If you've been to the bookstores lately, you may be stopped by the eye-catching title of a book by NUS BBA graduate Mr Benny Lee Fook Heng (BBA 1976).

'Hold the Char Siew! - Exporting to Asia, One Man's Journey' is a book on international marketing that recommends how firms should set up export beachheads in Asia Pacific.

Not only does it encapsulate Mr Lee's over 30 years worth of professional insights on international marketing, it also draws on Mr Lee's personal learning in cultural differences.

Explaining the title, Mr Lee, who is Vice-President of NUS Business School Alumni Association (NUSBSA), recounted the story of how, as a Chinese Singaporean who grew up in a Cantonese-speaking family and was fluent in that dialect, he had a "culture shock" when he first arrived in Hong Kong (whose residents spoke mostly Cantonese).

"Back in those days in the University of Singapore, whenever I ordered a plate of char siew rice from the canteen behind the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, I would ask the seller to 'hold the char siew' so the plate of rice would come with roasted pork (siew yoke) and roasted sausage (siew chueng) only."

"When I went to Hong Kong, I made the same request to 'hold the char siew', only to be given a quizzical look - the way char siew rice was served was literally a plate of white rice with nothing else but char siew!"

But the way the same dish was served differently was not the only learning for the Principal Consultant of Benroth International, who took up an Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (International Association of Students in Economics and Business Management) Aiesec traineeship with Caterpillar Far East in Hong Kong upon graduation from NUS Business School.

"In Hong Kong, 'packaging' - dressing and presentation - is everything. On the second day of my induction into the high life at Caterpillar Far East, I was politely told by my boss's secretary that I needed to upscale my entire presentation."

"The next sundown I headed straight for the Central shopping area for a pair of Johnston & Murphy shoes, some Ermenegildo Zegna ties and Valentino business shirts. In the mirror, I surveyed my entire first month's stipend."

Mr Lee explained that knowing the culture of the country or region before exporting there is crucial to the success of any business. Today, he consults for international business entities path-find into Asian countries that he is familiar with, and that they are not.

On what made him decide to write the book, the pioneer recipient of the Japan Airlines scholarship to study in Tokyo in 1975 cited his passion for writing that was seeded in his school days in Raffles Institution. Mr Lee has over the years been a regular contributor of opinion pieces in the Business Times and marketing titles.

"The idea for a book came up when I observed in my frequent visits to bookshops at international airports that most publications written on how to conduct businesses in Asia, were mostly authored by Westerners. I saw a gap that could be filled and an opportunity to share my knowledge with a wider population."

Mr Lee's book is currently on sale at major bookstores in Singapore, or by contacting Epigram Pte Ltd at 62924456.