The Chinese believe that family wealth will not last for three generations. The first generation makes the money, the second spends it, the third see nothing of the wealth. It is a ‘rags to riches, and back to rags’ story.
Many Malaysian families with ‘old-wealth’ (not the nouveau riche) acquired their fortunes because of one man. He would have worked like a dog to acquire the knowledge, the skills and the contacts. He would have shunned designer clothes and shoes, and instead would wear the same faded singlet and trousers.
Many of these original wealth makers ate their meals in the same coffee shop every day, and led thrifty lives. Their documents would be carried in a paper bag, and never a showy leather briefcase. They travelled economy and drove their own cars.
They did not have airs and graces. Their scruffy appearance hid the fact that they had several million ringgits deposited in a bank, and owned properties and businesses throughout the country.
The men who started these business empires would have been driven by their family's circumstances. They vowed that they would get an education and grab every opportunity to lift their families out of poverty.
Many started their businesses in a small way, perhaps by repairing bicycles. Then with the money saved, they would start their own bicycle shop and would leap-frog from there, to acquire more shops or venture into other businesses.
The sons of these hard-working men mostly failed to measure up to their fathers.
Many of them wrongly assumed that they possessed greater business acumen than their fathers. They used their father’s name to open doors, to get preferential treatment, or to borrow money. A son might have gambled his inheritance away. Not knowing the value of hard work, another son may have spent his father’s hard-earned money on women and cars.
Instead of doing what their old man used to do, which is to invest wisely, open a trust fund for their children, and set aside some money for their old age, the second generation simply frittered away the good work of their father.
By the time the third generation came along, there was very little of the original wealth left. Infighting, bickering, selfishness and greed also consumed the second generation. For the love of money is the root of all evil.