When tenacity pays off

CHRISTOPHER Loh, managing director and chief executive officer of uab bank, is a man of tenacity, guts and gumption. Not unusual characteristics for a corporate head, but then again, how many top executives choose to leave a cushy job to slog over a financial establishment which was just making pennies?

In 2017, the bank was facing an exponential financial crisis. It was spending 97 cents for every dollar made. When Mr Loh came on board, he worked 18 hours a day almost daily, analysing the transactions line by line. He immersed himself in the learning of local Myanmar laws and regulations, to apply it to uab bank's operations.

"I had my doubts when I was offered this job," the CEO says. Coming from one of the biggest companies in Singapore, Accenture, and Malaysia's RHB bank, Mr Loh was not very keen on being placed in a country he knew to be very different from what he was used to.

"But I agreed, because there was a part of me that was driven to build a company from the bottom all the way to the top. I did not want recognition. That felt too easy. I wanted legacy," he remembers. Before noting the triumphs which earned him a place in the ACES Awards Outstanding Leaders in Asia category, emphasis must be placed on the hurdles he faced.

Mere months after he agreed to the position as CEO, the bank's former chief executive and other staff members staged a protest against Mr Loh, alleging that he was planning to go against local Myanmar culture.

Stalwartly, he dodged all the negativity that was thrown his way and began the process of transforming uab bank into a reputable bank. Mr Loh's transformation of uab bank was radical, and was set into motion by changing the mentality of the people he worked with.

With Mr Loh at the helm, uab bank went from a return of equity of -0.34 per cent to 17.7 per cent. The bank reported profit after tax of K5.8 billion (S$6.1 million) in the six months from Sept 30, 2018, against a loss of K34 million in the same period a year earlier. Operating income also climbed 66 per cent in the same period, with an increase in both loans and deposits.

In 2019, Euromoney and Asian Banking & Finance named uab bank as Myanmar's Best Bank. uab bank has also boasted profits for two years in a row, from 2018 to 2019.

In turning the bank around, Mr Loh has also designed a new role for the financial institution. The bank now also supports community building initiatives via its participation in the #BeTheChange Myanmar movement, which aims to help underprivileged children, youth and women.

The Myanmar government only allocates 1.2 per cent of its annual budget to education, thus making education a luxury that only the rich can afford. Through the movement, uab bank plans to close this gap between the privileged and underprivileged by providing scholarships and internships to deserving applicants. It is the also sponsor of talented badminton star, Thet Htar Thuzar, and the Myanmar contingent to the 46th Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Programme.

Shanggari B, chief executive officer of MORS Group - the organiser of the ACES Awards - calls Mr Loh's story one of the most thrilling career stories she has been privy to. "Christopher's story sounds like it could be made into a movie. He has shown how capable human beings are when driven by strength and righteous determination," says Ms Shanggari.