Goh Tong defied the odds in building Genting resort

Lim Goh Tong, who built the Genting Highland casino resort from scratch in a place that no one would have dared to venture more than 40 years ago, arrived in the Malaya in 1937 from China after a 10-day voyage with only RM2 in his pocket but persevered to become one of the richest men in the world.

Born on Feb 28 in 1918 in the Anxi district in Fujian Province, he worked as a carpenter with his uncle upon his arrival in Malaya, sold sundries and started a scrap-metal business.

He saved up enough money and set up Kien Huat Construction in 1950, which remains his flagship private entity. One of his major breakthroughs was as a subcontractor for the Old Klang Road development project in Kuala Lumpur. He later worked on a RM300,000 project to develop a drainage system from the Kuala Lumpur city centre to Pantai.

His competence paved the way for Kien Huat Construction to become a government-licensed contractor, which resulted in him obtaining a string of contracts. Among the major projects undertaken by Kien Huat were Penang's Air Itam Dam, Kelantan's Kemubu Irrigation Scheme and the Cameron Highlands Hydro Electric Power Project. It was while working on the dam in Cameron Highlands in 1964 that he saw the possibility of developing a hill resort nearer to Kuala Lumpur.

His vision for developing Genting Highlands hinged on building a road to the resort site 1800m above sea level. He began work in 1965. Well-known for his hands-on approach, he was worker, project manager and engineer for the project.

In 1968, he founded Genting Bhd, which was granted the only casino licence by the Federal government. Lim completed the road and opened the casino in 1971.

He has tranformed the hill-top gaming and entertainment complex into the powerhouse of his multi-billion-dollar empire. His leadership also propelled Genting to emerge as a blue chip on the stock market, diversifying into plantations, paper, oil and gas and power.

In the late 1990s, his children gradually took over the operations of the Genting group due to his poor health. Lim Goh Tong, who is one of the world's richest men, died yesterday at 11.20am on Wednesday, 23 October 2007, at the aged of 89.