OCTOBER 2016 FORBES ASIA | 33NIONO NOVEMBER 2016 FORBES ASIA | 33

W

hen David Kong had the idea for a

funeral-services business in Malay-

sia back in 1985, no one would listen.

Banks wouldn’t lend him money.

Local authorities wouldn’t approve

his application to open a cemetery. He quickly learned

that profiting from a loss was not seen as a “decent” way

to earn a living, though in the U.S. and elsewhere the in-

dustry had long thrived.

But Kong persevered. Today his Nirvana Asia is

Southeast Asia’s largest full-service funeral company. It

embalms, buries and cremates. It designs caskets, builds

tombs and provides niches for mortal remains. It organiz-

es bereavement services, most often with the rituals and

prayers of ancient Buddhist and Taoist cultures.

It’s a strange business. The products and services are

part of the realm of culture, religion and tradition. The

custodians are monks and priests and the ancient spiri-

tual texts of last rites. “Every life deserves a curtain call,”

he says during an interview at his 18-story Nirvana Cen-

ter in downtown Kuala Lumpur. “We celebrate life and

its achievements and make sure that the transition to the

other world is dignified, respectful and easy for both the

deceased and their loved ones.”

It’s also been a lucrative business for the 61-year-old

Kong, who is also known as Kong Hon Kong. Last month

he took the Hong Kong-listed company private in a deal

with London’s CVC Capital Partners that valued the com-

pany at $1.1 billion. The firm bought a 43% stake while

Kong collected $200 million; he still owns 38%, down

from 42.7%. He’ll continue to run the company. An earlier

investor, Orchid Asia, holds the other 19%.

In March Kong debuted on FORBES ASIA’s list of Malay-

sia’s 50 richest people at No. 34, with a net worth of $550 mil-

lion. But his fortune is now estimated at $720 million.

CVC is investing in a big operation. Nirvana runs 13 cem-

eteries, 14 columbaria, 2 funeral homes and 6 crematoriums

in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and China.

It controls 31% of the death-services market in Malaysia

and 35% in Singapore, according to research firm Frost &

Sullivan. Those shares are at least five times larger than its

nearest rival in each country. It’s expected to generate $52

million in net profit this year on revenue of $171 million, ac-

cording to Bloomberg. “Kong has woven magic,” says Liew

Kee Sin, chairman of Eco World Development, who has

known him for two decades. “He has changed a social taboo

into a business that invokes the blessings of the gods and

puts you at ease with the inevitable. People now talk about

their own death, plan for it and are no longer afraid of it.”

Following a strategy of market segmentation, Nirvana

ofers its packages at multiple price points. A burial plot in a

premium location could cost $2.5 million and a gold-plated

coin as much as $350,000. Its more than 3,000 agents sell

what are called “pre-need” packages to customers as young

as 40 who are planning ahead. Some 85% of the company’s

revenue comes from selling services that may not be used

for years.

Nirvana agents range in age from 30 to 45, defying the

notion that death care is a gloomy industry that would have

trouble attracting young talent. Says Casey Liew, 33, a former

bank executive and a graduate of Adelaide Business School

who joined Nirvana in 2014 as assistant manager, corporate

sales & marketing: “This is a great learning ground. The

FORBES ASIA

NIRVANA ASIA