article_title name
lee shin cheng
 lee shin cheng
lee shin cheng

tan sri dato ' lee shin cheng -lrb- born 3 june 1939 -rrb- is a malaysian chinese business magnate who is heavily involved in the plantation industry .
tan sri dato ' lee shin cheng heads ioi corporation berhad -lrb- or better known as ioi group -rrb- as its executive chairman .
ioi group was by forbes in 2012 a palm oil and real estate development giant .
it owned refineries in the us and the netherlands and won a $ 322 million bid for a 6-acre plot in downtown singapore for the residential buildings .
ioi , which is listed in bursa malaysia , is one of the world 's leading conglomerate managing oil palm plantations , speciality fats , oleochemicals and property development activities in malaysia , indonesia , united states , and europe .
ioi refinery in rotterdam , the netherlands is the largest palm oil refinery in europe .
ioi 's oil palm plantations in malaysia and indonesia produce palm oil and palm kernel oil .
these oils are made into speciality oils , metallic stearates and fats that are used in soaps , detergents , cosmetics and food additives .
ioi group is also a leading real estate developer in malaysia : projects include townships , shopping malls , condominiums , office towers and resorts .
lee grew up northeast of kuala lumpur on a rubber plantation , where his father ran a small chinese food shop .
he left school at the age of 11 to help support his family , selling ice cream on a bicycle for four years before returning to finish high school .
he sought work with one oil palm plantation company for a supervisory job , but was turned down .
the reason given -- he did n't speak fluent english -- important then because europeans still own most of the plantations .
lee , who was then only 22 , was undeterred with dunlop estate 's rejection .
he went on to apply and got a field supervisor job with at another palm oil company .
about 20 years later , lee got his ` revenge ' when he gathered enough financial might to buy up dunlop estate .
in 2008 , he recalled his happiest day of his life in an interview with the new straits times .
`` my happiest day was in 1989 when i bought over dunlop estate from multi-purpose holdings bhd. .
this was because during the late 1960s , i had applied for a job at dunlop estate but they did not employ me because i was not adequately qualified .
if they had employed me , i would probably not have owned the entire asset of dunlop estate today .
this purchase marked a significant milestone in my life , '' he said .
