Kwek Leng Beng: ‘I would allot 50 per cent of my portfolio to property’
Real estate has made a lot of Singaporeans millionaires, property never goes down to zero value, unlike stocks and shares, says CDL executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng KWEK Leng Beng, 69, is the executive chairman of the Singapore wing of the Hong Leong Group of Companies, a global conglomerate worth over $30 billion employing 50,000 … Read more
Stalwart of real estate walks path with purpose
Edmund Tie tells how he built his business and saw Singapore evolve ABOUT 40 years ago, when Edmund Tie was just starting out in his property consultancy career as an apprentice, one of his daily morning duties was to walk around the ‘dungeons’ or underground vault of the old Chartered Bank Chambers building at Battery … Read more
A home closer to work
As last year drew to an end, so, finally, did my patience with my 786 sq ft ‘dollhouse’ apartment. The single bathroom was just too small, the pretty-but-useless balcony too big, and the desire to move too overwhelming to ignore any longer. And so began the arduous search for a new ‘Goldilocks’ house that was … Read more
Ho Bee: From Sentosa Cove to China
SENTOSA COVE was like Treasure Island for developer Ho Bee, which surfed on the wave of demand for high-end property at the enclave to make a mint. Then the tide went out. The financial crisis and the crash in prime real estate suddenly gave the exclusive seafront estate a forlorn air and Ho Bee the … Read more
Popular Holdings: From story plots to plots of land
WHEN the boss of the Popular bookstore chain answered the seductive call of property development some four years ago, his shareholders were horrified. ‘They probably thought I was drunk… I was already 70, why would I do something like a flash in the pan?’ says Mr Chou Cheng Ngok. ‘My shareholders gave me hell. ‘What … Read more
Heeton Holdings: From wet markets to prime homes
IT WOULD take a huge leap of imagination to come up with a more incompatible business mix than the one Heeton Holdings had been wrestling with since 2003. The firm’s chalk and cheese make-up had the glamour, prestige – and risk – of prime property development on one hand and oh-so-last-century but oh-so-safe heartland wet … Read more
Kwek Leng Beng: Quick on the draw
PROPERTY booms, crashes, fads… you name it, real estate tycoon Kwek Leng Beng has seen them all in his 68 years. Yet even one as experienced and savvy as he could not have predicted the way the market has roared back to life after being knocked flat on its back by the financial crisis. ‘The … Read more
Anatomy of a low-grade property fever
There is a low-grade property fever going round and I’ve caught it. Property fever is endemic in land-scarce, high-savings-rate Singapore. It comes and goes in waves. Last year’s actions by the Government to curb speculation and boost supply staved off what could have become a raging 40 deg C fever. The assurance of having eight … Read more
Rising prices prompt bubble fears in Asia
Investors concerned a real estate bubble burst would derail the region’s economic recovery Property prices in parts of Asia have risen sharply, sparking worries that bubbles are forming and prompting policymakers to rein in the sector. Investors fear any real estate bubble burst could derail the region’s nascent economic recovery in the way the US … Read more
S’pore and Dubai – alike, yet so different
Dubai lacked a development plan backed by fundamentals and prudence IT IS really a contrasting tale of two cities. Singapore, which is fundamentally strong, is now bracing itself for an economic recovery next year, while debt-ridden Dubai finds itself under the spotlight due to its credit woes. But as recently as four years ago, Dubai … Read more
