By Sherry Koh | Jul 16, 2010
.jpg) |
REHDA president, Datuk Michael Yam
|
REHDA (Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association of Malaysia) president Datuk Michael Yam Kong Choy is a man who wears many hats. In fact, he disproves the figure of speech ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ — simply because he excels (and then some) in everything that he does and his accomplishments is rightfully envied by many.
Since young, he knew that he wanted to be involved with buildings. Yam says, “When I went to UK, there was only one course I wanted to do. Something to do with building, construction, engineering, property. One of those four. It didn’t matter which. That is probably shaped by the fact that my father was, when I was very young before I went to school, a small-time contractor. By the time that I went into Royal Military College (RMC), he was actually a Class A contractor.”
In year 1983, after spending 10 years in the UK, Yam was given a wake-up call from his father, who told Yam to return, otherwise he might be forgotten in terms of succession planning. Yam elaborates, “So I decided to uproot.10 years in UK is a long time. I returned to Malaysia, but I had other plans. There was an advertisement looking for Project Engineer and Project Managers for large projects in Malaysia. I actually applied and I got the job. So I came back and to the disapointment of my father, I joined this English project engineering firm. People ask me why? Well, I didn’t want to be known as Mr Yam’s son. Today, my father is introduced as Datuk Michael Yam’s father.” (laughs)
Yam has had an illustrious career spanning 30 years in the construction, real estate and corporate sectors. So long is his list of accomplishments that it is easier to read it in bullet-points, as below.
• Managing director and CEO of a strategic, technical and project management advisory firm known as Impetus Partnership
• A trustee of the Standard Chartered Charity Trust and also UK-based Chartered Institute of Building (one of two Asians elected to sit on the Board)
• Developed and managed hotels, resorts, shopping malls, golf estates, international schools and various mixed developments in Malaysia, Australia, UK and South Africa
• Member of the Advisory Board of the City of Kuala Lumpur
• Awarded the "CEO of the Year 2002" by Business Times and American Express Corporate Services
• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building
• Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• Independent non-executive director of Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia, Paramount Corporation Berhad, government statutory body CLAB Berhad and the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce
Yam will be a panelist for the Retirement Transformation Conference 2010 and prior to the event, he shared his interesting views on aged living opportunites with StarProperty.my
THE INTERVIEW
Have many developers in Malaysia have ventured into building retirement homes and villages?
In the mid-90’s Sunrise Berhad made an attempt to develop such a concept, which allowed an elderly-friendly lifestyle that was barrier-free. This was specifically for the active senior population. Due to the stigma associated with old folk’s homes, it was more successful being sold into the open market. So the covenant of minimum age purchase and payment for use of medical facilities had to be thrown out the window.
Other than that I do not see any developer seriously going into the retirement homes or villages similar to those found in developed countries. At present, retirement homes and villages are still very much practiced in predominantly Western or Western-influenced cultures such as Australia. As an Asian country with family values that include personally caring for aged parents, such concepts—which need to be also commercially viable and require a sizeable market—have not fully taken off. Here, at most, the practice of “Old Folks Homes” is more common and even then, there is that stigma associated with it.
In an interview with Datuk Dr Zainal, advisor of NEAC (National Advisory Economic Council), he brought up the issue of subsidies. For example, a developer builds 100 double-storey homes and then builds 10 single-storey units (retirement homes) which will be subsidised, within a community. What are your views on his suggestion/thoughts?
His idea is fundamentally a good one, because going back to the stigma of Asians not wanting to be seen as having had their children abandon them into a single-purpose home, this is a serious problem of image. Perhaps, mixing the young and the old is a more acceptable solution, as a hybrid.
Before we move on, we need to define the types of retirement living areas. There’s the type of homes for the geriatric that needs special medical care around the clock, villages for healthy and active retirees that have more activities, as well as old-folk homes which are singular homes serving the purposes of a few senior citizens. For our discussion purposes, we would be referring to the second type, which are villages for active retirees.
For such a concept to be successful, a sizeable market and a proper distribution and delivery system should be in place. The concept should also be essentially market driven and it would also be important for it to be incentivised by the Government if a certain target is to be reached.
Should such retirement villages be developed, there are a few possible things that would happen. Firstly, a well-to-do young family may wish to send their aged (parents) to such homes for their physical and social well-being. However, in an Asian context, if the young family could afford to purchase such a home and the resulting operating fees, chances are they would prefer to hire a personal nurse and keep the aged in their own homes. Secondly, some individuals may choose to purchase homes in such villages for their own retirement, with the income they are currently generating. This could result in empty, uninhabited homes and if few settle in when complete, could result in the degeneration of such homes if they are not properly maintained.
Thirdly, the aged themselves would have few funds to purchase properties of this nature, let alone maintain the upkeep for it. Furthermore, their ability to obtain loans from the bank could be limited.
What we feel is that for this concept to be a success, it must be driven by market factors - there needs to be a sizeable market who is open to such concepts and yet can afford such services.
Like green homes, retirement homes will be more costly. The rich will be able to afford it, but what about the majority of Malaysians who fall into the middle-income group?
For a proper retirement village to be set up, it needs all the appropriate infrastructure, facilities and services for its operations. Not only would buildings with common exercise areas, clubhouses be required to keep the aged occupied, healthcare and nursing services would be necessary. Interesting programmes, activities and hobbies conducted professionally would also be important as an attraction. To operate such a development of such scale would be an affair that can be afforded by few.
The development on ongoing maintenance of a retirement village is not going to be cheap, as described earlier.
What types of homes should developers look into? Retirement homes within the community or a gated and guarded section? Homes that incorporate elder-friendly features on the lower floors of double-storey homes?
In the city, it would be strata and high-rise that is also but barrier-free; elderly friendly, wheelchair friendly. Outside of town, people tend to want resort village types —which are gated and guarded and have holiday resort settings.
How can/should the Government assist?
Yes, the Government can provide tax breaks for the building of such villages.
What is also important for the Government to look at is that the aged themselves have sufficient finances to support themselves. Other governments in other countries care for their aged well financially and allow them the flexibility to choose their own lifestyles, instead of imposing any set rules of living standards.
Once the Government is serious in encouraging the development of such homes, developers can be incentivised with tax breaks, double tax allowance, less contributions and premium charges and so on. Perhaps the insurance industry and EPF (Employees Provident Fund) needs to be brought in as well to look into different categories of insurance or endowment.
Perhaps, instead of building low-cost houses, the Government can have some guidelines with regards to specific developments where some user- or elder-friendly units be provided to encourage the old to live among the younger citizens, where children can live under the same roof but in a different unit.
Which countries should we emulate and why?
Developed countries like Australia can provide a benchmark for us, as their retirement villages are self-contained. They may be built at sub-urban areas away from the hustle and bustle, but the mix of facilities and services combined, make living very self-contained. However because of affordability, we may need to scale down the offerings to suit the market. The legislation of the country is very well written out in fact, where every state has a retirement act, picking specific ones are all recital and how to sell and buy—protection of retirees.
According to the United Nations, Malaysia is likely to reach an ageing nation by year 2035. How will that affect the property sector or the planning of retirement homes/villages?
We have to plan for the future by looking at projections of the elder population vis-à-vis the rest of the households. The Government has provided projections of such needs into the future, but perhaps what would help would be the segmentation of such projections for a clearer indication.
What are REHDA's plans/initiatives with regards to retirement homes?
We, as an Association, will continue to educate our members and help to do research and analysis on the market and at the appropriate time, organise seminars through RI (REHDA Institute) to encourage our members to move towards new markets. Basically, we would also be looking to organise visits and conduct study tours to some of the countries and find out more about this market through the Retirement Transformation Conference of which I am one of the panelist and Paramount Corporation is one of the sponsors.
About Retirement Transformation Conference 2010
Retirement Transformation Conference – the first of its kind in Malaysia – will be held on August 3, 2010 at the Sime Darby Convention Center from 8.30am to 6pm.
The conference aims to share, identify, raise awareness and deepen understanding of retirement issues as well as create a platform for key stakeholders to learn from international best practices. This could facilitate the review and development of a national retirement blueprint in line with the Government Transformation Programme and leading to redefining retirement for Malaysia.
Special rate for StarProperty.my readers
RM425, with gifts worth RM600. The gifts are 4 complimentary half-day seminars encompassing:
• Retirement Planning Workshop
• Estate Planning Workshop
• Basic Personal Financial Planning Workshop
• Investment Planning Workshop
For more information, visit www.kmdc.com.my, e-mail start@kmdc.com.my or call Patrick at 03-7712 3212.
» Click here to sign up
Related articles on Retirement Transformation Conference 2010:
|