ROBERT KUOK: FAMILY, DIALECT, AND STATE IN THE MAKING OF A MALAYSIAN MAGNATE BY LEE KAM HING,CHEONG KEE CHEOK AND LEE POH PING University of Malaya Chinese overseas family businesses generally lack longevity. In addi- tion to difficulties in transiting towards professional management they are susceptible to state pressures. However, Robert Kuok, the richest man in Southeast Asia who heads a vast business empire, has been able to surmount both challenges. This study shows how Kuok successfully turned three important sources of identity into strengths: family, dialect, and the state. These three sources are set against his Johor Bahru background, the changing domestic political landscape, and shifting regional economic influence. JEL categories: D10, L26, M13, N85 Keywords: China, Chinese overseas, dialect, family, Malaysia, state INTRODUCTION Many successful firms in Southeast Asia today are family businesses and amongst them is the firm headed by Robert Kuok. Robert Kuok is Southeast Asia’s wealthiest businessman. His business empire provides a study of how a family business emerged and dealt with the challenges of expansion, succession and longevity. There is considerable scholarly interest in the longevity of family business but most studies focus on the West. There is thus a need for studies of East Asian family firms, particularly of the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia who value the continuation of family control after the passing of the founder. Such is this desire for longevity that Colli and Rose write that the failure of the firm even if the family no longer has any formal stake can feel like death! 1 Sharma, in a survey of 217 peer-reviewed articles on family business firms, states that a majority of family firm leaders are ‘desirous of retaining family control past their 1 Colli and Rose, Family business, pp. 196–7. Australian Economic History Review, Vol. 53, No. 3 November 2013 ISSN 0004-8992 doi: 10.1111/aehr.12014 268 © 2013 The Authors Australian Economic History Review © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and the Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand