Malaysia Needs Integrity Business Network

        Malaysia needs Integrity Business Network. 

        In the past, Chinese businessmen have always told me that in the Chinese business community, business operates on one simple word, "Trust." This was something that the older businessmen took pride of. 

        Businesses, they always said, can only thrive based on the word 'Trust.' 

        I am not a businessman but I have always attempted to live a life of integrity due to my faith in God. 

        However, it pains me whenever I feel cheated by traders who go for the quick kill. I would often avoid these shops the moment I realise that I have been cheated. 

 A Good Example Recently  

        I drive an old Honda City. Gear box as you know can be very expensive to change. The car has reached about 20 years and I started to experience a drag in the engine every morning.

        One mechanic told me that I needed to change the gear box. It would cost RM2,500 for a reconditioned gear box. 

        Another mechanic checked the gear box oil and added some gear box oil and there was no problem with the gear box for a while. 

        But the drag happened again after some time. I asked my brother-in-law who owns the Amoil. 

        He told me to CHANGE THE GEAR BOX OIL. He asked if I had even changed the gear box oil all these years. 

        Frankly, I did not even know we have to change the gear box oil. Most of the time, it is just the engine oil that we have to change. 

        I took his advice, and changed the gear box oil and engine oil costing about RM400 plus in total. He included one free can of chemical which he said would flush the dirt from the gear box. Since I am his brother-in-law, the bottle of chemical was given to me free.

        True enough, I can now smile at the "guarantee" he was willing to give me. To me, it was a gamble. Of course, he cannot guarantee everyone because there are many factors involved (which is why he only recommended two mechanics for me to change the oil), but since my sister is his wife, to refund me RM400 plus was no big deal for him.

        Thereafter, I did not have to change the gear box at all! In fact, I feel that the car is a lot lighter and the engine is very smooth. 

        Because many of us are not mechanically savvy, most mechanics were only keen to change the gear box for me. I have many other experiences with mechanics who are anything but honest. 

        One mechanic which I still remember till today quietly removed a small hose from the car engine. He then stepped on the engine and said it was making a lot of noise. When I asked him to plug back the hose, he reluctantly did it. It was then that I realised that the hose was there as a muffler. 

        In another case, a mechanic adjusted my car pedal to increase the engine combustion. It caused my car to get overheated, and had to be hauled back to another workshop. I only realised this when the second workshop mechanic asked me why my engine is revved so high. He explained that was the cause of my engine overheating. 

        Honesty on the part of mechanics is very important. Perhaps, the Ministry of Domestic Trade should promote integrity in businesses, and put together a mechanism to monitor businesses that claim that they are operating based on integrity. 

       Just imagine if a few mechanics in Johor Baru are known to be trustworthy, their workshops will be busy 24 hours seven days a week. Word of mouth will spread far and wide in Singapore.