a massive transformation

Inside

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The Business Times | Tuesday, July 14, 2015

CEO CONVERSATIONSCEO CONONO VERERE2015 golden jubilee edition

Singapore evolved from a modest trading post to a cosmopolitan city with glittering skyscrapers in 50 years

ODERN Singapore is an important global business hub, vibrant and bustling, with high standards of living and a clean and green

environment. Billions of dollars have been invested in the city’s physical landscape transforming it from a modest trading post into a “garden city’’ with an instantly recognisable skyline marked by glitzy skyscrapers. The foundation for such a massive transformation was laid by the country’s pioneer government, led by founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. The early leaders planned for everything, from public flats for ordinary Singaporeans to mega infrastructure projects to propel Singapore ahead of its competitors. Singapore is now well-connected to the rest of the world thanks to an award-winning airport, port and telecommunication infrastructure.Over the years, the Republic’s footprint has grown. Land reclaimed from the sea in the Marina Bay area now house an entirely new downtown. The glittering Marina Bay skyline is defined by the S$8-billion Marina Bay Sands integrated resort – one of the world’s architectural marvels with its three hotel towers and the SkyPark – the Singapore Flyer, Gardens By The Bay, and scores of modern skyscrapers that are home to multi-national corporations and financial institutions. In the second part of BT’s CEO Conversations Golden Jubilee supplement to celebrate Singapore’s 50th birthday, those in the building and construction sector and property developers give insights on the role they played in Singapore’s development and how they have in turn benefited from Singapore’s growth. City Developments Limited (CDL), which is part of the Hong Leong Group helmed by Kwek Leng Beng, has developed more than 130 residential property projects and over 100 premium commercial, hotel and mixed-use developments including its flagship office Republic Plaza, luxury projects One Shenton and The Sail@Marina

Bay, as well as The St Regis Hotel and Residences. CDL group CEO Grant Kelley says of the Hong Leong group: “Over the past 70 years, the group has developed a deep understanding of both local and regional businesses which has enabled its companies to be leaders in their respective fields.’’ Frasers Centrepoint Limited group CEO Lim Ee Seng is proud of how the property developer has grown from a single-mall owner-operator to become an international real estate player with a presence in 77 cities across Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East. The company today has total assets above S$22 billion as of March 2015, and employs over 2,000 people worldwide that work in four key segments – residential, commercial, hospitality and industrial properties. “Known for its world-class infrastructure, strong governance and rule of law, Singapore is today one of the best cities to work, live and play in,” says Mr Lim.

– BY LEE U-WEN

M

A massive transformationMore than a business space provider 2

Marrying technology and real estate 3

A frontrunner in real estate 4

Expanding horizons 5

Building better spaces for Singapore and beyond 6

A purple rocket fires up the little red dot 7

Helping to build a nation 10

Taking on the global stage 11

Exciting Singapore-Johor links ahead 12

Soaring to new heights 13

ASCENDAS,a leadingproviderofbusinessspacesolutions

inAsia,hasbeena long-terminvestor thatattracts indus-

tries and creates good jobs, contributing to the econom-icand socialdevelopment of all thecities that it operates

in. By working closely with local governments to createwin-win outcomes, it has clearly differentiated itself as

more thanapropertydeveloperor landlordbyofferingaunique suite of products and services.

Ascendashasover30yearsofexperience indeveloping,managingandmar-

keting IT parks, industrial and logistics parks, business parks, science parks,office and retail space. With a presence in 25 cities across 10 countries, it has

brought the Singapore brand of quality and development experience to itsprojects in the region.

Beyond property development, Ascendas also manages three listed trustsand a series of private funds with commercial and industrial assets across

Asia.AsofMarch 31,Ascendas’ totalassetsundermanagement (AUM)amount-

ed to S$16.8 billion, up from S$1.2 billion in 2001.“Over the next five to 10 years, we want to grow strongly in all our key mar-

kets through a combination of development projects and acquisitions,” saysManohar Khiatani, Ascendas president and group CEO and deputy group CEO

of Ascendas-Singbridge.Singapore currently accounts for 60 per cent of the total AUM, while China

and India are the next biggest markets. “While Singapore will remain an impor-

tant market for Ascendas, we expect to grow more strongly in our overseasmarkets, inparticular,China, India and Indonesia, given thehugeurbanisation

potential there,” Mr Khiatani adds.

Rich heritageAscendas’ history is intertwined with Singapore’s transformation from a la-bour and skills intensive economy into a knowledge-based economy. Its first

project – the Singapore Science Park located next to the National University of

Singapore – was conceived and developed in 1981 to create a conducive cam-pus environment for R&D activities in Singapore.

Many of the first companies to carry out R&D activities in Singapore werelocated at the Science Park. Today, this is home to some 380 companies em-

ploying more than 13,000 people, conducting a wide range of knowledge-in-tensive activities. Singapore Science Park’s success laid the groundwork for

Ascendas’ growth in Singapore and its overseas foray, exporting the Singapore

experience to the region.In1994,Ascendaspioneered India’s firstwork-live-play ITPark, Internation-

al Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) in the Whitefield region. Today, this park has athriving community of over 32,000 knowledge professionals. Its success cata-

lysed urban development of Whitefield as Karnataka state’s leading businesshub and contributed to India’s position as one of the world’s top IT outsourc-

ing hubs.

In 1995, Ascendas pioneered the Ready-Built Facilities concept in Ascend-as-Xinsu in China, providing quick and hassle-free start-up space solutions

that helped bring in the first batch of foreign direct investments to the SuzhouIndustrial Park.

“Since then, we have continued to innovate on our business space solu-

tions, enhancing our portfolio with significant developments in Changi Busi-

ness Park, International Business Park and one-north in Singapore. Ascendas

also has several iconic developments in the region, including Ascendas One-

Hub GKC in Guangzhou, OneHub Chennai in India, Nusajaya Tech Park in

Iskandar Malaysia, OneHub Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City, and Ascendas Metland

Cyber City in Greater Jakarta,” says Mr Khiatani, who was previously the CEO

of JTC Corporation and deputy managing director at the Economic Develop-

ment Board.

Ascendas has gone on to mark several other milestones including the list-

ing of Singapore’s first business and industrial space trust known as Ascendas

Reit in 2002, the listing of the first Indian property trust in Asia called Ascend-

as India Trust in 2007, as well as the listing of Ascendas Hospitality Trust in

2012 that holds quality hotels across eight Asian cities.

Ascendas’ merger with Singbridge, which was completed in June, marked

the latest milestone that will further elevate their position in developingend-to-end integrated solutions for sustainable developments in the region.Riding on the urbanisation megatrend, Ascendas and Singbridge will leverageeachother’scapabilities tostrengthenexistingcompetenciesandexpandprod-uct and service offerings.

“OurvisionasAscendas-Singbridge is tobea leader insustainableurbande-velopments that catalyses economic transformation and enriches lives in thecommunities that we operate in. So ours is not only an economic but also a so-cial imperative,” Mr Khiatani says.

Taking sustainability very seriously, Ascendas has received the Buildingand Construction Authority’s Green Mark Champion award in 2012. Today, ithas 25 buildings in Singapore which have been awarded Green Mark Gold sta-tus or higher, and has gone the extra mile of achieving a minimum US GreenBuildingCouncil Leadership inEnergy & Environmental Design Silveror equiv-alent for its overseas properties.

Key pipeline projectsAscendasisnowworkingonseveral iconicprojects regionally. InChina, thede-velopment of Ascendas OneHub GKC in Guangzhou Knowledge City is in fullswing. This integrated development will yield some 500,000 square metres ofbusiness, residential and amenities space when completed. The developmentofAscendas InnovationTowers inXi’anhasalsocommenced.Thiswillprovidesome 95,000 sq m of business space for existing and new customers. Ascend-as isalsodeveloping thenextphasesof itsbusinessparks inDalian,Hangzhouand Suzhou.

In India, Ascendas is expanding its existing technology parks in Pune, Ban-galore and Hyderabad and these assets will yield more than 150,000 sq m ofspace when completed in a few years, and it is also starting the developmentof an IT park in Gurgaon.

InMalaysia,Ascendas is making goodprogress at the 210-hectareNusajayaTech Park (NTP), its flagship development in Iskandar Malaysia. The start-upphase spanning 28 hectares of Ready-Built Facilities and land plots forBuild-to-Suit developments will be completed by 2016 and further phases ofNTP will be developed over the next eight years.

In Vietnam, it is commencing on a 12-hectare business park in Ho Chi MinhCity, named OneHub Saigon, which will be directly connected to a future met-ro station. In Indonesia, Ascendas is embarking on the development of a9.7-hectare mixed-use development situated within Metland Cyber City inGreater Jakarta. It will commence phase 1 development in 2016, which com-prises residential apartments and office space with supporting amenities,pro-viding a total gross floor area of about 130,000 sq m.

Eye on future growth“We believe in building long term and mutually beneficial partnerships withour customers,” Mr Khiatani says. “We are privileged to have over 2,400 cus-tomers, spanning MNCs, local enterprises and public institutions, and we arecommitted to deliver quality services and solutions catered to their needs.”

HebelievesAscendas’ Singaporeheritage,strong track record,and integrat-ed capabilities spanning master planning, property development, propertymanagement, asset and fund management are among its key unique sellingpoints.

On Singapore’s achievements over the past 50 years, Mr Khiatani attributesit to Singaporeans’ “dare to dream” and “dare to do” mentality and Singapore’scontinualefforts to reinvent itself tostayrelevant. “Geographically,wearealsofortuitously placed in Asia, which will continue to be the fastest growing re-gion in the world for a long time to come,” Mr Khiatani says. Yet, he notes thatthere is absolutely no room for complacency.

“Going forward, it is essential that we maintain this same spirit of our pio-neersofbeingdifferent, relevantandexceptional,”headds. “Whilewewill inev-itably face many challenges, I am confident that we can continue to thrive as anation because many of these positive attributes are imbued in our nationalpsyche and we have strong fundamentals.”

More than a businessspace provider

PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR

Ascendas seeks to grow strongly in allits key markets through bothdevelopment projects and acquisitionsover the next five to 10 years

CEO CONVERSATIONS2015 golden jubilee edition

‘We are privileged to have over 2,400customers, spanning MNCs, localenterprises and public institutions, andwe are committed to deliver qualityservices and solutions catered to theirneeds.’

– Manohar Khiatani, Ascendas president and group CEOand deputy group CEO of Ascendas-Singbridge

2 | The Business Times | Tuesday, July 14, 2015

ASK the president &

group chief executive

officer of CapitaLand

what makes the group

uniquely Singapore and

hecuts to the heart of it.

It is the embodiment of

the spirit of excellence,

says Lim Ming Yan. Which might explain why

he is challenging the real estate company, al-

ready one of the largest in Asia, to even great-

er heights.

The next frontier for the conglomerate,

which already has a significant asset base as

well as design, development and manage-

ment capabilities across integrated develop-

ments, malls, serviced residences, offices and

homes, lies in technology.

“It is important for us to leverage technolo-

gy to enhance our real estate,” says Mr Lim. “It

is real estate plus technology moving for-

ward, that’s how we are going to have to oper-

ate.”

The group has, up its sleeves, a host of ex-

citing projects, one of which is smart homes.

Earlier this year, The Ascott Limited,

CapitaLand’s serviced residence arm became

thefirstglobalservicedresidencecompanyto

embracesmart home technologies, after it en-

tered an exclusive partnership with Samsung

Asia to develop Internet of Things-ready

smart solutions for its properties.

“The key challenge, really, is how to bring

this into the every day lives of residents. And

this is where we can play a very unique role. If

you look at Ascott – we’re using Ascott as the

main platform to think about the smart home

concept – we have different profiles of people

living with us from singles to families with

young children or parents, young to old, and

the way they use smart features in the home

isdifferent. And because we service the apart-

ments,weareable tocontinuallyget feedbackfrom the residents on how they make use ofthe smart features.”

These proposed smart features include al-lowing guests to control and manage devicesthrough a single application, like using theirsmartphones to turn on air conditioning ormonitor the laundry cycle when they areabroad. More fanciful concepts may includeweather forecasts and traffic alerts beamedthrough mirrors that are also display screensor household appliances that kick into actionwhen the alarm clock rings.

“It’s good to have smart features but if youdon’tknowhow the residentsare using it, youcan’t evolve the concept to the next phase. Sowhat we hope to do is work with our partnerto develop the concept further – we scopewhat we want for smart homes, and fromthere we monitor and see how it is adopted,”says Mr Lim, of the concepts they are tryingout in Singapore and the Philippines. Capita-Land envisions that they will have some unitsready for trial by the first half of next year.

Leveraging technology is not just aboutbells and whistles. It is also about increasingproductivity on the back end.The vision, saysMr Lim, is for a single command centre that isable tocontrol thedifferentaspectsof abuild-ing, or, even, all the buildings CapitaLand hasin its Singapore portfolio.

“Can we make our buildings smarter so wecanoperate it efficientlyandupgradeourpeo-ple to do things that are slightly differentfrom what they are currently doing? One partis to see how we can make it smarter and easi-er to manage. The second aspect is by know-ingthe buildingbetter,optimise theuseofen-ergy, use of water, use of many things that weput in it. Once that can be done, we will have asmart way of resolving the issues of resourceconstraints the modern world is facing.”

This is but one aspect that CapitaLand in-tendsto leveragetobuildonits legacyasaSin-gapore brand. Indeed, its Raffles City-brand-ed integrated developments are synonymous

withSingapore, and isabrand CapitaLandhasbrought to geographies where it has a pres-ence.

From the group’s first “Raffles City” devel-opment which was officially opened in Singa-pore in 1986, to the first Raffles City in Shang-hai in 2004, CapitaLand has since expandedits stable of Raffles City developments in Chi-na to eight with a total construction area ofover 3.1 million square metres, estimated tobe worth about S$12 billion when completed.

Other than Raffles City developments inBeijing, Chengdu, Ningbo and Shanghai, Capi-taLand has four other Raffles City develop-ments in Chongqing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen,andShanghai (Changning)currentlyunderde-velopment.

Meanwhile, it isalsoactivelypurchasingre-al estate across its business segments. In July,Ascott Reit announced its first foray into theUnited States with the acquisition of the411-key Element New York Times SquareWest hotel in Midtown Manhattan. This an-nouncement came hot on the heels of its pur-chaseof threequalityserviced residencesandfour rental housing properties in Australiaand Japan.

“When we look at the whole space, a lot ofthingshavechanged–technologyandconnec-tivity have changed the way the world oper-ates. So with this change, we shouldn’t con-fine ourselves to just Asia and Europe. That’swhy we started looking at gateway cities inNorth America. We are very excited about thisopportunity to buy into an operating asset ofa certain scale, as it allows us economies ofscale from the very first project and allows usto have a presence in a very major city,” saysMr Lim.

Ascott has, in fact, hit its target of 40,000units globally ahead of its end-of-year sched-ule, on the back of aggressive expansion overthe past six months. The next target for theworld’s largest international serviced resi-denceownerandoperator is todouble itsport-folio to 80,000 by 2020.

The group is not just about bringing thebrandoverseas. Backathome, the company isalso changing the local skyline. On the resi-dential front, there are recently completedprojects like The Interlace, d’Leedon, and SkyHabitat, while on the commercial front thereis CapitaGreen.

But it is not just about changing the sky-line. It is also about retaining it. “Ascott Raf-fles Place Singapore didn’t change the skylinebutkept apart of the Singapore skyline intact.forposterity, sopeople rememberthis iswhatSingapore looked like. It was the tallest build-ing in Singapore in the 1950s. So it’s old andnew. It requires a certain confidence of thepeople to have projects like this, iconicprojects that will add to the Singapore sky-line.”

Marrying technologyand real estate

PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR

CapitaLand is pushing new frontiers on both the tech and physical fronts, while keeping aclose eye on maintaining the heritage of places for posterity


‘It is important for us toleverage technology toenhance our real estate.It is real estate plustechnology movingforward, that’s how weare going to have tooperate.’

– Lim Ming Yan, CapitaLand president

and group CEO

The Business Times | Tuesday, July 14, 2015 | 3

WITH over 70 years of

heritage, the Hong

Leong Group (Singa-

pore) of companies has

grown alongside Singa-

poreandhasdeeplyen-

trenched itself locally

and overseas in proper-

tydevelopment,hotels, financialservicesandtradeandin-

dustry, and increasingly, fund management.

Just walk down Singapore’s Central Business District

and it would not be surprising to see several skyscrapers

belonging to City Developments Limited (CDL), a member

of Hong Leong, dotting Singapore’s skyline.

Throughitsventuresoverseas,CDLhasalsoplacedSin-

gapore on the global map. Such deals include CDL’s 1995

acquisitionof the iconicNewYorkPlazaHotel withbillion-

aire Saudi Prince Al-Waleed from tycoon Donald Trump

and CDL’s 1996 listing of its London hospitality subsidi-

aryMillennium&CopthorneHotelsplc (M&C), the firstSin-

gapore-controlledcompanyto listontheLondonStockEx-

change.

Now, CDL has over 400 subsidiaries and associated

companies under its wing and a global network spanning

across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, New

Zealand and Australia.

CDL group CEO Grant Kelley says that the company

has, in recentyears,madedeliberateefforts to focuson its

diversification strategy through geographic expansion

and development of new investment platforms.

“We expect the diversification strategy to gather mo-

mentum and prominence in the next several years. And

we believe that despite global uncertainties, there will al-

ways be pockets of opportunity upon which the group re-

mainspoisedtocapitalise.” ItssubsidiaryM&Cisalso look-

ing to invest significantly in refurbishment of properties

inkey gateway cities and attractive acquisition opportuni-

ties, according to Mr Kelley.

Pioneering Singapore’s growth

WhileCDLwas founded in1963, itsparent companyHong

Leong Group’s heritage dates further back when one of

Singapore’s earliest business pioneers Kwek Hong Png

started Hong Leong in 1941. In 1972, Kwek Leng Beng,

then a young executive at Hong Leong Group, led the ac-

quisition of a majority stake in CDL and transformed CDL

from a loss-making company into one of the largest and

most profitable Singapore-listed developers today.

To-date, CDL has developed more than 130 residential

properties and over 100 premium commercial, hotel and

mixed-use developments including its flagship office

building Republic Plaza, luxury residential projects One

Shenton and The Sail @ Marina Bay, as well as The St Regis

Hotel and Residences.

It also ventured into hospitality in the late 1980s with

the purchases of hotels in the US, UK and New Zealand.

From owning a single hotel in Singapore in 1971, CDL (to-

gether with its subsidiary M&C and associate companies

CDL Hospitality Trusts and Hong Kong-listed City E-Solu-

tions) is now one of the largest hotel owners/operators in

theworldwithmore than 36,000rooms inover 150hotels

across 24 countries.

Mr Kelley, who has some 25 years of global experience

incorporatestrategy,privateequityandrealestate invest-

ment, notes that one distinguishing factor of CDL is being

part of the Hong Leong Group – a multi-billion business

worth over S$40 billion in diversified premium assets

worldwide and companies traded on seven of the world’s

major stock markets.

Other businesses under the Hong Leong umbrella in-

cludeHong Leong Finance, the largest finance company in

Singapore and a pioneer in financing SMEs and Hong

Leong Asia, one of the region’s largest manufacturing and

distributionplayers.Over the past70 years, the group has

developed“adeepunderstandingofboth localandregion-

al businesses which has enabled its companies to be lead-

ers in their respective fields”, Mr Kelley points out.

Unknowntomany,HongLeongGrouphasplayedacru-

cial role in shaping Singapore’s property regulatory land-

scape, he says. Hong Leong Group and CDL executive

chairman Kwek Leng Beng provided guidance to the Real

Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore during sever-

al difficult periods, he points out.

In theearly1980s,MrKwekwaspartofahigh-levelgov-

ernment committee tasked with helping the Singapore

property market recover following a property crash in the

early 1980s. This push for reform led to the formation of

the Developers’ Fund, which enforced the requirement

that money collected for a specific project could not be

usedforanyotherpurposes,hencesafeguardingthe inter-

ests of homebuyers.

Leading market trends

Since then, CDL has continued to spearhead major trends

in the real estate sector. It has pioneered innovative home

concepts such as the “intelligent home” or iHome at The

Equatorial condominium project that was launched in

2000, and the new-generation eco-home at Savannah Con-

doPark that was launched in 2002.

Seeing the potential of the Marina Bay precinct, it start-

ed the first residential development in the New Down-

town – The Sail @ Marina Bay in 2004. CDL went on to

launch Singapore’s first branded residences St Regis Resi-

dences and listed the first hotel-related real estate invest-

ment trust called CDL Hospitality Reit in 2006.

In a move to develop an unlisted funds management

platform,CDL surprised the market last yearwithan inno-

vative investment platform known as Profit Participation

Securities or “PPS”. The S$1.5 billion PPS entitles CDL and

two other investors, Blackstone and CIMB, to cashflows

generated from CDL’s upscale integrated development at

SentosaCovecomprising TheWSingaporehotel, retailpo-

diumQuayside Isle andresidentialdevelopmentTheResi-

dences at W Singapore over a five-year period.

This year, CDL is spearheading the use of productive

technologies in the built-sector. Itwill be the firstdevelop-

er in Asia to adopt the use of advanced construction tech-

nology Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construc-

tion (PPVC) for a large-scale residential project – The

Brownstone executive condominium at Canberra Drive in

Sembawang. This entails prefabricating building modules

off-site using highly engineered techniques before assem-

bling them on-site.

Otherprojects in thepipeline include the174-unit free-

hold development Gramercy Park in prime District 10,

which is designed by world-renowned architectural firm

NBBJ of New York, and the mixed-use project The South

Beach. Offering Grade-A office space, a unique retail and

F&B experience, a top class hotel, luxury residences, and a

private members club, The South Beach will be progres-

sively opened over the next nine months.

“In addition to these core activities, as mentioned we

have developed a diversification strategy across two di-

mensions – firstly, by going offshore in our core develop-

ment business; and secondly, by developing an unlisted

funds management business,” Mr Kelley says.

CDL’s efforts in these areas last year culminated in

S$1.3 billion of investments in overseas acquisitions and

the innovative S$1.5 billion PPS investment platform with

partners Blackstone and CIMB.

“While the operating environment is expected to re-

main challenging during this and coming quarters, CDL

willmaintain discipline in its investmentapproachto land

and property acquisitions in Singapore and abroad,”

Mr Kelley adds.

A frontrunner in real estate

PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR


‘Over the past70 years, thegroup hasdevelopeda deepunderstandingof both localand regionalbusinesseswhich hasenabled itscompanies to beleaders in theirrespectivefields.’

– CDL group CEOGrant Kelley

CDL CEO Grant Kelley shares how CDL and Hong Leong Group pioneered the growth and development of the sector

4 | The Business Times | Tuesday, July 14, 2015 l

BEGINNING as a modest

two-manteamin2000,Ex-

pandConstructionhasex-

panded over the last 15

years to itspresentA1sta-

tus, the highest-tier con-

struction company with

unlimited tender capacity

under the Building and Construction

Authority’s (BCA) registration.

Over the years, Expand Construction has

built factories, offices and homes not just for

people,andrecently,alsodinosaurs– threere-

al 150-million-year-old diplodocid sauropod

dinosaur fossils.

The newly opened Lee Kong Chian Natural

History Museum at the National University of

Singapore, is an architectural marvel and in-

corporates cutting-edge design and technolo-

gy. Featuring a lush “green-wall” landscaped

entirelywithnativeplants, themuseumbuild-

ing houses the region’s largest collection of

South-east Asian zoological specimens.

Expand’s founder Von Lee, PBM, says his

company is “proud to be the builder of this

museum which showcases the diversity and

history of life on earth”. But it was also “not an

easy task”. The team had to devise a method

toconstruct themassiveshellof themulti-fac-

eted building in concrete without vertical

joint marks. Mr Lee shares that there has not

been a project with a similar scale of off-form

concrete finish. But the hard work paid off, he

notes: “I am happy that the museum is com-

pleted because it is essential to conserve the

over a million delicate specimens in a cli-

mate-controlled environment”.

The award-winning company has also con-

structedother iconic infrastructures,mostno-

tably the S$130 million Supertrees and Ener-

gy Centre at Gardens by the Bay, which is also

considered a construction feat. This project

has not one but 12 Supertrees with many of

the canopies at arm’s length from one anoth-

er. The biggest Supertree is as tall as a 16-sto-

rey building with a canopy that stretches the

length of an Olympic swimming pool. It also

has a rooftop restaurant with panoramic

views of the Marina Bay area.

Each Supertree, made of concrete and cov-

ered with plants, are a sight to behold. And it

was challenging to build. Expand adopted ex-

tensive use of alternative prefabricated com-

ponents, rightfromthemaincoretothespiral-

ling structures of the Supertrees.

“In so doing, it reduced labour require-

ment for the project by allowing materials

andtemporary fixtures tobe assembledat the

ground level and thereafter lifted into posi-

tion instead of working in-situ at height,” says

Mr Lee.

This project won the company several

awards, such as the Singapore Concrete

Institute’s Excellence Award 2011, the Singa-

pore Structural Steel Society’s Structural Steel

Excellence Awards 2012 and the Building and

Construction Authority’s Construction Excel-

lence Award 2014.

Undertaking such mega projects that

change the country’s character and image,

Mr Lee feels the company is a “major player”

in Singapore’s nation building process. “Our

contributions in the construction industry

have helped not only in housing the popula-

tion but also to beautify and shape the

nation’s landscape throughsome of the iconic

projects we helped build over the years,” says

Mr Lee, who is Expand’s executive chairman.

Another role the company has taken on in

recent years is in the area of public housing.

The company is constructing several projects

with a total value of almost S$700 million for

about 5,000 flats in Punggol, Sembawang and

Hougang.

The company’s turnover was S$179 mil-

lion in 2014 and is looking to exceed S$200

million in 2015. To date, the company has

achievedaggregate revenue of S$1 billion and

currentoutstandingorderbooksofS$500mil-

lion.

“Expand will continue todo whatExpand is

best at doing – that is, construction of special

and technically challenging projects, aspiringtobe world-classbuilders, world-class profes-

sionals,” says Mr Lee.Today, the Expand Group has 590 employ-

ees and seven related companies – diversify-ing into property development and the equity

market. The group is part of the consortiumtodevelopprivate residentialandcommercial

projects includingAmberResidences,OneDu-sun Residences and the former Windsor Hotel

to be developed into a commercial and hotelproperty, with gross development values well

exceeding S$1 billion.For his business achievement, Mr Lee was

conferred the Top Entrepreneur of the YearAward in 2008 by The Rotary and ASME. His

companyhasalsopickedupmanyotheracco-lades over the years, including the SME 500

award, Singapore 1000 award and the Enter-prise 50 award.

It is also recognised by the BCA withawards such as the Best Value Added Produc-

tivity (VAP) Award 2011, Green and GraciousBuilder (Star) in 2014 and Construction Excel-lence that the company won for its Gardens

bytheBay Supertreesprojectand EnergyCen-tre projects in 2014.

Looking ahead, Mr Lee says that the con-

structionindustrywill continuetobechalleng-ing, from labour shortages to rising material

costs and shorter construction periods plac-ing pressure on every builder. To cope with

the challenges, Expand is looking to investheavily in mechanisation and new construc-

tionmethodsto improveproductivityandeffi-ciency.

“Moving forward, the company looks to so-lutionofsustainability,maintainingthestrate-

gy of asset light, lean and efficient manage-ment,win-winpartnerships, tocontinue itsex-

traordinary success and growth,” he says.Highlighting the country’s progress in the

last50years,Mr Lee findsendearing thesenti-mental soul of Singapore with leaders who

have shown care to its people, especially therecent recognition of the pioneer generation

whose contributions made the country whatit is today.

“The outlook will remain bright and pros-perous for Singapore with credible, capable,

committed and compassionate leaders.” Andhe hopes to continue to lead Expand Groupwell into the next decades, achieving yet

many milestones with the Expand families,and enjoy the fruits of their labour together.

Expandinghorizons


‘Moving forward,the company looks

to solution ofsustainability,

maintaining thestrategy of asset

light, leanand efficient

management,win-win

partnerships,to continue itsextraordinary

success andgrowth.’

– Von Lee, Expand founderand executive chairman

Expand Construction has grown over the years into a teamof world-class builders made up of world-class professionals


IN1992,FrasersCentrepointLimit-

ed (FCL) pioneered the suburbanmall concept when it built North-

point Shopping Centre in Yishun,bringing a new vibrancy into the

heartlands.Some23years later,af-ter numerous retail spaces, resi-

dential projects, commercialbuildings and serviced residences, the Singa-

pore developer is coming full circle with anambitious plan to revamp the Yishun neigh-

bourhood.ItsNorthpointCityproject isamixeddevel-

opment that will feature the largest mall innorthernSingapore, a firstof itskind Commu-

nityClubwithinamall andavibrantTownPla-za – the size of 10 basketball courts – for host-

ing cultural and community events.“When completed in 2018, Northpoint City

will become a one-stop destination for all life-styleneeds, and residentswill enjoy seamless

connectivity with the integration of theair-conditionedbus interchangewithinthede-

velopment and a direct retail link to the Yis-hunMRT,”saysFCLgroupchiefexecutiveoffi-cer Lim Ee Seng.

FCL has built up a solid track record ofshaping the living and working environment

across Singapore with refreshing residential

concepts, shopping malls, serviced apart-ments and offices. The developer has also

gone globalwith apresence in 77cities acrossEurope, Australia, Asia and the Middle East.

Abusiness thatbeganasasingle mallown-er-operator –The Centrepoint shopping cen-

tre that helped revitalise Orchard Road whenit opened in 1983 – has grown into an interna-

tional real estate company with total assetsabove S$22 billion at the end of March.

Today, the company employs more than2,000 people around the world who work in

four main segments: residential, commercial,hospitality and industrial properties. Togeth-

er, the group raked in revenue of S$1.5 billionin the first half of its current financial year.

The company is also the sponsor of threereal estate investment trusts listed on the Sin-

gapore Exchange – Frasers Centrepoint Trust,Frasers Commercial Trust, and Frasers Hospi-

tality Trust, which deal with retail properties,officeandbusinessspaceproperties, andhos-

pitality properties, respectively.“Our diverse portfolio, active management

of assets across segments and geographies,

and ability to strike the right balance betweendevelopment, income-yieldingassets, andop-

timising capital through our Singapore-listed

Reit platforms, allows us to generate quality

earnings throughout the entire real estate val-

ue chain,” says Mr Lim.

Its core strength is in large-scale mixed de-

velopments and multi-segment capabilities

acrossassetclasses,headds,citing twoexam-

ples.

InSingapore, itsChangiCityproject,which

won the Asia Pacific Property Awards in 2012,

is one of the city-state’s largest integrated

business parks, embodying the

live-work-play concept. The project inte-

grates business spaces in ONE@Changi City;

retail, F&B and entertainment operations in

Changi City Point mall; as well as hotel resi-

dence Capri By Fraser.

It has also found success in Australia with

projectssuchasthemulti-award-winningCen-

tralParkmixeddevelopment inSydney. When

fully competed, it will comprise around 2,200

residential apartments, 869 student dwell-

ings, a hotel and 20,000 square metres of re-tail space.

“We pride ourselves on our ability to suc-cessfully execute mixed-use developments,not only in terms of delivering a well-receivedproduct, but also in a cost- and time-effectivemanner,” says Mr Lim.

Calling Singapore homeWhile the FCL has made big strides overseas,Singapore remains its home base. In Singa-pore, FCL – formerly known as CentrepointProperties Limited – is one of the largest retailmall owners and operators, as well as amongthe top residential developers with over14,000 homes built and 10 projects under de-velopment.

“We will seek to maintain our position as amarket leader inSingaporeandfocusondisci-plined execution of our growth strategies,” heshares.

During the rapid modernisation of Singa-pore in the 80s and 90s, FCL – previously asubsidiary of Fraser and Neave (F&N) beforeits re-listing on the mainboard of the Singa-poreExchange in January lastyear – playedaninstrumental role in transforming industrialsites on the city’s fringe to residential, com-mercial and mixed developments.

For instance, it redeveloped F&N’s brewer-ies and beverage factories into modern spac-es for living,workingand leisure. It turnedtheformer Anchor Beer Brewery into thecompany’s first condominium project, TheAnchorage, while the former Tiger Beer brew-ery at Alexandra Road was converted to Alex-andra Point and Alexandra Technopark.

It also successfully developed F&N’s softdrinks plant at River Valley Road into its firstmixed development comprising condomini-um Valley Park, Valley Point Shopping Centre,a 20-storey office tower and Fraser Suites.

In the hospitality arena, FCL, through Fras-ersHospitality, successfullybuiltandexpand-ed Singapore's award-winning Fraser Collec-tion brand – Fraser Suites, Fraser Residencesand Fraser Place, as well as Capri by Fraserand Modena – to key cities across the world.

As Singapore continues to build on its suc-cess of the past 50 years, Mr Lim notes:“Known for its world-class infrastructure,strong governance and rule of law, Singaporeis today one of the best cities in the world thatmany aspire to work, live and play in.

“I am optimistic that Singapore will contin-uetogrowandprosper,givenastrongandsta-ble government, as well as sound economicpolicies that will continue to position Singa-pore strongly to cope with global economicuncertainties while being able to capturegrowthopportunitiesas theyarise.MaySinga-pore continue to enjoy peace and stability,prosperity and sustainable growth for manyyears to come.”

Buildingbetter spacesfor Singaporeand beyond

PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR


‘We pride ourselves on our ability to successfullyexecute mixed-use developments, not only interms of delivering a well-received product, butalso in a cost- and time-effective manner.’

– FCL group chief executive officer Lim Ee Seng

Frasers Centrepoint Limited has grown from a single-mallowner-operator to an international real estate player witha presence in 77 cities


LIVING up to its logo of a rocket,Singapore’s newest telco MyRepublichas fired up the competition in the fi-bre broadband market. In January lastyear, thecompanylaunchedanafforda-ble 1Gbps broadband plan – an ul-tra-fastconnectionthathadrivalsplay-ing catch-up. At $49.99 a month, it was

cheaper than similar plans from other retailers. It is alsoshooting to shake up the market by promising unlimiteddata deals that are currently unavailable.

MyRepublic has certainly made an impact since it wasset up in 2012. Just two years ago, Singapore was 14th infixed broadband affordability worldwide. A year afterMyRepublic launched its 1Gbps service, however, it shotup to third spot, reveals its Singapore managing directorYap Yong Teck. “This was a huge success and will onlyserve to benefit the consumers in Singapore with pricescoming down in the market,” says Mr Yap.

MyRepublichasbeendescribedasaDavidversusGolia-thstory,asmallupstart that is takingonthebig telcocom-panies. Its three founders – Greg Mittman, Malcolm Rod-rigues, and KC Lai – were senior management executiveswith experience in the telecommunications sector. Theyleft their jobs to pursue an opportunity created by the Na-tionwideBroadbandNetwork (NBN), agovernmentprojectto build an ultra high-speed fibre broadband network.

As the existing three telcos – Singtel, StarHub, and M1 –were not fully utilising this network, MyRepublicsqueezed into a saturated market by offering what con-sumers wanted: Ultra high-speed Internet connection atreasonable prices. Mr Yap credits the government for theexistenceofMyRepublic. “Thanksto theSingaporegovern-mentwhopioneeredthis ideaand invested in theNBNasacritical infrastructure development to enable the nextphase of growth for Singapore.”

“MyRepublic’s vision is to bring accessible, high-speedInternet connectivity to everyone, bringing innovation totheindustryby leveragingontechnologiesandthecreativ-ityofour people.Weseegreatopportunity in fixedmobileconvergence especially in advance NBN market such asSingapore.”

Daring to be differentMr Yap, who has been with the company for less than ayear, says the invitation to join MyRepublic was “irresisti-ble”. “Many were curious when they heard that I would bejoiningMyRepublic, movingfromanestablished telco toastart-up and they all asked the same question, ‘Why?’,”says the former M1 senior executive who has 25 years ex-perience in the industry.

For him, MyRepublic presented itself as an “interestinglittle purple company”, daring to be different and was at-tracted by its simple and powerful marketing messages.Each telco is known for its trademark colour – Singtel isred,StarHub isgreen,M1isorange.MyRepublicchosepur-ple. When group CEO Mr Rodrigues, shared with him thevision and plan for the company, he was inspired. “Over acup of coffee, he then offered me his job in Singapore andchallenged me to build a next-generation mobile networkas the fourth telco. The opportunity was irresistible,” hesays. It is perhaps no surprise that he was attracted to thestart-up. Way back in 1996, he jumped at the chance tojoin a new mobile company M1. It was the new entrant in-to the market that was then monopolised by Singtel. Hespent 18 years there, moving across various technical andcommercial roles.

Today, the 48-year-old is at another emerging telcocompany, but one that is very different from what he isusedto. “MyRepublic is a low-cost, lightweightbut innova-tive local company. We do a lot of things in-house, whe-ther itsdeveloping ITsolutionsorproducingcreativemar-keting campaigns,” he says.

The company relies heavily on innovative solutions,such as maintaining their IT infrastructure in cloud ser-vices. It also leverages on a strong online sales presencerather than relying on brick-and-mortar shops. Over 50per cent of its sales come from online channels. “Most im-portantly, the company isn’t afraid to fail, to be differentor to challenge the giants in the industry,” he points out.

Growing ambitionsFar from failing, it has chalked up many achievements.Apart from being the first to bring 1Gbps fibre broadband

services at a mass market price, it was also the first to of-fer 1Gbps trials to let people experience the difference ofgigabit Internet connectivity. The company also caughtthe eye of Internet investors such as Xavier Niel, founderof Free in France, and Indonesian telco Sunshine Network,owned by conglomerate Sinar Mas. Together, the two in-vestors have pumped in about S$30 million in total.

“The ISP started out as an upstart in the industry, buthas since caught the attention of the public and analystsalike,” he says. So, from around 20 people at the start, thecompany has grown to 142 staff. Its subscribers nowmake up 5 per cent of the fixed broadband market.

The company has many projects lined up. One majorinitiative is the mobility trial in the Jurong Lake Districtwhich was awarded by the government to incumbent tel-cos as well as MyRepublic.

The trial allows the company to test the next genera-tion mobile solution that aims to provide seamless accessacross different types of networks. This test will be opento 1,000 public participants in September.

The company is also preparing its bid for the upcom-ing spectrum auction and Singapore’s fourth mobile li-

cence towards the end of this year. “If successful, we hopetohaveapositive impact inthemarketandbringthebene-fits to the consumers in Singapore,” says Mr Yap, addingthat the company has expanded to New Zealand, and iseyeing Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

ButSingaporewill remain itsbase, as theNBNmarket ismuch more advanced than many countries in the region.“MyRepublic Singapore will continue to be our innovationhub where new technologies and ideas are implementedand improved before they are replicated in our other mar-kets,” he notes.

As Singapore celebrates its 50th year of independence,Mr Yap hopes for continued success and that MyRepublicwill contribute towards greater development at home andin the region. “At just 50, Singapore’s progress has beentruly amazing. From a sleepy fishing village, it is now a vi-brant cosmopolitan city with a prosperous economy, ad-vanced infrastructures, well-educated workforce, and aunique identity and culture,” he says. “Our people are mo-tivated and want the best in life, and I believe that we willonly continue to strive for excellence.” Indeed, this purplerocket is shooting to be the best on the little red dot.

A purple rocketfires up thelittle red dot

‘MyRepublic is a low-cost, lightweight but innovative localcompany. We do a lot of things in-house, whether itsdeveloping IT solutions or producing creative marketingcampaigns.’

– Singapore managing director Yap Yong Teck

New telco player MyRepublic is making waves in Singapore’s broadbandInternet market


PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR


8 | The Business Times | Tuesday, July 14, 2015 The Business Times | Tuesday, July 14, 2015 | 9

WHETHER it’s the majes-tic buildings that dotSingapore’s skyline ortheexpresswaytunnelsand underground MRTstations that run belowit, PERI Asia has playeda part in its construc-

tion.For thepast33years, theGerman-basedmanufactur-er of formwork and scaffolding systems has grown withSingapore inanascent thathasbeenbothenrichingandre-warding.

“First and foremost I would like to say that Singapore’sfast journey to a country of high industrialisation and ahighdegreeof financialandbusinessservices isbreathtak-ing,” says Marco Romahn, managing director for PERI Asiain Singapore.

“I strongly believe that Singapore will continue withtheir efforts to become an innovative economy and thetop destination worldwide. I personally wish Singaporegreat celebrations this year, and for the construction busi-ness, a keen sense of creating safe and productive work-ing environments.”

The success of Singapore’s journey has been depend-ent on having in place major infrastructure such as roads,tunnels, train stations, and harbour facilities – civil engi-neering projects that have involved PERI. “At PERI, we arecommitted to support Singapore’s journey. And we arehonored that our partners have chosen our comprehen-sive construction solutions for more than 32 years, allow-ing us to contribute to the texture of Singapore,” saysMr Romahn, who joined PERI as its Singapore head in2013.

Before joining the company, the civil engineer workedfor several main contractors, gaining international con-struction experience in design and build turnkey projectsfor private and public investors.

PERI was founded by German couple Artur and ChristlSchworer in 1969, with its headquarters located in Weis-senhorn, a town in the state of Bavaria. They chose thename PERI, which is a Greek prefix that means “around”. Itis an apt moniker for their business, which involves form-work that surrounds the concrete that is poured into it,andthescaffoldingthatencasesbuildingsunderconstruc-tion.

In the last 40 years, the company has grown rapidly tobecome the biggest provider of such system solutions inthe world. It has a presence in more than 70 countries andclose to 100 stockyards worldwide.

The group employs more than 7,000 people, with 145in its Singapore office – the largest subsidiary in South-eastAsia. In2014, thegroupachievedaturnoverof1.1bil-lion euros (S$1.6 billion).

Some of its major projects across the world include the

Panama Canal; the Petronas Towers in Malaysia; the long-

est cable-stayed bridge, Viaduc de Millau in France; and

the Sheikh Khalifa Bridge in Abu Dhabi.

In Singapore, its projects are equally impressive. High-

lighting the milestones for PERI Asia in Singapore, Mr Ro-

mahn says that the company introduced the first form-

work system used in the city-state way back in 1982. It

was used to build Hotel Malaysia, also known as Marco Po-

lo Hotel, along Tanglin Road. The hotel has since made

way for a condominium development.

But it was only in 1991 that the company set up an of-

fice inSingapore. Since then, it hasbeen involved insever-

al MRT projects and building iconic structures such as the

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Asia Square Towers, Resorts

World Sentosa and the Singapore Sports Hub.

Its products have also been used to build the Kallang

Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE), the International Cruise Ter-

minal at Marina Coastal Drive and Fusionopolis in Buona

Vista.

“We are currently involved in the construction of Mari-

na One and DUO, two further icons shaping the texture of

Singapore. We will continue to work hard to raise produc-

tivity and to sustain our leadership in the construction

market,” says Mr Romahn, referring to the new mixed-use

developments being developed in the city.

A recognised leaderIn Singapore, the company has achieved and sustained its

position as market leader in the local formwork and scaf-

folding market over the years. This has resulted in being

recognised for its productive engineering solutions, the

high safety standard of its components, the reliable mate-

rial supply and the professional support throughout itsprojects.

Despite its many achievements, the company continu-ally seeks to improve its services. Recently, it has openeda customer centre in Singapore and established a regionalmaterial distribution centre in Indonesia, says Mr Ro-mahn. Its new customer centre, located at Sims Lane,opened in December 2014 and is a showroom for PERIproducts and a training facility as well.

With the construction industry here finding it tough toimprove its productivity, PERI Asia decided to train itspartner construction firms to do more with less. Its cours-es include safety training, formwork and scaffolding tech-nology training and software training. There are plans toexpand the programme to include logistics training.

The courses are targeted at general workers, formworksupervisors, safety officers, construction managers, siteengineers, quantity surveyors and design engineers. “AtPERI, we believe that sustainable business success re-quires high productivity. Employees have to be trained,products have to be further developed and new innova-tiveproducts have to be implemented,” wrote Mr Romahnrecently in its newsletter, the Peri Scope.

“Long lasting partnerships expect more than just thesupply of materials. The provision of innovative, produc-tive formwork and scaffolding solutions, accompanied byservices such as customised engineering, on-time materi-al delivery, extensive on-site support and individual cus-tomer trainingarepartof thecomprehensivepackagepro-vided by PERI.”

PERI also boasts the world’s largest rental equimentpool that provides fast and reliable supply of products toits customers to ensure that construction can be complet-ed on time. For very large material requirements, the localteam works closely with other logistics locations to en-sure an optimal delivery service to the construction sites.

In January this year, PERI Asia opened its first regionaldistribution centre in Batam, Indonesia. The centre auto-matically restocks products to reduce lead time and thuswill speed up the supply of materials to the various con-struction sites. The centre is another step to a higher ser-vice level in Singapore and Asia-Pacific. Says Mr Romahn:“PERI is not only a supplier of productive material andequipment. We are a service provider accompanying ourpartners throughout the whole project cycle.”

Helping to build a nation

PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR


‘We will continue to work hardto raise productivity and tosustain our leadership in theconstruction market.’

– Marco Romahn, Singapore managing directorfor PERI Asia

PERI Asia has been supporting the development of Singapore’s infrastructure for over three decades


ONE firm is instrumental in shap-

ing Singapore’s urban landscape

and replicating the urbanisation

model tocountries inAsiaandAf-

rica; the other is synonymous

with Singapore’s industrialisa-

tion efforts and shares its exper-

tise in industrial parks and infra-

structure solutions to other parts of the world. With their

collective expertise, the union of these two companies

brings about a major powerhouse in Asia for urbanisation

and infrastructure solutions.

SurbanaJurongPteLtd, formedfromthemergerofSur-

bana InternationalConsultantsHoldingsandJurong Inter-

national Holdings, is ready to take its place in the global

stage as it ramps up in size and broadens its technical ex-

pertise. Plans are afoot to raise its technical staff strength

from 4,000 to 6,000 within the next three to five years,

and todouble its annual consultancy fees from S$500 mil-

lion to between S$1 billion and S$1.5 billion.

According to Surbana Jurong Group chief executive

officer Wong Heang Fine, there is an endless string of en-

quiries from cities and countries in Asia and Africa that

have noticed Singapore’s rapid development and want to

replicate its public housing and township model or indus-

trial parks.

“We’ve gotten into many overseas projects because of

the examples they can see in Singapore,” he says. “Be-

tween Surbana and Jurong, one does all the housing and

town centres, the other does all the industrial estates and

new-generation of factories such as Biopolis, the Science

Park, the food zone in Senoko, Jurong Petrochemicals

Hub, which is the No 1 in the world. Many people want to

replicate them. They come here and tell us: ‘We want an

Ang Mo Kio estate. We want a Jurong Island’.”

ThephenomenaldevelopmentofSingapore fromanis-

land lacking in resources to a vibrant economy in the past

50years has been widely recognised by its overseas coun-

terparts, Mr Wong observes. Singapore’s reputation for

turning vision into reality puts Surbana Jurong in a good

stead in clinching projects overseas.

Pioneering change across generations

TherootsofSurbana InternationalandJurong Internation-

al could be traced back to the 1960s when Singapore was

urgently looking to provide affordable housing to a grow-

ing population and a variety of industrial spaces to attract

businesses to Singapore.

The success of HDB in creating a world-class public

housingmodelprompted it tocorporatise its Buildingand

Development division to export Singapore’s urbanisation

expertise, which later became known as Surbana.

“We have done six generations of public housing and

through each generation of housing, we have been able to

help the government and HDB satisfy the needs of the na-

tion,”Mr Wongsays.Asapioneer inurbanisation,Surbana

has also moved on from planning and designing basic

housing and town amenities to more sophisticated

high-risehousingprojects, towncentres,andtherejuvena-

tion of existing housing estates.

Surbana has also taken its expertise in urban mas-

ter-planning to other parts of the world, including

South-east Asia, China, India and Africa. More recently, it

jointly delivered with Jurong Consultants a 7,235 sq km

capital region blueprint for the new capital city of Andhra

Pradesh in India.

Over the past 50 years, Jurong International has also

evolved from building basic multi-level industrial space

for industrialists to developing notable projects such as

the Jurong Petrochemical Island, Biopolis and Fusionopo-

lis at Singapore’s one-north, Suzhou Industrial Park, iLabs

in India andthe IndustrialCityof AbuDhabi. Ithasprovid-

ed consultancy, design and build, and facilities manage-

ment services in projects spanning across 229 cities in 47

countries.

Surbana Jurong is now jointly owned by Temasek and

JTC Corporation in a 51-49 partnership with the comple-

tion of merging Surbana International and Jurong Interna-

tional. Mr Wong says South-east Asia accounts for some

85 per cent of Surbana Jurong’s revenue, given the

company’s significant presence in Singapore, Myanmar,

Vietnam and Malaysia while China, India and the rest con-

tribute the balance.

More innovations and deals underwayMr Wong says Surbana Jurong will soon be building facto-

ries with a residential component. It is also looking to har-

ness greater use of technology in facility management to

provide intelligent systems that are energy-saving and

cost-efficient. For instance, by leveraging on its existing IT

infrastructure that monitors some 23,500 lifts in all theHDB estates, it can extend the monitoring system to otheraspects of town estate management, which is in line withthe “smart nation” concept.

“For example, we could monitor carparks and directtraffic away from a congested area. As we develop, we caneven monitor elderly care in public housing,” Mr Wongsays of how such systems could alleviate first-world prob-lems. “Many of our elderly folks like to live in their ownflats.So, weare looking atwayswherebywecanuseour ITbackbone to help monitor the movements of the elderly.”

Surbanaisalsokeentocollaboratewith technologypro-viders to roll out business information models (BIM) andpossiblytakeaminoritystake in them.TheBIMsallowbet-ter information-sharing and coordination across playersworking on a project for more integrated project plan-ning, increased productivity and cost savings.

Tobeefup its technicalcapabilities, SurbanaJurongac-quiredtwocompanies inSingaporeandChina,namelySin-gapore engineering firm KTP Consultants Pte Ltd andChina’s Sino-Sun Architects & Engineers Co Ltd lastmonth.This immediately grewits staff strength byaquar-ter to 4,000 and expanded its market reach in China fromnine to 16 cities.

Surbana Jurong is wasting no time in integrating thesecompanies into the group. “We are working on a pipelineof projects with them in China, Singapore and India,”Mr Wong says. It remains on the prowl for acquisition tar-gets todeepen its technical expertise.Oneareacouldbe inunderground engineering as Singapore increasingly seeksto build underground.

Growing sustainablySurbana Jurong is still keen to grow its team organically,though talent retention remains a challenge in thebuilt-sector. Mr Wong says the group is focused on bring-ing in iconic and challenging jobs in order to deepen itstechnical experience and attract competent professionals.“Our engineers, architects and other professionals aredrivenbychallengingprojects.Wearetrainedto lookat is-sues and problems as a challenge, so we find that themoredifficult jobs will attractmorecapable people to joinus.”

Mr Wong himself is no stranger to challenging situa-tions inhispast35years in the real estatebusiness. Buthefinds thatdespite the heartachesorpain involved inwork-ing on those challenging projects, talented people want tobepart of the team that creates an iconic work. “At the endof the day, Surbana Jurong is driven to get this kind ofprojects that are so unique and challenging and have notbeen done in the world,” he says. “At Surbana Jurong, wemust approach all our projects with that unending desiretodo better than whatwe are expected to do.At the end ofthe day, that is what makes us successful.”

Taking on the global stage

PHOTO: JOSEPH NAIR


‘Our engineers, architects andother professionals are drivenby challenging projects. Weare trained to look at issuesand problems as a challenge,so we find that the moredifficult jobs will attract morecapable people to join us.’

– Surbana Jurong Group CEO Wong Heang Fine

Surbana Jurong approaches all its projects with an unending desire to do better than what it is expected to do, says group CEO Wong Heang Fine


JUST across the Causeway, about a 20-minute

drive from the Tuas Checkpoint, is a place

where many Singaporeans have bought their

second home or invested in a property. Some

of these homes are situated in the 24,000-acre

township of Nusajaya, one of the five flagship

zones of Iskandar Malaysia. As one of

Malaysia’s top property developers, UEM Sun-

rise is spearheading the development of Nusa-

jaya as the master developer, transforming it

into Asia’s newest regional city complementing Singa-

pore. Upon completion, the city in Johor will become the

largest fully integrated urban development in South-east

Asia that promises significant investment, financial and

business opportunities towards the economic growth and

development of the region.

“As a property developer, UEM Sunrise is committed to

building communities by providing innovative infrastruc-

tureandamenities,” says itsmanagingdirector/chiefexec-

utive officer, Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib.

“We are proud to achieve many commendable feats in

the lastyeardespite the industryheadwinds.Besidesmak-

ing great strides in our domestic developments, we have

successfully expanded our international footprint in mar-

kets such as Australia.”

To date, UEM Sunrise as the appointed Project Manager

(Marketing) for the developer, M+S (a company owned by

Khazanah and Temasek), has successfully sold 88 per

cent of units released in the first phase launch of Marina

One Residences at Marina Bay last year, and 94 per cent

for DUO Residences in Bugis, which went on sale in late

2013.

Thecompanyalsohas long-standingpartnershipswith

several other companies in Singapore. It is working with

AscendastodeveloptheNusajayaTechPark.Thedevelop-

ment is expected to host a business community of 34,000

people in a range of industries such as electronics, phar-

maceuticals, food processing, precision engineering, fast

moving consumer goods, logistics and warehousing.

UEM Sunrise has also teamed up with FASTrack Aut-

osports, to turn an area in Nusajaya into a motorsports

hub.Thefacilitywill featurecarshowrooms,4S (sales, ser-

vice, sparepartsandsystems)aswell asa4.5kmracetrack

and 1.5km karting track designed by the world-renowned

track designer, Hermann Tilke.

The Nusajaya Tech Park and motorsports hub to be

known as FASTrack Iskandar will be housed in Gerbang

Nusajaya, a 4,551-acre development that is shaping up as

the commercial and business engine of Nusajaya.

Gerbang Nusajaya will be developed over 25 years and

is expected to create an estimated total of 76,000 direct

job offerings, 137,000 indirect job offerings together with

220,000 population upon full completion.

There is more scope for cooperation between Singa-

pore and Malaysia, observed Mr Anwar Syahrin, such as

the high-speed rail link from Kuala Lumpur to the

city-state. “The gamechangingrail linkwould enhancethe

economic corridor between both countries. As the master

developer of Nusajaya, we remain optimistic of the

long-term prospect the rail link will bring to the region,

particularly when one of the station stops is likely to be in

Gerbang Nusajaya,” he says. “We aim to build a sustaina-

ble and strong ecosystem with an emphasis on residen-

tial, commercial and integrated developments that will

complement Singapore.”

Early this month, UEM Sunrise launched its first landed

residential enclave in Puteri Harbour, the crown jewel of

Nusajaya. The development, known as Estuari, is spread

across 394-acre freehold footprint with much of its origi-

nal eco-environment and natural state retained.

Another landed development, Residential South is ex-

pected to follow suit and add to the Puteri Harbour land-

scape, which currently hosts several selections of

high-rise developments such as Teega, Almãs and Somer-

set Serviced Residence.

UEM Sunrise, a public listed company on the main-

board of Bursa Malaysia, is the flagship firm for real estate

investment and property development businesses UEM

Group, which is wholly owned by Khazanah.

Apart from being the master developer of Nusajaya,

UEM Sunrise is also renowned for its award-winning,

up-market high-rise residential projects and commercial

developments largely in the Mont’Kiara enclave of Kuala

Lumpur.

It is also the owner of 98 acres of freehold site adjacent

to the Central Business District of Cyberjaya where Sym-

phonyHills, an exclusive residential development and the

country’s first Connected Intelligent Community resides,

offering residents smart home features and community

connectivity through high-speed broadband.

Reflecting on industry recognition, UEM Sunrise has

had quite a fair share. The company has won multiple

awards for its projects in Nusajaya and the Klang Valley

over the years, recently being the Builder of the Year

Award in Frost & Sullivan’s 2015 Malaysia Excellence

Awards and a Top 10 Developers Award of the Malaysia

Property Insight Prestigious Developers Awards 2015.

UEMSunrisewasalsorankedfourthtoppropertydevel-

oper in The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards

and second for highest profit growth company under the

Property&Reit sectors byThe EdgeBillion RinggitClub, in

additiontobeingoneof the40bestcompanies towork for

in Asia by HR Asia Journal last year.

Today, the company with over 1,500 employees and

revenueofRM2.7billion (S$961.7million)hasalsoextend-

ed its presence overseas, with projects in Vancouver, Can-

adaand Melbourne, Australia. It also retainsa landbank in

Durban, South Africa. “Things are getting pretty exciting

the second half of this year,” notes Mr Anwar Syahrin.

“We are introducing a various range of products in the

Klang Valley and Nusajaya as well as expanding our pres-

ence in Melbourne, Australia. UEM Sunrise will continue to

diversify its business in both market segment and geogra-

phy,” adds Mr Anwar Syahrin.

“Our vision to build communities of the future is an

overarching ambition that goes beyond specific targets. It

reflects UEM Sunrise’s long-term vision and holistic ap-

proach towards ensuring that our developments are sus-

tainable – environmentally friendly, creating value as well

as using the latest technology to ensure the best for our

homeowners.”

Exciting Singapore-Johor links aheadLeading Malaysian developer UEM Sunrise is buoyant over upcoming launches


‘We are proud to achieve manycommendable feats in the lastyear despite the industryheadwinds. Besides makinggreat strides in our domesticdevelopments, we havesuccessfully expanded ourinternational footprint inmarkets such as Australia.’

– Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib, UEM Sunrisemanaging director/chief executive officer


WHEN property agency

SLP International tried

to persuade developer

ChiuTengEnterprise to

tender for Singapore’s

first 30-year leasehold

landedfactoryatPenju-

ru, they were told to

put their money where their mouth was.

Convinced that 30-year leasehold industrial properties

would prove a hit, SLP’s husband-and-wife founders

Stanley Yeo and Kain Sim did just that by investing

$165,000 of their own money into the project. Their in-

stincts were right, and the 48 units of Penjuru Tech Hub

were sold out almost immediately after its launch.

The couple’s modest investment garnered returns of

$700,000 in less than two years. More importantly, it

spawned the birth of ZACD in 2005, which was set up as

SLP’s investment vehicle toco-invest inprojects they were

marketing.

What followed was a string of successful project sales

led by SLP, which specialises in industrial project market-

ing. These included the 30-year leasehold strata-titled B1

factory The Alexcier in Alexandra Road, and a

600-plus-unit strata-titled ramp-up factory in Serangoon

called the North Star. The project, one of the biggest of its

kind in Singapore, sold 100 per cent of its units in less

than two years.

“North Star was a superstar project. We bought it for

$30 per square foot, and before the ink was dry, the plot

next door had sold for $60 per square foot,” recalls

Ms Sim, who prior to founding SLP had a high-flying ca-

reer marketing international properties for international

companies such as Colliers.

She adds: “Our strengths are in knowledge and design.

The developer knows that we have the market know-how,

and we can give our input on what is best to build.”

Attracting investorsZACD was prospering, and soon, word of its success

reached a group of wealthy Indonesians looking for

strong investment returns. They participated in ZACD’s

fund in 2007, and the company took on a life of its own.

Many other projects followed despite the onset of the

financialcrisis in2008, includingseveral intheprivateres-

idential and executive condominium markets. These in-

cluded Natura Loft, aDBSS project in Bishan and RiverParc

Residences,anEC inPunggol.Thegroupalsoremainedac-

tive in industrial property development investment, in-

vesting in and developing projects such asPremier at Kaki

Bukit.

Through favourable word of mouth, the fund attracted

a growing number of private investors, mainly from Indo-nesia,who wereseekingbetter returns throughaproperty

development fund than the traditional direct property in-vestment.

“Our first Indonesian investors got very excited whenthey started making money and they shared it with theirfriendsbackhome.Soon,morewerecomingtousandask-

ing if they could invest with us,” says Ms Sim, chairman of

ZACD. As a result, the fund surged from just $10 millionin 2010 to around $200 million today, and has an out-

standing track record of 31 successful projects in the lastseven years.

Meanwhile, many developers now seek out ZACD as ajointventure partneras it is able toadd value inaproject’sdevelopment and enhance the financial base of a develop-

er to engage in a project of larger scale. Signifying how farit has come, ZACD is now preparing to acquire SLP – thecompany it once supported – with the combined entityplanningto list their shares in2016. “WhenZACDacquiresSLP, we will become a hybrid business. We are not a devel-oper but we put in money as if we were a developer. Wealsohaveanagency thatsupports theprojectandaddsval-ue,” she explains.

Another of the fund’s attractive factors is its ability toreturn capital to investors quickly, sometimes in as littleas two years. The company’s employees are also welcometo participate in the fund, Ms Sim reveals.

The group has turned its attention overseas, havingmarketed projects in Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong.Around 20per cent of its income nowcomes fromabroad,and its 200 staff are spread across offices in the region. Itis currently working with an Indonesian developer on aS$1 billion-dollar office and luxury apartment develop-ment in central Jakarta.

Ms Sim’s long-term vision is to grow ZACD into a bil-lion-dollar fund based in Singapore and focus on develop-ment and properties with recurring income. And while fu-turegrowth will be driven primarily by overseas business,she insists that the group’s values remain very much Sin-gaporean. Indeed, she cites the values of the late Lee KuanYew, Singapore’s first prime minister, as a model that ZA-CD aspires to follow.

“We have an aspiration to operate at that level of excel-lence. MM Lee wanted us to become the Switzerland ofAsia. I can relate to that.When I first started, I told my staffthat we are going to be the No 1 industrial property agentin Singapore,” she says. “I salute MM Lee because he madedream a reality. It takes vision and a big heart to do that asyou have to endure a lot of disappointments along theway.”

As for ZACD’s unique name, it is a combination of thenames of Ms Sim’s two sons, Zac, 11, and Darius, 15. A re-flection perhaps, of the baby she helped build into a thriv-ingbusiness, and one that still has yet to realise its full po-tential.

Soaring to new heightsWith an enviable track record of success in property investment, ZACD Investments has its sights set on becoming a billion-dollar fund


‘Our strengths are inknowledge and design. Thedeveloper knows that we havethe market know-how, and wecan give our input on what isbest to build.’

– ZACD chairman Kain Sim


a massive transformation

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