Tan Sri Dato' Loh Boon Siew 1915-1995 (Chinese: 駱文秀) also known as “Mr Honda” was a Penangite tycoon and the first sole distributor of Honda motorcycles in Malaysia.
Boon Siew was born in Hui-An, Fujian province of China. He spent his childhood collecting pig dung (then used as fuel) to make a living. At age 12, he arrived in Penang in a small boat from China with 5 friends namely Loh Poh Heng and Loh Say Bee. He could speak only Hokkien (Min Nan) and had virtually no formal education. He worked as an apprentice car mechanic (earning three dollars monthly) upon his arrival. It is said that Boon Siew's sifu used to hit him in the head whenever he did something wrong. He stayed in a ‘coolie keng’ (workers' quarters) at 4, Katz Street, Penang and he supplemented his income by washing buses at night for 10 cents per vehicle.
At age 18, Boon Siew purchased 11 buses using his $2,000 in savings. He reconditioned the buses and sold them for $12,000. Next, he used the money he earned to buy another 39 buses. In 1942, during WWII, all his hard-earned money was confiscated by the invading Japanese army. But Boon Siew did not give up. After WWII ended in 1945 and the Japanese were defeated, he started selling bicycles, tyres and motorcycle accessories, and soon he expanded his business to used cars, transports and buses.
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