My Dad And His Lesson On Trust

My dad dropped out of school at the age of 7. He attended about a week of classes before my grandfather told him that as the son of a migrant, he had no business getting educated and trying to move up the social ladder.

- William Ng

This was right after the Second World War, and all three of my dad’s elder siblings were killed by the Japanese. As the ‘eldest’ in the family, he now had to help put bread on the table.

So the 7 year old started working a series of odd jobs for the next 60 years. First it was helping out in the markets, sorting out vegetables and wrapping them up for customers. This was followed by a series of increasingly important roles – buying and selecting vegetables. His reputation for honesty earned him trust from both customers and the stall owner. His stall was the most popular in the market, and the boss entrusted him to handle money and gave him a small share of the daily profits.

At the age of 18, he decided to become an entrepreneur and founded a startup. It was a wanton noodle stall in Kuala Lumpur‘s Sungai Besi area. That’s where he met my mom, who was dishwashing in the stall next door. She was 14 at that time. They fell in love – the charming, young entrepreneur and stall owner, and the petite, intelligent young girl.