Rags-to-riches tale turns sour for Hyflux founder Olivia Lum

While Olivia Lum remains financially well off, the empire she spent a lifetime building is coming undone. - Singapore Straits Times photo

SINGAPORE: Olivia Lum is running out of time to save the company she spent a lifetime building.

The founder of Singapore-based water and power company Hyflux Ltd, which could see its court protection from creditors expire at the end of the month, has had a torrid two weeks. A white-knight takeover that might have kept the company together has collapsed, hundreds of angry creditors protested in public, and the government appears set to step in and take over part of the company’s biggest asset for nothing.