Sosilawati - a rags to riches tragedy

Sosilawati - had once tapped rubber

KUALA LUMPUR - Relatives and friends of murdered Malaysian millionaire Sosilawati Lawiya said her life was a rags to riches story, as they mourned her death.

Police said on Sunday that she and three of her associates, who had been missing since Aug 30, were held at a poultry farm, beaten and burnt and their ashes thrown into a river in Selangor.

The sixth child of a labourer, Madam Sosilawati tapped rubber trees during her school days for pocket money. She even went door to door to sell cosmetic products, years before she became a successful entrepreneur by starting the Nouvelles Visages brand of beauty products.

Her younger sister, Ms Rosnani Lawiya, 45, told the New Straits Times that her elder sibling had never dreamt of becoming a millionaire, let alone building a business empire.

"As a teen, all Kak Wati wanted was to help our family to prosper. We were poor, proper meals were hard to come by, yet we were happy," she said.

Chain of beauty and spa

After completing her studies, Madam Sosilawati, who hailed from Batu Pahat in Johor, worked as a saleswoman in a supermarket before becoming a hotel clerk.

She then moved to Kuala Lumpur in search of better prospects and found a job as a secretary in a bank when she was 20.

A year later, she married a bank manager, bearing him six children before divorced 12 years later, the New Straits Times said.

She switched jobs again and became a cosmetics agent to feed her children. In 1994, Madam Sosilawati made it big, using her savings to start the Nouvelle Beauty Centre with an authorised capital of RM500,000 ($216,000) and an issued capital of RM200,000.

Her luxurious home

Within 10 years, she had 300 stores and stockists throughout the country including Brunei, Singapore and Thailand, the New Straits Times reported.

Police said eight people have been arrested in connection with the murder case. Two of those nabbed - reportedly the masterminds - are brothers who are also lawyers specialising in land deals. The remaining six are their farm workers.

Like Madam Sosilawati, the brothers reportedly had humble beginnings, graduating with law degrees and frequently donating food and clothes to the poor.

However, their reputations are stained by rumours of "unsavoury" tactics during land deal negotiations, reported The Star newspaper.

The elder brother, who has a "datukship", is facing a probe in Penang and Bukit Aman for land fraud and cheating cases involving millions of ringgit, it said.

Police are also investigating if the brothers are responsible for the disappearance of four other people, including an Indian millionaire who had opened a restaurant with them. - AGENCIES