I was also doing project management, project accounting, so IвЂ™m quite familiar in regards to managing project and also dealing with technical matters and also with engineers and consultants.вЂќRegardless of the different industries he has been involved in, Haji Azlan views them through the same lens. вЂњWe were managing close to about RM5bil worth of assets, capex yearly close about 1.5bil, and opex close about RM900m to RM1bilвЂ¦so IвЂ™m quite familiar with civil, mechanical, works, project management. His accumulated wealth of experience started in 1992 when he worked at Petronas, Celcom, A&W, TDM Berhad, Malaysia National Insurance Berhad (MNIB), PruBSN Takaful Berhad and Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB).вЂњSo basically I have a varied experience in terms of industries, ranging from oil and gas to healthcare to the fast food business, to telecommunication,вЂќ he reminisces in an exclusive interview with Property Insight.вЂњTelecommunication has a direct bearing with what IвЂ™m doing now in PKNS because I was the head of infrastructure group,вЂќ Haji Azlan relates. Whether you are beginner, high net-worth individual, instiutional investor. Dolf de Roos Ask most people on their retirement what their greatest asset is, and the vast majority will answer that it is their home In nearly all cases it is their home, and you will Coming from the accountancy background with proven expertise in assets management, Haji Azlan Md Alifiah is now getting busy in the property industry as the General Manager of Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS).Dr Dolf de Roos is the author of Real Estate Riches (part of Rich Dad Poor Dad Series), a New York Times Best Seller. Courage means acting despite your fear.

There are three things that you need: the clothes that you wear, the food that you eat, and also the roof for your head. So that creation of value I think would have, created about additional RM500mil or RM600mil of value.вЂќвЂњBy doing the turnaround in Kumpulan Hartanah, taking it private, looking at the pitfalls and the problem we had, that really piqued my interest in the property business,вЂќ Haji Azlan says.He adds, вЂњProperty, if you compared to other type of business, is something that is a need of everyone. вЂњWe have done the listing, we have now got 95% of the shareholdings with the state, or with KDEB, and now we are finalising to take the remainder of 5% so it would become 100% on our own within the next few months. вЂњBecause IвЂ™m a chartered accountant by background, cost management is one of my specialisation.вЂќAt KDEB, Haji Azlan as the CFO was tasked to turn around the company and addressed the lack of performance of KDEBвЂ™s property subsidiary Kumpulan Hartanah, which Haji Azlan saw the need for the company to take private some of the undervalued assets due the markets not pricing it correctly.вЂњSo I was the one entrusted to take Kumpulan Hartanah private, and we managed to do that in the late 2013,вЂќ he says.

вЂњFor example, in telcos, six months to one year after you roll up the network, immediately you can get the income,вЂќ he explains. вЂњAssets have certain maturity, some have longer term durations, some medium term, some shorter term, and some have different complexity,вЂќ but while some constraints are different, the goal remains.вЂњWhen we are assets manager we have to make sure that our assets perform accordingly,вЂќ Haji Azlan says. IвЂ™ve been in the financial industry, IвЂ™ve been in the civil, mechanical, electrical industry, and I find that there is always an element where we can use the best in all these industries to bring to PKNS as a property developer.вЂќHaji Azlan manages PKNS by not looking at the company as a property player per se, but rather as an asset manager instead.

He himself has grown to love PKNS because of this aspect. And close to about 85% of those houses are in the affordable housing and medium cost housing range.вЂќIn Haji AzlanвЂ™s belief, PKNSвЂ™s reason of existence is also to ensure it provides the necessary housing for the people of Selangor, more necessarily so for the middle to lower income group. And when you look at PKNS, since day one when we have embarked in 1964, we have close to about 150,000 units of property houses built. вЂњIвЂ™m at a certain age where I do believe that everybody needs to return something to the public, to the people at large. And then the constructions stage, youвЂ™ll take three years and you can only start billing when 60% have been built.вЂќIn addition, PKNS business model appeals to Haji Azlan because it is a property development company that is not looking for profits only but also at its social responsibilities. You have the planning stage, you can take one year.

The make-up of our development will still be 85% low to affordable housing and middle income housing,вЂќ he says. вЂњWeвЂ™re still going to go forward. ThatвЂ™s PKNS,вЂќ he emphasises.PKNS is transforming to be more effective and efficient, according to Haji Azlan, but the company will never forget its root. So we have created township in Keramat, Ampang Ulu Kelang, Bangi, Shah Alam, and so onвЂ¦These gave a very good quality of living for the people living in our townships. This is where PKNS comes in. So there is a need for developer that will be able to reach into those urban poor or middle income groups.

Clear new ground, get new directions, achieve new targets and design it to go beyond certain terminal life,вЂќ he says.Another mantra of his in managing a company is to always believe in the S curve. By doing that, you can renew the organisation, and you can push forward. вЂњYou always need to do renewal вЂ“ of the people, of the way you do business. A renewal process is hence needed, according to Haji Azlan, for a company to remain competitive. Hence, he aims to nuture a company that has good recurring income, and be sustainable for at least another 50 years.вЂњIf you look at historical data, close to about 90% of the companies were not able to sustain more than 50 or 60 years,вЂќ he says. He wants PKNS to be a sustainable company, sustainable developer, and sustainable group of companies.

However, Haji Azlan stresses, вЂњWhat high-end brings to the picture is actually profits for us to do the affordable housings.вЂќ In developing affordable housings, he explains PKNS has to subsidise the cost of the affordable housings to the tune of between RM30k to RM100k per house. вЂњWorldwide is also developing between 200-300 units of affordable housing in Puncak Bestari, and this year Selaman is also undertaking affordable housing in Padang Jawa.вЂќApart from that, PKNS is also focusing on the high-end development. In 2017, according to Haji Azlan, PKNS aims to build about 1,000 units and ultimately it would have 2,000 units of affordable housings in Selangor Science Park 2.Other than PKNS itself, it subsidiary companies like Worldwide Holdings Bhd (Worldwide WHB) and Selaman Sdn Bhd (Selaman) are also developing affordable housings. вЂњFor example, our affordable housings that we are targeted to construct next year is in Selangor Science Park 2 (in Cyberjaya) with 500 units,вЂќ he says. So this is where transformation and reformation needs to be done.вЂќPKNS is targeting to develop within the next five years of 750k 7,500 units of affordable housings within five years starting this year, and the projects are in northern region, central region, and some in the southern region.

The planning of Selangor Science Park 2 is interesting, according to Haji Azlan, as the company is set to build its new Selatan office there, along with shopping malls, 2,000 units of affordable housings, and also three plots of interconnected lakes.Its second landbank is PKNS land in Bernam Jaya, what Haji Azlan describes as the вЂњhigher hanging fruit,вЂќ which he thinks is going to mature within the next five to 15 years. вЂњWeвЂ™re looking to develop about 500 acres, and the concept is on the educational side вЂ“ having an educational centre from the pre-school to the primary and secondary and going forward to tertiary, and that would allow us to be able to attract the necessary community.вЂќThe rest of the land in Cyberjaya that is nearly 700 acres is going to be developed by PKNS itself, a departure from its вЂzero-landbankвЂ™ strategy that previously focused more on JVs. вЂњOur idea is actually to create a catalyst,вЂќ he says. The company is now in detail discussion to ink a joint venture agreement with Raudhah City. вЂњThis is something that I hope people understand: we have to make profit because we have to subsidise affordable housings.вЂќPKNS has two big landbanks, especially in Selangor Science Park 2 in Cyberjaya that is nearly 130 1,500 acres which it is targeting to start major development by this year. So it is very difficult if you do not make profits from the high-end one to do that.вЂќHaji Azlan notes that it is very seldom for other developers to be able to do what PKNS is doing for its social agenda.

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