THE DEVELOPER – INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Page 1

THE DEVELOPER – INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Page 2

ounder of CMC i-source SDN BHD, Mr Ravinder

Singh is now a developer. He had gone through

the high and low in his life. When he was young,

he joined the police force due to financial problem.

He came from a simple family and had no choice on

what he needs to do. Everyone have a dream, so

does him. His dream is to become a pilot, but due to

financial problem, his family couldn’t afford to

nurture him into the airline. So, he decided to join

the police force as the pay is higher than working in a

bank. After a few years, he was offered a scholarship

to do pilot. Hence, he accepted the offer and was in

this line for 21 years. He feels happy as he not only

get to drive a 300 million dollar machine but also be

responsible of taking hundreds of live in his hand. In

the meanwhile, he can get inspiration while flying. He

had been to everywhere and almost the whole world.

It is like killing two birds with one stone because as

he travels and works, he also gets to see many

different building which inspires him. He get works,

travel and pay, so why not?

He was the captain of the airplane of Singapore Airlines until 4 years ago. He feels that he is already old and need to

settle down. He decided to be a developer. His aim is to make people happy and realize the passion about service in

their inner self. He is currently running an improvement agency which provides services whereas he can help to improve

the people and the city.

‘DO SOMETHING FOR

YOURSELF BEFORE YOU

GROW OLD’,

This is what Mr Ravinder Singh told us because we only live once. Dare to dream, dare to do. Remember, you only live

once. Do everything what you feel of before it is too late.

F

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Q & A

SESSION

1. Q: We have many kind of developer, what kind of developer is you?

A: I own lands and do something on the land, so obviously, I am a property developer.

2. Q: What is a property developer and what they do?

A: A property developer is a professional in the field of real estate development, also called

property development. It is a multifaceted business covering a lot of things ranging from re-lease

and renovation of existing buildings to the purchase and sale of both raw land and improved

parcels of land. A property developer is a person or company that develops land or buildings to

increase their value.

3. Q: What inspire you to become a developer?

A: I think that development line is a good adventure for businessman and so, I decided to join

myself into this line. Before you choose a certain career, you must ask yourself, what do you like?

Ask yourself do you want to be a developer or a architect.

4. Q: What do you need to become a developer?

A: To become a developer, first you need to have aspiration, desire and interest. Then, look

around and learn to know the demographics of the city. You will also need to do research on

market know how and what is happening to the market currently.

5. Q: For you, is there any tough challenge when you become a developer?

A: For me, everything is a challenge. But the biggest challenge is when you are doing

investment. And that is the tough part as we cannot predict the future. That’s why you need to

think twice before moving forward. Is it worth it or not.

6. Q: In this construction industry, is it important to have a team of your own?

A: Of course it is very important. You cannot work alone in project development. In a project,

one needs to have consultant, architect, structure engineer, quantity surveyor, Interior designer

and contractor. If you don’t have the right people and they don’t understand what you are

thinking, you are in trouble. When choosing partner for your project, you need to know which

people are the right one.

7. Q: What is the difference between project manager and developer?

A: The main difference between project manager and developer is the work they do. A

developer can be the owner. He owns a land and wanted to develop it. On the other hand,

project manager is the employee. He is hired to manage the project on behalf of the owner of

developer.

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Our next developer that we are going to interview is

Dato’ Patrick P.C.Leow , the executive director of

Pembenaan Leow Tuck Chui & Sons SDN BHD. Dato’

Patrick had already been a developer for more than

10 years. While along this ten years, he had

successfully developed buildings from single storey

houses to double storey houses and to

condominiums and even skyscrapers. The similarity

between Dato’ Patrick and Mr Ravinder Singh is their

starting point. Both of them start from a different

career. Dato’ Patrick was a contractor before he

becomes a developer.

While visiting his workplace, he had shown us all the buildings and show room that he is currently

working on. The building that his company is currently building will be launched in June and one of

the unit in that buiklding will be his future house.

‘We must be happy with

what we have even though what we do may

not be 100% successful’

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Q & A SESSION

1. Q: We have many kind of developer, what kind of developer is you? A: I am a property developer. I develop anything as long as it is commercial and industry

building.

2. Q: What are the requirements to become a developer? A: To become a developer, first you need to define a place or a suitable location for

development. Then choose which field you want to do, is it either industrial or commercial. Besides that, you will also need to earn money before you become a developer. The most important thing that you need to have is asset.

3. Q: What are the problems encountered when doing these projects? A: The main problems are getting master plan from the government. Besides that, capital is also

one of the problems because if you don’t have enough money to continue building, you may end up bankrupt. Meanwhile, after planning the project, one must submit the proposal to the authorities to meet all the guidelines. You will also need to resubmit and go by law on the density and how many apartment you can built.

4. Q: What do you recommend? Buying or lending land? A: Government will not sell the land to you unless you built it at low cost.

5. Q: In this construction industry, is it hard to manage a project?

A: Actually it is not very difficult because every different team is in charge of different project. However, to manage the project well, we have meetings and discussion often to check the progress of construction and also confirm about the building materials, so that the materials can be always on time and we won’t delay the project.

6. Q: How does our country sell all the buildings and unit?

A: Our country is different from China as we can sell it before it is fully built. But in China, the building can only be sold when it is fully built.

7. Q: From news and media, we can hear that many developer went bankrupt. What are the main causes that they went bankrupt?

A: Many developers went bankrupt because they don’t have enough money and cannot afford to pay the workers. The developers then get sued. The land in progress will be auction to other people, and then the owned amount will be pay back. The balance will be used to pay the one you own.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES From this interview, I learnt that the responsibility of a developer is totally different from an architect. We must dare to dream and dare to go for it. No matter how many difficulties there are, we must be brave and find solutions to it. We must also do something while we are young because we only live once. Do it before it is too late. No point regretting when you already missed the chance. Besides that, we must also be happy with what we have and be satisfied with what we have even though what we do is not 100% perfect and successful. Reported by: Lovie Tey Yiqing FNBE 02/ 2014 0318155 Introduction to Construction Industry