Kar Yen Cho

Chemical Regulatory Compliance at Freundenberg-NOK, Malaysia

Welcome to the "Employee Spotlight". This series introduces us to employees from all around the world as well as from all different job functions within our company. We get the opportunity to gain insights on their work life and to learn the variety of job options that are available within the company.

Here Is Her Story:

My name is Kar Yen Cho and I am in the Chemical Regulatory Compliance (CRC) team based in Malaysia. My role is crucial to minimize the risk of sales loss. I achieve that by ensuring all materials that we purchased from our suppliers have compliance documents and meet the regulatory requirements. Besides CRC, I am also the appointed Internal Auditor for ISO 9001 and lead activities for our continuous improvement here in Malaysia.

How has FNST helped you in your career development?

I appreciate that Freudenberg has a good talent management system that the associates use to do their self-assessment and conduct a dialogue with their managers. I look forward to this activity each year because I can communicate with my manager on my performance and tasks that I have completed for the year and discuss areas that I need improvement/trainings. There are also a variety of online trainings available which give me an opportunity to self-learn and gain extra knowledge, be it in technical areas or business skills.

How do you balance your career at FNST and family life?

I think planning is very important in balancing work and family. I commute to work about 30-40 minutes via train on a daily basis, therefore taking advantage of this “bonus” time to plan my work and create a list of things that I want to complete on that day really does make a difference. I usually start work early, so that I can complete my work on time and be home to spend quality moments with my family. I would say Freudenberg gives me a pretty good work life balance because I have supportive managers and colleagues.

Freudenberg is a unique company because we are all guided by the Freudenberg Guiding Principles.

What do you like the most about Freudenberg?

Freudenberg is a unique company because we are all guided by the Freudenberg Guiding Principles. We are known within the industry for our commitment to value our customers, encouraging innovation and caring for the wellbeing of our people as well as the environment. These principles unite the people in Freudenberg no matter where you are from because it has become a part of our daily working conduct and culture.

If you were on of our products, what would you be and why?

I would like to be an O-ring. Seen most of the time as a simple application but it’s so important in sealing two working surfaces.

What do you enjoy doing on your days off from work?

Not many people know this, but I enjoy cooking. I like to try new recipes and be more adventurous when it comes to eating. Usually I do groceries shopping on weekends with my family. We love spending time together buying fresh ingredients and loading the fridge at home with good nutrition. My daughter loves my cooking which keeps me motivated to cook more healthy and yummy food for my family.

Before you began working at FST, what was an interesting job you had?

I am a chemist. Before I joined Freudenberg, I worked in a commercial laboratory handling various types of testing for products and materials like rubber, plastics, metal, electronics, even food, cosmetics and finished articles. My friends used to call me a “lab nerd” but it gave me job satisfaction because I ensured that my client’s products were compliant to various international standards like EPA, IEC, RoHS, REACh, etc so they are safe to be used by consumers and at the same time possess the least hazard to our environment.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a child, I wanted to become a reporter because I think it is quite cool to be on-the-scene to deliver updates on current happening, interviewing people for information and write my own article. As I was growing up, I realized what I like to do was to find out why things happened and how it happened. For example, being just a kid, I used to wonder what is inside a can of soda, why is this sugary water fizzy and how was it made. Then I started growing my interest in science and became a chemist today.