2. 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
3. THE DEVELOPER – INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Page 3
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.
4. THE DEVELOPER – INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Page 4
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’
5. THE DEVELOPER – INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Page 5
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.
6. THE DEVELOPER – INTRODUCTION TO CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Page 6
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
