Page 86 - Forbes - Asia (July - August 2018)

Singapore’s 50 Richest

BY JESSICA TAN

THE GREAT ROOM
The Great Room hosts fi reside
chats on topics such as

blockchain, fintech and health
tech. Members have access
to all Great Room locations
Plug and Play
in the region.

Some of Singapore’s wealthiest families are putting
their money behind hangouts for the Millennial crowd.

he Great Room, a two-year-old co-working-space opera- his father, Raj Kumar, at No.
tor with an adjacent members-only business club on the 9 with $2.7 billion, is a key
T18th oor of Centennial Tower, commands a lavish view investor in the club, which is
of Marina Bay and a giant ferris wheel known as the Singapore the brainchild of Canadian
Flyer. Its membership roster boasts stars from Singapore’s tech entrepreneur Marc Nichol-
and startup scene, such as Lai Chang Wen, 31, cofounder and son. he club has more than

CEO of last-mile logistics irm Ninja Van, and Vinnie Lauria, 38, 1,100 members, half of them

founding partner of venture capital irm Golden Gate Ventures. women, and is not in any

On a recent morning, the Great Room CEO and cofounder hurry to recruit more. “It’s all
Jaelle Ang whisks through a stylish reception area adorned with about building a community.
ive-star-hotel touches, including leather sofas, Italian hand-dyed Having the right mix of mem-

rugs, framed artwork, even cofee baristas and a concierge. She bers is crucial,” Kishin says.
discloses that the club, which has three sites in Singapore and he Straits Clan, a popular

one in downtown Bangkok, is preparing to open two more next club located close to China-
year—a second in Bangkok and one in Hong Kong. town, has a similar philosophy.
Ang, 38, a trained architect and ex-banker, whose family has Its 800-plus members are
real estate interests, started the venture right ater helping to roll drawn from an array of ields,

out a $1.1 billion project with a Four Seasons luxury hotel and from the arts to startups as
residences, plus a Capella hotel, along Bangkok’s Chao Phraya well as law and inance. he

River for hai developer Country Group Development on whose club’s cofounder is Wee Teng 1880
board she still sits. Her marketing savvy has attracted investors, Wen, grandson of billionaire The 22,000-square-foot
club’s bespoke features
including the family oice of Goldbell Group’s William Chua, banker Wee Cho Yaw (No. 6)

include a 1.5-ton
once among Singapore’s top 50 richest. Ang, who was a child- and managing director of Madagascar crystal
hood pal of Chua’s two sons, Alex and Arthur, is now raising hospitality irm Lo & Behold reception table and a bar

studded with 360 vintage
$110 million for further expansion by tapping other wealthy Group. he young Wee, 37, teapots. It also boasts a

families and property developers she knows in the region. “My who declined to disclose how dramatic entrance
escalator that runs
Asian godfathers [are] coming in,” Ang says, smiling. much he has invested, says he through a mirrored tunnel.
Taking their cue from global peers such as Soho House and sees Straits Clan as a “unique
WeWork, which started in the U.K. and the U.S. respectively, pri- social network.”
vate members’ clubs and co-working spaces targeting mostly the he newest entrant is

Millennial crowd are Singapore’s latest real estate wave, backed Sherman Kwek, son of property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng and
by some of the nation’s richest. group CEO of City Developments. In July, Kwek junior, 42,
Last December 1880, a private members’ club that also oversaw the opening of the Singapore unit of Chinese co-

ofers a co-working venue, opened on the third oor of the working-space provider Distrii, at CDL’s Republic Plaza oice

hotel InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay, which is building in the central business district. With a 62,000-square-
owned by Kishin RK’s RB Capital. Kishin, 35, who is listed with foot space, one of Distrii’s earliest members is BitTemple, a
84 | FORBES ASIA JULY / AUGUST 2018