Calvin Khiu
Quick Facts
Biography
Dato’ (Dr) Calvin Khiu (Simplified Chinese: 拿督 邱.卡尔文 博士; born 1981) is a Malaysian entrepreneur, businessman, and investor. He is the chairman of Mk Curtain Berhad (MK), the biggest curtain showroom in Malaysia. He is also the chairman of Outstanding Entrepreneurs (OE) School for Entrepreneurs. Khiu has been accorded numerous awards and honors including "World Excellent Young Leader", "Outstanding Young Asian Entrepreneur Award", and "Ten Outstanding Young Malaysian (TOYM)".
Early life
Dato’ (Dr) Calvin Khiu was born in 1981 in Bukit Gambir, Johor, and grew up in a poor, single-parent family. Khiu started working at a very young age to support his family. He sold watches at night markets, delivered gas tanks from door to door, did peddling jobs. Khiu completed his secondary at the age of 17 and went to Singapore to work as a salesperson in a textile store, where he learned the inside out of the textile trade while doing sales for the company. Seven years later, he decided to set up his own business of curtains.
Career
In 2005, Khiu started MK Curtain with zero capital and two employees. Within a year of its inception, MK Curtain opened its second branch. Another six outlets in Negeri Sembilan followed this in the following year.In 2008, Khiu initiated a tailoring unit that employed 30 pairs of hands. The company spends RM200, 000 annually into skills development training program. In 2016, Khiu went on to establish Outstanding Entrepreneurs (OE) School for Entrepreneurs with the vision to provide training and teaching practical aspects of becoming an entrepreneur.
Awards and recognition
- 2019: Awarded the "Philanthropist Entrepreneur" in Beijing, China
- 2019: Awarded the "World Excellent Young Leader" in Hong Kong, China
- 2018: Awarded "Outstanding Young Asian Entrepreneur Award"
- 2018: "Sin Chew Business CSR Excellence Award"
- 2018: "Nanyang Superb Brand Award" (Practitioner Speech Excellence Award)
- 2018: "McMillan Woods Global Awards" (Inspirational Orator of the Year)"
- 2017: "McMillan Woods Globals Awards" (Dynamic Trailblazer of the Year)
- 2016: "The 100 Most Influential Young Entrepreneurs"
- 2016: Awarded the "Young Entrepreneurs of The Year" by The Star SOBA
- 2016: Founded "MKAYE CHARIS CHARITY" to help the impoverished old-folks
- 2014: Being chosen as one of the "Malaysia Top 10 Most Admired Young Entrepreneurs" by Top 10 Malaysia Finance Magazine
- 2014: "EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the year 2014"
- 2014: JCI Creative Young Entrepreneur Award for three consecutive years
- 2013: "Ten Outstanding Young Malaysians" (TOYM)
- 2012: Golden Bull Award for three consecutive years