Yoma Strategic Holdings is the local partner behind KFC in Yangon. Photo / Coconuts Yangon
Bloomberg TV has a series with a very simple formula:
Take rich and successful people and interview them at the top of a building in Singapore.
The show, without any apparent irony, is called “High Flyers.”
It gives you a “360 view of Asia’s business elite,” the introduction says.
And who are the latest High Flyers?
Serge and Melvyn Pun, the father-son duo behind Yoma Strategic Holdings. Yoma is involved in a vast array of businesses in Myanmar, including Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Puns are often referred to as the clean tycoons of Myanmar. No blacklist, no past stained by rights abuses.
But they are still a business success in one of the most corrupt countries in the region, which begs the question, how did they manage to stay above the fray?
Unfortunately, we don’t get that answer here. Instead, host Haslinda Amin showers the Puns with praise in the most softball of softball interviews.
“You are one of the most successful and respected businessmen in Myanmar,” the interview begins, showing us where we’re headed.
Fascinating revelations include the fact that the two wear the same Apple watch.
Serge’s hard-won business advice?
“I can tell the younger generation that if you work hard and have a little bit of intelligence, you’ll make it.”
Amin does briefly touch on the corruption question. She asks how they stay clean.
“By not bribing anybody, by not playing the game,” Serge said.
You be the judge of the rest of the show, which ran in a few parts. But don’t expect to learn much about this genuinely fascinating family and their story.
