A night to remember

It was a prestigious night as the creme de la creme of the country’s property sector were honoured at the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) Malaysia Property Award 2009 on Monday.

Dubbed the “Property Oscars” by industry players, the highlight of the night was the ‘Property CEO of the Year’ award that was bagged by Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) group managing director Shahril Ridza Ridzuan, who humbly attributed the win to his MRCB team.


MRCB group MD Shahril Ridza Ridzuan with his Property CEO of the Year award.

“I am very thankful to my team at MRCB who are instrumental in me winning this award. It is a testimony to all the hard work done by them. I am just lucky to be their CEO at this point in time,” he said.

“This will also give my team a lot of motivation going forward in terms of the business and improving the (quality) of the properties for the future as well,” said Shahril.

No less important were the six other awards that were presented the same night to some of the top property developers in the country.

The winners were UEM Land Bhd’s Puteri Harbour in Nusajaya, Johor (Master Plan Category); SDB Properties Sdn Bhd’s Park Seven in Kuala Lumpur (Residential Development – high rise); Perdana ParkCity Sdn Bhd’s Adiva in Kuala Lumpur (Residential Development – low rise); Boustead Curve Sdn Bhd’s The Curve, Mutiara Damansara in Petaling Jaya (Retail Development); Menara Hap Seng Sdn Bhd’s Menara Hap Seng in Kuala Lumpur (Office Development Category) and MRCB’s Sooka Sentral in Kuala Lumpur (Purpose-Built Project).

Boustead Curve’s director Datuk Ghazali Mohd Ali said winning the award was another milestone for the company.

“I believe that winning is not the end. It’s a journey we have to go through from now on.”


Boustead director Datuk Ghazali Mohd Ali with his award for Boustead Curve Sdn Bhd’s The Curve.

Perdana ParkCity group chief executive officer Lee Liam Chye was clearly thrilled.

“It’s a recognition for some of the ideas we’ve been doing for ParkCity. FIABCI has stature in the market. Winning it is a recognition by our peers that we did something extraordinary for the particular year.”

The event was held in a glittering ceremony at The Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

It was graced by the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and attended by local and foreign guests.

The 2009 Malaysia Property Award was organised by FIABCI Malaysia, with Malayan Banking Bhd as the official sponsor.

The emphasis for this year’s event was “Intrinsic Value in Holistic Living”.

Winners of the Malaysia Property Award in their relevant categories will represent Malaysia next year at the International Prix d’Excellence in Bali, Indonesia.

By The Star (by Eugene Mahalingam, Edy Sarif, Leow Yong May and Lavonne Cheah)