Sheng Tai has big plans to turn Malacca into the new growth centre of Malaysia.
Part of the maritime Silk Road, Malacca was founded in 1402 and quickly became one of the leading commercial centres of the Far East. By the 16th century, Malacca rose as the supreme economic power in Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
Award-winning property company Sheng Tai International (STI) has in recent times concentrated a lot of its development efforts in Malacca, the state once dubbed the ‘Venice of the East” in its heyday. Looking at the company’s track record, and Malacca’s economic potential in transforming into a modern, booming, economic powerhouse, it’s easy to understand why.
STI was established in Hong Kong in 2012 by Dato’ Leong Sir Ley, the iron lady behind the company’s success in impressively developing properties in key cities around the world such as Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Korea, and the United States.
Leveraging on the company’s strength in international marketing for properties and developments, the company has also ventured quite successfully into rehabilitating abandoned projects as well. The big success story is the Metrasquare development in Malacca that the company took over and has transformed into a successful hotel business featuring two award-winning hotels, Metrasquare and Ames.
STI has continued to invest heavily into developments in the state since then, the key project being the company’s flagship development The Sail Malacca, an ambitious integrated development that the company hopes will change the architectural landscape and the state’s economic outlook for the foreseeable future.
We spoke to founder Dato’ Leong Sir Ley to try and understand what has attracted the internationally-recognised property company to focus its growth and development efforts in Malacca.
Why Malacca?
The company’s relationship with the state began when it took up the challenge to rehabilitate the once-abandoned Metrasquare development back in 2017 and turned it into a successful hotel business today (Metrasquare and Ames Hotel).
The success of the rehabilitated development gave Dato’ Leong an indication of the potential the state has to offer. “The rich and diverse cultural heritage and historical significance of Malacca give it a unique edge over other states,” shared Dato’ Leong. “This is probably why Malacca continues to be such a popular tourist destination even till today.” Malacca is ranked the second most popular tourist destination after KL with visitors increasing year-on-year thus leading to the state achieving its target of 17 million tourist arrivals back in 2018.
STI’s belief in Malacca’s potential is best illustrated by the company’s ambitious flagship project The Sail Melaka, an impressive 6.5 billion integrated development in Kota Laksamana in Malacca. The development combines residential development with retail and a luxury hotel to position itself as a key destination for tourists in the foreseeable future.
What are some of STI’s efforts in promoting Malacca as an attractive tourist destination?
STI’s strength has always been in its ability to market its developments internationally and to diverse cultures. It’s a key reason why they have been so successful in rehabilitating abandoned developments over the years. The company has been hard at work in recent times promoting its developments in Malacca. They are doing that by first marketing the state as an attractive tourist destination. “Malacca is a very attractive tourist destination if you think about it. The strategic location of the state and the Portuguese and Dutch settlements of the past have given it a cultural and architectural diversity that no other Malaysian state has. This has translated into heritage with a compelling story and of course, delicious food, all of its key components on why people love to travel,” Dato’ Leong added.
To market Malacca, the company feels it just needs to tell people what the state is all about, “We’ve placed some emphasis on promoting traffic to Malacca by having our overseas branches in Hong Kong, Japan, and China to have weekly seminars and roadshows focusing on our developments and the travel potential of Malacca.” The company also runs property tourism ads for its developments in Malacca on Hong Kong TV. From a local perspective, the company is also involved in events happening around popular tourist destination Jonker Street in Malacca.
What have been some challenges to that?
Covid-19 has of course had an adverse impact on the tourism potential and revenue of Malacca with hardly any travel allowed in the last 6-months. Despite this, Dato’ Leong feels there is still light at the end of the tunnel. “Yes, things will probably not be the same anymore post-pandemic and there is a need for everyone to adhere to the new norm. However, since interstate travel was allowed in October, the tourism industry in the state has been somewhat revitalised.” She noted for example that the Melaka River Cruise has received more than 10,000 visitors for the past 14 days.
What are the key components to the revitalisation of the state’s social and economic landscape?
Dato’ Leong sees the Melaka Waterfront Economic Zone (M-WEZ) as a key component in the revitalisation of the state’s economy post-Covid. The M-WEZ will be developed on 25,000 acres of coastal reclaimed land, and a 33km stretch from Sungai Udang to the south in Umbai. “M-WEZ is set to be the main contributor to the state economy and would attract over RM100 billion in global investments over 15 years, creating more than 20,000 jobs every year,” shared Dato’ Leong. This sentiment is echoed by the Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali who mentioned that the economic zone is expected to contribute between RM3 billion and RM4 billion, or about 5%, to the state’s annual GDP by 2035. “By turning Malacca into a new growth centre in Malaysia, it will become a place where people around the world will come to live, work, visit and to yes, to invest.”
How vital is STI’s flagship development The Sail in contributing to the success of M-WEZ?
STI’s flagship development The Sail is set to dominate the skyline of M-WEZ. Dato’ Leong sees the development as the perfect compendium to it, “The Sail will provide the fun factor in attracting not just business travellers or investors, but tourists to Malacca.” The Sail’s iconic design, featuring the 9 towers that resemble the sails of a ship (in tribute to the rich maritime history of the state) will feature within it, Malacca’s largest shopping mall and a cultural street that the company hopes will be the next Jonker Street. “The Sail will complement what M-WEZ is trying to do, which is to create jobs, attract in people who will spend in the state and in turn, revitalise an economy that has taken a bit of a beating during the pandemic.”
STI hopes to create a long-lasting partnership between the company and the state of Malacca. Dato’ Leong sees STI’s success as very much wedded to the success of the state, “We believe in the potential of Malacca. It’s the main reason why we have chosen to invest so heavily into it. We see the state’s success translating to our company’s success.”