This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on November 11, 2019 - November 17, 2019

Tan Sri Eddy Chen
He is group managing director of MKH Bhd and chairman of Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia. A patron and past president of Rehda Malaysia, he is serving on its national council and was a member of the executive committee for the 2016 to 2018 term. Chen was president of the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association from 2016 to 2018 and president of the Building Management Association of Malaysia from 2016 to 2018. He was the vice-president of FIABCI Malaysia (2016-2018).  
(Note: Chen abstained from judging MKH Bhd)

Firstly, I would like to congratulate the top 10 developers and all awardees for their achievements. My take is that the bigger developers will continue to do well despite the difficult market. They have laid the foundation and resources to sustain them for many more years to come. Moving forward and in the near term, the property market will remain challenging. While the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) has been key to keeping the overhang stable, the unabating supply may bump up the overhang in the coming few quarters. To date, all market variables and indicators have remained somewhat unchanged to sustain any real recovery post-HOC.

My congratulations also go to The Edge Malaysia for staying the course to successfully conclude another property industry award event amid a difficult operating environment. It will be business unusual for a while to come. To the top developers, my kudos to them for their tenacity and their stamina in staying at the top, and may they continue to do well.

Datuk Jeffrey Ng
He is a patron and past president of Rehda Malaysia. He has more than 35 years of experience in finance, corporate planning and executive management in the property and hotel industries in Malaysia and Australia.

Ng is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a Fellow of Chartered Accountants, Australia and New Zealand. He holds a capital markets services representative’s licence under the Securities Commission Malaysia.

He is the CEO of Sunway REIT Management Sdn Bhd and chairman of Rehda Institute. He is also the chairman of United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd and a director of Urban Hallmark Properties Sdn Bhd.
(Note: Ng abstained from judging Sunway Bhd)

I was impressed with this year’s high standard of submissions in terms of content. This much-respected branding award recognition is perhaps the key motivating factor for property developers in the country to continue to strive harder towards the attainment of qualitative and quantitative attributes.

It is quite an achievement for S P Setia Bhd to win the Top Property Developers Award yet again. It is never easy to hold on to the No 1 position for several years in a row and it goes to prove that entrepreneurial and innovative management coupled with resilience and strong financial performance will sustain leadership in the real estate business.

As we all know, the market is extremely competitive and economic conditions are slower. Casualties are expected and two well-regarded property developers have dropped out of the top 10 ranking.

Datuk Soam Heng Choon
He is president of Rehda Malaysia and sits on the Construction Labour Exchange Board, Malaysia. A qualified civil engineer with more than 30 years’ experience in the construction and property industry, he recently retired as group CEO and managing director of IJM Corp Bhd. He was CEO and managing director of IJM Land Bhd from 2004 to April 2015.
(Note: He abstained from judging IJM Land)

The list of top 10 developers hasn’t changed a lot over the years. This speaks a lot about the sustainable model,  [customer] following and market perception that they have built over the years. It is very important that they are able to keep up their branding and sustainable model that is embraced by the stakeholders at large.

Datuk Seri F D Iskandar
With more than 25 years of experience in the property development industry, he is group managing director and CEO of Glomac Bhd and immediate past president of Rehda Malaysia. He sits on the boards of several private limited companies, including Axis-REIT Managers Bhd, and serves on Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur’s City Advisory Board.
(Note: He abstained from judging Glomac Bhd)

Congratulations to the winners of The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Awards 2019. It’s definitely not an easy feat, especially in the current property market. Buyers expect more than just bricks and mortar. Developers need to not just build quality developments but also be consistent in efficiently managing properties and expectations of discerning buyers.

Among developers, we consider this award to be the premier ranking and we strive to do better every year.

This credible annual ranking, which is audited, is a good benchmark for all developers to continue to improve and deliver quality products. To stay on top in this climate is a challenge. So, once again, congratulations to the winners and those who made it to the top 30.

Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok
He is a patron and past president of Rehda Malaysia and a trustee of the Rehda Institute. He was also president of FIABCI Malaysia. He is the current president of the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association and Building Management Association of Malaysia.

Teo is a director of the See Hoy Chan Holdings Group in Malaysia. He has been involved in the property development industry for 47 years and has developed some 30,000 homes and over 20 million sq ft of commercial properties.

This year’s list has one of the most changes in ranking positions and entrants, demonstrating the volatility of the property industry and the differing impacts on individual companies in these challenging economic times. This is further compounded by the timing of completion and delivery of products, and thus recognition of profits leading to changes in the rankings. These phenomena have given the opportunity to many other companies to make it into top 10 positions this year. Congratulations to all companies that have improved their position and ranking.

Datuk Seri Michael Yam
He is a patron and past president of Rehda Malaysia. With experience in the real estate and corporate sectors, he was CEO of two Bursa Malaysia-listed companies and now manages his own private equity, corporate advisory and development consultancy firm.

He is also chairman of InvestKL Corp and an independent non-executive director of Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd, Paramount Corp Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd and Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building and a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
(Note: Yam abstained from judging Paramount Corp Bhd and Sunway Bhd)

This year’s awards was still keenly contested despite the challenging real estate market conditions and the negative consumer sentiments that were very much impacted by the US-China trade war and geopolitical uncertainties globally. It is in such soft conditions that companies should spend more on marketing and promotion and while it is noticeable that there appeared to be a reduction in quality submissions this year, the leading companies were still diligent in submitting credible reports for the awards. Kudos to these companies for their efforts and they do stand out when there was, in fact, less competition. Congratulations to S P Setia for achieving a second year in the top position and the other nine companies that managed to retain their top 10 positions from the previous year.

Kumar Tharmalingam
The past president of FIABCI Malaysia and board member of FIABCI International is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Fellow of the Institution of Surveyors Malaysia and a registered real estate valuer and property consultant with the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents, Malaysia. He has been in the real estate industry for more than 35 years.

From 2010 to 2013, he was CEO of Malaysia Property Inc and an executive director of Sunway Bhd. In 2016, he was appointed an independent director in Public Islamic Bank. He is currently the senior adviser to AREA Management Sdn Bhd, a private equity fund that develops gated industrial projects in Malaysia.

S P Setia Bhd being ranked No 1 for the fourth consecutive year and in the Top 5 for a number of years is not unusual. It has well-located, full-infrastructure land bank mostly acquired earlier and now, all it has to do is build to the market, having established its reputation as a developer of suitable and popular residential developments with full amenities. It has provided all the ingredients necessary to attract purchasers.

The top 10 developers are well established and well-funded. Most of them have manageable debt. They will survive this downturn as banks will still look to fund real estate developers, unlike regular financial borrowing, which is shrinking due to low business activity.

The general market and the property market have been on a downward trend for the last 21/2 years and will take time to recover.

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