Property Hunter Magazine September Issue 2014 | Page 52

/// Exclusive Interview

SR. CHUA SOON PING
Going Against The Grain

/// EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

C

hua Soon Ping has been
challenging the rules of
convention for most of his student
and adult life. It wasn’t the rebellious
compulsion to break any rule but
an instinctive desire to see how far
he can bend the rules to produce a
more innovative outcome.
While going through secondary
school and then studying quantity
surveying at Portsmouth University
in England, Chua was always curious
to find out more. It wasn’t enough to
just know the right answers, he also
wanted to know if there was more
than ONE right answer.
“When I was studying quantity
surveying, I would always apply
that kind of thinking – knowingly or
unknowingly,” he says. “I don’t just
follow the textbook but wanted to
study further. You don’t get extra
marks for knowing more than what
is required but there was always
that curiosity.”
Chua was born in Tawau into a very
artistically inclined family. All his
siblings have been active in the art
field in some form but Chua decided
to forego his inherited penchant for
art and decided to pursue quantity
surveying as his university major.
After graduation, he returned to
Malaysia and worked for a large
quantity surveying firm with offices
throughout Asia. This experience
gave Chua a broader perspective of
his work and its role in the property
development industry.
The recession that hit Asia in the late
1990s saw the property market dip
and slump, and while it struggled
to keep afloat, Chua did something
quite out of the ordinary. He left for
London to do a master’s degree in –
property development.
He explained that after years of
working for property developers and
studying the industry, he wanted to
explore other areas of the industry
besides quantity surveying. Of
particular interest to him was the
green building concept.
“When I was young, I would go
back to the farm and live in a
wooden house with a high attap

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roof. When it rained, you had to
collect the rainwater to reuse for
household chores. And even without
a fan or air-con, you can still sleep
comfortably because there was
a nice flow of air throughout the
house,” he reminisced.
This vivid childhood memory would
form the basis of his passion for
green technology.
Chua was always drawn to
innovation whether it is a business
or a pursuit. “It’s just like cooking –
you use the same recipe but add
something different to give it a
different flavour. Sometimes in life,
you cannot always listen to people.
I know this is the right way and I am
passionate about it although it is
very challenging.”
Despite his high level of selfconfidence, his first step into the
property development industry
was not devoid of some fear and
trepidation.
“Making the transition from quantity
surveyor to developer was scary.
Quantity surveying is just a small
part of the building profession with
so many other aspects to take into
account like working with architects,
suppliers, contractors, and
acquisition of property,” he explains.
And the scariest part was