THE YEAR 2018 PART III OF VI – YEARS 1970’S
Looking back, I must admit that the ten years from 1970 to 1979 were my busiest years ever. So busy was I that, by the end of the ten years, in April 1979, I moved my entire seven members of my immediate family [4 young children, aged between 6 and 14, wife and I, and Mum, widowed and I being her only child] to settle in a quieter environment of Auckland, New Zealand.
I remember that my 1980 New Year Resolution then was to slow myself down, not to multitask, recognising the fact that I could be totally burnt out if I were to continue living in that fast-paced lane. Now, thirty-eight years on, my 2018 New Year Resolution # 5 is to slow down even further. For 2018, I intend to relax more, freeing my mind for doing leisurely activities that will include paying more visits to my children and grandchildren abroad and to join them in their activities. I have begun the process by listening and trying to “karaoke” songs that they like, for example, Imagine Dragon’s ‘Whatever It Takes’ or Pink’s ‘What About Us’ or Lorde’s ‘Royal’.
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1971 January saw me starting my own practice as Lai Pang Fee Chartered Surveyors on the upper floor of an old building along South Bridge Road. I considered myself lucky to have the backing of the Government for my resignation from the Housing and Development Board as its first local Contracts Officer, replacing a British expatriate at that time way back in 1966. I had to recommend my friend, another Chartered Surveyor, H H, a Malaysian, to replace me in that role.
Before my departure from the Housing and Development Board, I was summoned to meet the Finance Minister of the day in a face-to-face meeting together with my immediate superior C W Teh, who, by then, was the Chief Executive Officer of the Board. The Minister did not mince his words.
“One assignment that I shall ask of you in your private consultancy capacity is to assess the fair rental value for the Currency Board to pay to the Central Provident Fund Board (CPF Board).” He said. “The Currency Board is occupying half of the CPF Building at Anson Road,” he continued, “and when assessing the rental value, the primary aim is fairness to the many ordinary shareholders of the Central Provident Fund. This role cannot be assigned to any foreign practice and you need to take this up.”
“Whilst comparable rental values might be a guide, may I suggest that there is no similar situation. You have to put your best thinking cap on,” he concluded. And I had no opportunity to render a reply.
This was going to be a tough assignment, I knew. But I reminded myself of the training and the advice I had received from my earlier mentors, particularly from the person whom I had named Ken Low, who had said “Patience often brings about a solution. Just tell yourself that you are the only person who has the solution. Keep the parties involved by asking each of them the three W’s – Who, When, Where and the one H, How. Listen well to what their replies are and you will eventually get a solution acceptable to all parties.”
Earlier on, the Urban Renewal Authority, had organized a meeting for me with several of the developers who were successful in the tenders of urban renewal sites. A telephone call from the Authority simply said that there was a suspicion of cartel in such tender sales and that I was to keep track on several successful bidders when I went out into practice on my own. By the time of the meeting, just before my departure from the civil service, I did have confirmations of appointments as Quantity Surveyor Consultant to three of urban renewal sites – Pearls Centre, People Park Centre and the High Street Centre – and the developers of these three sites were not those introduced to me at that meeting. However, I later discovered that all these three sites and those of the developers introduced to me were financed by the same Bank from Hong Kong.
By the end of the year 1970, the firm, Lai Pang Fee Chartered Surveyors, being the first local firm of Chartered Surveyors in practice, was recognised for property valuation consultancies by the Banking sectors of Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.
During this period, the person that helped to shape my business acumen practices was a person whom I shall named simply as M T. He was from Indonesia and had run trading businesses in rubber before establishing himself with a group of his friends as bankers in two countries of Hong Kong and Malaysia. The most important lesson I had learnt from this great businessman is to treat everyone, young or old, rich or poor, black or white, business partners or staff members, with respect. “Listen to each of them,” he had said, “listen carefully and you may well find a gem or two in what each of them is saying,” he continued. “How can I listen to them when they are not communicating with me, ” I asked during one of the many ‘yum char’ breaks I had with him in Hong Kong. “That’s simple,” he replied, ” simply ask them of their pasts, their achievements, their glory, and when you find a common theme or a common interest, simply express your views and listen again. We have two ears and one mouth, not without any reason. When you are listening to them, you are in fact, exploring their Strengths, their Weaknesses, and you in turn are exploring your Opportunities and know where the Threats are coming from in a given situation.” How wise!
By 1973, the practice had extended to Hong Kong, thanks to M T and to my Hong Kong partner, P K Lam.
What did the practice do in Hong Kong? First, you can imagine my delightful face when I saw my valuation reports printed in full in the local papers when companies wanted to go public under IPO (Initial Public Offering) status. There were only two Chartered Surveyors active in this market, an European Chartered Surveyor, ex Hong Kong Civil Service and me, a Chartered Surveyor fluent in the Cantonese Language.
Second, the practice established itself as a ‘Claims Consultant’ for Hong Kong contractors who were often bullied by other professional consultants like Architects and Engineers and then who were squeezed by the trades subcontractors. The practice kept a watchful eye on the contractors’ behalves and uncover variations to the building contracts when a professional consultant changed his or her mind during the construction stage.
Third, the practice acted on behalf of many rural communities in negotiating with the Hong Kong Land Administration for Letter A and Letter B concessions in exchanges of many plots of land required by Government for the development of mainly residential projects in the New Territories suburbs like in Sha Tin and in Fan Ling.
On the Singapore front, the practice had a bunch of young staff members who were far-sighted in their thinkings. For instance, one of them had introduced the practice in the use of the films to capture and store documents and this was before the Microsoft age. Another member had the idea of recording every site meeting attended on tape recorder so that important points could be stored for use later in case of a dispute in a construction contract. The practice became the first Quantity Surveying firm to use the computer, Olivetti P 101, in presenting Bills of Quantities (BQ). This BQ showed every line of a calculation towards the end quantity in the measurement of an item within an element of a building. This type of BQ won the firm the consultancy contract for the building of the Russian Embassy and later the three blocks of residential apartments at Ardmore Park.
For staff training and recruitment of new talented staff members, the practice started a Building Studies Group (BSG) where school leavers from all walks of life could be trained in Quantity Surveying, doing the examinations set by the City and Guilds Certificates. These courses were so popular amongst construction workers during this period that three part-time lecturers were recruited to assist me in the delivery of my lecture notes in BQ Take-Offs, in Construction Estimating and in Construction Financial Accounting.
By mid 1970’s, an agreement was struck with another property valuation practice in Singapore, Simon Lim and Partners, to form a larger practice of Lai Pang Fee and Simon Lim Chartered Surveyors.
Back in Hong Kong, the practice was involved in holiday resort projects in Yi Long Wan, Lantau Island and in the development consultancy of several residential-cum-commercial projects in Yuen Long and in Tuen Mun New Township.
A typical day for me during this period read as follows:
4:30 am Awake
5:30 am At Golf Course having a round of golf with clients, gathering in the news of the day.
9:30 am Breakfast at various Hawkers Centres throughout Singapore
10:30 am In Office to have work progress meetings or attend site or other meetings with clients or prospects.
12:30 pm Lunch with clients.
2:30 pm back in office for further meetings and discussions with staff members or with clients.
6:30 pm Dinner with Clients.
8:30 pm Entertaining clients and prospects.
12:30 pm Home and Physically tired.
Mum and Wife held the fort at home with the four children.
What a Life! Did I miss my four children – three daughters and a son. You bet!