Introducing the new Freed - Honda Malaysia

06 | with dreams
Honda AND YOU: Dealer’s Story
A HERITAGE OF DREAMS
MADE REAL
Ban hoe Seng founder
Chew Boon Juan.
1892 1910 1947 1959 1967 1984
Ban Hoe Seng
founder
Chew Boon Juan
arrives from China
aged 17
When Ban Hoe Seng Sdn
Bhd was chosen as Honda Dealer
of the Year in 2009, its Managing
Director, Ignatius Chew knew in his
heart that it wasn’t achieved overnight.
“We’ve come a long, long way since
we became one of the first Honda
dealerships in Malaysia,” he says. “It’s
good to see all those years of blood,
sweat and tears come to fruition.”
Indeed, Ban Hoe Seng has a centuryold
legacy which began with his
grandfather, the late Chew Boon Juan arriving in Malaysia from
China in the late 19th century at the tender age of 17 to work as
a kitchen assistant at a tin mine at Kampung Kepayang, Simpang
Pulai. Boon Juan, with his honesty and good social skills, was then
made a cook. “As he had picked up some mining skills as well,
Alma Baker, the owner of the nearby Gunung Lano tin mine, soon
made him his assistant,” relates Ignatius.
“Being at the right place at the right time is everything and my
grandfather was lucky in that sense.” In time, Boon Juan was asked
to take over the reins of the so called “Golden Mountain” mine. With
enormous wealth generated from the tin mine, he then began to
diversify into other businesses such as sundry shops and properties as
well as being a rice wholesaler and rubber planter/exporter. “Ban Hoe
Seng was formed with the aim of handling the rice wholesale business,”
says Ignatius who explains that the name means ‘very harmonious and
successful’ in Chinese.
Ban Hoe Seng
was formed to
handle the rice
wholesale business
Ban Hoe Seng
begins selling
European
motorbikes
and scooters
in Ipoh
After World War II, with the looming communist threat, Boon Juan
with the help of his two sons, Choon Siew and Choon Kok, decided
it was safer and more productive to conduct their business in urban
areas, and seeing a promising future for motorized transport, Ban
Hoe Seng began selling European motorbikes and scooters.
“It was tough selling these expensive bikes but the experience
gained was invaluable,” says Ignatius. This soon led to Ban Hoe
Seng successfully applying for the Honda dealership, becoming
the main dealer in Perak. With the introduction of the revolutionary
Honda Cub C50 in the early ‘60s, the business really took off. “Apart
from being affordable, it had new gadgets like turn indicators, which
were revolutionary for its time,” laughs Ignatius. By the late ‘60s, the
company, now run by the reserved Choon Kok, became the main
Honda car dealer in Perak as well.
“We initially sold the N360, Life and S600 models but it was only
in the ‘70s with the arrival of the Accord and Civic that sales really
shot up,” he says. Indeed, sales were so good that in 1984, Ban
Hoe Seng sold a record breaking 92 units in a month. By then, the
reins of the company had been passed on from Choon Kok to his
son Ignatius.
And what has been his approach to managing the company? “The
training in Bangkok under the charismatic Mitsuro Sato, president
of Asian Honda Motor Co., Ltd. in the late ‘80s had a profound
impact on me and everyone who attended it. It was a real eyeopener
how he ran his brand,” says Ignatius who adds that entering
Sato’s showroom was like stepping into a 5-star hotel. “He was a
great teacher and we called him Superman.”
Appointed as main
Honda motorcycle
dealer in Perak
Appointed as main
Honda car dealer
in Perak
Ban Hoe Seng
achieves record
breaking 92
vehicles sold in
one month