Visitors to Singapore are greeted by a pristine city-state with gleaming skyscrapers and a world-famous education system, but local entrepreneur David Low recalls a grittier side of life.
His company, Futuristic Store Fixtures, has more than 800 staff, annual turnover of S$70m ($36m), and supplies global retailers including Uniqlo, H&M and Adidas. But it started out in a tiny office in Singapore’s Chinatown, a quaint tourist spot today but then a “notorious gangster area”, Mr Low says.
Both the company and its chief executive have risen from humble beginnings. Mr Low failed repeatedly at school. He had no time to study because his father made him work in the family furniture business as soon as he got home. He dropped out of school at 18, unable to speak a word of English. Education was a luxury when the Low family was desperate to put food on the table.