A True Friend

I was saddened when my mother passed on at the age of 87 after a long illness and fight with cancer in December of 2012. While she was ill, I took time off from my work to care for her and while I grieved over her death, I felt relieved at the same time as I didn’t want her to go on suffering with her illness. Soon after her death, my very dear friend Dr. Joseph passed away at the age of 80 and I was distraught and inconsolable when this happened. I am 56 at the time of writing this tribute to him and despite the age difference, Dr. J, as I would fondly call him, was more than a friend. He was like a father-figure and I simply wanted him to go on and on in my life.

I first met Dr. J in 1989 when I was with Terra-Control Technologies (TCT), a company I helped incorporate in 1984 at the age of 26. Dr. J was with Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (UPM) then and as a prominent soil scientist was very interested in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a computer-based system that was, and still is, to this day designed to perform a variety of applications. These include land-use and land cover mapping, crop and vegetation discrimination. The GIS, was without question, a very powerful tool for making informed decisions in agriculture, a field Dr. J was very active in.

In 1987, TCT was already a budding company specializing in acquiring, processing, interpreting and sharing of special data with a view to understand, monitor and record conditions of the earth’s surface. As such, GIS became an integral part of TCT’s business and central to its mission. It was through its remote sensing and data integration services tailored to solve or manage a maximum variety of complex applications in agriculture, was TCT able to introduce its 3-Dimensional GIS system to UPM.  This system could then provide for multiple functions for land-used and land cover mapping, applications that  Dr. J had extensively researched and had become a subject-matter expert acknowledged by his peers, geographers and recognized by soil scientists the world over. 

Our friendship grew incrementally during and after a trip to Madras, Bangalore and Delhi, India, that I made with him and two other colleagues in 1994. By this time, TCT had been absorbed by Sapura Information Technologies (Sapura) where Dr. J was employed as a Geomatic and Spacial Information Systems Consultant. Being a man with considerable expertise, knowledge and experience, Dr. J was engaged by Sapura not only for its Geomatics business but also for research and development, in the academia as well as to attend to enquiries from international organizations such as the World Bank. 

Incidentally, while in Delhi, Dr. J, Cheah Hock Guan, a colleague of mine and I had travelled to Agra over a weekend to break away from the monotony of our busy work schedule, while another colleague who was suffering from food poisoning stayed behind. Agra, as we had come to know, was one of the prominent destinations on the world tourism map with three heritage monuments – The Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and the Red Fort, a monumental mistake for anyone to miss when making a trip to Delhi. After all, Agra was only 204 kilometres away by bus from Delhi. 

However, the trip, as we later discovered, took us longer than three hours because the bus driver had to, at a slow speed of 40 kilometres per hour, negotiate his way around many bends on a winding road with numerous potholes and countless cows having a rest. In anticipation of Agra, a trip of a lifetime to its historical sites, these incidents were of minor discomfort. It did not dampen our spirits whatsoever nor did it dampen the spirits of several Italian tourists on the same bus. They, on the other hand, had noticed that Malaysians were predominantly of three different races. So, perhaps out of curiosity, they spontaneously asked us later in Agra if all Malaysians comprising of Malays, Chinese and Indians were mostly like the three of us getting along with one another, conversing in English or the Malaysian Language with many interests in common. 

Our final tourist destination in Agra was the Taj Mahal itself, an experience of its own kind with the combination of its magnificence so sublime on one side and the exquisite inlay work and detailed craftsmanship together with the calligraphy on another. The tomb of Mumtaz Mahal lies below the cenotaphs in a basement, though undisturbed and in an absolutely quiet environment at off-peak hours, at the time of our visit, it was buzzing with many visitors. So we carefully inched our way down the narrow stairways to the basement. We then made our way to the tomb and made a u-turn alongside it before heading out through the same door that other visitors were just about to enter. At the age of 36, I was as energetic as I could possibly be, but due to my exertions in the enclosed space and the sheer lack of fresh air, I nearly passed out. So did Cheah, who was a good few years younger than I was, but we both somehow found strength to hold on to Dr. J as he too felt the same way, what more at the age of 61. As we got out, we were speechless but remained in awe of the grandeur of a bygone era, enchanted particularly with the panels of lilies and tulips, together with iris flowers that symbolised death.

Back in Sapura on weekdays, we had our own respective work but whenever Dr. J and I were in the office, the best time to catch up on things was over lunch, a memory I will forever cherish as it contributed towards the growth of our friendship. Years later, with his strong encouragement, I briefly left Sapura on a sabbatical leave in 1999 to pursue my post- graduate studies in Sydney, Australia under a Sapura Scholarship. This sabbatical leave was taken after I had served Sapura-Tomen-Harris Consortium to successfully complete the Total Airport Management Systems (TAMS) Project at the newly built Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang. Upon completion of my studies, I was conferred with the degree of Master of Technology Management from The University of New South Wales in 2000. 

Evidently, TAMS was a project designed and developed to integrate de-coupled airport systems and had applied advanced IT concepts and state-of-the art equipment to make KLIA a primary international transportation hub in South East Asia. This high-intensity project valued at Ringgit Malaysia 1 billion was completed on schedule prior to the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in September 1998. 

The four years that I was on the TAMS Project had, however, drained me emotionally. I became a spent force, devoid of vigour and inspiration. I reached a saturation point in my life and could not find the tenacity to continue. It was a mental exhaustion of sorts that forced me to find a new lease of life. After confiding in Dr. J on several occasions, I was pretty certain that the sabbatical leave would re-energise me and that I would come back a much more fortified person than I ever was. So I departed for Sydney in December 1998 with my wife Suflina and with four children at the time - Hazalea, Shaira, Zayaana and Iyas. 

While I was away, Dr. J and I stayed in touch. His emails were positive, always encouraging me to stay the course in times of adversity. With him, I was with good fortune and never without a friend. As a matter of fact, all the time that I was in or out of Sapura until 2001, Dr. J had always been supportive and helped me build my career firstly as a corporate man and later in life as an entrepreneur when I incorporated a company of my own. His belief, confidence and faith in me and in my abilities never waned. This was the main reason I felt distraught at the loss of my friend as he had kept me going whenever the chips were down. 

I can say that building a company from scratch in times fraught with economic uncertainties was filled with many obstacles, constraints and challenges. It was like a rollercoaster ride with many highs and lows. I kept faith, regardless, and take pride in the fact that Dr. J believed in me and found me trustworthy, deserving of his association and friendship. Being honest was very important to him, not only because it was fundamental to a lasting friendship but because Dr. J was a man of principles, honest to the core and a man who never hesitated to give an honest opinion. He not only motivated me with his unshaken beliefs, but kept me honest to myself throughout, in my dealings with others.

In April 2004, we travelled to Australia to test the feasibility of turning a scientific idea into an opportunity and a commercial reality. The journey by road we made in New South Wales (NSW) covering vast distances was to execute, on a pilot scale, the idea of preventing massive percolation of water in the cotton fields of the two Australian states of NSW and Queensland. Thus, we could convince cotton farmers of a new water conservation approach aimed at saving costs on development of irrigation infrastructures, especially for high value crops such as cotton. We named our end-product Solusi-S and it was to be experimented at a cotton field research station outside of Narrabri, a town situated in the heart of the Namoi Valley in north-west state of NSW, some 520 kilometres away from Sydney and about 100 kilometres to a border town in Queensland called Goondiwindi. 

Our drive to Narabri was after a hearty breakfast at a bed-and-breakfast in the suburb of Glebe in Sydney. We soon drove past Newcastle on the M1 highway to connect to A43 before reaching several small towns, Singleton and Musswellbrook. The next stop was Scone on B51 before a three hour journey through a long stretch of woodlands, predominantly white cypress pine and hill red gum that spread across much of the landscape, to arrive at another town called Gunnedah, a bustling town that self-proclaimed itself the “Koala Capital of the World”. As we passed by, Dr. J and I quipped that it must be because there was no country in the world other than Australia that was so populated with koalas. There would not have been any contest either with other Australian towns for Gunnedah to have come out on top. Hence, the self-proclaimed title.

From Gunnedah, it was an hour’s drive across a relatively flat agricultural land characterized by sheep, cattle and some cropping before we finally clocked-in at Narrabri. This was after more than seven hours on the road with a good few stops to stretch our tired legs and to quench our thirst. The day after we arrived at Narrabri, our main contact person and project collaborator by the name of Dick McColl, unfortunately, suffered a heart attack and so our trip could not yield immediate results despite our fall-back briefing to a few of his colleagues. How an incident relating to one’s deteriorating health could alter one’s future, I thought to myself, and could rapidly change the course of events for people around him. I didn’t know what was going through my mind. Was I suddenly being psychic that I could see something happening in another time to another person, without warning? Or was it something that went by in a flash that I should just ignore. It was all very strange to me but I said nothing to Dr. J and kept all these questions to myself. So we headed back to Sydney the next day feeling a bit dejected but quickly put the thought of what could have been behind us. On the way back, we made a quick detour to Armidale, an administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands in the New England Region, passing through Tamworth, to meet up with Dr. Colin Williams, a close friend of Dr. J’s. He and Dr. Williams who was attached to The University of New England at the time had gone a long way back to the days when Dr. J was a lecturer in University of Malaya. So to see the meeting of old friends embracing one another as well as with Dr. William’s family was heart-warming and a pleasant occasion to recall. 

The journey back to Sydney the next day was mixed with deep thoughts and emotions. “You are not your usual self”, said Dr. J and this he repeated a few times as we approached Sydney. I was feeling numb but still kept the unanswered questions to myself and persisted to say nothing. The lessons learned from the trip were enormous, nonetheless, as I could bounce my ideas off Dr. J and he was able to provide me with immediate feedback, measured views, subject matter expert opinions and objective assessments. “If ever we have another opportunity,” he said, “we should return to Australia to finish the job and if we could, take time off to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge.” 

We got back to Kuala Lumpur a few days later and found time to visit a Mardi Research Station in Kundang, Selangor, in May 2004, to see if we could do a pilot project to test Solusi-S. I did not know if what I had felt in Narrabri was actually going to happen but when Dr. J suffered a heart attack on 5 August 2004, I knew I was seeing an occurrence I never wished to happen. It was just a day before that Dr. J and I had lunch at the Royal Selangor Club when he was taken to the University Hospital in Petaling Jaya. His wife, Mrs. Sheila Joseph called to tell me the bad news and Rahel Joseph, his daughter came by to hand over his keys to our office the next day. I remained positive despite the incident and was relieved that Dr. J suffered only a mild heart attack. Although he had survived it and was on the road to recovery in a few weeks, I knew that, with his heart condition, I could not take the risk in taking Dr. J further with Solusi-S. I needed to move on.

In the same year, Sahz Holdings Sdn. Bhd. (Sahz), the company Suflina and I incorporated in 2001, went on to prepare for a project to design and develop super-capacitors for different kinds of applications and to commercialize our end-products under the EnerStora brand name. We had decided to invest our life savings in ideas creation, planning and to contrive a business strategy going forward. But it was Dr. J who encouraged me to look into battery technologies and to take one step further in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC). This MOU was to collaborate in the development of Malaysia's first home grown super-capacitor, an initiative not previously pursued by anyone else. Professor Dino Isa, our Project Manager from UNMC’s Faculty of Engineering and Dr. J who was our Science Advisor, contributed enormously to this project. Both had been instrumental in the formation of a strategic alliance between Sahz and the established university, an effort for which I owe them an unequivocal debt of gratitude to this day.

A project team was subsequently put together to research and then to develop super-capacitors, a new type of energy storage device that behaved very much like capacitors but with much higher energy densities. Application for much needed funds was then submitted to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI). The process of receiving grants was lengthy and tedious, but despite many initial objections to our proposal, Sahz was eventually awarded a Technofund Grant in 2007. This was to develop super-capacitors for automotive and mobile applications. In 2008, a second grant was awarded to Sahz for solar applications.

The project took three years to complete and it was not without its own unique problems. Like all technology projects, a project team comprising of subject-matter experts, qualified engineers and highly skilled personnel had to be deployed and contracts finalized for implementation. Time-lines had to be managed and there was a close monitoring of resources and cash flows. Technical and financial auditors too had an important say. In addition, suppliers and collaborators from South Korea were engaged and MOU with a strategic partner in The Netherlands was signed on to help bring the EnerStora to the next level. All the time that I was overseeing the project, Dr. J continued to play an important role as advisor.

In 2010, when the project was ongoing and already on sound footing, the opportunity arose for me to revisit Australia and I did take time off to climb the wondrous Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was out of curiosity and also to experience the exhilaration of a bridge climb. As I gazed in awe at the mesmerizing and breathless view of Sydney Harbour with the knowledge of what the bridge stood for and in the company of my children, I recalled that moment in time when Dr. J and I were on our way back from Narrabri. I understood clearly what he was trying to tell me then. The feeling at the summit was indescribable and it was as if time had stood still just for me to appreciate the good things nature has given to mankind. The onus must, therefore, be on every man, myself included, to give back what he has excessively taken from mother earth so our children will be future beneficiaries of our contributions. 

On 11 January, 2011, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad came to launch the Sahz - Nottingham Nano Super-capacitor Pilot Plant at UNMC in Semenyih, Selangor. It was an honour to have the presence of Malaysia’s 4th Prime Minister and many distinguished guests. The occasion was well received and the stage for the launching of EnerStora had been set for a video presentation. Speeches were then given by Tun Mahathir, the Chairman of UNMC and its CEO to commemorate the occasion. Then it was my turn to deliver a speech, one that I had rehearsed intensely in Dr. J’s presence, before our guests arrived. Again I cannot thank Dr. J enough for his input and observations, as my speech, as I was told later by Dr. J himself, was well received. 

After the signing of MOU with Semyung Ever Energy, a company from South Korea and 2M Engineering of The Netherlands, Tun Dr. Mahathir was invited to officially open and view our Super-capacitor Pilot Plant and to see for himself how the EnerStora Super-capacitor was being produced. Just outside the pilot plant, we had on display an electric bicycle that was powered by super-capacitor and a mobile phone that showed the benefits of using super-capacitors. The highlight of the day was an electric vehicle - a super-capacitor bank installed in a refurbished Perodua Kancil. I took Tun Mahathir for a short spin around the UNMC campus and we then swapped seats so he could take the wheel to test drive the car. Discussions ensued when we completed our presentations and right after, a brief tour of our solar cabin was arranged for Tun Dr. Mahathir to see how super-capacitors were integrated with batteries to store and power up the cabin. The occasion was then rounded off with high tea and concluded after group photos were taken, much to the organizer’s delight. The occasion had indeed been a morale boost for all of us and it made the project’s success more gratifying.

In 2012, the EnerStora super-capacitor project acceptance and closure was reached to mark the beginning of a commercialization phase and a long journey to making EnerStora, a brand name Malaysia can truly be proud of. There were obviously a number of critical success factors we needed to address. Financing was one, a pre-requisite from the outset, as the successful commercialization of EnerStora was only as good as the funds Sahz was able to raise. With insufficient capital, Sahz cannot develop further or up-scale the EnerStora to meet customer specifications and requirements, let alone become sustainable even in the short run. This has been a bane for several years now due to limited funding opportunities for companies such as Sahz to excel. This is the prevailing dilemma for Sahz after going through many disappointments with funding agencies and financial institutions.

Should the lack of funding continue, the idea of using EnerStora as an energy storage solution in Malaysia let alone the wider world, will surely not become a reality. The effects will be very demoralizing. The journey for Sahz will be turbulent for many years and its targets unachievable. So will Dr. J’s aspiration that EnerStora Super-capacitors be used one day for information and communication systems as a way of bringing about a positive change to rural areas so villagers are well connected to the outside world. Digital divide, a problem of the past will continue to be a problem in the present and the solution that could potentially benefit future generations for many years to come will remain a pipe dream. 

Regardless of the final outcome for EnerStora, it must be said that Dr. J’s contribution to my personal development, growth as a person and as a technopreneur over the years I have known him, is immeasurable. His moral support was invaluable. Even when his health and physical strength at the age of 80 were giving way, his mind was as sharp as when I first knew him and his thirst for the struggle to see me successful did not diminish.

I am a Muslim by faith and Dr. J being an Orthodox Christian did not stop us from solidifying our friendship as the years went by. There was no barrier to race relations, whatsoever, despite our differing views. Racial interaction was easy. If all Muslims and Christians can be friends like we have been, there will undoubtedly be peace on earth for centuries. 

In April 2013, I was with him just one week before he died. We had gone to a meeting in Cyberjaya to discuss funding issues and while he was not in the best of health, he wanted to come along. He was quite adamant and did not want to miss it. On the way, he asked about my children and how old my fifth and youngest daughter was. “Faliha is 11”, I answered. When we arrived, he was too frail to walk up the stairs and so I physically supported him as I would my late father and I felt like a son to him as we took one step at a time. I kept the meeting short, succinct and to the point so time was not wasted and so I could send him home to Shah Alam right after. He insisted we stopped at a Malay restaurant that served good Malay dishes because he knew how I love good and authentic Malay food. We took the food back to his home and he kept me company during lunch. We talked about the meeting and of many things related to some of the most “complex of subjects”, to common interests in politics and even why I should not exterminate ants in my home because they were naturally disruptive to termites. As it turned out, this was to be my very last meal with him. 

“No matter what happens,” he said as I was about to go home, “you must never give up.” These were Dr. J’s final words.  After his demise, my memories of him will live on for as long as I live. So will my hopes, dreams and aspirations that are very much inspired by the man I call a true friend.

14 November 2014