A state of fitness: Choong Wei Min, Lim Hooi Yen and Lai Yeng Fock

Choong Wei Min
Project director, PPC Glomac Sdn Bhd
PPC Glomac Sdn Bhd is a joint venture between civil and construction engineering company Pembinaan Punca Cergas Sdn Bhd and property developer Glomac Bhd, a partnership that goes back to 1993. Glomac holds a 30% stake in PPC Glomac, a subsidiary of the PPC Group with township developments such as Bandar Sri Permaisuri in the south of Kuala Lumpur and Aman Putri in Sungai Buloh.

What type of exercise do you engage in regularly?
I go to the gym at least twice a week and play football or other sports for fun whenever I have the time. I believe exercise is one of the more important things you can do to improve your health and there are obvious benefits to an active lifestyle. I have come to realise that getting a decent amount of exercise is one of the best investments of my time I can make.

What benefits have you received from your exercise regime personally and professionally?
Exercise gives me a general sense of well-being. Being and feeling fit definitely helps with my personal and professional life. Exercise is always a sound business decision as fitness affects job performance in all executives. These two things are inextricably linked as personal health influences professional performance. Getting fit can help people excel at work, be better leaders and perform daily tasks with more focus, energy and creativity.

How do you achieve work-life balance?
Achieving a balance is important to me as I want to experience as many good things as I can in my lifetime and doing any monotonous activity can be rather draining.

Since much of the corporate world is based on monetary profit and income, the other end of the see-saw would be to focus on personal health and positive emotions. I try to balance diet, sleep, exercise and fun sports to keep my body and mind in shape. I enjoy food as much as the next person, so I do take dietary supplements (vitamins, omega oils, green drinks) to, hopefully, make up for when my diet isn't well balanced, which is often.

I try to spend most of my time at places I enjoy and with people who amuse me, as well as having new experiences. It would be ideal to enjoy your work life as so much of one's time is spent there. Personally, as I spend a lot of time in the Klang Valley, I try to take trips to other states or outside the country on weekends. Beyond balance is overall work-life satisfaction, which very much depends on personal choice and responsibility to oneself.

Describe the health of your company.
PPC Glomac had a good year in 2012 with sales of over RM100 million and an order book at RM800 million. Our township Aman Putri has had sales of RM250 million in the 1?years since its launch. Our new Cyberjaya project Galleria@Cyberjaya, with a gross development value of RM90 million, under Emerald Domain Development Sdn Bhd, has achieved pre-launch sales of RM65 million and we have just released more retail and office units for sale.

Describe the health of the Malaysian property market. What is your outlook for 2013?
It remains selectively optimistic where certain areas will experience rapid growth and demand. Mega developments in the Greater KL area such as Menara Warisan, the MRT lines and Tun Razak Exchange will attract investors and boost growth in the property sector.

The truth is we do have quite a few international investors in the country and the global economic situation will affect us to some degree. Slower growth and uncertainty in major economies can affect developing economies. There's a low growth global outlook for 2013 and the Euro debt crisis and American 'fiscal cliff' issue are areas of great concern.

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Lim Hooi Yen
Head of marketing & sales (property division), Wing Tai Malaysia Bhd
Wing Tai Malaysia Bhd, a subsidiary of Singapore developer Wing Tai Holdings Ltd, is involved in property development and investment, apparel retailing and garment manufacturing. The brands it carries include Uniqlo, Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, Diva and Pumpkin Patch.

Formerly known as DNP Holdings Bhd, developments under Wing Tai's property division include Verticas Residensi in Bukit Ceylon and Nobleton Crest along Jalan U-Thant, both in Kuala Lumpur. It also has projects in Penang's Bukit Mertajam such as Jesselton Hills, Taman Seri Impian and Taman Bukit Minyak Utama.

What type of exercise do you engage in regularly?
I attend Pilates-equipment-based classes regularly at Pilates Central (Wisma Perintis/Kuala Lumpur Sports Medicine Centre). I used to have very bad neck and shoulder pain due to long hours of working at the desk and computer. Pilates focuses on elongating and strengthening the core postural muscles that provide spinal support to keep the body well balanced at all times.

I also do stretching, in the morning and before I go to sleep at least three times a week, as well as some brisk walking at 6am. Brisk walking is the most flexible form of exercise one can engage in anywhere, anytime. With my regular travelling schedule, it is difficult for me to engage in other kinds of sports.

What benefits have you received from your exercise regime personally and professionally?
Regular exercise, especially in the morning, keeps me fresh and alert throughout the day. Exercise helps to build stamina at work. Stretching helps to ease muscular tightness and the body feels light.

How do you achieve work-life balance?
Travelling around the world. I try to arrange at least two long holiday breaks every year, otherwise it's frequent short getaways within Malaysia or around the region.

Describe the health of your company.
Wing Tai has always been very stable though we have shown an improved performance in the last two years. We recorded about 30% growth in sales revenue this year. Besides property development, our retail division is also a major contributor to the group's revenue. We carry brands such as Dorothy Perkins, Topshop, Topman and Uniqlo.

Describe the health of the Malaysian property market. What is your outlook for 2013?
Hopefully, our property industry will be very steady and resilient next year and for years to come. No doubt some sectors and locations may fare much better than the rest. For those that may face challenges, market players just have to work a bit harder to create demand and penetrate new markets. We expect the market to be more active after the general election.

There's still a lot of liquidity in the market, both in Malaysia and the region. With the surplus wealth, people would want to continue investing. Property is still the safest asset class and a key wealth generation tool.

With the slew of tightening property investment and immigration measures introduced by various countries in Asia (Singapore, China, Hong Kong, etc), Malaysia will rise on the investment radar. Funds will continue to flow in as investors see potential here, being so strategically located in Asia, and the potential economic spillover from Singapore. Our property prices are still relatively undervalued.

The public and private sectors need to work harder to market Malaysia to the world. We need to create value propositions as to why one should invest in Malaysia.

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Datuk Lai Yeng Fock
CEO, YNL Properties Sdn Bhd; CEO New-Age Portfolio Sdn Bhd
Lai is the CEO of special - purpose companies including YNL Properties and New-Age Portfolio, which developed Kinrara Hills in Bandar Kinrara Puchong in 2010. Lai was previously an executive director at WCT Land Bhd and led the Bandar Bukit Tinggi (BBT) project - a 1,346-acre township in Klang. He left WCT in 2008 to develop niche projects on his own.

What type of exercise do you engage in regularly?
I was a national basketball player from 1982 to 1987 but have stopped playing due to injuries to both my knees. As I can't be involved in active sports, I do some brisk walking daily for about 30 to 60 minutes.

What benefits have you received from your exercise regime personally and professionally?
As I was involved in high level sports and training in the past, I have had the opportunity to learn to work as a team and take the lead as a captain. This has helped me much in my career.

How do you achieve work-life balance?
Finding the time to exercise really is a challenge but I make it a point to do some brisk walking every morning. I also do some meditation, especially while traveling, as that helps keep my mind fresh and clear.

Describe the health of your companies.
For now, we have nothing much to shout about but we are on the right track and performances will continue to be healthy. My personal motto is "Get better and better". My Kuantan project under Armada Bayumas has locked in approximately RM24 million sales this year. Another special purpose vehicle, YNL Properties Sdn Bhd, has acquired an 11?storey building in Jln Raja Chulan, KL, with a gross built-up of 36,000 sq ft at RM8.18 million while the other, SPV Britania Star Sdn Bhd, has acquired five units of three-storey shops in Melaka Raya for a total of RM10 million. Both these properties will be developed into boutique hotels next year.

Describe the health of the Malaysian property market. What is your outlook for 2013?
The current property market is at a stage of consolidation and adjustment for the next uptrend. The financial institutions and the government are trying to impose several steps to curb speculation and they are working well. This will be healthy for the market.

This story first appeared in The Edge weekly edition of Dec 24-31, 2012.