COMING from a poor family and having encountered failure at a young age may not necessarily be a bad thing if one learns from such temporary setbacks.

For Datuk Neoh Soo Keat, the managing director of up-and-coming boutique developer, Trinity Group Sdn Bhd, poverty had driven him to start working at a tender age to help out with the family's finances.

At age 12, he was a vegetable stall helper. He recalls having to cycle to the Kuantan wet market in the early hours of the morning (2am) daily to wait for the lorries to transport the vegetables which he helped to clean before going home to prepare for school.

One of his early setbacks was when he failed the Bahasa Malaysia paper in the Lower Certificate Examination (SRP) in Form 3 in 1985, which (during that time) meant he flunked the whole examination.

The heart-to-heart talk his father gave him after he learnt of his son's results was a humbling experience for the young Neoh who realised he needed to pay more attention to his studies and advance his education over other endeavours.