Good evening.
It is a tremendous honour to be given this recognition by the Australian Property Industry.
It is a real pleasure and an added honour to be inducted at the same time as Jim Service who did so much for Australia and the ACT, and especially the ACT, as I lived in Canberra for 5 years.
When Darren Steinberg called me a couple of months ago, I was totally surprised, and didn’t quite know what to say. I think I said something like I didn’t think anyone would have remembered me as I have been away from Australia for a long time, in fact, more than a quarter of a century.
To still be recognised as a member of the property community in Australia is truly heart-warming and humbling.
The names in the Hall of Fame were captains of the industry – individuals I looked up to when I lived In Australia. It is unimaginable that I am here receiving this honour.
My career as a property practitioner really started in Sydney. Those years in Australia provided me with the foundation and confidence to venture into in a fast-changing global property industry.
Looking back over the last 40 years, I was lucky to have a career which coincided with a period of transformative changes in the industry. Peter Verwer and I had an interesting conversation this afternoon on some of these past game-changing trends.
Those market changes provided me with many opportunities and learning experiences mainly through my close association with JLW (now called JLL), GIC and GLP. I am grateful to be given the trust and the latitude to help make some difference to their successful business models.
I am very thankful for the support of many people throughout my career – my bosses, colleagues and friends in the industry. Some of them are in the video. They said such nice things about me, which I truly appreciate, even if I am a little embarrassed.
Thank you to all the people behind the making of the video, and to the Property Council of Australia for this honour and for organising this function.
To my dear wife and best friend, Josephine who is here with me tonight, I am most indebted to. Jo put her career behind mine, stood by me through thick and thin throughout my career. I know saying thank you is not enough.
To all of you, once again, many thanks for your presence this evening and for this great honour.
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Dr Seek Ngee Huat
