Lian Hua Seng Sdn Bhd (LHS) – a Sarawak based company founded by the late Mr. Chew Khuat Hoe (father of Mr. Chew Chee Heng), was incorporated on 5 January 1960. LHS began a business from a small retail shop selling consumer food products such as sugar, rice, salt, flour and onions at Kuching Main Bazaar – one of the busiest streets in the heart of Kuching city. The street was also famous for its raw Sarawak pepper as well as a variety of raw and processed foodstuff.

LHS expanded into the wholesale business, importing consumer food products from Peninsula Malaysia and Thailand. Among the brands carried by LHS, “CSR” sugar and “Erawan” rice flour & glutinous rice flour were the flagship products, which the market demand for these brands continues to remain very strong until today.

Mr. Chew Chee Heng started to venture into rice business, initially beginning with the repackaging of rice before becoming a small scale rice producer

The experience in the rice business over the years gave the board of directors the determination to develop their own brand. From 2007, Datuk Chew Chiaw Han had planned & carried out product development before launching their own brand -“Happy Rice.” From setting up the rice milling plant to planning the marketing mix and investment fund, Datuk Chew Chiaw Han preserved &committed his full involvement in the entire process matching his strong ambition to enter the rice business.

“Happy Rice” was launched in 2009, two years after Mr. Chew Chee Heng handed the leadership to his son Datuk Chew Chiaw Han. In 2009, LHS also invested about RM 10 mil in the land, construction, machinery & pre-operational expenses to build the rice mill at Demak Laut Industrial Estate in Kuching covering 5.5 Acres. LHS was one of the very first rice milling plants in Sarawak to use high-efficiency digital machinery to process rice while others still adapted to the traditional way of the semi-manual milling system.

Today, the usage of digital machinery to process rice has been widely adopted amongst rice milling plants in Sarawak. LHS remains the second largest rice producers/supplier in the divisions of Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman under the guidance of Datuk Chew Chiaw Han, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Lian Hua Seng Group of Companies and Managing Director of Ibraco Berhad.