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An owner of a bike workshop in Singapore decided to pass on the torch to his long-serving employee by giving him half the company's shares.
Owner retires after working non-stop for over 30 years
Before he retired three years ago, Lim Soon Hock was the owner of Lim Ah Boy, located at Coyuco Building at Jalan Besar.
Image from Lim Ah Boy/Facebook.
Coming from a humble background, Lim joined the workforce as soon as he graduated from secondary school. At age 21, he opened the bike workshop with his father, 8world News and Chinese media Shin Min Daily News reported.
Lim Ah Boy was open everyday and it is safe to say that business was good, so much so that Lim has developed the habit of skipping his lunch, choosing to tend to his customers and the business instead.
In fact, Lim admitted to 8world News that he had hardly taken any breaks for the past 30 or so years.
Around three years ago, the self-professed workaholic decided that it was finally time for him to rest and hand over the reins to someone else.
After some deliberation, Lim decided to split his shares in the company into two, with one half going to his 28-year-old son and the other going to his employee of 20 years, Xie Guoliang (from Hanyu Pinyin).
Lim flanked by his son on the left and Xie on the right. Image from Shin Min Daily News/Facebook.
Chose Xie to be successor as they shared an affinity
Xie is not the only employee who has worked at Lim Ah Boy for a long time, according to Lim, who added that there were other employees who have been with the company from as early as 30 years ago.
However, Lim ultimately chose Xie to be his successor as he not only possessed leadership qualities, but also shared Lim's perspectives and values. The pair saw eye to eye on most things, said Lim.
The pair first hit it off when Xie was a customer at the workshop. He was originally working as a motorbike delivery rider, but suffered an accident that broke his foot and left him without a job.
Knowing this, Lim offered Xie a job and hired him in 1999.
Fast forward 20 years later, the customer-turned-employee is now the co-owner of Lim Ah Boy.
Now 48 years old, Xie told 8world News that he was shocked when he initially learnt that Lim was giving him half of the company, explaining that he felt ill equipped to oversee all of the business operations at that time as he was previously only in charge of one department.
Furthermore, he was surprised that Lim would hand the company to him as they were not related to one another.
That being said, Xie was grateful for the opportunity and worked hard to bring Lim Ah Boy to greater heights.
Spend his time in retirement doing charity work
Lim explained his decision to Chinese media Shin Min Daily News, saying that he is the type of person that goes by his gut feeling. This led him to believe that Xie would make a good successor.
While many people may not understand or share the same philosophy as he does, Lim thinks that wealth should be shared instead of only going to his family members.
He added that money should be used to help those in need as it is impossible for people to bring their fortune with them to the afterlife.
Lim estimates that the shares of half of the company are worth around S$1 million, but added that the business has grown since Xie and his son took over.
While he may still make the occasional appearance at the workshop, Lim spends his time these days giving back to society, according to 8world News.
This includes visiting the less fortunate to distribute bread, or donating money to community organisations.
He was also recently appointed as the Permanent Honorary President of the Singapore Chung Hwa Medical Institution, which provides subsidised traditional Chinese medicine treatment to the disadvantaged.
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Top image from Lim Ah Boy on Facebook and Shin Min Daily News