From the boardroom to disaster zones: How the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers President lives out his calling

Jacob Lee was 14 years old when he first heard it.

He was on his way to an extracurricular activity when he heard a chorus floating down the school hallway. The melody and lyrics were simple but stirring.

The teenager, who was of another religion then, followed the musical trail and came upon a Christian Fellowship, where he was warmly invited in.

As he sat and listened to people sing about God’s love, memories from his early childhood days came flooding back.

A God worth following

Born to coffee powder hawkers at a local market in Kampar, Perak, Jacob was five when he began attending Sunday School at the home of his parents’ friends.

The couple, who were Christians, opened their home every weekend to neighbourhood children, including Jacob.

One Sunday, the husband taught about Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. Then, he washed all of the children’s feet.

“It was a vivid memory. Shortly after, my mother banned me from going, but the first seed had been sown,” said Jacob, now 67.

Nearly a decade later, the teenager found himself once again listening to the words of Jesus. It made him wonder if there was any truth to the words.

Eventually, he was persuaded that this God was worth following. He saw how Christians around him sincerely loved the Lord, pursued integrity and sought to make a difference in society.

So, at 14, he gave his life to Christ.

Good business is God’s work

For the first few months after accepting Christ, he had to lie to go to church. When his mother discovered the truth, she piled chores on him every weekend in an effort to deter the teenager from going.

Ultimately, however, she could find no reason to stop him. Jacob kept his grades up, won awards and was diligent with his chores.

When his parents finally gave him permission to practise his faith, Jacob threw himself into serving in church. He became Vice-President of his Methodist church’s youth fellowship, then President of the District Methodist Youth Fellowship, overseeing 10 youth fellowships across several northern towns in Malaysia.

“By the time I was 18 years old, I was preaching,” he said with a grin.

Since he was a young Christian, Jacob has felt strongly for serving God.

After completing his studies in agricultural machinery in Canada, Jacob returned to Malaysia. He started off as a contractor before pivoting to set up a trading company.

Business boomed. Within seven years, he had established a name across Malaysia and in China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Then, a recession hit. In two years, Jacob was forced to close seven of his companies. It was his first sit-down with failure, one he is thankful happened when he was still young.

Through years of experience in the marketplace, he learnt that his faith was not divorced from his work.

“When I first started in business, my goal was to make RM5,000 (S$1,575) a month and devote the rest of my time to God’s work. I quickly learned how naive that approach was, and had to learn that doing good business is part of God’s work too,” he said.

“A man like that, I could trust”

In 2005, his business expanded at an exceptional pace.

A Taiwanese businessman, one of his major suppliers, offered to invest RM6 million (about S$1.9 million) into a new venture. “Become my partner and set up a manufacturing company in Malaysia,” he told Jacob.

“Why did you trust me?” Jacob later asked him. His response was unexpected.

“You brought us to meet your wife and church friends. A person of faith could not be too bad, and your friends were genuine and kind. Then, you brought us to see your family in Kampar. It was evident that you are a good son. A man like that, I could trust,” said his business partner, who was not a Christian.

Jacob has since led ASLI Manufacturing to great heights. Over three decades, the company has grown to become one of Malaysia’s leaders in the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning industry.

This year, the seasoned entrepreneur was elected President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), representing over 13,000 member companies.

Through it all, Jacob has not stopped serving God. He holds one of the highest positions in lay leadership in the Methodist Chinese Annual Conference (Methodist CAC) and serves as an Elder at his local church.

Called to transform society

Life was steady until December 2014, when devastating floods tore through Malaysia’s east coast. Kelantan was the worst hit, with over 350,000 people affected.

Jacob remembered receiving a call from a Christian friend. “What can the Church do?” his friend asked.

“I knew then I wanted to organise a response,” said Jacob.

At an emergency meeting with top Methodist leaders, the consensus was to donate a sum and leave the work to others.

But then he met a youth leader from his church, who shared that there were some 70 volunteers for the flood relief effort waiting to be dispatched.

Jacob knew then that he had to act. To get an official response effort off the ground, he set up the Methodist Crisis Relief and Development (MCRD).

“We raised RM1.5 million (about S$475,000), sent teams to the ground, and ended up staying more than a month – the longest out of all the organisations that responded,” he said.

Serving the poor is also God’s work

Jacob believes that the Church must be familiar with no-strings-attached humanitarian work. “As Christians, social transformation is our call,” he said. “My desire is for the Church to be a voice in civil society.”

From 2015 to 2025, MCRD has raised RM15 million (about S$4.75 million) for various emergency responses, from the Nepal earthquake to floods in India and the Sulawesi tsunami.

For Jacob, the Gospel is both word and deed – but not always at the same time. He believes Christians ought to be at the frontline of humanitarian work.

The businessman has also spent the last decade on the board of World Vision Malaysia, and will be leaving this year after completing his term as Board Chair.

“Every time I am on the ground, I feel energised. It’s the work of the Lord to be with the poor, vulnerable and marginalised. Words and deeds go together, but not necessarily at the same time,” he said.

For a decade, Jacob sat on the board of World Vision Malaysia. He recently visited one of his sponsored children in Welikanda, Sri Lanka.

As FMM President, an issue close to his heart is the plight of foreign workers in Malaysia.

“We need a different narrative. Instead of blaming them for society’s cracks and failures, we need to see them as essential to our productivity. I hope to foster a sense of gratitude, that they will be treated with dignity,” he said.

A conduit of His love

Despite getting along in age, Jacob shows no signs of slowing down.

“To be the salt and light of the world is a monumental task that can be achieved only by God’s grace. The compassion and love that propels me is not my natural self, but the spiritual self that is being trained, loved and equipped by God,” he said.

A successful entrepreneur and marketplace leader, Jacob is also a child at heart. Here, he plays a childhood game with a community in Welikanda, Sri Lanka, during a World Vision visit.

For as long as he is able, he hopes to simply be a faithful steward, responsible leader, and voice of connection and change.

“I desire to exhibit the character of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by being people-centric, having integrity, being of service to the church and society, and loving my family,” he said.

“God has given me much grace and success, but it is not for me. I hope simply to be a channel of His love to the world.”

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