Datuk Dr Peter Sow Chin Chuan, Chairman of the Board of DPS Group of Companies.

Datuk Dr Peter Sow Chin Chuan, 51, is an outstanding Malaysian Chinese entrepreneur in Malaysia. He is the founder of DPS Group of Companies. The group consists of two publicly listed companies: DPS Resources Berhad and Len Cheong Holding Berhad.

Datuk Dr Sow began his business when he was 21 by setting up Shing Huat Group, which engaged in floor tiles, engineering, construction, timber trade and roof structure projects. In 1986, the group undertook the restoration project of the historical Red House (Stadthuys) in Malacca. In 1994, the group completed construction of the Malacca Mosque, Masjid Al-Azim.

In 1995, Datuk Dr Sow purchased and took over Shantawood Manufacturing from a Taiwanese businessman who was a well-known furniture manufacturer and exporter. The group began to venture into manufacturing and export of furniture worldwide as well as supplying wood and roof structures to all regions of Malaysia. Shantawood Manufacturing has subsequently become an international brand in the wood furniture industry. In 1996 and 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, Datuk Dr Sow responded to the call by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir to export timber/wood furniture to the world.

In 2004 and 2005, two plants under the group were listed and began to be traded on the main board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. In 2006, his enterprise purchased Len Cheong and Hidayat Yakin, as well as 10 furniture factories in Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Kelantan, becoming one of the top 500 furniture makers in the world. In the same year, he began to venture into his first hotel business, Swiss Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. In mid-2000, he began to invest in real estate development, establishing several development projects in Malacca and Negeri Sembilan. At the same time, he also invested in the plantation industry in Kelantan. He developed more than 2,000 hectares of natural rubber plants and would continue to reclaim another 10,000 hectares for rubber plantation.

In his 30 years in business, he has won recognition for his outstanding performance and contributions, including the Golden Bull Award in 2003 in Malaysia, the 2004 32nd International Trophy for Quality New Millennium Award in Rome, the 2005 Melaka Chief Minister Award, the 2005 MTC Best Performing Company Award (furniture category), the 2007 Business Summit Award in Malaysia, the 2008/2009 MFLA Award in Malaysia, the 2009 Asia-Pacific Entrepreneurship Award in Malaysia, the 2010 MFLA Award – Management Excellence Award, and the 2011/2012 MFLA Award – Management Excellence Award and Best Overall Award (furniture category).