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Introduction: After having experienced ups and downs, joys and sorrows for more than 30 years of making strides in his career, Mr. Christopher Sim said: “My achievements are a result of God’s grace, not gained by my own efforts.”
Today, we are introducing Mr. Christopher Sim, an entrepreneur, to all of you. Today’s episode titled, ‘Challenges Give Rise to Opportunities’ is taken from the 13th issue of Singapore’s ‘Heartbeat’ newsletter. Mr. Christopher Sim is the director of Singapore Clean Energy Holdings Pte Ltd
On 8th January 2016, 5 awards were given at the China Pride 2015: ‘Annual Model Figures’ Ceremony in the Golden Hall of National Political Consultative Hall. They were the Chinese Model Person of the Year Award; the Entrepreneurial Pioneer Award; the World Chinese Charity Model Figure Award; the Annual Chinese Star Award; and the Annual Model Figure Art Achievement Award. They were presented in recognition of 100 overseas Chinese throughout the world. For the ‘Chinese Star Awards,’ 15 entrepreneurs received the award which included Mr. Christopher Sim.
The manufacturing of pianos opened the door to his career
Mr. Sim’s parents were music teachers, so he grew up in a musical environment at home. He and his three brothers were once involved in Singapore’s National Youth Chinese Orchestra in which Mr. Sim blew the small trumpet and the French horn. After graduation from Secondary School, he heard that a friend was heading to Britain to take a specialised course on manufacturing small violins. Mr. Sim was very much interested in it and immediately did some research. He discovered that the school also had a specialised course on piano manufacturing. When he pondered his musical background and the uniqueness of this course, he sought permission from his parents and left for overseas education in Britain in 1975.
Mr. Sim finished the course in 3 years. It was a specialised course requiring great sensitivity in the sense of hearing. He recalled and said: ‘We needed to use our ears to differentiate the differences produced when two sounds hit so as to adjust the piano. For the first half of the year, I couldn’t figure it out.” However, with great determination, he eventually managed to pick up the skills for piano manufacturing and completed the 3 years of rigorous training!
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After returning from his studies in 1983, the young Mr. Sim started his first business by opening the first Singapore factory that specialises in manufacturing pianos. He was personally involved in the procurement of raw materials, production of pianos, training of staff, and exhibition. In those days, the pianos in Singapore were imported from overseas by agents, so the cost was exorbitant. However, with his specialised skills and knowledge, Mr. Sim was able to import piano parts from Germany, Finland, and other countries, then assemble them in Singapore. This reduced the cost of importing. Thus, the prices for pianos were lowered. As such, although the market for sales of pianos wasn’t vibrant in the 1980s, Mr. Sim still sold dozens of pianos. These were brilliant results!
Pursue innovative changes, venture into new territories
When we trace Mr. Sim’s family history, we learn that his paternal and maternal grandfather were the first generation to emigrate from China to Nanyang. His paternal grandfather settled down in Malaysia, while his maternal grandfather came to Singapore from Bangkok. Mr. Sim, thus, inherited their trait of daring to venture. He was interested in new things and liked to take up challenges. When the piano business prospered, he began to contemplate this: 70% of piano manufacturing required human labour so automation would be difficult. Hence, only businesses involved with high technology would have better developmental prospects. Therefore, embracing new things, Mr. Sim started to try various sectors, from conservation and chemical industry, to being an agent for sports car and the biopharmaceutical industry. He became the General Manager of multiple Chinese Companies.
One day in 1989, Sin Chew Daily published an article about Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. The headline of the article – ‘Good future prospects in China’ – left a massive impression on Mr. Sim The article pointed out that as China opened its doors, there were numerous good opportunities for investments available. Mr. Sim was deeply touched by this insightful forecast, so he started to focus on China. Subsequently, Mr. Sim got to know a friend at an exhibition in Hong Kong. He was the first foreign investor of a piano factory in China. This friend then invited him to break into the China market together. After some consideration, Mr. Sim stepped into China in 1989 which, at that time, hadn’t yet opened its doors entirely.
Recalling the scenario more than twenty years ago, Mr. Sim spoke with emotion: “At that time, China had just opened its doors. It was still using Foreign Exchange Vouchers and it hardly had access to news outside the country. When I brought a magazine on the plane to China, everyone treasured it and passed it around for reading.” When Mr. Sim first ventured into China, he could not express himself fluently in Chinese. He did not know how to use Pinyin and couldn’t read simplified Chinese characters. He also didn’t understand the operations in China. What did he do then? Well, he said: “I don’t think that much. I just started learning from scratch.”
In China, Mr. Sim started his piano business and then switched to the building materials industry because he knew that some cities were in urgent need to set up the basic infrastructure of electricity. Due to lack of funds and technology, he took up the role of being an agent to contact Electric Power Construction Corporations from other countries. He promoted cooperation between both parties and brought foreign funds and technology into China. At that time, the Internet was not advanced, so he had to communicate with both parties through letters, which were translated. He began to learn all the professional terms pertaining to electric power infrastructure from scratch. The approval procedures were complicated and detailed. It was tedious and time consuming. As Mr. Sim reminisced about the past, he said lightheartedly: “There were lots of difficulties that were challenging!” Undoubtedly, the hardships in those days formed the solid foundation for his achievements today.
Finding his passion in environmental conservation
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In the 1980s and 1990s, all the rubbish in the city were being buried. It was clearly a waste of scarce land, and it also caused environmental pollution. With the piano factory, Mr. Sim had to transport the scraps to the garbage disposal site. He was shocked to smell the stench in that area and the flies that were a common sight. He thought, if God has given mankind such a beautiful earth to dwell in, we should reduce rubbish rather than accumulate it. This was an important reason for him to be involved in environmental conservation later.
In the 1980s, he got to know about the technologies for environmental conservation and had the opportunity to work with a developer for a garbage incinerator project. As waste incineration technology was not well-developed yet, it required lots of research and improvement. During this long period of time, Mr. Sim and his partner experienced many difficulties: insufficient money, challenges in research and development, and industrial standards that were not well-regulated. However, he saw the prospects of waste incineration, and did not give up. After more than 30 years of constant research, waste incineration technology on exhaust gas cleaning finally matured!
Mr. Sim spoke with interest about the breakthrough in technology of the ‘rotary kiln’ that had reached international advanced standards. It had 12 unique technological advantages, such as the rubbish being fed directly into the incinerator rather than depending on human labour for sorting. It also treated more than 60% of wet domestic rubbish and burned the domestic waste completely. After incineration, the emission of harmful Dioxin gases did not reach 5% of the European Union standard.
From 2014, Mr. Sim received numerous prestigious awards, including the Gold Award for ‘Energy and Environmental Product Design’ presented by the World Green Design Organization; the ‘Green Technology Award’ given by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the ‘World’s first 30 Award for later periods’; and the ‘World’s first 3 Waste Management Award’ presented by the Global Clean Technology Industry Association.
Many countries and regions offered olive branches, and negotiated with Singapore Clean Energy Holdings Pte Ltd about co-operation. Mr. Sim had an increasing sense of mission towards this career. He re-positioned it as a company providing technology. On one hand, he cooperated with Science and Research organizations at the National University of Singapore to improve garbage incineration technology. On the other hand, he hoped to offer this technology to countries which were in need of improving their local environment as this technology not only burned domestic waste, but also burned straw and reduced air pollution. Mr. Christopher Sim said: “We should let people utilize good things! It is getting clearer that our goal and pursuit is to improve the environment!”
Holding on to integrity as an Economic and Cultural Ambassador
When Mr. Sim’s environmental conservation career was experiencing good times, it was inconceivable that another big door was quietly being opened to him.
After striving in the China business market for more than 20 years, Mr. Sim had learnt many lessons. However, he was able to establish a wide network of contacts due to his principles of uprightness and integrity. He said: “I don’t rely on pulling strings for networking. Rather, it is based on my integrity. Christians have their codes of conduct. I will not do things that displease God. When people know my Christian faith and personality, they are more willing to cooperate with me.”
More than 20 years ago, when Mr. Sim first stepped into China, its national strength was rather weak, so he worked hard to bring money and technology into China. Subsequently, as China grew powerful and prosperous, large enterprises in China were seeking to invest in overseas electric power and resources. Therefore, Mr. Sim assumed the role of an ‘ambassador’ to build bridges between Chinese enterprises and the overseas market based on his integrity, wide networking and excellent work performance. He was in the senior management of Britain’s EDF Energy Power Company, Asia Power Group Co. Ltd, Singapore EW Tax and Technology Co. Ltd., and other large enterprises, assisting Chinese enterprises to enter the international market and promoting cooperation.
Mr. Sim not only had money and power that aided him in the economic sector, he also actively participated in cultural activities due to his musical achievements. During the 2008 Olympics, China’s Ministry of Culture invited him to take up the role of Overseas Operation Director. He also planned a big event during the ‘China International Youth Art Week’, assisted in organising more than 20 art performances, and contributed to cultural exchange between Singapore and China.
Humble submission along the path of grace.
After experiencing ups and downs, joys and sorrows for more than 30 years in his career, Mr. Christopher Sim said: “My achievements are a result of God’s grace, not gained by my own efforts.”
Mr. Sim grew up in a Christian family. Since he was young, he went to church with his parents. He received salvation at a students’ evangelistic rally in Secondary 2. Upon looking back, even though he had believed in God for many years, he would still inadvertently rely on his own strength to solve problems. A few years ago, he had a rather big setback in life – just when he was totally immersed in developing his career, he discovered that he had cancer. This was an unexpected blow to him, his family, and his business partners.
In such a difficult time, Mr. Sim decided to put aside his self-centredness and entirely obeyed God’s will. He continued to serve God with faith. For the next few years, he saw the continuous flow of God’s abundant grace in his life. During his battle against cancer, he experienced lots of love, care and concern from his family and friends. Hence, he decided to sow seeds of grace to others. He led subsidiary companies in sponsoring Henan AIDS Village’s reading programme for the children, the Nepal Assistance Programme, and Community programmes in his church.
Indeed, there are opportunities in every challenge! It is the same in business and in our lives. Dear friends, we have come to the end of this episode. By God’s grace, we hope Mr. Sim, the ‘Chinese Star’, will continue to shine for God in the future. We also hope that all of us who are striving at our workplaces will glean some insights and find inspiration from Mr. Christopher Sim’s life experiences.
I hope you found today’s episode inspiring, and I look forward to having you join us again for our next episode.
Source: Singapore ‘Heartbeat’ newsletter. 13th issue. Edited content.
Critical Thinking Questions :
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