Realising A Vision
New Straits Times - Property Times, Saturday, December 14, 2002
Nicholas Mun

PJD positions branding efforts to achieve its goal of being market-driven

THE RM2mil Hartamas Regency show residence looks like a big double-storey detached house from outside. However, the moment you step inside this air-conditioned building, you’ll be surprised to find that it houses a penthouse, an apartment and a sales office complete with water features, lounge area, and even mock-up lifts.

There is also an interactive community portal to simulate how residents of the proposed luxury condominium could communicate with each other and do online bookings and video on demand.

If there is an award for the best show unit in the country, the PJD Group may win the honour. The two luxuriously furnished units come complete with a sophisticated security system.

The show residence is located on the site of the Hartamas Regency condominium development in Sri Hartamas, one of For a long time PJ Development Holdings Bhd (PJD) had let its projects do the talking. Now with the mood swinging towards property developer reliability and reputation, it wants to come out from the shadow of its products.
In an interview with Property Times, PJ D group managing director Wong Ah Chiew talks about beginnings of the company and building the PJD brand. Here are some excerpts of the interview.

Q: Can you give us a brief history of the company and the various businesses it has diversified into since?
A: I was working as an electrical engineer in Ipoh, Perak when my brother suggested that we go into business together. My brother said there was a company in Air Tawar with a landbank for sale. So we got into this project called Taman Dinding in 1978 which comprised 750 units of terrace houses, bungalows, shops and low-cost units which we completed in about six years in the mid 80s.

We have since diversified into five divisions in the group. But basically we are into property development, construction, property management, manufacturing, leisure and even hotel management. We are also diversifying into timeshare having incorporated our SGI (Swiss Garden International) Vacation Club. Our operations are also being expanded with a materials-marketing division that will be handling the agency and trading of construction materials. Property however is the core expertise of the group. In fact it is the main source of income contributing about a third of the group’s profit.

Q: What about the company’s relationship with MCB Bhd and OSK Holdings Bhd?
A: MCB was an associate company, which has since been disposed. The company was the development arm of PJD but with the disposal, PJD is now focused primarily on property development. Our investment in OSK however was purely due to its profitability and the good dividends it paid.

Q: What is PJD’s philosophy with regards to property development?
A: Our philosophy is to do it right the first time. I would take the time to personally inspect the quality of the company’s construction. In fact, the quality of construction work is something we have been looking into for some time. We have our ISO certificates including one for our in-house construction arm that does only some of our work. This is because we still adopt a tender process as we believe that the best should only do the job.

We have also set up a quality control department. It’s called the Quality Assurance and Training Department. It’s there to train people and to ensure that quality is maintained.

Q: The market is becoming increasingly competitive. What are your plans for PJD’s response to this?
A: In any business the competition is always there. We can’t runaway from it nor should we worry too much. We should face it and try and overcome it and satisfy buyers.

Our response to this competition is to adopt a market-driven approach. We are very sensitive to buyers’ needs, expectations and change in tastes. For example when we were building Taman Dinding, the norm then was cement rendered flooring, but we introduced terrazo flooring for our houses instead. By the 80s we were introducing refuse chambers in our houses and also specific power points for air-conditioning units.

Q: What are the needs of the market currently and how are you addressing them?
A: We now see a shift to landscaping and security. Hartamas Regency I, which is also our first foray into the high-end market will see a lot of expenditure on these two aspects. No doubt these are condos, we will however provide a landscaped garden that will be managed by the developer.
And in respect of security, we will be spending about RM2 million on this alone. People are more conscious about this now. After all cars are very expensive these days and buyers are also concerned about the safety of their families.

Q: How big is the company’s appetite for landbank?
A: We won’t be limiting ourselves. We won’t go for too small a parcel because there are no economies of scale here. And the project will be completed before we can even make a name for ourselves.
We are actually looking for more land in the Klang Valley, especially in Kuala Lumpur. But currently we have a presence in Johor (Taman Putri Kulai) and Penang (Harbour Place in Butterworth). We are looking for quality land in these three areas. Meanwhile our 20 acres in Sri Hartamas will accommodate about 1,500 units of condos.

Q: Do you see any change in the direction PJD is heading in?
A: We have never lost money all these years. Profits in fact have improved slightly since 1997 and we now have a total asset base of about RM1 billion. Over the years we have built-up a strong balance sheet.
As you can see, we are prudent. For now we don’t see commercial properties as something we should go into. There is however room for service apartments in the market. But it also depends on location and whether there is a high frequency of visitors.

Q: How big a weightage are you going to place on service apartments?
A: We don’t want to define ourselves too rigidly. We are however introducing this in our Butterworth project (Harbour Place). In Damai Laut, we in our capacity as property managers are managing and renting out such properties.

Q: What are your views on the need for branding and why are you trying to build one?
A: This forms part of the need to be mindful of the needs of the market and to this end the customers must be satisfied first. And as far as we are concerned, we want to be known as a trustworthy developer.
Building a brand requires a track record. It is difficult to do so without one. We have a track record now - a tradition of excellence that enables us to embark on such an exercise. By doing this we also ensure that we deliver on what we promise. We want to sell a property and make a friend, not an enemy.

Q: How are you going about this branding exercise?
A: For a start we have a customer loyalty programme where previous purchasers are given additional incentives. On top of that our property management division will manage the properties of buyers who are unable to do so themselves, for instance when they are posted abroad for several years.
The bottom line is buyers are not left alone after the sale has been concluded. This division will look into the needs of the buyer post-sales.
We must remember that property is a basic human need. It is a place where the most important things of a person’s life gather. Everybody wants to make it the most enjoyable, practical and secure place possible. Our responsibility is to deliver this.