Khoo Kheng-Hor

Khoo Kheng-Hor (; born 2 March 1956) is a Malaysian author and speaker on contemporary application of the 500 BC Chinese military treatise, The Art of War, by military strategist Sun Tzu. In the 1990s, Khoo was the first Sun Tzu student in South-east Asia to link and teach the general's principles in relation to business and management. To date, Khoo has written over 26 business and management books, most of which are based on Sun Tzu's Art of War as he made it his life's mission to "suntzunize" as many people as possible. In 1997, although a Malaysian citizen, he was appointed as honorary Assistant Superintendent of Police by the Singapore Police Force in recognition for his contribution as consultant-trainer to the police force of Singapore. His first novel, Taikor, was nominated by the National Library of Malaysia for the 2006 International Dublin Literary Award. Since 1999, Khoo has gone into retirement and occasionally travels in Malaysia and Singapore.

Life

Early years Khoo was born in 1956 in the Penang state of Malaysia. He received his formal education at St. Xavier's Institution before leaving for Singapore in 1974, to continue his pre-university education at St. Joseph's Institution. After completing his studies in 1978, he worked as a journalist with The Star in Kuala Lumpur until 1980 when he joined Malaysia's largest sugar refinery, Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Company Berhad, as a personnel manager.

To help him in tackle the numerous challenging tasks he faced in Malayan Sugar then, his future wife, Judy Hwang, gave him some notes of her translation of Sun Tzu's Art of War from Chinese to English, as he is not conversant in Chinese. Khoo immediately took keen interest in the military treatise and began to learn and apply Sun Tzu's teachings into his work. Throughout his professional career, Sun Tzu's Art of War was his indispensable guide.

Retrenchment In early 1994, Khoo was retrenched from KFC as a result of an ownership change. He said:

From his home near Outram Park, Khoo set up Stirling Training & Management Consultants Pte Ltd, a training and consultancy firm, which assisted clients in planning and implementing strategies, and motivating their executives through his proprietary "Management: The Sun Tzu Way" programmes. He ran the company with his wife, who handles all the accounting and administration. Half of his time was spent elsewhere, conducting management seminars for businessmen and employees of multinational corporations. Khoo also lectured part-time on Strategic Management for Singapore Institute of Management's external degree programmes. In early 1999, he co-authored with Nigel Munro-Smith, a lecturer at RMIT University in Australia, to produce a book titled Reader Friendly Strategic Management that brings out the essentials of strategic management for beginners.

Early retirement In 1999, at the age of 43, Khoo decided to 'hang up his sword' (as described in his own words) to live a quiet and leisurely life in Cameron Highlands of Malaysia, with his wife and their "four-legged son", Bandit, a Yorkshire Terrier to this very day.

His works

Sun Tzu series Sun Tzu (pinyin: Sun Zi; c. 544 BC – 496 BC) was a native of the Qi state (now Huimin county in Shandong) during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history, that was characterised by warring factions and a fragmented state. He came to the attention of King He Lu of Wu, who was impressed by his 13-chapter military treatise, The Art of War. In 512 BC, He Lu made Sun Tzu his Commander-in-Chief of the Wu army. For almost 20 years, the armies of Wu were victorious over their hereditary enemies, the kingdoms of Chu and Yue. In 496 BC, after He Lu died from his wounds in battle, his son, Fu Chai succeeded him. After numerous victories in battles, Fu Chai became arrogant and began to indulge in merrymaking. In time, the king started to disregard Sun Tzu's counsel and began to distance himself from Sun Tzu. Sensing this, Sun Tzu wisely gave up his position and left Wu for Qi in retirement. Fu Chai and his generals did not follow Sun Tzu's precepts and his kingdom was subsequently conquered by Chu in 473 BC. Out of shame, Fu Chai committed suicide after he had fled with the remnants of his defeated army.

As a contemporary teacher of Sun Tzu's Art of War, Khoo has written over 26 books on business and management based on its principles such as: Crime Prevention: The Sun Tzu Way (2006) Win Without Fighting (2006) Applying Sun Tzu's Art of War (2002) – A six handguides collection Sun Tzu: The Keeper of CEO's Conscience (1997) Applying Sun Tzu's Art of War in Corporate Politics (1995) Sun Tzu and Management (1992) War at Work: Applying Sun Tzu's Art of War in Today Business World (1990)

His understanding to translate a complicated treatise into an easy prose for a beginner, Khoo's Sun Tzu series were well received and continue to grow in scope and depth in later years. He adds realism by injecting real-life situations culled from his 15 years in management, that encourage readers to assess their own performance, and take positive measures to become more effective in their workplace and interpersonal relationships.

Novels His first novel, Taikor, was released in late 2004. It is a historical saga of Malaya which traces the years 1922 to 1982, telling the story of Ya Loong, from his family's migration from South Thailand to Penang after his father's death. It was among the 132 entries nominated for the 2006 International Dublin Literary Award.

His third novel, Nanyang, is a historical saga about the multi-racial people who inhabit the lands of the 'Southern Ocean', as early Chinese migrants called Malaya and Singapore. It hit the book stores in October 2007.