Kuala Lumpur · Malaysia
A Practice Built on
Patience and Precision
We are a small consulting practice with a clear purpose: to help family enterprises think more clearly about the questions that matter most.
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How Drapeon Counsel Came to Be
Drapeon Counsel was established in 2009 by a small group of advisors who had spent the preceding decade working inside large professional services firms. What prompted the move was a recurring observation: that family enterprises — businesses carrying the weight of two or three generations of effort and relationship — were consistently underserved by the standard consulting model.
Large firms move quickly, bill by the hour, and rarely sit with a problem long enough to understand its particular texture. Family matters require something different: an advisor who listens before speaking, who understands that the question on the surface is rarely the question underneath, and who can be trusted with information that cannot leave the room.
We set up in Kuala Lumpur and have worked almost exclusively through introduction and referral ever since. Our engagements are small in number and long in attention. We do not take on more than we can give time to.
Our practice covers three broad areas: family enterprise governance — the writing of charters and the resolution of structural questions between principals and family members; succession — the patient work of identifying and preparing whoever might lead the business next; and written advisory, through our Counsel Letter format, for founders who need a considered outside view on a particular matter without a longer relationship.
We work in English and remain grounded in the Malaysian business context — aware of the particular dynamics that shape family enterprises here, the cultural weight placed on harmony within extended families, and the legal and tax environment in which these businesses operate.
Our mission, if it can be stated simply, is to help the principals we work with think more clearly — and to leave behind something written that their successors can hold onto.
The Team
The People Behind the Practice
Rahman Bukhary
Senior Counsel & Founding Partner
Fifteen years advising family enterprises on governance and ownership transitions, with earlier experience at a leading regional law firm specialising in corporate advisory.
Lee Nai Woon
Associate Counsel, Succession
Focuses on succession mapping and the preparation of next-generation principals. Previously held a senior advisory role at a family office based in Penang.
Santha Velu
Engagement Coordinator
Manages the flow of all engagements, correspondence, and scheduling. Ensures that every principal's time — and ours — is used with care.
How We Work
Standards We Hold Ourselves To
Client Confidentiality
We do not discuss one client's matter with another, and we do not share information between principals within the same engagement without written consent.
Written Agreement Before Work Begins
Every engagement is documented in writing before we begin — scope, fee, deliverables, and the conditions of the relationship. No ambiguity.
Independence of View
We have no financial interest in any recommendation we make. We are paid for our time and thinking, not for the outcomes our clients choose.
Responsive Within Business Hours
Active-engagement clients can expect a response to written queries within two business days. We are reachable by telephone during office hours, Monday to Friday.
Referral to Specialists When Warranted
Where a matter requires legal, tax, or other specialist input, we will say so plainly and assist in identifying the appropriate professional if helpful.
Personal Data Protection
We comply with the Malaysian Personal Data Protection Act 2010. Client data is stored securely and is never shared with third parties for commercial purposes.
Our Approach
Business Consulting for Long-Tenure Enterprises
Family enterprises in Malaysia occupy a particular position in the economy — many are in their second or third generation of ownership, carrying the ambitions of a founder alongside the expectations of a broader family. The decisions that matter most to these businesses are rarely the technical ones. They are questions of relationship, intention, and trust: who should lead, how disagreements are handled, what the family owes to the business and what the business owes to the family.
Drapeon Counsel exists for those questions. We are not a general management consultancy, and we are not lawyers. We sit in the space between — bringing the analytical rigour of good advisory work alongside the patience that sensitive family matters require. Our consultants have each spent time inside larger advisory structures before choosing a smaller, more deliberate practice. That experience informs what we do, but it does not define the pace at which we work.
Principals who come to us are generally founders or co-principals thinking about what the next five to ten years should look like — for themselves, for the family members involved, and for the business itself. They value a relationship with an advisor who will read carefully, ask good questions, and offer a view without overstating it. That is what we try to be.
A small practice with time for your question.
Write to us, or call during office hours, and we will arrange a brief introductory call at no charge.
Get in Touch