Liz Coutts
Alan Chew
Business entrepreneur Alan Chew is the founder of Houston Technology Group, an IT services company known for its pioneering work with disruptive and advanced technologies.
Founder at Houston Technology
Malaysia
Hamilton
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Business entrepreneur Alan Chew is the founder of Houston Technology Group, a pioneering IT services company that specialises in disruptive, cutting-edge technologies.
He started his successful company in Hamilton in 1986, then added a second branch in Tauranga.
The Waikato Management School graduate put his energy and talents to good use during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
“At the start of lockdown, like a lot of people, I thought there must be something I can do to help,” says Alan.
We knew that contact tracing is vital during a pandemic, so I thought I could lend my technology know-how to the cause.”
Alan and his team at Houston Technology developed a prototype for a QR code Covid tracer app, then gifted the design to the New Zealand government free of charge.
While the government’s official Covid tracer app was developed separately by RUSH Digital, the Ministry of Health has put a special thanks to Alan on their website, acknowledging his important contribution.
Alan aged 10, in Malaysia.
For Alan, who spent his childhood in poverty in Malaysia, it was his way of saying thank you to his adopted homeland of New Zealand, a country he feels has given him so much.
After high school, Alan was awarded a scholarship to study a Bachelor of Management Studies at the University of Waikato in 1975, majoring in accounting.
“Arriving in New Zealand in the 1970s, it was so different to Malaysia. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly straight away – I felt instantly at home,” he says.
“The Waikato welcome mat – that’s how I describe the way we were welcomed and included. Everyone was equal and went out of their way to help you out.”
Alan has fond memories of his time studying at Waikato, where he became president of the Waikato International Students’ Club.“I vividly recall [founding Vice-Chancellor] Don Llewellyn turning up at a flat on Tralee Place, driving up in his Fiat Bambino to drop off a new student’s luggage – that’s just how it was then.”
The Waikato welcome mat – that’s how I describe the way we were welcomed and included. Everyone was equal and went out of their way to help you out.
Alan Chow
Alan credits his success as a business entrepreneur to his family’s strong focus on education. His father, Chew King Loon, was illiterate but taught himself how to read and write in Chinese.
Alan is a strong advocate of education as the shortest and most reliable pathway out of poverty, and he tries to help others by giving up his time and knowledge.
His company employs several Waikato graduates, and he sits on a variety of community and commercial boards. He spent nine years as a trustee for Trust Waikato and was elected to the board of WEL Energy Trust in 2020.
Alan remains close with many other Malaysian alumni who studied at Waikato with him in the 1970s. He also chairs the Waikato chapter of the NZ Malaysian Business Association.
“I know many alumni in Malaysia and further afield with successful careers, all giving back to their communities in one way or another, and almost all of them can trace it all back to their time at Waikato,” says Alan.
“So many of us received a great education at Waikato and we feel it’s important to pay it forward.”
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