HONG KONG (July 2, 2019) – Ong Choon Fah, CEO and Head, Research & Consulting at Edmund Tie & Company, has been appointed Chair of Singapore for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), an interdisciplinary research and education institute with more than 43,000 members dedicated to leadership in real estate and land use and creating thriving communities worldwide.
Ong Choon Fah has more than 25 years of experience in real estate and academia spanning across various sectors, with public and private sector clients, for profit and non-profit organisations, occupiers, investors, institutions and REITs. Choon Fah is passionate about real estate as it has the potential to create a sustainable built-environment and a thriving and harmonious community. As ULI Singapore Chair, she will lead the Executive Committee in Singapore, which will continue to provide long-term thinking and suggest sustainable solutions for the city’s ongoing development.
Ong Choon Fah succeeds Khoo Teng Chye, Executive Director for the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC), Ministry of National Development (MND), who held the position of ULI Singapore Chairman for two years, and who, as ULI’s first regional Council Chair to come from the public sector, greatly enhanced the engagement between the public and private sectors.
Stepping in to her new position, Ong Choon Fah plans to focus her efforts on:
- Expanding ULI’s Advisory Services Programme by introducing Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs) to Singapore. TAPs are part of the ULI Advisory Programme formed to address land use challenges that require local knowledge to resolve.
- Forming another Product Council. A specific group of ULI members that will convene regularly and exchange information and share best practice around a particular issue related to the responsible use of land.
- Building out ULI’s NEXT Member Network in Singapore. NEXT is a specific ULI programme that engages and supports ULI members aged 35-45 into all of ULI’s activities. NEXT supports the ULI mission by identifying, connecting, and elevating the next generation of leaders for the built environment and ULI globally.
“It is an honour for me to be invited to be Chair of ULI Singapore, building on the outstanding work that Teng Chye has done,” said Ong Choon Fah, CEO and Head, Research & Consulting at Edmund Tie & Company. “I obviously want to cater to the needs of ULI’s existing members but I also want to further promote the great work that ULI is doing in Singapore and to work with both the public and educational sectors in helping to extend ULI’s mission in the market.”
“We are delighted that Ong Choon Fah will be leading the national council in Singapore,” said Nicholas Brooke, ULI Asia Pacific Chairman. “ULI membership has grown rapidly in the ‘Lion City’ and the organisation is not only important in helping support the development of the city but it is also having a positive impact on the development of the region.”
“I have long been an admirer of the work that Ong Choon Fah has done in Singapore,” said Khoo Teng Chye, outgoing ULI Singapore Chairman, “She has a wealth of rich and diverse experience in the local real estate industry, and I am certain that she will do an amazing job for both ULI and the people of Singapore.”
About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute is a global nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in sustaining and creating thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has almost 43,000 members worldwide, representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines working in private enterprise and public service.
Across Asia Pacific, the Institute has more than 2,200 members, with a particularly strong presence in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Philippines and Singapore. By building and sustaining a diverse network of local experts in the region, the Institute is able to address the current and future challenges facing cities in the Asia Pacific region. To learn more or to become a member, please visit asia.uli.org.