The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 795 Borneo!!
Lin Zhiyuan gently put down the report, his fingertips tapping rhythmically on the table.

He got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the largest shopping mall in Southeast Asia.

Under the distant neon lights, the outline of the unfinished building loomed faintly in the night, like a piece of rough jade waiting to be carved.

"Tell Mr. Zhang that I will be on time for tomorrow's lunch meeting," he said to his assistant, a shrewd glint in his eyes.

He had been paying attention to this project for a long time. Yida Group's strength in the commercial real estate field in recent years should not be underestimated, and the location of that unfinished building could form a perfect commercial loop with "RT-Mart Palace".

The assistant quickly took notes and added, "The marketing department just completed its research. If Yida transforms the unfinished building into a high-end hotel or business center, and with the opening of the light rail extension, the return on investment is expected to reach 150% within three years."

Lin Zhiyuan nodded slightly, his gaze returning to the window.

He seemed to have already seen the future: the unfinished building would be transformed into a high-end hotel, forming a golden combination of "commerce + tourism" with the shopping mall.

The newly opened BTS station downstairs will bring more passengers, while the rooftop sky garden will become a new popular spot for Instagrammers in Bangkok.

“Oh, right,” he suddenly remembered something, “you can prepare my travel itinerary. I’m planning to go to Borneo to investigate the market soon.”

As a retail genius, Lin Zhiyuan firmly believed that the next expansion location for "RT-Mart" would ultimately be Borneo.

"Yes, Mr. Zhang! I'll go and make the arrangements right away." After the assistant left, Lin Zhiyuan sat back down at his desk.

The computer screen displayed the latest sales figures, but his thoughts had already drifted to Borneo and Malaysia.

Borneo and the tropical rainforests of Malaysia came to mind, representing enormous consumer potential.

The rapidly growing middle class and booming tourism industry in Southeast Asia in recent years provide an excellent entry point for RT-Mart to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian market.

Lin Zhiyuan opened the drawer and took out a market analysis report that he had prepared in advance.

This report provides a detailed record of consumption habits, population structure, and business competition in various cities in Borneo and Malaysia.

In particular, the economies of Kuching and Kota Kinabalu have begun to recover in recent years, and the high-end retail market remains a blue ocean.

Lin Zhiyuan's finger lightly traced across the report, then suddenly stopped at the "Wenlai" column.

This wealthy little country has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world, yet it lacks modern shopping centers.

A bold idea took shape in his mind: perhaps he could start by making a breakthrough in Brunei and then expand to the entire Borneo market.

It suddenly started raining outside the window, and the raindrops made a crisp sound as they hit the glass.

Lin Zhiyuan recalled that during his last visit to Singapore, the local government negotiated and granted permission for the RT-Mart Group to enter the local retail market.

If RT-Mart's investment plan impresses the Singaporean government, it will not only reduce investment risks but also allow the company to integrate into the local market more quickly.

Lin Zhiyuan picked up the phone and dialed the number of the Southeast Asia Business Director: "Contact the Brunei Economic Development Board officials for me and tell them that we are interested in investing in and building an integrated commercial complex in Bandar Seri Begawan." After hanging up, a confident smile appeared on his lips.

On Borneo, the world's third largest island, there is a tiny, incredibly wealthy country surrounded by Malaysia.

It is one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia, with a per capita income level that ranks among the highest in the world, even surpassing some major Western economies. It is a rare "oil-rich country" in the Asia-Pacific region, having made its fortune through oil like the wealthy countries in the Middle East. Its name is Wenlai.

To be honest, despite Brunei's wealth, its presence is very low, even less so than that of the "poor country" East Timor.

It's because it's so incredibly small, occupying less than 1% of Borneo's land area, and has a very small population of only around 45. Compare that to Chaoyang District's 344 million permanent residents...

This was the first time Lin Zhiyuan and his group had visited Wenlai, and they were completely dumbfounded as soon as they got off the plane.

The airport in Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Sri Begawan, is not as impressive as the newly built long-distance bus station in Lin Zhiyuan's hometown. There is only one baggage carousel, and you have to queue for half an hour to get your suitcase.

Even more outrageous, when I was leaving the country, the customs officer was stamping my passport slowly, while he was eating fried chicken, and oil splattered all over my passport.

Lin Zhiyuan's heart skipped a beat: "This pace... they're not here to test me, they're here to cultivate my patience, aren't they?"

Before he arrived, someone said, "Wenlai is very rich and gives away villas to citizens for free." Lin Zhiyuan believed it at first, but when he landed and asked, he found that even the locals were fighting over them.

The "Liu's Overseas Capital" colleagues who came to pick them up were native Taiwanese. In his thirties, he was still living with his parents in an old apartment and had been waiting in line for government housing for ten years.

Foreigners are in an even worse situation, as they can only rent private houses. A small two-story house of 80 square meters costs the equivalent of HK$4000 per month, and they have to pay for six months in advance.

Luo Jiacheng is from Hong Kong. Two years ago, he was sent to Wenlai by "Liu's Overseas Capital" to invest in energy. He gritted his teeth and rented the place, but on the first day he moved in, he found that the air conditioner was broken and the water heater only had cold water. When he went to the landlord, the landlord shrugged and said, "Take it or leave it. There are foreigners queuing up behind you."

At that moment, Luo Jiacheng almost burst into tears, feeling that he wasn't there to invest, but to help the landlord alleviate poverty.

Eating a meal here is even more outrageous. A "normal lunch" costs tens of dollars per person, and vegetables are more expensive than meat!
Because Wenlai doesn't grow vegetables locally, it imports 90% of its vegetables.

Luo Jiacheng said that when he went to the market, he almost died on the spot when he saw the price tags - a small bunch of water spinach was priced at five dollars, which is about thirty Hong Kong dollars; three cucumbers were nearly sixty Hong Kong dollars. He didn't believe it and went to the supermarket, where he found that the cheapest cabbage was one hundred Hong Kong dollars.

Meat is actually cheaper; chicken is only about twenty Hong Kong dollars per kilogram. We can eat chicken every day and get tired of it.

The people here eat fried chicken every day. Luo Jiacheng gained 20 pounds in less than three months after arriving here, and his colleagues praised him for "taking good care of himself".

Luo Jiacheng was both amused and exasperated. The first thing he did upon returning to Hong Kong was to get a medical check-up. The doctor warned him directly, "If you keep eating like this, you're bound to get fatty liver!"

When Lin Zhiyuan arrived in Wenlai, he felt for the first time that it was not an ideal place to invest. In addition to the high prices, the transportation was also underdeveloped.

With a population of just over 400,000 across the country, the land is vast and sparsely populated, so the government has simply given up: buses run only three times a day, and if you miss one, you have to wait until tomorrow; the subway is practically a dream come true; and if you want to take a taxi? You can't even wait for one.

Luo Jiacheng found it very inconvenient to get on and off the bus, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and buy a second-hand "Jingchi-C100" for HK$130,000, which was 30% more expensive than in mainland China.

What's even worse is the price of oil. Although Wenlai produces oil, subsidies have been reduced since last year. 95-octane gasoline costs HK$15 per liter. It looks cheap, but the distance is too far, and the monthly fuel cost is more than HK$2000.

Luo Jiacheng poured out his grievances to Lin Zhiyuan: "Mr. Lin, in Hong Kong, I take the subway to work and the daily transportation cost is ten Hong Kong dollars. Here, it's ten times that. Who can I complain to?"

"Hehehe, your company doesn't reimburse you?" Lin Zhiyuan said with a chuckle.

Luo Jiacheng shook his head and then nodded, saying, "I did get it reimbursed, but getting it from my company always involves going through procedures, which is incredibly troublesome..."

After complaining about his company, Luo Jiacheng continued.

He said he initially thought "Wenlai" really had free healthcare for everyone, and he was very happy when he first arrived. However, one time he had a high fever and went to the hospital. When the nurse at the front desk saw his foreign passport, she directly pointed to the side: "Turn right at the private clinic."

A consultation at a private clinic costs 200 yuan, a blood test costs another 300 yuan, and medication is extra. Undeterred, Luo Jiacheng went to a public hospital to queue, but the nurse said non-citizens had to register first, and the earliest appointment wait was three months.

Luo Jiacheng immediately exploded: Three months? My brain is burning up! In the end, he gritted his teeth, swiped his card, and flew to Lijiapo overnight, spending more than 10,000 yuan in one trip.

Luo Jiacheng complained to Lin Zhiyuan: Free medical care is true, but it's a "local people's exclusive benefit." Foreigners can't even get a piece of the action!
The two then discussed how working in Brunei is even more difficult. Luo Jiacheng's newlywed wife had originally planned to come to Brunei to find work and accompany him.

The headhunter retorted with a single sentence: "Government regulations stipulate that foreign companies hiring foreigners must first pay a 'deposit' of 150,000 wen (currency unit) for each position, and also promise to train two local employees."

Small businesses immediately shook their heads when they heard this, while large companies complained about her language barrier. In the end, she could only do odd jobs, working day and night to keep up with the time difference. Her monthly income of 20,000 yuan sounded like a lot, but after deducting rent, tuition fees, and gas costs, she had less than 3,000 yuan left.

In addition, the entertainment industry here is underdeveloped. Alcohol is prohibited, there are no bars or nightclubs, and even KTVs have to operate secretly.

Luo Jiacheng said that there are only two decent shopping malls in the country. One is called "Times Square", which sounds impressive, but its scale is actually smaller than that of "RT-Mart" in a county town.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the mall closed on time, the streets were dark, and even the stray cats went home to sleep.

Luo Jiacheng's most extravagant form of entertainment is driving to the Malaysian border on weekends, buying two bottles of beer, sitting by the sea for a couple of sips, and then rushing back before the border closes at midnight.

Once, Luo Jiacheng missed his flight and had to sleep in his car overnight. The next day, Malaysian police knocked on his window, thinking he was trying to illegally cross the border. They had to explain for a long time before they released him.

Luo Jiacheng and Lin Zhiyuan were learning this from each other, and they laughed until tears streamed down their faces: "In Hong Kong, I can still have a late-night snack at two in the morning, but here, not going home by ten is considered a 'late-night party'!"

Speaking of the interpersonal relationships of the locals, Luo Jiacheng said that the people here are friendly on the surface, but in reality, they have a "clique culture" that excludes outsiders.

He said that the people from Wenlai are indeed all smiles and will nod when you meet them on the street, but it's harder than climbing to heaven to really integrate.

The local Malaysian community is closed off, and the Chinese community is even more isolated. The Luo family is considered an outsider and has never even been invited to a neighbor's birthday party.

Once, Luo Jiacheng made a cake and gave it to the Malaysian lady next door. The lady accepted it with a smile, but turned around and threw it into the trash can. Luo Jiacheng accidentally saw this.

At that moment, Luo Jiacheng truly understood what "cultural barriers" meant.

Later, a Chinese neighbor told Luo Jiacheng the truth: "In Taiwan, foreigners are just 'temporary wallets.' Everyone greets you with a smile out of politeness, but to really open up to them? Don't be ridiculous. Their schedules are packed for three generations, they don't have time to deal with you!"

After hearing Luo Jiacheng's "blood and tears history," Lin Zhiyuan flew back to Bangkok overnight, abandoning his "tattoo strategy."

To put it bluntly, "Wenlai" is like a gilded island, shiny on the outside but full of pitfalls of "high consumption, low efficiency, and exclusion of outsiders" inside.

If you're a wealthy person going there for a vacation, flying in and staying for two months, staying in palace hotels, chartering yachts, and dining with private chefs, that would certainly be awesome;
As for investment, forget it. This place is simply not suitable for commercial investment, especially for large-scale retail businesses.

After returning to Bangkok, Lin Zhiyuan immediately convened a meeting with his team.

He stood in front of the projector, pointed to the map that had been brought to him, and said with a wry smile, "Everyone, we almost fell into the 'gilded trap'."

Luo Jiacheng's experience in Hong Kong is not an isolated case. I checked the data and found that 37 foreign companies have withdrawn from Taiwan in the past five years, and the reason is strikingly consistent—hidden costs are eating up profits.

The CFO, flipping through the reports, suddenly interjected, "The most fatal blow is labor costs. The law in Wenzhou stipulates that foreign companies must hire three times as many local employees… This alone has caused operating costs to soar by 45%." A collective gasp filled the conference room.

Xiao Zhang from the marketing department: "What's even more surreal is the consumer market. While the GDP per capita looks impressive, 60% of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the royal family."

The average person spends less than 5000 yuan per month, so our mid-to-high-end retail positioning is simply not suitable for this market.

“There’s something even worse.” The legal director pushed up his glasses. “The Wenlai Royal Foundation owns all the commercial real estate, and the rental terms contain an unfair clause that says the royal family can take it back at any time.”

Last year, a supermarket owned by a Singaporean was forced to relocate immediately after renovations, losing all its investment.

Lin Zhiyuan slammed his pen on the table: "Immediately halt all preliminary investments! Forward the investigation report to the board of directors and recommend shifting focus to the Malaysian market."

Shortly afterward, when officials from the Wenlai Economic Development Bureau called to inquire about the progress of his investment, Lin Zhiyuan could only smile and politely decline their invitation for a business visit once again.

Having abandoned his investment investigation in Wenlai, Lin Zhiyuan turned his attention to his neighbor, Malaysia.

He held the detailed information about Malaysia in his hand and looked at it over and over again, feeling that this place was very suitable for RT-Mart's next key expansion.

Among the ten ASEAN countries, Malaysia, located at a strategic crossroads of the Strait of Malacca, is not only geographically important but also a country where diverse cultures coexist.

Thanks to its advantageous geographical location and stable political environment, Malaysia has always been a top performer in ASEAN's economic strength, ranking high in GDP per capita and income per capita within the ASEAN region.

Malaya, commonly known as Malaysia, has a total population of approximately 3400 million. Malayans make up 70% of the population, Chinese 22.7%, Malayans 6.6%, and other races 0.7%.

Although it is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, the various ethnic groups in Malaysia live in harmony in terms of language, food and lifestyle, and the domestic environment is very stable.

On the streets of Malaysia, Christian churches, Hindu temples, and Guanyin temples are intertwined everywhere, with worshippers coming and going without disturbing each other, creating a unique local landscape.

Malaysia has a land area of ​​approximately 33 square kilometers, consisting of the southern part of the Malay Peninsula and the northern part of Borneo, commonly referred to as "West Malaysia" and "East Malaysia," with the closest point between the two exceeding 600 kilometers.

Of these, West Malaysia, which has 80% of the population of Malaysia, accounts for only 37.5% of the total area; East Malaysia has a larger area but a smaller population.

In the early 1970s, Malaysia's economy began to rise, with exports growing by more than 15%, and industries such as electronics and auto parts becoming important pillars of the domestic economy.

At the same time, Malaysia was also quite lucky.

After the outbreak of the Fourth Iran-Iraq War, international crude oil prices soared, bringing joy to Malaysia.

Throughout Southeast Asia, Malaysia has proven oil reserves of up to 37 billion barrels, and these are high-quality, high-priced light crude oil, which can be described as a "gift from God".

Abundant oil resources and a steady stream of orders from Japanese pirates attracted a large influx of foreign investment into Malaysia, resulting in a GDP growth rate of 50% that year.

Throughout the 1970s, Malaysia's GDP grew at an average rate of 8.3%, and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.1%, making it one of the top performers in economic development among Southeast Asian countries.

Malaysia has not only accelerated the opening of its foreign investment market, but has also consciously expanded employment opportunities for grassroots Malays and implemented a "New Economic Policy" that prioritizes Malays and indigenous peoples. This policy aims to eliminate poverty and restructure society, and has won high praise from the international community.

In the 1980s, Proton, the Malaysian state-owned automobile manufacturer, was established and became the most advanced vehicle manufacturer in Southeast Asia, a source of pride for Malaysian manufacturing.

Malaysia thus began its transformation from resource-intensive industries such as oil, rubber, and tin to advanced manufacturing, leading to further economic development.

From 1988 to 1997, the country's GDP grew at an average annual rate of over 13%, successfully transforming into a newly industrialized nation and becoming the world's thirteenth largest economy, alongside India, Thailand, and the Philippines, earning it the title of one of the "Four Little Tigers."

Until the Asian financial crisis, the Malaysian economy was severely damaged and has only recently struggled out of the mire, making it very eager for foreign investment.

(End of this chapter)