Patrick Wee
Entrepreneur, 2008
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Professional Communication
I had an opportunity to work closely with Tan Sri Lim and learn from him. One of the greatest qualities I acquired working in Limkokwing University is attention to detail, and going the extra mile, making sure you do your best in everything.
13 October 2008
More Alumni
Man of many Hats
Written by Onalethata Mogale
Helming six companies might seem too much, but GROUP MAD CEO, Patrick Wee easily wears his many hats as a successful entrepreneur, trainer, and a lot more, thanks to the attention to detail and determination he gained earlier in his career.
‘I had an opportunity to work closely with Tan Sri Lim and learn from him. One of the greatest qualities I acquired working in Limkokwing University is attention to detail, and going the extra mile, making sure you do your best in everything,’ he says.
With a Limkokwing University of Creative Technology scholarship, Patrick graduated from the University in 1995 with a Business Communication Diploma and a Presidential Gold Award. He then served in the University Marketing division for five years with his last position being Director of Marketing.
In 2001, Patrick moved on to the entertainment industry, joining AEO Worldwide, one of the leading and most successful independent film companies at the time as a Marketing Manager. His dedication and impeccable work ethics saw him being promoted to Director of Marketing in less than a year. Through this job, he has travelled to film festivals and markets as far as the United States, Hong Kong, and Korea. Patrick is widely known in the movie entertainment industry for being responsible for the highly successful The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in Malaysia. He is currently working on the release of Malaysia’s first international horror film, IN THE DARK as the Executive Producer.
Patrick made his debut into entrepreneurship with two companies, Mypartners Communications and JM Asia in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Mypartners Communications Sdn. Bhd. is a Strategic Communications and Event Marketing agency that help companies leverage on PR and event marketing to create buzz and improve their business bottom lines. JM Asia is a consultancy that focuses on helping companies with brand building to gain long term sustainable growth. “An opportunity just came along, and I knew instinctively it was the right thing to do at that time,” he says, about why he decided to go into business. He eventually created his own “Brand” for his group of companies which now also includes MAD Digital, a digital marketing consultancy offering digital solutions that help companies better connect and influence targeted audiences through digital channels.
He also owns Seeds Training Malaysia, a youth and teacher company that focuses on leadership skills, learning to learn skills and life skills to supplement what kids are getting in school. He says his calling lies in helping young people identify their values and their dreams and aligning them so that they may find fulfilment and happiness in their life.
www.yuberactive.asia is another one of Patrick’s brainchild; an online user-powered community that brings people from all over Asia to share compelling stories.
Patrick also recently set up SkyBridge International, a property education and investment company with two property industry experts with the aim to create more transparency and empower people with the correct knowledge and skills to invest in property responsibly.
He is also active in community work, being the Chairman for a not for profit organisation called Pertubuhan Generasi Cergas Malaysia (PGCM). PGCM focuses on fundraising activities, where the proceeds are put towards running free workshops for underprivileged students and organising youth events.
Despite his many accomplishments, Patrick remains humble of all he’s achieved. Asked of what he considers to be his greatest success, he replies, “Just having the awareness to work on being a better person every day, being able to build a brand culture that is not about me, but about the bigger picture, a culture that would eventually be a platform that would be able to reach out and impact positively on millions of people.
He says to run a company successfully, it’s about being a leader, rather than a boss, and wanting to make a difference.
“A true leader leads a team of people who are inspired at what they do, and are able to scale up to do more work that can make a difference,” he says.
He believes in honesty and integrity, and he runs his businesses with the same attitude. “It’s all about matching actions with what we say is important to us.” Be it the youth or multinational companies that we work with, we believe the same approach applies. In every project the group undertakes, the team tries to steer clients in the direction of building their brand towards being a responsible corporate citizen by contributing to the planet and investing in community development.
‘It’s not just about making profit, it’s also about making a difference in terms of people and the planet.”
His advice to students and young graduates who are about to enter the industry is to have integrity and empathy, and also to take the attention from themselves, so that they are able to see the bigger picture.
“They should step out of themselves and observe themselves from a distance, reflect on why they want to do what they want to do,” he concluded.
