Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew (Country Heights Holdings Bhd): Land is the key to accumulate wealth

TAN Sri Lee Kim Yew is the founder of Country Heights Holdings Bhd (CHHB). The developer has covered the spectrum of property development and investment properties with residential, industrial, hotel and leisure, commercial and recreation projects under its belt.

With more than three decades of involvement in real estate, Lee has become a property icon in Malaysia for his innovative ideas in delivering uniquely-designed projects, such as The Mines in Seri Kembangan, Selangor, carved out of a former excavated tin mining site. Among the landmarks at The Mines are the Palace of the Golden Horses hotel and The Mines Shopping Mall.

The 61-year-old tycoon is still active in the industry and was recently appointed as the chairman of CHHB in June this year so he could continue to share his experience and knowledge of the industry in the company.

TheEdgeProperty.com: Building and selling homes — what was it like then and now?

Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew: From my over 30 years of experience, I have learnt that no matter how smart you are, no one can escape when the environment is hit by a crisis especially the property development industry.

Although we cannot keep ourselves away from any financial crisis, as a company we can learn to be humble and keep our fundamentals healthy to cushion the turbulence. Managing gearing is important to keep the company fundamentally healthy to enable it to embrace the challenges of an economic downturn.

Many companies have increased their gearing levels for expansion during boom times. When the Asian Financial Crisis happened, the weakened market sentiment and shrinking consumer spending caused many companies to close.

The same principal also applies in today’s business environment. With manageable gearing ratio and healthy cash flow, business owners can not only survive a financial crisis but also other challenges such as war or other unprecedented situations like Brexit.

How many homes have you built?

I have built millions of square feet in Malaysia, London and in Mauritius (back in 1994).

CHHB was awarded a project by the government of Mauritius to complete some low-cost housing which could withstand 200kph winds and extreme weather.

I had two years to complete the 4,000 houses. This was the most productive period in my career as every day I had to build six houses, without fail, in order to achieve the target.

Apart from residential developments, for the past 30 years, we have built shopping centres, exhibition centres, offices, schools and hotels as well as golf courses.

What was your most memorable project and why?

There are a number of projects which are memorable to me, such as the Mauritius housing project, the Borneo Highland Resort and The Mines.

But among all, Country Heights Damansara in Kuala Lumpur is the jewel in the crown.

Country Heights Damansara is one of the most exclusive townships in Kuala Lumpur. Located on top of a hill surrounded by lush greenery, it offers a 19-acre garden park with a man-made waterfall, a 400m ravine, a 1.2km jungle trek and five landscaped retention ponds.

When the concept of this township and the plan to build a waterfall was revealed, it sparked some controversies as some people were worried that the development would affect the forest environment.

However, we have proved that we can preserve nature while building homes there. Today, the man-made waterfall and garden park have become the development’s main attractions.

Buyers are getting younger. How do you engage them?

Social media platforms are good ways to engage and disseminate project information to young buyers. However, it is important to understand their needs and offer products they desire. Nowadays, we see that many people prefer to stay at home and interact via mobile devices. One reason could be because there is a lack of public places where they can have outdoor activities.

With that in mind, CHHB is planning a project tentatively named Youth City which will offer affordable housing with various facilities to encourage interaction outdoors.

I have travelled to Taiwan to do some research on their U-bike system and I am thinking of implementing the idea in Youth City by providing bicycle tracks and shared bicycles for residents to cycle to and from train stations (when they travel to work).

In this township project, we are looking at providing about 10,000 affordable homes for the young with selling prices below RM350,000.

What are your investment tips for first-time homebuyers?

My advice is don’t rush to stay in the city, but stay by the city. It’s better to choose a location which has good accesibility to the city centre, but not within the city, as properties just outside the city would be more reasonably priced and have a good living environment.

Although city centres are business hubs and have more modern lifestyle activities for the young, staying in suburban areas could offer more space and opportunities to venture into high technology food production industries especially hi-tech farming and agro-tourism — which I think is the trend of the future.

Apart from this, I always believe in land investments. There is a Chinese saying “land is the key to wealth” which means you could accumulate wealth through buying and accumulating land as every industry needs land to develop their business.

How key is social media to your business — are you on social media?

I am not so active on social media but I do agree this is one of the most effective ways for developers to reach out to young buyers. Even in the hospitality and leisure sectors, it is important to use social media such as Facebook, Whatsapp or WeChat to engage with your targeted customers.

If we still stick to the conventional ways of approaching customers, we will lose our competitive edge. Social media platforms also offer the market information which could provide insights on market trends and the needs of the younger generation.

Your property outlook for 2016/2017?

I think the market will remain slow, very slow due to economic uncertainties. These are challenging times that will test the ability of industry players and will require them to come out with new ideas and management skills to enhance their competitiveness.

Business leaders will need to stand out and form a lobby group to discuss with the government about economic issues — eg Goods and Service Tax (GST), and offering advice to the authorities on taking the right approach to improve the business environment and to spur economic growth.

What is your aspiration for the Malaysian property sector?

The younger generation is the key driver of the property sector to achieve sustainable growth. Their need to own a home must be taken care of.

In order to encourage home ownership, CHHB has taken two approaches to assist homebuyers to purchase homes as well as help the next generation of customers to own a home in the future.

The first plan is to launch the Youth City project in Bukit Beruntung, which offers affordably-priced homes for the young who are looking for their first home.

The second plan is to reintroduce the Country Heights Innovation in Property Investment (Chipi) scheme — a loyalty programme for our customers’ second generation.

● Tan Sri Tan Seng Leong (BCB Bhd): Look out for signs of recovery

● Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin (EcoWorld): Achieve greater heights by embracing technology

● Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong (I-Bhd): Well-planned projects less affected by negative factors

● Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo (Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Bhd): Act on opportunities from the HSR link

● Tan Sri Lim Hock San (LBS Bina Group Bhd): The keys to success are product, location and pricing

● Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum (Mah Sing Group Bhd): The ability to adapt to change is crucial

● Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din (MRCB): Malaysia’s property market will continue to be dynamic

● Tan Sri Eddy Chen (MKH Bhd): We need more liveable homes

● Tan Sri Ong Leong Huat (OSK Property): Build homes according to buyers’ wants and needs

● Tan Sri Lim Soon Peng (Titijaya Land Bhd): Affordability — key to homebuyers’ needs today

● Tan Sri Danny Tan Chee Sing (Tropicana Corp Bhd): Engage customers through social media wisely

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on Aug 26, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.