No Place Like Home

Did you know that the property and construction industry consumes almost half of the world's raw materials? GuocoLand's Cheng Hsing Yao gives Yanni Tan an insight into the transformation he is spearheading on our very shores.

- Cheng Hsing Yao

Apart from exerting a high demand for the world's raw materials, the property and construction industry also produces at least a third of the world's waste and is responsible for 40 per cent of the world's energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions, according to GuocoLand's CEO Cheng Hsing Yao.

The architecture graduate and Harvard alumnus took the helm at the real estate developer last year, just as the pandemic caused Singaporeans to take a long, hard look at their built environment. While we have already been known as a garden city for decades with the government and industry leaders always at the forefront of spearheading the greening of our city-state, this time it is personal. Homeowners, who have come to appreciate the sanctity of their living quarters and witnessed the beauty of nature untouched by human intervention, now expect more.

There is no doubt that Cheng is the man capable of rising to the task. The former public service veteran and Public Administration Medal (Bronze) recipient spent his whole career making Singapore a greener and more liveable place. Previously, he held leadership positions at the Centre for Liveable Cities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority and was involved in projects like the Marina Bay and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City.

At present, he is a board member of the National Parks Board, co-chairman of the Integrated Digital Delivery Steering Committee and the Central Procurers Panel at the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), and an executive committee member of Urban Land Institute, among many other community service roles. Cheng shares more of the sustainability vision and philosophy of GuocoLand.

How far has Guocoland come in heeding the global urban greening clarion call?