MORE than 30 years ago, Sii Hau Ung started a family-based printing shop with the help of his wife, siblings and cousins.
Today, his venture has grown into a thriving business with 11 branches, a factory and more than 70 people in his employment.
Born in Tanjung Kunyit, Sii, a native of Sibu, was raised in a large family of 12 children by a boatman father and labourer mother.
Due to the political unrest caused by the communists in the 70s and 80s, his family decided to move to Kuching and make a new life there.
“At that time, I was only 4 or 5 years old when I started to work with my aunt at her printing business. It was not bad and working in the printing shop was good,” he said.
Sii stated that he was only able to finish his studies up to Primary 6, but his work ethic and spirit saw him continuing to work at his aunt’s printing shop for 10 years.
At the age of 30, with the encouragement of his wife and family, he managed to open his first small printing shop with limited resources.
“The early days were very harsh. For the first 10 months, the business was not doing well with monthly income barely reaching RM1,000.
“Even the suppliers questioned my ability to pay them back because of how slow the business was back then,” he said.
Sii recalled that there was a trust deficit as it was just a small shop on the market at that time which people feared could not compete with other well-known printing services.
His printing sources were also limited, with only two machines running; one for printing and the other for jobbing.
He could also ill afford colour printing and other printing formats like name cards for customers.
“It was tough, and I wanted to put an end to it. I wanted to give up and return to work for my old boss,” he said.
Sii stated that before he opened his own shop, he worked with many people running print shops. The experience he gained from each of his jobs was what motivated him to open his own.
“I had four children I needed to raise but because of the struggles I had with my business, I hit the wall and could not help my wife support our children, even in their education.
“All the dead ends I faced made me want to stop running the business. But my wife said to me, ‘I will walk through the hassle with you, if you are willing to continue the business, I will be happy to help you once again.’
“Not only that, my mother also helped from time to time when she saw me struggling,” he said.
TURNING POINT
Little did he know, but his fortunes turned when a nobleman showed up and helped him.
“The dedication I had for printing made me want to still run it so, I took my chance and asked for help from him.
Sii said the man urged him to sell his printing to him. He took his chances to keep his business going.
Besides that, help also came from the government in the way of ink colour for better printing as well as services to help Sii with his business and, slowly, his business started to pick up.
It eventually saw Sii embarking on a journey to the world of government printing contracts.
SUCCESS
Today, his company handles printing for major government entities.
Demand from the government sector to print their books come in everyday, even education institutions like schools, colleges and universities.
“Our selling point in the business is consistency. If they say tomorrow, I will be delivering it tomorrow without any excuse,” he said.
Armed with this sense of confidence he brought in more machines and has since managed to stay in the market as a trustworthy and responsible business.
Not only does he print in colour ink nowadays, his business also prints other things like magazines, paper bags, name cards, certificates and any other things that can be printed.
Sii’s printing business is being managed well with the help of his children, with the eldest son managing the packaging while his youngest runs his own digital printing business just next door.
One of his daughters is now an accountant in the United Kingdom and the other is in Sibu.
“What I can say is that the business is in good hands, as all my children are just as dedicated as me and they have helped me a lot in the process.”
Sii also gives credit to his pool of workers, saying they were the reason for the success he enjoys today.
“Without them, my running an express printing cannot be done.”
Sii stated that his team was known to complete complex jobs within days without compromising on quality.
“But I would be lying if I say there are no complaints from my clients. But what I do is take them positively and make improvements.
“Customers make my business run and their demands are my commands. I upgrade my equipment regularly to meet their needs so that they will not stop using our services,” he said.
Sii is very grateful for the success that he has now but he has never forgotten his roots.
“We do business but we also give back to society. The first thing I did when I was stable back then was to give back to the community.
“I believe that God had helped me, so it is just right that I help others as well,” he said.
All said, Sii’s story is a testament to the power of resilience, family and unwavering commitment to one’s passion.
