Metro

Tuesday March 4, 2008

Goh on a mission to help others

By DEBBIE CHAN

DR JEFFREY GOH'S call for change involves the country’s economy and improving people’s lives on the whole.

The Cheras parliament seat candidate has come a long way in achieving his ultimate goal. Starting off as a dentist, he went on to become an entrepreneur and when he finally made his mark, he ventured into politics to help others.

Long before the people of Cheras knew of Goh, 36, as the one who helped solve community issues, he had already put his head to good use at the MCA national level by specialising in the planning of economic policies.

His role in the Economic Caucus for MCA’s Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research (INSAP) involved setting policies including the guidelines on foreign participation and distributive track and procurement issues.

Goh: 'The GEE helps gather small and medium enterprises to come together as a consortium to give them better negotiation power when they penetrate international markets'.

“I’m contributing not only in the interests of the Chinese but as a young Malaysian. My ultimate goal is to contribute nationally but to do so, I first have to start from the ground and serving Cheras has been a humbling experience,” Goh said.

“It is really good because I now understand the people’s frustration and aspirations. I hope that people can see that I’m not just a fix-it guy for clogged drains and broken pipes but someone who can truly bring change at a higher level,” he said.

Goh’s work is now ready to take flight with the MCA’s five-year Economic Blueprint that carries the tagline Position Today Tomorrow’s Growth. He is spearheading the blueprint’s Thrust 4 which is the Global Entre-preneurship Expan-sion Plan (GEE).

“The GEE help gather small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to come together as a consortium to give them better negotiation power when they penetrate international markets. MCA leaders will lead delegations of SMEs overseas and as a group, it is easier to introduce their products to foreign markets,” Goh explained.

“This will create a domino effect. For example, when I open a restaurant overseas, I will use my software supplier instead of using suppliers in that country, hence giving local business owners a head start in that country,” he explained.

This is part of MCA’s efforts to uplift the nation’s economy and create a generation of young Malaysian entrepreneurs venturing abroad.

Also, Goh’s latest food and beverage venture, London Fish Tales, which is located at the KLCC shopping mall, is a project to help nurture young entrepreneurs.

“London Fish Tales is a franchise concept to help single mothers, young entrepreneurs and early school leavers venture into business. Through MCA, we will identify deserving individuals who will be given the opportunity and training to start up a London Fish Tales store.”

Goh is also involved in Thrust 5 of the blueprint which is the creation of new sub-sectors. Under the MCA Modern Agriculture & Biotechnology Bureau (MABB), he initiated the OceanSave project, which focuses on saving the environment and protecting the livelihood of communities. Their pilot project is the Sekinchan Fishing Village where OceanSave has constructed a new ecosystem to rear freshwater fishes.

“The fishermen have been thawing fishes for years and it is detrimental to the environment because the method kills the other underwater species. By introducing Aqua-ponics, which is to create a new ecosystem for fish rearing, it has helped the community regain their livelihood without destroying the environment,” Goh explained.

His business ventures like Tony Roma’s, The Manhanttan Fish Market restaurants, SushiGroove, London Fish Tales and VIEDGE are part of the OceanSave project.

“VIEDGE will buy the fishes from the Aquaponics system and sell them to all my restaurants as fresh products. Eventually, VIEDGE will expand and sell the products to other customers but to set up the initial system, I got all my businesses involved,” Goh said.

Regardless of whether Goh wins in the coming election, he will continue to contribute via MCA’ economic section.

“Of course I want to continue to serve the people of Cheras, but losing does not mean that I cannot contribute in a different way. If I win, I can do so much more for the people in so many ways,” he said.

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