ADAPTIVE VISION

Armed with the power of foresight, Ee Soon Wei transformed his family's historic printing works into a vibrant and dynamic space we all know and love-APW. Now, he's taking his visionary approach to retail internationally, blending legacy and innovation to create more destinations that honour the past while embracing the future.

- ZENA KHAN

KL is a city in transformation. That is part of what makes living here so exciting. Every few months we have a new restaurant, a new skyscraper (hello, Merdeka 118), a new road to traverse in a (generally electric) car. Ours is not a city standing still, but one driven forward by citizens who imagine what our future can hold.

Gentrification aside, KL is also a city with deep history. We trace through routes trodden since childhood accompanying parents and grandparents, whether it’s driving to Kajang for satay or roadside stalls in Jalan Beringin for chilly cendol and rojak. Yet as globalisation inches forward across our economy and way of life, how do we merge our comforting past with our aspirational future?

Ee Soon Wei has one solution. As the CEO of A Place Where by APW Bangsar, he has tried and tested a marriage between what once was, with the constant evolution of where KL and her dwellers are heading, to much success. His backstory is familiar to many in this town. The third generation heir to Art Printing Works Sdn Bhd, which was set up in 1952 in Lebuh Ampang before moving to its Jalan Riong location, he took over the helm of a family business in its sunset years and transformed it into a modern day success story by shifting APW’s focus from an industry to a hub. All the while retaining the core element of storytelling as laid down by his grandparents.

I ask Soon Wei to finish this sentence: APW is a place where … “you can kick off your day with a strong coffee before your remote working team meets for lunch and a strategy meeting. Weekends, do your yoga here. Day drink our natural wines. Enjoy the spaces we made for families to hang out— congregate at the communal tables with orders from various eateries while your kids run and play.”