Carol Ong, a 44-year old mother of two daughters, is the Director of Watt Euro-Drive (M) Sdn. Bhd. She is a rare person indeed, as the industrial automation industry is very much a male-dominated one, and Carol is definitely one of the very few roses amongst the multitude of thorns. IA News enjoyed an interview with her recently, at her offices in Bandar Pinggiran Subang 2, near Shah Alam, Selangor.

She is the eldest child in a family of five children, consisting of three girls and two boys. Her father worked in the private sector, whilst her mother was a home-maker. Carol attended Chung Hwa Primary School, Setapak, and then graduated to Chung Hwa Secondary School, Gombak. Her best memories of childhood were at the primary school where, with tongue in cheek, she said that she enjoyed bossing the boys about.

Thus, even at a young age, Carol displayed leadership as being amongst some of the characteristics which would lead to her current position. In addition to leadership, she also showed her caring side, an acute sense of taking responsibility, and a willingness to work hard when, whilst still at school, she took on part-time jobs, to help supplement the family income. This was a very rare trait in Malaysia then, and is hardly discernible even today.

After finishing her schooling, Carol completed an ABE course in Business & Management, and then went into the hospitality industry by joining a local hotel as a Credit Controller. Being the type of person she was, Carol soon got bored with this line of work, and took up the challenge of working in the industrial automation industry. Starting as an Agent for Watt Euro-Drive in 1997, she made many friends with her friendly disposition and her willingness to learn from anyone who was willing to teach her the ropes in this industry. Her personal attributes of openness, honesty and integrity, combined with hard work and determination, would have helped her tremendously in her career path.

In 2001, she was encouraged by the Principal to set up a Branch Office of the Company here, in Malaysia, and to become its’ Director. Initially hesitant, Carol was finally persuaded by the Principal to take on the challenge. When asked by IA News as to why the Principal chose her for this task, Carol modestly replied that perhaps it was because of her attitude of being willing to take on responsibility, and determination to see the job through to its’ conclusion, no matter how insurmountable the hurdles appeared to be. As the Director of the Company in Malaysia, Carol is responsible for the overall operations of the organization in Malaysia. From the way her staff treated her, it was obvious that she was highly respected by them.

When asked what she thought were the attributes necessary for her to have achieved success, Carol replied that the key words were integrity, honesty, hard work, determination, dedication, interest and a willingness to be humble and to learn from others. Studying her words, it is no wonder that at the age of 37, Carol had already caught the eye of her Principal. As to other factors which have contributed to her success, Carol stated that the support and inspiration of her boss were critical, as was the help and support from her customers, most of whom had by now become her personal friends.

She was very busy in her work, and felt that the only way for her to continue the learning process in her life was by acquiring and reading books on self-improvement, motivation and business. To be on top of what you were doing in the business world, Carol felt that it was essential for business leaders to continually keep themselves abreast of the latest developments. She lamented the fact, however, that because the cost of books in Malaysia was so prohibitive, many young executives who would benefit enormously from reading them, could not, in fact, afford them.

As for motivation, Carol said that she was very much a self-motivated person, and that what motivated her most in her work, was the debt she felt she owed her Principal, for having shown faith in her capabilities to carry out her responsibilities successfully.

She felt that today’s youngsters were more motivated by instant gratification, and that when they came for job interviews, they showed disinterest if the Company had a six-day working week. In addition, they expected to be paid handsome wages, even though they had not proven their capabilities as yet. All this plus the fact that their parents had spoilt them in a material sense by, for example, providing them with cars at a very early age, led to them being young adults with unrealistic expectations.

Thus what advice did she have for the young who wished to emulate her success ? Basically, she said, they would have to adopt the attributes which led to her success, as stated above. Otherwise, she added, they would lead very disappointing and unfulfilled lives.

Finally, when asked how she balanced her life as a mother and as a busy business leader, Carol shyly admitted that her parents looked after her daughters through the week, and that she brought them home for the weekend. Because of this lack of contact between mother and daughters, Carol had to fight the impulse not to spoil them as she was very afraid that they would end up like many of the young adults she came into contact with in the course of her work. Still, it was obvious to IA News that she did spoil them from time to time. Fortunately, she has been blessed with intelligent children, who do not need much parental guidance to score good grades in their school examinations, and who, with a little guidance, will turn out to be fine upstanding adults.

IA News ended the interview by saluting this brave and unique lady, and wishing her even more success for the future.

Courtesy of Watt-Eurodrive