KL Yuen studied at St. John’s Institution both in his primary and secondary school days. After finishing his high school years, he decided to follow his grandfather’s footstep, who was one of the pioneer architects in the 60’s.
He went to study Architectural Draughting at Pertubuhan Architect Malaysia (PAM) and graduated with a Diploma in Architectural. He has worked in several reputable architectural firms until the recession where the building industry was badly affected. It was during this uncertain time he has thought of travel and see the world. His ambition was then to be a commercial pilot but being shortsighted, it hindered his dream.
Nevertheless, this did not stop him from applying for a Tour Leading course in one of the reputable agencies in Malaysia which was Reliance Travel and Tours. After graduating, it was the starting point of his career into the travel and hospitality industry where he was offered a full-time position as a Tour Counter Sales Consultant at the headquarter in Sg Wang Plaza. He was given the opportunity to lead tours as a tour leader within the Asia Pacific region and beyond. He also had an opportunity to work in Jakarta for 3 months as part of a wholesale team.
His other career path includes a position as Sales Executive for Air New Zealand and Corporate Sales Manager for Peter Stuyvesant Travel. He then established the first MICE travel company in Angkasa Travel as a business partner and later continue with Holiday Tours and Travel as a Division Manager in Corporate Incentives and Meetings.
In 2001, KL Yuen made a bold move to set up ICEM Regional Planner in a small office with 3 staffs in Wisma Concorde KL. Their first business was with SmithKline Beecham and later it was merged to become Glaxo Smith Kline where ICEM was appointed as the only official meeting planner. He then took the business further by managing meetings and conferences for regional pharmaceutical companies based in Singapore and Hong Kong. After 17 success years producing an average sale of RM7 million a year, KL Yuen decided to finally take a break and retire from his company.
It was towards the end of 2018 when his competitor and a very dear friend of him, Mr. Francis Cheong approached him and spoke to him about the merger of Apxara Travel and Events together with Accucap MSC which formed Aavii Worldwide. KL Yuen joined as a business partner and also a working director, looking after the business segment of meetings and events for the pharmaceutical and association sector.
KL Yuen believes that money is important but having passion in everything we do is equally as important in pursuing a great career path.