Nehemiah may not be a familiar Biblical name to every Christian. Nevertheless, he was the person who was appointed by God to rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem from its ruins after the return of the people from years of Babylonian exile.
Together with the priest, Ezra, Nehemiah worked hard to fulfill his calling from God. While Ezra helped to rebuild the temple, Nehemiah rebuilt the walls – essentially the defensive system – of the city. More than just administrators, they brought a vital spiritual renewal among the people.
It was not easy. They had to face not just enemies of Judah on all sides but also discontent and fear among the people. Working against every odds and in very stressful circumstances, Nehemiah staunchly dedicated himself to God and his mandate and accomplished what he was called to do in just 52 days. Today, for those who know it, the Book of Nehemiah is a source of guidance and wisdom for entrepreneurs and business owners.
Locally, the story of Dr. Nehemiah Lee, is a resounding echo of this Biblical story. (Read more about his journey here: Walls of Integrity, No Bribery- Nehemiah Lee). When he first started his construction company, Nehemiah Reinforced Soil Sdn Bhd, Dr. Nehemiah had to take a step of faith and courage. He was already at the age of 40 and in his own words, he was just an “ordinary civil engineer”. He did not have a clue about business. The reason he embarked on his journey as an entrepreneur was simply because he was tired of the corruption in the companies he had worked in up to that point.
Like Biblical Nehemiah, whose name Dr. Nehemiah took after in honor, Dr. Nehemiah faced many scoffers. Furthermore, he had to learn from the ground up. It was a difficult learning process but it was also a time of moulding by God and of dependency on Him. He staked his business practices upon first honouring God, even printing the pledge for integrity on every one of his business cards, and God had taken him far.
Throughout the years, many people have encouraged Dr. Nehemiah to share his story through an autobiography so as to encourage and inspire entrepreneurs who have a great hunger for integrity within the business world of Malaysia. He was hesitant at first, setting a Gideon moment for himself until God brought it to pass – that ten people would independently suggest that he should set the stories of his entrepreneurial journey down on paper. After much anticipation, the autobiography, The Wall Stories Of A Jar Of Clay, was launched earlier this month in conjunction with Encubator’s Annual Dinner at the Sime Darby Convention Center to a very positive reception and endorsement.
In an interview with Dr. Lim Kah Hooi during the event, Dr. Nehemiah shared that though his voice alone may be a small and feeble one, his hope is that the book may reach where he cannot go physically and impact its readers to be a part of a collective and growing voice for integrity in our nation’s business environment. In addition, he discovered a personal motivation while writing the book. More than any concern about how many copies it could sell, he wanted it to serve as a record to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren about the wonderful works of God in his life, and for them to read and know that there is a great and wonderful God in whom we believe.
Dr. Nehemiah also shared how important to him his pledge for integrity is. By prominently displaying the pledge on his cards, he positions himself in accountability to God before all men. In its 30 years of existence, God has brought Nehemiah Reinforced Soil through the two major financial storms in 1998 and 2008. During times when many companies went bust, the company miraculously enjoyed a higher margin for its projects.
Today, the company Nehemiah Reinforced Soil Sdn. Bhd. is the market leader for reinforced soil wall sector in Malaysia, even overtaking a multinational corporation that is in top position in every other nation except Malaysia. If you travel along the highway during the upcoming Chinese New Year, keep an eye out on the highway walls you will pass by and you will notice the hexagonal tiles that reinforce those walls, keeping even heavy vehicles safe as they travel across long distances. Among its many achievements, the company currently holds the record for the tallest wall built in Malaysia as well as managing to complete a major project, the Kuantan Interchange, in record speed. Through it all, Dr. Nehemiah shared one of the moments that has left the most impact on him was that even in more difficult times, his employees, many of them non-Christians, had stood in solidarity with him and said, “Jangan bimbang, bos. Rezeki kami halal.”
You will read much about Dr. Nehemiah’s entrepreneurial journey through The Wall Stories; its achievements but also the more challenging times when the only thing keeping the company asteer and on its course was God’s hand. But the second half of the book will also help you to know Dr. Nehemiah as a person beyond the personality of a successful businessman. In it, he shares about “the making of a kampung boy”, relating his childhood and formative years.
YB Hannah Yeoh puts it about the book; “The Wall Stories takes us to the world beyond the church walls right into the marketplace. Dr. Nehemiah Lee has raised a standard for other believers to emulate. Uncompromising and proven”. Dato’ Sri Idris Jala shares that “The Wall Stories is full of interesting anecdotes of how God came through for [Dr. Nehemiah] when facing severe challenges in his entrepreneurial journey. It is a journey of faith and faithfulness in a God that makes possible the impossible.”
Though the autobiographical story of Dr. Nehemiah Lee is an impactful one, it is told in a simple way, and one of the things that stand out about it is his humility. “‘Who Am I that I am qualified to share about integrity?’” he expresses in his preface. ‘I am a jar of clay, plain looking, fragile, and ordinary in every way. Basically, I am just an ordinary civil engineer. I was clueless about business when I first started my construction company. It is a specialist subcontractor in the construction of retaining walls. I could have failed a thousand times. But for the grace of God, we have survived to tell the story of how this jar of clay in the hands of God could make it in the business world.”
At the end of it, the most inspirational thing about Dr. Nehemiah’s story is the clarity and purity in its telling of a simple-hearted man who had a love for God so great that he was willing to risk everything to honour Him, and the journey and appointed position God has taken him on in reward to that faith.
For more information about The Wall Stories, please contact Walter Yeoh at entrenu@gmail.com All photos from the event kindly provided by the event organisers. Christianity Malaysia would like to thank Dr. Nehemiah Lee and The Encubators for their kind invitation and hospitality throughout the production of this article.
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