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Swee Hing Tyres Celebrates 50 Years of Excellence
Amilestone year arrived for Johor Bahru-based Swee Hing Tyres Sdn Bhd as it celebrated its golden jubilee on 20th November, 2022.
Held at Pekin Restaurant, Johor Jaya, the grand dinner was at- tended by 850 guests. The VIPs included Richard Tay, Managing Director, YHI International; HT Tan, Honorary President, Malay- sia Association of Tyre Dealers and Retreaders (MATRDS); Akira Nakamoto, Managing Director, Yokohama Malaysia; Yoong Pak Shing, Former Sales Director, Goodyear Malaysia; Chuah Han Yong, Former Director, Sime Tyres; Masaomi Kono, Vice President, Toyo Malaysia; Calvin Wong, Head of Sales, Continental Malaysia and Book Dangrojana, Managing Director, Michelin Malaysia.
Managing Director Chuan Koon Seng gave a brief summary of the company’s background. Established in the 1970s, he said Swee Hing Tyres’ history dated back to the 1960s with its former namesake at Jalan Wong Ah Fook. “My previous boss at the time had a joint venture with a friend but the business was not successful, so he went back to Singapore, leaving behind a pile of debt and an empty shop. I took over the company in 1972 and 2-3 years before I gained the trust and support of customers. In 1975, Ng Koon Seng from Dunlop and Yong Pak Shing, one of our VIPs, gave me the opportunity to directly open an account
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with them. It was a rare honour then which I am very grateful for. In 1978, my ex-boss, Tan and I set up Sulate Enterprise. With the support of Richard Tay from YHI, we got the distributorship of Yokohama tyres and Enkei alloy wheels for Southern Malay- Malaysia to provide an integrated tyre and car service centre, replacing the traditional tyre shop concept. In the 1980s, Dunlop - lop Klinikar in Malaysia. In 1982, Kit Loong Sdn Bhd obtained the exclusive distributorship for Michelin tyres in Malaysia and appointed Swee Hing Tyres as the southern distributor for the sale of Michelin car tyres.”
Chuan entered the tyre retreading industry in the 1980s and set up a retreading plant in Pasir Gudang. The 1990s, he pointed out, was a golden period for the Malaysian economy. With the com- pletion of the North-South highway, car ownership began a steep Peninsular Malaysia for work and leisure. Tyre business boomed. the ringgit. With his three children studying in the UK at that time,
Year 2000 heralded the start of a new era. However, at end
