The Swhengtee Real Estate Investment Expo was not just an ordinary market place for developers and homebuyers but doubles up as an intensive course on property investing as over 30 speakers shared their investment strategies.
In this era of globalisation, knowledge of property investment is crucial for a sustainable and healthy real estate market, says Dato’ Seri Gavin Tee, President of Swhengtee Group, the organiser of the inaugural Swhengtee Expo which was held in Kuala Lumpur late February. The property expo had the distinction of hosting over 30 speakers from various specialties within the industry – from legal and tax to Feng Shui and finance. It is believed to be the biggest gathering of property speakers in one single event.
An expo is typically a market place for developers and homebuyers but Gavin had made it into an educational event, with a promise to upgrade the knowledge of the public on property investing. “If everyone is knowledgeable in property, there won’t be much speculative activities nor fraud cases. Instead, there will be a healthy real estate market,” he said.
This is in line with Tee’s mission to educate the general public on property investment. “This expo is not solely profit-driven; instead there will be many activities to engage the public and educate them on everything related to property,” said the international speaker who is also the organising chairman of the expo. He added: “I believe Malaysians need to arm themselves with property investing knowledge in order to maintain our competitive edge in an increasingly globalised world. Otherwise, we are going to be like a third world country in real estate and our best properties might fall into the hands of foreigners,” he 
warned. Tee’s 9th Annual Forecast Talk, conducted in both English and Chinese, was very well attended. Tee predicted that from 2018, the property market in Malaysia will start to come out of the doldrums and hit its peak between 2018 and 2020, after which the market will settle into a matured phase between 2025 and 2030. Prior to that bright period however, the country will see its worst market performance in 2016 since the past 8 years.
Well-attended talks and forums Officiated by Dato’ Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, the event was co-organised by Asian Property Review (APR) and Real Estate Malaysia (REM) magazines. Turnout was 15,000 visitors at the 3-day event in Mid Valley Exhibition Centre (MVEC), Kuala Lumpur. About 20 out of the 30 talks were fully packed while the three forums – Iskandar Malaysia forum, Outlook 2016 forum and a Chinese forum were lively sessions eliciting many questions from the floor.
In particular, the Outlook 2016 forum, which was moderated by Jan Yong, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Property Review drew a lot of questions from the audience. The panellists, comprising mapmaker Ho Chin Soon, lawyer Elizabeth Siew, consultants Ishmael Ho and Dr Daniele Gambero, accountant Koong Ling Loong and Tee responded sportingly to many of the difficult questions posed such as Impact on the Malaysian property market should oil price dipped below USD10 a barrel, whether property price will go up or down and even a question on how the Malaysian political situation will affect the market.
On the last day of the expo, an Appreciation Night was held where Tee gave out awards to Nusmetro and Sime Darby for the Best Booth Design and the Overall Best Booth respectively. He also awarded Ho Chin Soon and Chris Tan the Best Property Speaker award and Most Creative Property Author award respectively. Prior to that, Elizabeth Siew held a book launch of her latest book, “Smart Property Investors Know the Law series in Creative Investment”.
To complement the educational aspect of the expo, the organiser has printed about 30,000 guidebooks on investing in Malaysia entitled “Turning 2016 into the most profitable year in property investment.” The book is a year-long guide to help investors and was distributed free to all visitors to the expo.
During the opening, Tee also introduced a TV reality show on property named “Anyone Can Be a Property Millionaire”. Inspired by his belief that anyone at all, which can include a fresh graduate, a retiree, or even the disabled, can become a property millionaire if given the right training, the show is a platform for Gavin to prove to the world that this can be done. To be broadcasted in the most popular TV station in Malaysia, this unique programme is anticipated to have a game-changing impact on the local property industry, and possibly the world.
Running concurrently with the reality show is an investment course with the same topic as well as books that expand further on the concept that anyone can be a property millionaire. Tee will further conduct a tailormade course specially catered to the disabled to kick off the show