The Life Stories of Leading Southeast Asian Business People by Peter Church

 reviewed by Antonia P. Sani

This uplifting book provides hope and guidance for businessmen and women of all ages as well as for those about to embark on a business or professional career. It details face-to-face interviews the life stories of leading businessmen and women throughout the ten countries of South East Asia (ASEAN) and their own secrets of success.

This is not a book about wealth. Certainly, many of those interviewed are, or perhaps were, extremely wealthy. It is more about the lives of leading businessmen and women in South East Asia who have added value to their businesses or professions and, in many cases, to their nations. The book also focuses on their thoughts on success and its ingredients.

Many have been badly hurt by economic crisis but their life stories show that many have faced adversity before. Indeed, many started on their paths to success at earlier times of economic and political disarray and after the Great Depression, the Second World War and the fall of national leaders such as President Sukarno of Indonesia.