According to Cheah, the Sunway group is buying three buildings for student accommodations in Bristol and Sheffield.
Cheah said had he studied in a Chinese school during his younger days, Sunway Group’s investment in China would have been bigger than the current size. “I have always set very high benchmarks. If I don’t set high benchmarks, my people may think that we are so good. So, I say ‘Harvard of the East’. Now, of course, we are linked with Cambridge and Harvard, and universities always compete.
“If you go to Harvard and Cambridge, a lot of people asked me, ‘How do you get to link up with these people?’” We have to do what we have to do. They will check you left, right and centre... your integrity, reputation, who are we and who are we tying up with. They are all now very satisfied with the relationship, and we can develop a much, much stronger relationship... they will help us. They’re happy to impart knowledge to our people.
“Teeming costs money. We tie ropes on the walk track, a bit of artificial rock here and there to make it look real, and then landscaped it very well. These are extra, extra things. But when people come, they say, ‘wow’. When you charge them a higher price, they say, ‘OK, it’s fine’.