Lim Kok Hin is the new Vice President of the Business Imaging Solutions Group Canon Singapore Pte. Ltd. He was appointed Vice President earlier this year. A highly experienced person, Lim Kok Hin, recently visited Bangladesh for the first time to gain a better understanding of the Bangladeshi ICT market and the overall condition of Canon products in Bangladesh. He also met with the employees of J.A.N. Associates and shared his thoughts and ideas with them.


Lim Kok Hin

We have the opportunity to have an interview with him, which is as follows:

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Lim Kok Hin: This is my first trip to Bangladesh. I am the Vice President of the Business Imaging Solutions Group of Canon. I am in charge of South and South East Asia (excluding India). I look after Canon's laser printer, photo-copier and multi-function business printer segment.

I have been working in Canon for 30 years. I joined Canon immediately after finishing my graduation and since then, I have been working here. I never resigned in my life or I have been working in the same company.

What is your impression about J.A.N. Associates?

Lim Kok Hin: I think, J.A.N. Associates, under the leadership of Abdullah H Kafi, is doing very well in Bangladesh. J.A.N. Associates, with its dedication and devotion, has become one of the leading ICT companies of Bangladesh. It is a matter of great pride and joy that Canon has found such a great partner in this country. J.A.N. Associates is highly focused and they are working very hard to market Canon products here. I had the opportunity to meet with some of the corporate partners of J.A.N. Associates and I felt very happy to talk with them. The employees at J.A.N. Associates are very hard working. I have also met with some of the renowned journalists who are continuously lending their support to us. Bangladesh market has great potential in future and I am hopeful that J.A.N. Associates will become even more successful.

Would you please tell us a bit about the latest activities of Canon?

Lim Kok Hin: Well, I know ours is a technology company but today I am going to discuss something that is more important than technology. We are actually talking about this in Singapore and Malaysia and it has become a major success. The thing I want to talk about is ‘Ambition gap’.

You see each and every human being is unique and they have different ambitions. There are two kinds of ambitions:career ambition and personal ambition. Career ambition is related to a person's career, where a person would like to see himself after ten or twelve years in his career. In Singapore or Malaysia, if you ask a guy, where you would like to see yourself in your career, he would reply that he wants to become the president or CEO of a big company. And there is the personal ambition. It is not related to one's career but more to one's heart. It is something that makes a human being happy and makes him or her feel complete.

The problem is, in this age of intense competition, corporate jobs have become very stressful. In Malaysia and Singapore, corporate people have to lead a very stressful life. They stay in their offices for long ours. Often, they have to go home at 9 p.m. At that time, they become exhausted and can not give much time to their families. What happens is that their work ambition takes over their lives and they can not fulfill their personal ambitions. It eventually makes them unhappy and affects their performance and productivity.

So how is it possible to fill this ‘Ambition gap’?

Lim Kok Hin: In order to fill this ambition gap, we, at Canon Singapore, have taken a unique approach- ‘Do more work less’. It is a very interesting philosophy. Corporate people work for long hours. Say, in a company, a person does ten works in 12/13 hours. It is a long time. But if that person can do 12 works just in eight hours then what would happen? He would be able to leave office on time and go home and spend time with his family or spend time in fulfilling his personal ambitions or dreams. This would eventually improve his productivity. This will help the growth of the company.

So, how is it possible? First, the person would have to improve his/her skills so that he can perform his tasks more efficiently and quickly. Second, the work process needs to be improved and this is where technology comes into play. If a company uses better technology, then it would improve the process. As a result, work will be done smoothly and quickly and employees will be able to do more work in less time.

You just talked about using technology to improve work process. Can you elaborate on this matter a bit more?

Lim Kok Hin: You see, the corporate philosophy of Canon is ‘Kyosei’. It means that living and working together to achieve a common goal. But for us, at Canon, ‘Kyosei’ means more. It means that people of all religious faith and races should work harmoniously to build up a better future. I am the Vice President of Canon in South and South East Asia. Under me, more than two thousand people are working. All these people work very hard and they spend long hours in their offices. As their boss, I should be happy but I realized that it is not right. I, as their leader, should help them to fulfill their passions. Hence, we started ‘Do more work less’ movement.

Now, technology plays a very important role in this process. Good technology will improve the flow of work. Then works will be performed smoothly and it would be possible for the employees to do more work in less time.

So, how this new approach affected the employees at Canon Singapore?

Lim Kok Hin: Oh, it has become a great success. You see, we created a Facebook page titled ‘Do More Work Less’. (http://www.facebook.com/DoMoreWorkLess?v=info) It is open to all kinds of people not just Canon employees. They can log on to this page and share their ideas with each other. The page has become very much popular and many people logged and shared their ideas.

So, you are saying that people should not forget their passion?

Lim Kok Hin: No, they should not forget it but try to nurture it. Say, a person wants to become a swimmer. By adopting the ‘Do more work less approach’, he can work efficiently and at the same time get time to do something which he likes. This will make him happier and he would also start to enjoy his work as well.

What is your passion?

Lim Kok Hin: I want to become a better father for my children.


Interviewed by : M. U. Mahmood



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