"No Ordinary Jho" - Harrow School, London, UK

 Harrow School, UK

The Star's worldwide exclusive on Low Taek Jho hit the street yesterday. Instantly Jho Low, aged 28, became the favourite son of every Malaysian mother and father. For some he became the very anti-thesis of success. But like it or not he is a Malaysian and according to news account he has done tremendously well according to the world's yardstick. He took USD$25 million and through portfolio investments and later private equity, turn it into USD$1 billion. And he did it while he was still studying in Wharton one of the top business school in the US together with Harvard and Kellogg.

Certainly he is not a "orang kaya baru" as his family is rich. He father has the foresight to send Jho to this prestigious school in UK to do his A-levels. Harrow School is a 30,000Pound a year boarding school. It is favoured by businessman and royal families from Asia. It is business equivalent to aristocrat Eton which is known to educate the nobility of the UK.

So were it the school and university that Jho went that help him in his success? Was it the "Right place, right time and right people" that contributed to his succes? As many Malaysian parents would have pointed out a good school is important not just for the education but also the who's who within. To those who can afford the 30KPound this is certainly no big deal. But how far will a family go as far as investing their retirement fund in their child's education?

My family and I visited Harrow School in 2005. It is part of our desire to plant some seeds of greatness into our son. With UK having 7 of her Prime Ministers from Harrow, it certainly has a great tradition in scholarship and statesmanship! My son did study in one of the Harrow family of schools in Bangkok, Thailand called Harrow International School for 4 terms while my family was living there. And certainly my son was very excited to hear this piece of news yesterday. He is certainly no Jho Low but I hope he can learn the positives from Jho's life and work hard and be successful.

The 1000 years old St. Mary Church near Harrow School.

My son and I walking around the church grounds.