SHKP's property management arm, Hong Yip, has embraced a people-oriented approach, keeping pace with the latest trends and actively nurturing talent. In addition to establishing "Hong Yip People Development Academy" and providing the colleagues with innovative, diversified professional training, Hong Yip has cooperated with various universities in Hong Kong. Recently, Hong Yip signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hong Kong Metropolitan University (HKMU) to collaborate in nurturing talent for the industry.

Signing an MoU with Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Over the past years, Hong Yip has collaborated with HKMU to organize training courses on sports and recreation management, civil and building services engineering, and property management. Hong Yip also recruits upcoming graduates recommended by HKMU every year, offering them internship and training opportunities at its managed shopping malls, commercial buildings, residential developments and clubhouses. This collaboration covers various initiatives, including curriculum design and implementation, student internships and career development, applied research, service learning, mentorship programmes, and development projects for students' capstone work. The graduates can acquire theoretical knowledge and practical experience in different workplaces. Alkin Kwong, Chairman and Chief Executive of Hong Yip, attended the MoU signing ceremony and remarked that the collaboration aims to support the diversified development of local university students, nurture talent for the industry, and give new momentum to the successful development of Hong Kong.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Arrangement with tertiary institutions

Since 2014, Hong Yip has signed various agreements, such as the Credit Accumulation and Transfer Arrangement and internship programmes, with various institutions, including the Vocational Training Council, The School of Professional Education and Executive Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the School of Continuing and Professional Education of City University of Hong Kong, Caritas Bianchi College of Careers, and Hong Kong College of Technology. Hong Yip believes that academic knowledge and practical experience are equally important for nurturing the future generation of property management talent. Therefore, through collaboration with tertiary institutions, the company provides students with internship and management training opportunities.

To foster sustainable development, SHKP participated in Earth Hour, a worldwide lights-off campaign organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for the 15th straight year. On the evening of the event, over 400 properties owned or managed by SHKP switched off non-essential lights for an hour to promote environmental protection. The participating SHKP buildings and properties spanned Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, including Sun Hung Kai Centre, the International Commerce Centre, Wetland Seasons Park and YOHO Mall.

SHKP is committed to developing green buildings and promoting sustainable development, and continually invests in its properties to enhance their environmental performance. Recently, four flagship commercial buildings developed by SHKP, the International Commerce Centre (ICC), Sun Hung Kai Centre, One IFC and Two IFC, received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification under "v4.1 Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings" from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). 

The buildings are recognized by the USGBC for their excellent environmental performance. ICC scored 87 points, the highest score among the buildings in Hong Kong, and Sun Hung Kai Centre, which is over 40 years old, was the longest-standing commercial building among the Platinum awardees in Hong Kong. One IFC and Two IFC received 84 and 83 points, respectively, and Two IFC was the first building in Hong Kong to attain LEED Platinum certification under "v4.1 Operation and Maintenance: Existing Buildings".

In addition to enhancing the performance of its existing properties, SHKP is committed to obtaining LEED certification for all its new investment properties. For instance, the company’s premium commercial project in Kowloon East on 98 How Ming Street, Kwun Tong, was awarded pre-certification for LEED Platinum, the highest rating. The development under construction atop the High-Speed Rail West Kowloon Terminus also received LEED Platinum pre-certification. Looking ahead, SHKP will continue to develop environmentally friendly buildings to contribute to the sustainable development of society.

With the city's gradual return to normal, Hong Kong's tourism and hotel industries are getting back on track. SHKP and the School of Hotel & Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently organized the SHKP Hotels X SHTM Hackathon, with some 40 students coming up with many innovative ideas for hotels to ride on the post-COVID recovery and growth. 

Devising innovative business proposals for hotels

Over 40 students formed 15 teams to conduct in-depth research and devise innovative proposals for one of the five participating SHKP hotels: The Royal Garden, the Alva Hotel by Royal, The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong and the Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong. 

During the contest, the students closely interacted with the hotel team and acquired a lot of practical knowledge about how a hotel is managed. Champion team members Vicky and Danny who created a solution for The Royal Garden said they were very impressed by the great lengths the hotel has taken to provide premium service to customers and this is something they should learn about.  

Passing on the hotel culture through experience sharing

On the event day, Tasos Kousloglou, CEO (Hotel Division) of SHKP, and senior management of the five SHKP hotels shared their experience in hotel management. Mr. Kousloglou praised PolyU for nurturing talent for the hotel and tourism industry, and said he was delighted that the students had developed innovative ideas for the industry. Christian Poda, Regional Vice President and General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, and Pierre Perusset, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, shared the rich history and corporate culture of the hotels and taught the students how to enjoy their work in the industry, as they still do. Leo Lai, Hotel Manager of the Alva Hotel by Royal, and Patrick Sin, General Manager of the Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, encouraged the students to keep abreast of the latest trends and to constantly look for ways to incorporate innovative technologies into the hotel business. Jenny Chan, General Manager of The Royal Garden, shared the secret of keeping her premium hotel of more than 40 years evergreen.

Joining SHKP to build a career

Many participating students learned a lot from the fruitful sharing and saw a promising future in developing a career in the hotel industry. After the award-presentation ceremony, the students met with the SHKP hotels representatives in groups to gain a deeper understanding of each hotel.

SHKP has actively fulfilled its corporate social responsibility by fully supporting the crime-prevention work of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) over the past year. In the recent Good Citizen Award Presentation Ceremony 2022, organized by the HKPF, the company received the Good Organization Award, which recognizes its contribution and efforts. 

Since the end of 2021, SHKP has made arrangements for 15 of its major shopping malls to broadcast promotional videos produced by the HKPF to enhance public awareness of various crime-prevention topics, including cyber security, illegal gambling, anti-deception and child protection. The company also provided venue support for the crime-prevention educational activities. In addition, to continue to support the HKPF’s Good Citizen Spirit promotion among the public, from now to November 2023, the Good Citizen Award Exhibition will be held in YOHO Mall in Yuen Long, New Town Plaza in Sha Tin, APM in Kwun Tong, MOKO in Mong Kok East, and IFC Mall in Central. 

St Michel, the company's residential development in Sha Tin, has an elegant, scenic greenery landscape, with an incense tree, a precious gift from nature, growing and thriving. This type of tree is rare in Hong Kong and is classified as a national second-class protected species. The construction team made a tremendous effort during the construction planning and development stage to preserve the tree in-situ.

Changing the project design for the precious tree

A great number of incense tree have been illegally felled due to their high value, so they have become rare in Hong Kong. When the St Michel project team discovered the incense tree at the site, at the early planning stage, they decided to change the design and reposition the residential towers to allow the tree to thrive in-situ. The podium roof level was changed to match the height of the tree. The design incorporated the incense tree perfectly into the landscape of the podium garden and allowed long-term tree monitoring and maintenance.

Preserving the incense tree in-situ during construction 

As the development's multi-storey carpark is located below the podium garden and equipped with electrical and mechanical facilities, the team adopted a customized engineering design and installed piles around the tree, which extended 17 metres deep from the podium garden, penetrating several storeys of the carpark to stabilize the soil during construction. In addition, to ensure the incense tree would grow healthily during the construction work, lasting several years, the team set up a water-shower system and soil moisture monitoring device to clean the leaves and irrigate the tree from the top level, as necessary. Thanks to the efforts of the team, the incense tree is growing and thriving, demonstrating the successful co-existence of development and conservation.

Facts about incense trees

Aquilaria sinensis, with the common name incense tree, secretes resin in response to fungal infection resulting from being felled or cut. The wood containing the resin is called "agarwood". Some academics believe "Hong Kong" is named after the incense tree and the related aromatic wood production and trading in the old days. As agarwood is a valuable source of incense, and agarwood artworks are regarded as a speculative investment, some wild "Aquilaria" species in Southeast Asia have already been logged to extinction. Hong Kong's native incense trees are also under the threat of illegal logging, and the trunks of the existing trees are often heavily wounded nowadays. Therefore, it is rare to see an incense tree like that at St Michel thriving healthily under the protection of the construction and property management team.

SHKP attained its first-ever honour of being listed in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2023 for its strong dedication to sustainable development and low-carbon operations practised in diversified channels. The Yearbook recognizes the top performance of companies in corporate sustainability based on an in-depth evaluation conducted over 7,800 companies in 61 industries. Only companies scoring within the top 15% of their industry and achieving an S&P Global Sustainability Score within 30% of their industry's top-performing company were listed. Being listed in this year's Yearbook demonstrates recognition and international affirmation of SHKP’s longstanding efforts in ESG and corporate sustainability.

SHKP's property management arms, Kai Shing and Hong Yip, adhere to the principle "Customer First" and make use of new, advanced technologies to enhance the efficiency of facility management, providing customers with comprehensive, quality property management service. Following its principle, Kai Shing and Hong Yip received multiple awards for their professionalism in the Excellence in Facility Management Award 2022, organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Facility Management.

The awards included the Grand Award, received by YOHO Mall, in Yuen Long, and Aegean Coast, in Tuen Mun, under the Retail and Medium-scale Residential categories, respectively. Featuring the first public urban farm in the New Territories to promote green living, YOHO Mall makes use of innovative technologies to enhance service quality and management efficiency. Aegean Coast continues to utilize new technologies to optimize daily management and provide residents with professional services.

In addition, Kowloon Commerce Centre, in Kwai Chung, combines an innovative mindset with advanced technologies to monitor property operations, which strengthens the security and risk management of the facilities. The utilization of new technologies earned the building the Gold Award in the "Theme Award – Smart Technology" under the Office Building category. And the management team of New Town Plaza, in Sha Tin, won the Gold Award for the Managerial Grade of the FM People Award for its outstanding service.

Kai Shing and Hong Yip will continue to leverage innovative technologies and mindsets, striving for excellence in facility management and providing an exceptional customer experience.

List of awards received by Kai Shing and Hong Yip

Thanks to their premium and attentive customer service, SHKP malls recently garnered over 20 awards in the 2022 Service Talent Award, organized by the Hong Kong Retail Management Association. The winning colleagues attended the award presentation ceremony and to receive their awards, along with other talent in the industry.

The Service Talent Award, which is hailed as the 'Oscars of the Retail Industry', recognizes the outstanding performance of industry practitioners and corporates. YOHO Mall and Metroplaza won the Bronze Award and a certificate of merit in the Retail Excellence Award, respectively. Shek Wing-yan, from New Jade Shopping Arcade, Shing Ka-ho, from New Town Plaza III, and Cheung Ho-ting, from Ocean PopWalk, won the Gold, Silver and Bronze Award, respectively, in Property Management (Junior Frontline Level). Tam Shuk-fan, from APM, and Yim Sze-man, from East Point City, won the Outstanding Performance Award in the same category. Chan Yik-kwan, from Park Central, won the Bronze Award in Retail Services (Supervisory Level). In addition, 11 Customer Care Ambassadors were named Excellent Service Stars for getting full marks in the Mystery Shopper Assessments. These awards show that SHKP malls are recognized by their industry peers for their premium service.

Major awards won by SHKP malls in the 2022 Service Talent Award: