Organising Committee (from left) Teh Teik Bin, Dr Yu Kee Su, Yeow Thit Sang, YM Tengku Datuk Ab. Aziz Tengku Mahmud, Datuk Dr Jennifer Low, Geh Thuan Peng, Datuk Koe Peng Kang, Sally Ng and Firdaus Musa.
THIS year marks the 25th anniversary of the Malaysia Property Award™, which is the gold standard for developers in the real estate industry. Winning the award comes with the highest accolades, recognition and prestige.
Renowned for its stringent judging process, the award has been creating benchmarks of excellence for developers to develop projects of exquisite quality that are perfect in every aspect.
Often dubbed as the property “Oscar Award”, the Malaysia Property Award™ has not only been setting trends for the future but has also contributed greatly to the industry’s growth.
“I was amazed with the participating projects that are on par with international developments, if not better!” complimented FIABCI Malaysia president Yang Mulia Tengku Datuk Abdul Aziz Tengku Mahmud.
He added that safety is an important aspect that every developer should take into consideration and that high quality materials should be used in the construction to avoid untoward accidents.
YM Tengku Datuk Ab. Aziz Tengku Mahmud, president.
New categories
The ‘Public Sector’ category is added to garner more participation from Governmentbuilt projects while the ‘Affordable Housing’ category is to encourage private developers to provide more affordable homes.
Abdul Aziz opined that Government-built projects too deserved some recognition to boost the confidence of the general public.
He also hoped more private developers would build more affordable housing that are of high quality but price friendly to help the younger generation and first-time homebuyers to own homes.
Tough competition
Abdul Aziz said competition was very stiff, sometimes with several projects getting very close marks. Those who did not win should continue to strive for the better and take this opportunity to learn and improve further.
As for the winners, the award should serve as a motivation for them to build more excellent developments that bring positive impact to the community and industry, therefore improving the quality of life for the people.
Money can’t buy
Teh Teik Bin, organising chairman.
Malaysia Property Award™ organizing chairman Teh Teik Bin emphasised that the award cannot be bought with money with the judging criteria getting stricter by the years to ensure that the winners truly deserve the recognition.
“I am so proud of the award’s sterling credibility and reputation built over 25 years!”.
Learning platform
Teh said the stringent evaluation and judging process serves as a good learning platform for every individual involved, even the evaluators, who get to widen their knowledge and expertise, by visiting the sites and collecting information of participating projects.
He added that the Panel of Jury as well as Independent Judges of the award will show no mercy when eliminating projects that do not meet the criteria.
Premium evaluation criteria
FIABCI World President Farook Mahmood.
FIABCI World president Farook Mahmood said the award is a success story whereby its judging criteria has been adopted by its international counterpart, the FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Awards.
“FIABCI Malaysia has been promoting the growth of the country’s property industry by setting premium evaluation standard that motivates developers to develop high quality projects to benefit the entire community.”
He added that Malaysia has many outstanding projects that outshine those of other countries.
“It was such a pleasure to be invited to the Malaysia Property AwardTM. FIABCI Malaysia has been doing a good job promoting the industry growth and the development projects’ standard by setting premium evaluation criteria, which motivates the property developers to strive to do better in the development projects that benefit the entire community.”
“Malaysia Property AwardTM is a story of success whereby its judging criteria has been adopted in the international property award, FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Award which serves as a benchmark for the property developers in other countries to develop better projects each and every year. The winnng projects from Malaysia that participate in the FIABCI Prix d’Excellence Awards have never failed to amaze the judges from overseas. More and more excellent projects from Malaysia outshine projects from other countries. A big thumbs up for Malaysian developers!” said Farook Mahmood.
Independent Judges
Datuk Yeo Heng Hao: I have been the Independent Judge for five years and am glad to see the standard of local projects improving every year. The judging criteria has certainly set a benchmark for developers. Nevertheless, I still hope to see more innovative projects and mid-cost housing to provide homebuyers with varied choices.
Datuk Ismail Md Salleh: What amazes me is how developers transform barren lands into residential enclaves while preserving the sustainability of the environment. In recent years, green technology is being widely applied and integrated into development projects. Some even introduced digitalizing elements to make their projects more modernised.
Independent Judges (from left) Datuk Hj Ismail Md Salleh, Datuk Dr Soh Chai Hock, Tan Sri Kamarul Ariffin Mohamed Yassin and Datuk Yeo Heng Hau.
Panel of Jury
Ezumi Harzani Ismail: The competition was very tough, making the marking process a difficult one. A development project must take into account environmental issues and sustainability while planning. Connectivity is another vital aspect in determining the success of the project.
Khiruddin Drahman @ Hussaini: Safety is the key component of a development project. Hence, I urge all developers to take this matter seriously when planning their projects and use safe and high quality construction materials.
Eric Kho Ying Tian: The world is fast changing, and so are the demands of the public. With the rapid growth of technology, people now yearns for a different living experience. Developers must thus be innovative, yet sensitive, to market's demands. They must conduct researches and build properties catering to what the people needs.
Evaluators
James Short: This is my first year as an evaluator and it has indeed been an eye-opening experience for me. I am particularly impressed by the participating projects in conservation and rehabilitation.
Herbert Leong: I have been an evaluator for 14 years and the overall quality of participating projects have improved over the years. To date, many developers take the judging criteria as guidelines in their project planning to create outstanding developments
Normalis Abdul Samad: This year marks my fourth anniversary as an evaluator for the award. The experience has helped widen my knowledge on the latest property trends and the direction the industry is heading.
Malaysia Property Award™, formerly known as FIABCI Award of Distinction back in 1992, has been leading the industry growth for 25 years now.
FIABCI Malaysia secretary general Dr Yu Kee Su, who has been the award’s secretary, evaluation chairman and organizing chairman for numerous years, explained in detail the evolution of the award.
Panel of Jury (from left) Robert Marie, Datuk Ng Kee Leen, Chan Hoi Choy, Datuk Sri Kandan Kanagainthiram, Haji Khirudin Drahman, Tengku Datuk Ab Aziz Tengku Mahmud (president), Datuk Pretam Singh Darshan Singh, Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok, Peter Koh Hock Guan, Erick Kho Ying Tian, Ezumi Harzani Ismail, Tan Yean Chin and Foo Gee Jen.
Award categories
The award started with six categories — Property Man of the Year, Commercial, Hotel, Residential, Best Project Management and Most Innovative Financier.
The award ceremony and gala dinner received overwhelming response from the professionals in the real estate industry, prompting FIABCI Malaysia to organise the event again the following year.
To better reflect its objective of recognizing projects of excellence, Best Project Management and Most Innovative Financier were replaced with Industrial, Leisure, Resort and Special Award.
The latter category was intended for projects that deserve recognition but did not fit into any of the above mentioned categories.
The Green Award category was added in 1995 for projects that are environmentally friendly with green technologies and features.
Public Sector was included in 2000, Office in 2001, Master Plan in 2003, Property CEO in 2005, Purpose-Built Project in 2009, Sustainable Development as well as Environment (Rehabilitation/Conservation) in 2011, Heritage in 2012, and Affordable Housing in 2017.
Judging Process
According to Yu, the judging process was much simpler with only one tier of judging in 1992. The evaluation stage was added the next year, where the evaluation committee had to conduct physical visit to the submitted projects and report to the organizing committee before presenting to the Judges Panel.
Initially, only one evaluator was required. However to ensure a completely fair and transparent evaluation, a group of four to six evaluators must be present throughout the entire site visit process.
Another stage, Panel of Jury, was added to the judging process in 2011. The Panel of Jury would screen the submitted projects with the best three entries selected to the Independent Judges’ meeting.
Judging criteria
There was only one judging criteria initially, covering the six aspects of preparatory phase of the project, development and construction, marketing and management, community benefit and environment, and customer satisfaction.
The year 2005 marked a new milestone for the award which not only changed its name to Malaysia Property Award™ but the judging criteria also experienced a major revamp.
To better reflect the rigidity of the award, the new judging criteria was formulated to encompass general description of the project, architecture and design, development and construction, community benefit and environment impact, financial and marketing.
For the Master Plan category, two representatives are allowed to attend the Independent Judges’ meeting to further explain their projects, while for the Property Man and Property CEO, the Independent Judges must decide on the winner on full consensus.
Code of conduct
Yu had introduced the code of conduct in 2010 to ensure the judging process is conducted in an absolutely fair, professional, transparent and equitable manner.
All evaluators must evaluate consistently and confidentially. They must work in their personal capacity as FIABCI Malaysia’s representatives and not representing their own company, any organisation or interest group. Shall they have any direct or indirect link to the submitted projects, they shall abstain from evaluating the entire category.
An evaluator is strictly prohibited from making personal contact and visits to participating companies, receive any gifts or offers, and at all times keep the information of the submitted projects absolutely confidential.
The Panel of Jury and Independent Judges are required to maintain independency, professionalism and transparency during the judging process.
They are required to give marks on the merit and quality of the projects according to the judging criteria. Comparison should be made between projects of the same category based on strengths and weaknesses.
They are also encouraged to post questions to evaluators during the judging process as to why the project deserves the award.
Evolution of trophies.
Evolution of trophies
The trophy has undergone four changes throughout the 25 years.
From 1992 to 2004, the motif was that of a stylised artistic vision of a bird feeding its young in a nest to signify the ultimate goal of properties which is to provide accommodation, one of the key basic needs of human beings.
The sculpture also epitomises FIABCI’s commitment to the environment where birds and other animals can only exist if we do not destroy their natural habitats but learn to live harmoniously with them.
The design also served as a reminder that it is everyone’s responsibility to make the world a better place for the future generation.
The award, therefore, signifies FIABCI’s support to those who nurture quality in all their developments and help to preserve the environment.
A new trophy had been in used since 2005. The butterfly as it emerges in all its radiance from the pupa symbolizes that the Malaysia Property Award™ has evolved from the FIABCI Award of Distinction.
Symbolically, the five pillars depicted on the trophy enumerate the five continents in which FIABCI holds esteemed membership from the real estate fraternity.
The emergence of the beautiful butterfly is a harmonious process in nature, a process that is essential in the real estate industry where the best is developed in a conducive environment.
It extols the virtues of nature, yet subjugates it to all that must be considered for man to habituate the earth. Due attention and understanding are necessary for joyful habitation.
The Malaysia Property Award™ exemplifies inspiration from all things beautiful and peaceful.
Coffee Table Book editions over the years.
Evolution of the coffee table book
The souvenir book to commemorate the award winners has gone through many changes from the original brochure style to the current hard bound cover.
The early production was only a souvenir programme book with minimal information contained within. The hard cover coffee table book was introduced in 2008 with comprehensive information to reflect the premium quality of the award.
FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Awards
Malaysian development projects are frequent winners, 68 to be exact over the 25 years, in this international property award.
These include the four winners that were awarded in conjunction with the 68th FIABCI World Congress at Andorra this year.
Ending remarks
Yu described his feelings on the 25 years of the Malaysia Property Award™ as “a father witnessing the growth of his child from a newborn to a matured adult. The only difference is that the father will let go of his child when he is ready but FIABCI Malaysia will never give up organising this prestigious award.”
“It had been a long and exhausting journey. We would not have achieved what we have today had it not been for the strong determination and support of everyone involved,” he added.
He is happy that the award has yielded an impregnable reputation in the industry and hope that it will continue to grow with more developers of all sizes participating.
