MRED Speaker Series - Product Development

Dato Charlie during the webinar

UTAR Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) and Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) organised a webinar titled “Product Development Part 1” via Microsoft Teams on 28 June 2020.

The webinar gave the audience a better insight into the real estate development. Speaking at the webinar was Secretary of Real Estate & Housing Developers' Association (REHDA) Malaysia Wilayah Persekutuan 2019 – 2020-cum-REHDA National Council Member 2019 – 2020 Datuk Charlie Chia Lui Meng, while moderating the webinar was FAM lecturer Dr Puvaneswary Thanaraju.

Datuk Charlie Chia welcomed the participants and said, “Let me begin by saying that I am happy to be given this opportunity to participate in this sharing. This sharing was a joint venture between UTAR and REHDA. I was asked by the council of REHDA to look into the possibility of developing a programme for UTAR. Currently, REHDA is collaborating with UTAR for a master’s degree programme, namely Master of Real Estate Development (MRED).”

Datuk Charlie Chia’s talk was divided into three parts; green building and green technologies, supply and demand and market trend and affordable housing. He started his topic “Green Building” by explaining how people these days wish to live in a green, natural environment as well as energy-saving environment. According to him, all these points are on the top of the agenda for many new policies in real estate development. “Green building’s design, construction and operation mainly focus on reducing or eliminating negative impacts and creating positive impacts on our climate and environment. Green building preserves precious natural resources and improves our quality of life,” said Datuk Charlie Chia.

Datuk Charlie Chia then talked about “Green Building Index (GBI)” and “How is a Township Deemed GBI-certified”. He said there are six categories to determine the GBI score. GBI is an environmental rating system for buildings which was coined by the Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) and the Association of Consulting Engineering Malaysia (ACEM) to evaluate the environmental design and performance of the building. The six criteria include energy efficiency, water efficiency, indoor environment quality, sustainable site planning and management, materials and resources, and innovation. “For a township to be recognised as sustainable, it must first be developed on a balanced approached that addresses environmental, social and economic issues. It must meet its community’s diverse needs and offer a greater quality of life for its residents. The six categories to determine GBI score are climate, energy and water, ecology and environment, community planning and design, transportation and connectivity, building and resources and lastly business and innovation,” he emphasised. He also added, “The points that determine the GBI certifications are certified, silver, gold and platinum.”

Leisure Farm Resort Central Spine at Iskandar Malaysia Johor is the very first GBI-certified development based on its principle of sustainability, energy, environment, design and security (SEEDS)

Eco Horizon at Bandar Cassia Penang is the first GBI-certified featuring “Home-In-The-Park” concept

Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) was awarded the Platinum GBI-certification

Datuk Charlie Chia then discussed the application of green technology. He explained green technology and elucidated the reason for designing green buildings and green initiatives. He also gave examples of various accredited agencies and green building certification tools such as BCA Greenmark from Singapore, GBI and GreenRe from Malaysia.

He went on to speak about the supply and demand for property. There are six types of real property in the market that a developer can develop. They are agricultural, residential, commercial, industrial, mixed-use and special use. “According to the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), the number of completed and unsold properties from all segments rose to RM4.5bil as end of 2019 with close to 57,000 units sitting on the books of developers. The unsold units are more to high-rise units,” said Datuk Charlie Chia.

Terrace house saw the highest transaction of residential property in 2019

Selangor contributed the most residential property transaction in 2019

Comparison of the demand and supply for residential property in 2019

Towards the end of the session, Datuk Charlie Chia shared a survey that highlighted the demand behaviour of house buyers. The survey aimed to gauge the profiles of potential buyers, buying intention and preferences, choices of property, affordability level as well as other purchasing criteria. According to Datuk Charlie Chia, this survey is useful for searching potential buyers in the future. Speaking of affordable housing supply in Malaysia, he said, “Affordable housing is a key issue especially in developing nations where a majority of the population isn’t able to buy houses at the market price. This issue will become a consideration to the developers for product development,” he said.

Based on the home buyers’ survey in April 2019, 53% of people bought house for their own use

Based on the home buyers’ survey in April 2019, 46% of people preferred buying a house within the city centre and 45% of them preferred apartment

Red colour wordings show Top 5 factors influencing property purchase

Minimalism becoming the trend now and people are only living with the things they need

Compact housing design is popular in the recent years

Affordable housing is a key issue especially in developing nations where a majority of the population isn’t able to buy houses at the market price

The webinar adjourned after a Q&A session between the speakers and participants.

Introduction of speaker:

Datuk Charlie Chia Lui Meng, age 64, is an advocate and solicitor of the Malaysian Bar. He graduated as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with a Bachelor of Quantity Surveying (Hons) from University of Technology Malaysia. He is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia and a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Society of Construction Law, Malaysia. He holds a Bachelor of Law (Hons) degree from University of London and has completed the Certificate of Legal Practice awarded by the Legal Profession Qualifying Board of Malaysia.

He is currently the Secretary of REHDA Wilayah Persekutuan 2019 – 2020 and REHDA National Council Member 2019 - 2020. In his 39 years of experience in the property development and construction industry, he has worked in both the public and private sectors. He was attached with Jabatan Kerja Raya from 1978 until 1995 as a Senior Quantity Surveyor. In 1995, he joined Hiap Aik Construction Bhd as the general manager. In 1997, he joined the United Malayan Land Bhd as personal assistant to the managing director & group chief executive officer, rising to the position of general manager. He went overseas in 2008, joining Viet Hung Urban Development & Investment J.S.C Land Bhd as chief operating officer and was based in Hanoi, Vietnam until March 2009.

Upon his return from Vietnam, he joined Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd (a Property Developer) as director and advisor to group managing director from 2009 to 2011. In October 2011, he joined Malton Bhd as the chief executive officer and held the office until June 2012. He was appointed as the group chief executive officer of United Malayan Land Berhad from 4 June 2012 until he retired in 30 June 2016. He currently is a company director under the UMLand Group and an independent non-executive director of Grand Dynamic Builders Holdings Berhad, a public listed construction company.

To read more on other speakers’ series, kindly click on the link below:
1)      MRED Speaker Series: Tendering and Award of Construction Projects
2)      MRED Speaker Series: Strata Title Act 1985 (Act 172)
3)      MRED Speaker Series: The overview of Malaysia Real Estate
4)      MRED Speaker Series: Property Laws & Legislations