  were friends,but never rely on them,it is best to rely on our self.When they in need you can help them but do not depend on their aids in time of need,never.

Another thing business  was extremely competitive without the slightest doubt and  the undercutting of prices of commodities were unbelievable,actually beyond my wildest dreams.These people having been  long in the market could supply  goods with prices far beyond my reach.How dreadful but true.Now how can these be true.

Again  I was caught in a lurch because these suppliers could obtained their goods at much lower pricing than myself.Then there was also another criteria of lower pricing because of quantity purchased.These big timers could purchased in large quantum at much cheaper price..I being a small timer therefore were no match.

There were the questions of stolen goods being sold through them .Apparently they also had their hands on most stolen goods at a much reduced price.So where was I among them,a just nobody.

True I could be a winner should  all  my so call friends  come to my aid in time of need.But alas money talked.No money no friends so I learned again the hard way.Those big timers could over do what I can do.No need to talk so much about them.Yes I  lost again badly.

Of course there were some good ones who helped me.In many cases I was indebted to  them.The few could hardly tie me over but at least I know who my real friends are.God bless them.