‘The Haven will rise with Ipoh’
Despite setbacks and legal suits Singapore-born real estate developer, Peter Chan is not going to take a back seat from making his pet project – The Haven a spectacular success story. Chan is most confident that all the false and malicious accusations will be wholly demolished leaving his adversaries dumbfounded and embarrassed.
Chan has been a catalyst and a jump-starter to the building of luxury high rises and the significant revival of the confidence of Ipoh.
The entrepreneurial streak in him, has driven him to envision Ipoh as becoming busy all week long, not just on weekends where the town caters to domestic tourists.
Now with more foreigners coming ashore to Perak in line with the growth of tourism, Chan sees the Haven as a central part of the hospitality industry despite having to face stiff opposition.
Chan had deliberated with his management team on the contributions what they will continue to devote to Ipoh, despite the bizarre chain of setbacks experienced over the project, which has been successful in uplifting Ipoh from a sleepy hallow to a bustling city of tourists.
He is firstly encouraged, as The Haven’s concept is ahead of its time and it has contributed greatly to the enhancement of Ipoh over the decade and a half.
“The setbacks that some have placed on him have been persistently brushed off. “I am here to tell my critics that I will not give up, whatever the apparent setbacks. I want to achieve! I will work with my fellow Ipoh neighbours to see Ipoh boom,” said Chan.
He sees a parallel tale in both The Haven and Ipoh.
Chan sees his life and that of The Haven mirroring what Ipoh had endured, but like life, one can “rise like a phoenix”.
Hence he sees a greater potential in The Haven despite all the malicious hindrances levelled at it.
Of the 516 parcel units in the three towers, 150 has been licensed as hotel residences and are now managed under a collaboration with Europe’s biggest hospitality operator TUI Blue.
Completed in 2014, Chan said that these skyscrapers in Tambun, will grow in popularity in the tourism scene in Ipoh because it lies in a strategic position of Perak’s capital, adjacent to another master city developer of the Sunway township there.
Reflecting on the past, Chan said that he came to Ipoh on the invitation of a friend to help construct affordable housing in the silvered state capital.
He was captivated by the tranquil settings, and when he chanced upon a lake in Tambun, naturally framed by a limestone hill and a lush forest, he was confident to embark on The Haven Development, which was seen as a most ambitious project at that time.
“I am confident that the locality will be popular,” he opined.
At that time, Chan had encountered considerable resistance from the localise real estate circle, who were sceptical that a “foreigner” could succeed changing the landscape of a valley flushed with landbanks.
He however was determined and unperturbed.
He ploughed on and started piling in 2010, and upon completion, have now created and maintained over 120 jobs for the community.
The rest as the saying goes is history; but along the way, Chan made notable milestones, garnering several awards of various kinds, including from the international property association – FIABCI.
Chan is also revered in the Institute of Real Estate Housing Developers Association (REHDA), invited to deliver a keynote address at its recent meeting, because of his fighting spirit.
“The talk’s emphasis was on true contribution, self-giving and pursuance of truth as the goal in life, which delivery was very well received.”
“Not just for my technical and managerial expertise in building a high rise in Ipoh but due to my desire to realizing a competitive real estate property in Perak despite the impression that Ipoh is a boring township.”
To introduce Ipoh to the world at large, he also published a food book called “Eat-poh,” aiming to showcase the local cuisine, which Chan says surpass that of Penang or Kuala Lumpur.
He also undertook frequent corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, as his faith spurred him on many social and charitable activities.
“We have attracted more than 150,000 foreign tourists from over 120 countries on our own and in turn, the spillover benefitted the state greatly,” said Chan.
He believed that leisure travel can become the new source of good revenue for the state, just like to some degree what tin mining did to the miner colonies in Perak before the great wars.
With better connectivity to the Klang Valley, Chan said that the property market can also boom in Perak because people can stay here and work in Selangor or Penang.
“It is already happening but we want it on a bigger scale.”
The KTM rail services is running its electronic train services more frequent now, using Ipoh as a centralised hub with the Ipoh Sentral by the MRCB Bhd Group presently under construction.