New citizen now living the Singapore dream

Straits Times: Sat, Dec 17

PROPERTY agent Kevin Feng, 29, is living the Singapore dream. He lives in a swanky condominium just off Sixth Avenue in Bukit Timah, and zips around in a BMW 5 Series car. 'It's easy to be a millionaire in Singapore, but to be a billionaire is difficult because the local market is too small,' says the Hubei native, who made his first million by the age of 27. Mr Feng, who became a Singapore citizen last year, is the only son of a schoolteacher father and an accountant mother. In 2003, Mr Feng, who has a degree in computer engineering from China, decided to come to Singapore to get his PhD after Nanyang Technological University (NTU) offered him a scholarship. He had set his sights on the United States, but because of tightened visa regulations after the Sept 11 attacks, he settled for Singapore. 'I wanted to see the world, and I was thinking if NTU was willing to pay for my studies, why not just come?' he says. But he lost interest just two years into his course and dropped out. Saddled with a debt of $20,000 he had to repay for breaking his bond, he took the plunge into the property market after a mentor in his university's Christian group told him about the good prospects. Mr Feng, now married to a 27-year-old Shanghainese who is a permanent resident here, recalls: 'I had to think of ways to repay the university and finance my younger sister's university education in Japan. So it was purely for survival that I got into the property business.' 'I had to think of the fastest way to make the most money.' He joined property firm PropNex in 2006. It was no walk in the park for the then permanent resident to make his mark in an industry dominated by locals. 'It was hard and challenging at first. When I opened my mouth, the client's first questions to me were not about the property, but were, 'Where are you from? You're not Singaporean?'' Mr Feng recalls. He had to borrow some money from his then boss to buy a modest used Toyota Altis for his work, and lived from hand to mouth for the first four months. But his dogged spirit kept him going. In three years, he made his first million, and he now leads a team of about 20 agents. Now a specialist in high-end property, he credits Singapore's meritocratic system for his success. He says: 'Singapore is very fair. You can reach the top if you have the ability. It's hard to find a society like this.' Last year, Mr Feng turned in his Chinese passport for a Singapore citizenship. He does not see that as a betrayal of his Chinese roots in any way. 'I think that the blood ties that we have as Chinese, whether you are from China or not, are stronger than national ties.' Mr Feng agrees that Asia on the whole is booming, and China is the place to do business now. But he wants to establish his career in Singapore first, before expanding to China in a few years. He says: 'Mr Lee Kuan Yew has always said that it is important for us to be bilingual and bicultural. I know the culture of both sides. I think I am truly bicultural.' [e-mail] Source: The Straits Times