A creative and humble personality in the paint industry, Alec Chye, founder of Li Rex Sdn Bhd has received numerous accolades for his creativity and excellent customer service over the recent years. The innovative entrepreneur shares with TMV on what inspired him to establish his company and also his company’s invention of the one-of-a-kind “texture paint” that enables interiors of homes and buildings to appear three dimensional. The paint also has different textures and is a unique work of art.    

Hailing from Cameron Highlands, Alec Chye came to Kuala Lumpur to gain some experience in building a career. He started working at the tender age of 18. “I chose to study and major in accounting as I had always wanted to own and run my own business,” says Alec, whose first job was a full-time salesperson in the automobile industry.  

“During the year 2010, I noticed that there was a rise of popularity in Korea Wallpaper and this inspired me to establish Li Rex Sdn Bhd in 2012,” shares Alec who understood the importance of aesthetic appeal of wallpapers. “I had the idea of replacing regular wallpapers; which requires someone to paste them on walls, with the invention of paint that resembles wallpapers for a similar or even better effect. As soon as I had everything planned out, I acted and invented the Texture Paint.”      

Li Rex offers a dazzling spectrum of paint colours with an amazing variety of textures and styles to suit the preference of exterior and interior painting jobs. “As different types of paint colours and textures are required for different buildings, it is vital for us to meet our clients’ expectations as every client would have different requests for their ideal type of paint. Thus, the need to understand what our clients want is crucial to ensure that they are satisfied with their selection and most importantly, the final result,” says the aspiring entrepreneur. “Also, an interesting fact about paint is that the colours on most items such as furniture will appear faded as time passes by but they could be restored back to their brand new look after some repainting.” 

The iconic service provided by Li Rex is its award-winning Texture Paint. “I came up with the name, ‘Texture Paint’ as there are no words in the English language that could describe our product,” Alec says with a smile. “Our Texture Paint is paint created to form beautiful three dimensional illusions or even paint with various kinds of texture. The paint would enhance and draw attention to a wall in a room and people would notice it the first thing when they walk into the room. Besides, the most amazing part of the innovation is that if the walls are painted after a renovation, it could make an entire house or apartment look brand new,” the soft-spoken entrepreneur says with excitement.

“I always believe that it is vital to treat employees with respect as happy and satisfied employees will provide excellent customer service,” says the award winning entrepreneur.   

When asked on how he balances his time spent in his professional and personal life, Alec says that his family is of utmost importance to him. “Spending time with family is very important to me. My wife is my rock and I believe that spouses could be the best business partners too,” says Alec who is grateful for his accomplishments. “With the newly developed branch in Johor, our vision is to diversify the business across Malaysia and in five to ten years’ time, to expand further to Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar.”