Yeo Keng Joon
Chairman, Bharat Luxindo Agrifeeds
MBA, Class of 1985
The next time you head to India, and you notice a packet of shrimp or fish feed, you may just spot one from a company by our MBA graduate Yeo Keng Joon.
Upon graduating from the University of Malaya with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1973, Keng Joon started work in Adhesives Far East Group creating adhesive products such as glues that could be used for various functions such as sticking carpets and shoes. However, Keng Joon felt that while his chemistry degree allowed him to be a capable chemist, it did not prepare him for management. To be an effective manager, he felt that he needed a better understanding of key business fields such as how Marketing, Finance, and HR came into play in an organisation. Hence, Keng Joon left Kuala Lumpur and came to NUS Business School to embark on the NUS MBA programme. The NUS MBA programme offered him a comprehensive overview of business management, sharpening and enhancing his management skills, and thereby allowing him to move up the corporate ladder into a management position.
After obtaining his MBA in 1985, Keng Joon found himself dipping his toe in the aquafeed industry and began breaking new grounds. In 1988, when Keng Joon was at Gold Coin Singapore – a company that was then focused on pig and poultry feeds – he was invited to startup the aquaculture business in Gold Coin. From just one plant in Johor Bahru, Keng Joon rapidly expanded the aquaculture business, opening several factories in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.
Keng Joon eventually made a name for himself in the aquafeeds industry, so much so that companies and industry leaders, one after another, started inviting him to start up new aquafeeds businesses. These companies include Global Aquaculture Indonesia in 1997 and his current venture, Bharat Luxindo Agrifeeds, in 2006. Since then, Bharat Luxindo Agrifeeds has come a long way. From working hard to convince fish farmers using traditional fish farming methods to switch to pelleted fish feed, the company has since expanded its business to producing Rohu fingerlings with their own broodstock selection. In 2021, it expanded further by inaugurating its new feed mill in Chittavaram, Narasapur, India.
Throughout his many years of experience starting up and leading companies, Keng Joon has learnt that EQ is more important than IQ. Learning how to manage difficult employees and customers to work together as a team, as well as crisis management, requires high EQ, something he believes cannot be taught through textbooks. Keng Joon also believes in the mantra, “be good, do good”. This mantra has guided Keng Joon in everything he does, making sure that his business is done ethically, with good corporate governance, and in compliance with the law. It has also motivated Keng Joon to invest time, love, and effort into the people from within the companies he has led, ensuring that they too can do well at work and in life.
Beyond his success in business and beyond pouring into the lives of those in his company, Keng Joon also regularly gives back to the NUS community. In 2006, his philanthropic journey began with an initial donation of $25,000, which eventually blossomed into the NUS Business School Alumni Association (NUSBSA) Bursary Fund. Over time, Keng Joon enlisted the support of like-minded friends to grow the bursary significantly, helping numerous financially disadvantaged students at NUS.
Keng Joon has also served on various alumni boards and associations within NUS, most notably as Founding President of NUSBSA. He also regularly shares his entrepreneurship and leadership experiences at many NUS Business School and NUS Entrepreneurship Society events, helping budding young entrepreneurs learn from his experience so that they too can do well in the business world. For his outstanding contributions to NUS, Keng Joon has been presented multiple awards, including the NUS Distinguished Alumni Service Award (2006), the NUS Business School Eminent Alumni Special Service Award (2008) and the Outstanding Member of NUS Society Award (2023).