Early Life
Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary the third of seventh children born into a middle-low class of Hadhrami Arab ancestry. His father was a trader who had travelled to Central Asia and Thailand in his youth before settling down in Kedah during the 1940s. When Syed Mokhtar was nine years old, he was sent to Johor Bahru to live with his uncle Syed Omar where he studied until Form 2. He subsequently returned to Kedah to finish his education until form five at Saint Michael's School, and he never went to university. A whole lot of his knowledge and experience was gained through his own entrepreneurship experience during his youth time.
Due in part his family's mediocre-to-poor background, Syed Mokhtar al Bukhary had to step into the working world in his early life, while pursuing his primary and secondary studies. Syed Mokhtar helped his mother planting and selling vegetables in the market and also selling roti canai. His numeric knowledge was used to help his father in doing daily book keeping.
After finishing school, Syed Mokhtar helped his father in breeding cow business but only to see the business washed away by foot and mouth disease. Nevertheless, he took over the business and start over by selling meats. He then move on to packaging the meats and start selling them wholesale.
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