Making fantasy a reality

Making fantasy a reality

With her baby face and endearing forthright manner, Ms Ong Chih Ching, 44, gives no hint that she has headed a string of million-dollar businesses in traditionally masculine fields.

But that is how she has always lived her life, defying the norm by starting a law firm at the age of 26, breaking into the Middle East market in the late 1990s as a female lawyer and transforming fantasy - a luxury condominium with ensuite elevated car porch - into reality with Hamilton Scotts in Orchard Road.

She makes it seem normal, even mundane, that she was often the only female cutting deals in the company of captains of industry in the Middle East.

"They never talked down to me and, at that moment, I just took everything in stride."

Her long-time business partner Madam Geraldine Ong, 50, however, says: "Chih Ching gained the respect of sheikhs because of her tenacity and perseverance. They saw that they could trust and rely on her."

Lately, Ms Ong has been busy giving the iconic Fort Canning Centre a makeover.

The integrated investment company KOP Group, which she helms as chief executive, is planting an offshoot of the popular Parisian private art museum, Pinacotheque de Paris, there.

Other partners in the venture include the founder of Pinacotheque de Paris, art historian Marc Restellini, Singapore Diamond Exchange chairman Alain Vandenborre and Singapore Freeport chairman Yves Bouvier.

A teaser of their vision is on display at the centre in a pop-up exhibition, which features 19 masterpieces, including works by Rembrandt and Picasso.

After the show ends in December, the historic building, formerly home to the Singapore Dance Theatre and a culinary academy, will close its doors to the public for redevelopment.

When it re-opens in 2015, Ms Ong hopes the once drowsy enclave, which she calls Singapore's "best-kept secret", will become a "community centre", a buzzing lifestyle hub with the museum as its crown jewel, and complementary retail and dining outlets aimed to draw everyone from art lovers to families and tourists.

She acknowledges the transformation "will be a challenge because you do not pay when you go to the community centre" - the museum's admission fee has yet to be determined - but she is confident of the project's potential after having closely studied Pinacotheque de Paris' profitable business model.

The museum's down-to-earth approach to high culture and the vibrant mix of offerings onsite will appeal to a wide demographic, she believes.

And you are inclined to take her word for it because she speaks plainly of how she first viewed the project as a philanthropic undertaking "from the goodness of my heart".

She had learnt of the plans more than four years ago, but it was a late-night call from Mr Vandenborre last year that moved her to say yes.

"He said they were close to closing the deal, but had hit a wall. I felt that if somebody had persevered that long, it warranted happening and coming to fruition," says Ms Ong, who adds that the call also "came at a time when I was more emotional".

Her company then had just weathered a rough patch due to differences of views among business partners. It had also sold its stake in the historic London landmark 10 Trinity Square, which it acquired in a high-profile deal and is being developed as a hotel, luxury residence and members' club, for similar reasons.

Although she is quick to add that the relationship with her business partners remains "excellent", she is not insusceptible to heartache.

"As a woman in business, you tend to portray that you are tough, so people forget you have a heart and can be hurt. I take things in my stride but, a lot of times, I am hurt."

She admits, however, that her "sensitive" side and "strong inferiority complex" also push her to bounce back. "For me, revenge is to live better than the other person," she says.

Her father, who ran a roller- shutter business, is responsible for her complex and relentless drive, according to her. He died in 1998 and is survived by his wife and four children. Ms Ong is the second of the siblings. Eldest sister Joey is KOP Properties' chief operating officer, her younger sister is a financial analyst and the younger brother runs the family's roller-shutter business.

Of her late father, Ms Ong says: "He had only one standard, we had to score 100 marks in exams.

"He was also always tearing me down, saying I could do better. I grew up thinking I was never good enough. But I am not about giving up, so I was always proving myself."

She did well enough in school, moving from the now defunct Pei Hwa Public School near her childhood home in Seletar Hills to St Nicholas Girls' School. She completed her A levels at Holborn Law Tutors in London and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Buckingham.

Older sister Joey, 46, says Ms Ong was a talented child who excelled in drawing and sports - she was part of the national badminton team - and was streetwise from a young age.

"One day, Chih Ching, who was then in Primary 2, came to tell me that a shop in the neighbourhood was selling pencils for 10 cents cheaper than another and she was going to buy from the cheaper shop from then on. I am older than her, but I did not think about such things then."

Ms Ong's savviness was further honed during her undergraduate days in Britain.

An adrenaline junkie who sought to be different, she took up non-mainstream sports such as car racing, paragliding and pilot lessons (she quit the last halfway because she was terrified of crashing should birds get caught in the plane's engine).

To support her hobbies, she picked potatoes and strawberries on farms and even devised a self-made cardboard seat with wheels so that she could harvest potatoes quickly without having to constantly bend over.

Her go-getting spirit also led her to start the law firm Koh, Ong & Partners in 1996 because she did not get the pay rise she felt she deserved at a previous legal practice.

She borrowed $50,000 from her parents to start the firm and repaid the loan in less than six months. Word-of-mouth and support from her extended family helped her practice grow from two to 20 people by its second year.

On how she won clients, she says: "I was always ready to give people time. I would meet anyone who called me."

However, not all senior lawyers whom she encountered took her seriously. She recalls how a lawyer she was up against in a major deal, who was old enough to be her father, rang her up and sneered, "Kid, you could learn a lot from this deal". She did.

She memorised the entire relevant legal act and had the last laugh at their next meeting when she pointed out an error he made.

In 1998, eyeing a lucrative business opportunity, she brought in the popular UK beauty brand, Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, to Wisma Atria mall. This in turn led to a meeting with Mr Mubarak Fahad, then director and general manager of Wisma Development, which owned the mall.

She says: "He called saying he was interested to take Lush to Dubai so I said okay, I will come and see you. It was the one visit that changed my life."

While their meeting did not result in a deal - she was not keen on expanding Lush overseas and eventually sold the business here in 1999 because she could not find suitable retail staff - she and MrMubarak became friends.

At lunch one day, he asked her to help him with a $160-million securitisation deal. She did not think he was serious at first, but when he asked again, she obliged.

She says she was "too lazy to say no", but that area of law was not one she was familiar with, so she ended up cramming a 500-page tome on the subject in one night to get up to speed on things.

The deal was later inked and through Mr Mubarak, she got to know sheikhs in the Middle East for whom she acted as a legal adviser in their global acquisitions.

Being around the sheikhs opened her eyes to the high life. She took holidays with them in London and southern France where 50-dish feasts and yacht trips were common. She later started a private cruise and luxury yacht management business under KOP Group's hospitality arm.

It was a similar case of passion turned business with her entry into real estate development.

Her years of specialisation in corporate and property law gave her intimate knowledge of the real estate business and being "a busybody", she says, she often chipped in with advice for her clients on the concept, branding and design of their real estate projects.

So it was a natural transition when she left the world of law to pursue real estate development in earnest in 2008.

The switch came after a legal client, who had sought her opinion about acquiring the then Horizon View condominium in Cairnhill, decided not to proceed with it.

She says: "A lot of ideas went into it... we were disappointed, so we asked if we could get our friends together and do it, and they said fine."

She also managed to persuade luxury hotel brand The Ritz-Carlton to endorse the posh 58-unit residence, whose amenities include sky terraces, a manicured maze garden and a wine cellar.

The design of The Ritz-Carlton Residences reflects her taste for the finer things in life.

She drives an Aston Martin, owns about 100 luxury watches, including brands such as Patek Philippe and Rolex - she also co-founded Bezel, a watch collectors' guild here in 2003 - and favours high-end fashion labels such as Brioni and Facconable.

Similarly, the residential property exudes elegance. Its light-infused lobby, for example, is decorated with hand-picked pieces of furniture including an antique grandfather clock, plush armchairs and a custom-designed floriate pattern on the cream-coloured travertine stone wall.

Her bachelorette home in the building is likewise chic yet soulful, dotted with curios, pieces of sculpture and works of pleasing contemporary art.

In the living room, while waiting for the photo shoot for this interview to be set up, she tenderly cuddles a cartoon- like cat sculpture in her lap.

To relax, she belts out songs on her home karaoke system with friends or swims with her neighbour's children in the condominium pool.

Her preference for a refined rather than extravagant life sets the direction for her business.

She says: "Since the financial crash of 2009, the high-end market has reached a stalemate and the world is moving towards a more balanced lifestyle."

With her eyes set on "affordable luxury" and a family-centric way of life that she calls a new trend, she launched Montigo Resorts Nongsa in Batam, Indonesia, last year. A villa at the five-star family- friendly getaway is priced from around $350 a night.

Her wager seems to have paid off. The seafront holiday spot with 196 private villas and residences is often fully booked.

She says: "If I receive a call from someone I haven't heard from in a long time, it is likely because he can't get into the resort." A second Montigo Resort in Seminyak, Bali, is in the pipeline.

Vindicated by the warm public response to her idea of a refined way of life with "soul", she is similarly upbeat about the response to Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris when it debuts.

She says: "It will be a community centre with a vibrant atmosphere. People won't find it stuffy."

lijie@sph.com.sg


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