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Indomitable spirit earned wide respect

Mr Kwong Chun, Executive Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHKP) and Hong Yip founder, who served SHKP for more than half a century, recently passed away at the age of 91. He was born in 1929, in Huadu District, Guangzhou. After graduating from the Zhong Nan Finance & Economics College, he was assigned by the country to work for the Guangzhou office of the People's Bank of China. Mr Kwong came to Hong Kong in 1962 and joined Eternal Enterprises Limited, established by his brother-in-law, Mr T.S. Kwok. After the company underwent restructuring a number of times, Mr Kwong was transferred to SHKP, where he initially took charge of human resources, property management, and other related duties.

Persisted in continuous learning and improvement

To obtain a proper grasp of the real estate industry, Mr Kwong started as a property sales trainee to build up his skills and experience in customer service and property sales. In his free time, he went to construction sites to learn about site operations to deepen his knowledge of the construction industry. He founded Hong Yip Service Co., Ltd. in 1967, which was engaged mainly in managing industrial buildings developed by Eternal Enterprises. Under his leadership, Hong Yip constantly innovated and enhanced its service quality, earning it widespread recognition and acclaim from property owners and professional organizations, and numerous awards over the years. Today, Hong Yip is a large-scale property and facility management company with more than 13,000 employees. In 1992, Mr Kwong was appointed as an Executive Director of SHKP, responsible for spearheading the company's property development business in southern China and helping SHKP build a premium brand on the Mainland.

Devoted to the community and his hometown

In addition to pursuing a successful career, Mr Kwong cared deeply about worthy causes in the community. In the early 1990s, he supported the T.S. Kwok Foundation to build Kwong Wai Yuk Memorial Secondary School – named after his father – in his hometown of Huadu. He also served as a director of the SHKP-Kwoks' Foundation and made valuable contributions to the country's economic development, charity and education. He was made an honorary citizen of Huadu District, Guangzhou City and Dongguan City by the two municipal governments.

Mentor and friend

Mr Kwong was always fully committed to, and personally engaged in, his work. He put great emphasis on nurturing the younger generation, making him a good mentor and a helpful friend in the eyes of his colleagues. Building upon his indomitable spirit, Hong Yip has become one of the most prominent and acclaimed property management companies in Hong Kong. Although Mr Kwong has left us, his passion for life and his optimism and hardworking ethic will always remain in our hearts as a guiding light. He will be in our loving memory forever.

To support the government's Early Vaccination for All campaign, SHKP is offering over HK$10 million in lucky draws to encourage the public and SHKP employees to get vaccinated early. The lucky draws will run from July to August for 62 days in a row, with 92 prizes each day and more than 5,700 winners in total.

The lucky draws will be divided into two categories, the public and SHKP staff, and the daily prizes for each category are as follows:

All Hong Kong permanent residents aged 18 or above who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine are eligible for the lucky draws. Fully vaccinated staff of SHKP and its subsidiaries can also enter the lucky draws, and they can stay home on the day of the vaccination and the following day. In addition, the company has offered free pre-vaccination screening and arranged outreach vaccination services for its staff and their immediate family members.

The pandemic has disrupted our lives, the community and the economy in many ways in the past year. Get vaccinated as soon as possible to protect yourself and others, and to help the city return to normal life!

Related Article: SHKP becomes the first property developer to participate in the government outreach COVID-19 vaccination service

Yee Fai Construction Company Ltd., under SHKP, has actively introduced innovative methods to enhance the quality of construction, earning wide recognition in the industry. As an outstanding example, the integrated commercial project at 98 How Ming Street, Kwun Tong, features an array of new technology applications and won the Gold Award in the Innovative Safety Initiative Award 2020 (Health & Welfare), organized by the Development Bureau, the Construction Industry Council and the Hong Kong Construction Association.

Innovative construction methods

Various innovative construction methods have been utilized in the integrated commercial project at 98 How Ming Street, Kwun Tong. For example, for the first time in Hong Kong, exothermic welding is being used to replace traditional electric arc welding to reduce the emission of waste gases and fumes during the welding process. Also, the 5G network, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and Mixed Reality (MR) have been employed during construction to enhance work efficiency and precision. The project has also leveraged the electrical and mechancial modular integrated construction method, which has improved construction quality and reduced the impact on the surrounding community.

Protecting the environment by optimizing the use of resources

In addition, the team adopted different measures to minimize the impact of the construction on the environment. For example, an excavation and lateral support (ELS) system was deployed to substantially reduce the consumption of steel; and a groundwater circulation system was set up on the construction site to allow the use groundwater instead of fresh water, thus ensuring more efficient use of resources. The project also uses electric vehicles to reduce emissions.

Prioritizng workers' safety and well-being

To enhance the safety of workers, the transport machinery is equipped with laser lights to reduce the risk of workers entering the operating zone of the machinery by accident. The project also features a smart safety system to improve safety and monitor the health condition of workers.

The project has earned industry recognition for its innovative approaches, with the following awards:

The properties developed by SHKP have earned buyers' trust and industry recognition for their premium quality and handover services. Recently, SHKP and its subsidiaries won multiple awards at the 2020 Hong Kong Professional Building Inspectors Academy Awards, including Building of the Year, Contractor of the Year, and Handover Team of the Year. This year, the Victoria Harbour Development in North Point was presented with the new 2016–20 Supreme Five Stars Residency award, acknowledging the project’s superior property quality and management.

SHKP has an inter-departmental handover team comprising construction, project monitoring, and property management professionals to ensure the quality of its properties. The team closely monitors construction quality during the early stage of project development, and inspects all items in every unit thoroughly before handover to make sure that everything is in perfect condition, thus offering buyers peace of mind when they take possession.

Awards received by SHKP:

SHKP's property management subsidiaries, Kai Shing and Hong Yip, are committed to creating a happy workplace and providing comprehensive training to allow staff to reach their full potential. Recently, the two companies received an array of awards from local newspapers and recruitment websites in recognition of their employee training efforts and talent management strategies.

SHKP malls have actively driven smart management in recent years to enhance operational efficiency and provide a comfortable, safe shopping environment for customers and tenants. Metroplaza recently collaborated with SmarTone to introduce an intelligent restroom system, leveraging the Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) to better cater to the needs of customers and create a new smart shopping experience.

Joining hands with SmarTone to introduce Smart Restrooms 

The queuing time for mall restrooms usually gets longer during the rush hours and on holidays. In view of this, Metroplaza joined hands with SmarTone and a local technology start-up to implement a tailor-made, intelligent management system in the mall. Multiple sensors installed in the mall restrooms send real-time data to a cloud server for analysis via SmarTone's 5G network, significantly enhancing management efficiency.

Digital signs at the restroom entrances indicate the availability of restrooms and nursery rooms, and help effectively allocate customers to restrooms with higher availability to shorten queuing time, thus creating a caring experience that meets customers' needs.

In addition, mall staff can use the management platform installed on tablets to remotely monitor the status of restroom supplies and air quality. The data is collected in real time and helps the mall management team arrange manpower and restock supplies when necessary, effectively elevating operational efficiency and service quality.

Smart anti-pandemic measures put shoppers at ease

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Metroplaza has implemented a number of smart measures to raise hygiene standards and offer customers peace of mind. Contactless facilities were installed to minimize the risk of virus spread, and different types of robots were introduced to carry out thorough round-the-clock cleansing in the mall. Every evening after the mall is closed, the robots are deployed to disinfect the restrooms using ultraviolet light to enhance cleaning efficiency and safeguard the health of customers and tenants.

Close monitoring and proper maintenance of facilities are crucial to ensuring smooth daily operations of a property. In keeping with the Group’s spirit of continuous improvement, Kai Shing recently developed an intelligent property facility management system, called 'IDEA', which incorporates functions including Information, Data, Emergency and Analysis. Engineers can get a full view of the maintenance records, inspection schedules and specifications of various facilities of a property using an authorized smartphone or other electronic mobile device. The system also provides real-time parameter comparison, automatically collects facility data for life-cycle assessment, and generates inspection reports. In addition, supervisory staff can remotely monitor the status of the property facilities through the system, which allows them to take immediate, appropriate action to deal with unforeseen circumstances.

By gradually implementing 'IDEA' in different projects, Kai Shing aims to integrate the inspection and maintenance systems of its property facilities to further enhance work efficiency while moving towards truly intelligent and green management.

To ensure peace of mind when visiting SHKP properties, the Group proactively stepped up its cleaning efforts and anti-epidemic measures from the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. The results have been remarkable. Earlier, the Hong Kong Tourism Board awarded SHKP malls and hotels Anti-epidemic Hygiene Measures Certification after on-site assessments to prove that the venues have met the hygiene and epidemic prevention standards. Come and visit SHKP malls and hotels without any worries!

Key criteria of the Anti-epidemic Hygiene Measures Certification Scheme: