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

TAN Sri Liew Kee Sin, chairman of Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld), has been in the property industry since 1989. The Economics degree holder majoring in business administration started off as a banker in 1981. After five years in the banking industry, he ventured into property development.

His first project was in Taman Bukit Indah, Ampang. Following a reverse takeover of S P Setia Bhd, he was then appointed its president and CEO, a position he held for the next 18 years, from May 1996 until April 2014.

In mid-2012, Liew led the Malaysian consortium of S P Setia, Sime Darby Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund Board (EPF) to successfully bid for the Battersea Power Station site in London, UK and was appointed the first chairman of the Battersea Project Holding Company Ltd in 2012, a position he held until September 2015.

The project, which was launched in January 2013, has been met with resounding success whereby all 855 standard units launched have been sold, raking in sales of £725 million (RM3.87 billion, making it one of the bestselling developments in London in recent years.

Liew left S P Setia in 2014 and was appointed non-independent and non-executive director of EcoWorld in May 2014. He was re-designated as the chairman of the board of EcoWorld a year later.

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

Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin: Back then, it was about making sure you built a solid house just as a means of shelter. People today are looking for lifestyle. We make sure we provide the amenities for them. We build show villages instead of just show houses. We invest in infrastructure to ensure that buyers have easy access, in and out. Our project offices are no longer just a site office. It’s a show gallery that encompasses the whole lifestyle experience giving you a taste of what living in one of our developments would be like.

Back then, when I closed one or two sales a day, I was already really happy. I remembered my all-time record was 24 sales a day and I was pumping my fist in the air. All sales were done manually using hard copy files. Today, we can sell over a few million ringgit worth of properties in a day. It’s also about building the brand and making a long-term commitment towards the communities that we build. Our job is not just to build houses. We want to be there even after we have handed over the homes to our buyers.

How many homes have you built?

I think it’s not about the number of homes one has built but more about the experience. With every development you keep pushing yourself to do better. When a benchmark is met, I push even higher. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be a developer in London. Today, EcoWorld even has its presence in Sydney, Australia. I’ve had the opportunity to build not only townships, high rises and integrated commercial developments but to bring back a power station to life (Battersea Power Station in London)! What are numbers compared to these experiences?

What was your most memorable project and why?

They say your first love is the most memorable one. I started with Taman Bukit Indah, Ampang, building terraced houses and semi-dees. There I learned many valuable lessons. Do you know that a day prior to our official launching, there was such a heavy downpour that the whole site was flooded! That was because we forgot to build the drainage system!

Also, there were too many rocks at the site that when the construction was taking place, rocks flew all over the place and made holes on the roofs of the houses. I had to physically deliver hampers to all the house owners to apologise.

But we learned from all these mistakes. All these problems seem small now but back then, it was either do or die.

Buyers are getting younger. How do you engage them?

We find more exciting ways to communicate with them. Today, our homebuyers are mostly aged 45 years old and below. Our EcoWorld team also consists of young people whom we constantly engage with to understand their preferences.

One other way is through social media because it’s quick, short and effective. The way a development is planned has also changed. Now there’s more emphasis on lifestyle, convenience and amenities. On top of that, details are important and, of course, our customer service. It’s about creating value as a whole and not just for capital appreciation of the property.

What are your investment tips for first-time homebuyers?

Always buy from a reputable developer. Also, ensure the project has the necessary infrastructure and amenities in place. Location may no longer be the top priority as developments are expanding further away from the city due to scarcity of land, so you need to ensure that the place you are buying is well connected.

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

We are very active on social media such as Facebook and YouTube. On Facebook alone, we have a following of more than 300,000 people. Social media plays a huge role in our business as it is easier to reach out to people. Take for example our EcoWorld Starlight 2015 concert featuring Wang Lee Hom in 2015 whereby we used social media to reach out to people and it was a huge success.

Another great and more recent experience was our EcoWorld Seasons Flower Show which drew crowds to all our sales galleries in the Klang Valley, Iskandar Malaysia and Penang. Our Eco Majestic in Semenyih recorded numbers close to 30,000 people who visited the project during the month-long event. How the news, postings and photos went viral were totally beyond my expectation.

Your property outlook for 2016/2017?

The strong support we have received from our customers, financiers and shareholders in what has arguably been one of the more challenging times for the property market in recent memory is a strong confidence booster for us at EcoWorld. 2016 will be a tough year industry-wide. Hopefully by 2017, the property market will begin to turn. I believe in the long-term prospects of the overall property market in Malaysia. We can see that demand for landed residential and gated and guarded townships that have good accessibility remains resilient. This can clearly be seen in EcoWorld’s strong sales of RM1.315 billion (as at May 31, 2016).

We are also optimistic due to the population demographic. Malaysia has a young population with an average age of 30 years, an age when most would have saved enough to buy properties. Aside from that, the unemployment rate is low at 3.0% to 3.2%. The economy grew 5% in 2015 with Bank Negara Malaysia projecting a growth of 4.0% to 4.5% in 2016, which is still commendable.

What is your aspiration for the Malaysian property sector?

I want to continually see good products delivered into the market for homebuyers. At EcoWorld, we want to uphold our promise of delivering good and reputable products to our customers. It’s not all talk, these are promises that we need to deliver. I always tell the team, don’t just show the customer nice artist’s impressions. What you show, you need to make sure you deliver and even more. In the property sector, we need to keep moving forward. The good thing is, we’ve got technology that will continually help us move to greater heights. Embrace technology to help you move up.

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

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

● 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.