Conflict pushed him to Singapore

IT was conflict, not opportunity, that brought Malaysian businessman Jacky Tan to Singapore in 1998.

Concerned about the outbreak of violence from the May 1998 racial riots in Indonesia - he helped to manage a quarry in Indonesia for his father-in-law - Mr Tan brought his wife and their two sons (they have three now) to Singapore to "lay low and assess the situation" until the rioters dispersed.

But restlessness, along with a timely offer by a close friend, led to the establishment of United Global - a Singapore-based, Catalist-listed lubricant manufacturer. And the firm - which he then built up through hard work - has tied the 51-year-old and his family to the Republic ever since.