 From the early 1980s , Khoo tried to pursue a Master of Business Administration ( MBA ) degree from various universities , but all of them rejected his application as he did not possess a first degree for admission . Khoo only had two professional <unk> – a <unk> in Administrative Management and a <unk> <unk> in <unk> and Finance from <unk> . He finally received an unconditional offer from the University of <unk> after he impressed the visiting Director of the MBA programme showing how he managed the award @-@ winning shopping mall . In 1989 , accompanied by his wife , he left Malaysia to pursue his MBA studies in Scotland and graduated with <unk> in 1991 . Instead of returning to Malaysia , he went to Singapore again to seek better opportunities there and was offered the job as Director of Operations for Kentucky <unk> <unk> ( <unk> ) . 
