Book Description

The Sea and the Hills “...Hussain Najadi’s philosophy, which he called ‘the golden triangle’, was to harness Western technology, management, know-how, and machinery with Asian natural resources and labour and Arab capital. Arab-Malaysia became the first to pump petro-dollars into East Asia, channelling all its non-Malaysian currency funding through its branch in Bahrain. Most of the bank’s foreign business was done in member countries of the fledgling Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with Nr. Najadi declaring himself ‘a great believer in regionalism’. If anyone expected Hussain Najadi to be apologetic about Arab-Malaysian’s early success and defensive about the swirling gossip, some of it personal, they did not understand him and his style. Exuding the supreme confidence that irritated his critics, he announced his intention to become the leader of wholesale and corporate banking in Malaysia within five years, a target he reached in two years. He then lifted his sights to be the biggest in Southeast Asia within five years, a goal he achieved this time with four years to spare...” -- Barry Wain, Singapore (former Managing Editor of Wall Street Journal (Asia)/author/lecturer) “This book is an affirmation of belief in life’s purpose, of a spirit of adventure, and of unbridled optimism. The dramatic arc of my story rises in success, surely, but cannot be said to crash in tragedy; the setbacks I have faced have fed my further growth as wave feeds energy to wave. The holistic moral of any man’s life story – and I have no doubt each man has his own lesson to learn – is best appreciated when seen from a distance, with the benefit of time and perspective. Only then is the landscape laid out in its full beauty: the hills and valleys, the glittering sea on the horizon...” -- Hussain Najadi