The first boat leaves the island at 7.30am and the last one leaves Mong Bridge at 7pm. During weekends they will leave at 9am and 6.50pm respectively. The trip takes 20 minutes.

Besides the water taxis, people can also travel by road to the island.

With three of its sides facing the Sai Gon and Giong Ong To rivers, the island is described as “the diamond in the mouth of a dragon”, which in feng shui is said to bring vitality.

Diamond Island is cut off from the noise and bustle of the city, making it an ideal choice for those who seek a peaceful place to relax after a long tiring day at work.

With almost 85 per cent of its area devoted to greenery, it epitomises the concept of “Luxury in Nature”, allowing its inhabitants to contemplate spectacular sunsets, fly kites, play with kids in its large green spaces, barbecue with family and friends and sail when the sun rises.

For one, the 36-year-old son of tycoon Datuk Tony Tiah was recently appointed chief executive officer of their family-owned TA Global Bhd, marking his entry into the 2009-listed company for the first time.

But beyond that is a more sensational reason that is putting him in the spotlight, and that is his business partnership with Donald Trump by way of TA Global’s Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver development in Canada.

Trump is presently the de facto Republican presidential nominee for the presidency of the United States in the 2016 election.

Jointly developed by TA Global Bhd and Canadian property player Holborn Group, the residential portion of the 63-storey mixed use tower has sold at a record high per sq ft (psf) for a condominium project in Canada, at an average US$1,610.

The Trump group will manage the serviced resideces of the development costing some 360 Canadian dollars (RM1.1bil), which comprises a luxury hotel with 147 guest suites, 217 high-end residential units, a 4-level podium and an 8-level underground carpark – all of which slated for completion in June.

“We approached Trump to manage the serviced residences for several reasons.

“Firstly, they are a young and dynamic company, flexible in terms of their brand standards. Unlike most other branded residences, who can be traditional and set in their ways, the Trump team are developers themselves who understand what is relevant to the market,” Joo Kim tells StarBizWeek in an interview.

“Behind the Trump brand is a family business just like mine, so I can trust their longetivity in the business. I’ve been so impressed by them from our dealings with them. Like our family, they have children who are being groomed to take over the business and they are so respectful of their father,” says Joo Kim.

“Sometimes it’s hard to imagine why the western media spins such notorious stories about Donald Trump. He’s an extremely smart businessman with a wonderful family and we connect on that level.

“We are dealing with them because a hotel management business is long term, easily spanning the next 23-30 years. With the strong inter-family relationship, this is unlike executives who are hired to run a hotel business. They leave, but the Trump’s second generation leaders are here to stay.”

In general, TA Global’s Canadian operations comprising property development, hotel operations and property investments, have contributed some 70.3% in earnings to the group.

“I wanted a brand that would get me a lot of attention so that the public would, in turn be impressed with me knowing that I am responsible for the product.”

The Trump Tower, which took two years to sell out in the current economic climate, raked in residential sales of RM46.4mil.

Commenting on a recent news report that alleged that TA Global had sold Trump Tower, Joo Kim vehemently denies this: “The story has been spun just to create a sensation!”

Global scene

As for the rest of TA Global’s new developments, Joo Kim says he intends to beef up their interational assets, which at the moment stands at a quarter of the groups total assets, the remaining being Malaysian projects.

“We will continue to look for assets internationally to add to our recurrent income business, such as hotels or other commercial buildings. We always want to have a balance between income holding assets and development projects because the development game takes so long and is subject to price and market fluctuations,” he says.

“Income holding assets also makes it easier to get financing with the banks for expansion plans.

“In the longer term, we will entertain ideas like launching a REIT or a development fund when we feel and believe that we our team is ready to take on this next phase of expansion.”

TA Global is currently rolling out some RM3.1bil worth of projects in gross development value in Malaysia and overseas.

In Canada, beside and connected to the Trump Tower, is TA Global’s investment in an 18,000 sq ft glass structured conference facility at the FortisBC Centre, which is scheduled for an opening in early July. Upon completion, it will be leased to the Trump building.

The conference facility is expeted to enhance the income yield of the FortisBC Centre and Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver.

In Sydney, Australia, TA Global is actively marketing its Little Bay Residential Development, a 13.6 ha rare ocean front land for A$755mil. With 582 houses and apartments, 45 units of luxury apartments named Solis which have been fully sold, the project is the group’s maiden foray into residential development in Australia.

The company draws confidence from the fact that Australia’s record low interest rate of 2% and its lower dollar would potentially continue to attract foreign buyers investing in offshore capital.

“Baring any unforseen circumstances, we expect a yield of 6percent from the Trump Tower when stabilised. Based on the financial year ended December 31, 2015, the recurring revenue from our overseas properties was approximately 78% of the group’s total revenue.

“Going forward, we expect the recurring revenue of our hotels to improve by approximately 25% with the contributions from Trump Hotel and when existing renovations of our hotels completes and with the expected stronger tourism markets in Australia, Singapore and Thailand.

Elsewhere overseas, TA Global also has hotel operations in Movenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach in Phuket, Thailand, Radisson Blu Plaza Sydney and The Westin Melbourne in Australia, The Swissotel Merchant Court Singapore, Swissotel Kunshan, China, and Aava Whistler Hotel in Canada.

With such well branded hotels in its stable, it is possible that TA Global may divest some of its hotels at the right price, a notion that Joo Kim does not discount, without elaborating.

Even with its widespread global operations, the company’s bread and butter still comes from its local projects at this point, which contribute 75% of the RM3.1bil GDV being rolled out over the next 18-24 months, with the remaining 25% coming from overseas projects.

With a local land bank of 716 acres, and 34 acres overseas, the group’s Malaysian developments include the next phase of Ativo in Sri Damansara and its Dutamas development as well as a yet-to-be named building next to the group’s Menara TA in Kuala Lumpur, with GDVs of RM450mil, RM482mil and RM1.4bil, respectively.

Addressing the softening of the local property market, Joo Kim is of the belief that the situation is only temporary and not due to “any major structural problems in the economy”.

“We have an oversupply at the moment, but the properties will be taken up in time by the high demand of the growing city. I do believe that projects that are strategically located, that are brilliantly designed and priced right, will always sell,” he says.

For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2015, TA Global reported a net profit of RM30.9mil on the back of RM144.7mil in revenue.

It reported profit before tax of RM84mil and revenue of RM534.9mil for the 11-month period ended December 31, 2015, a full year’s comparison which was not available due to the change of financial year end from January 31 to December 31.

TA Global’s development projects contributed 8% to the group – TA Enterprise’s – total revenue.

“Going forward, we expect to see a higher contribution from project development and we hope to see higher contribution from project development in moving towards the more balanced contribution of 50:50 from the development projects as we start to roll out the RM3.1bil projects,” Joo Kim says.

At this point, TA Global has yet to announce any plans to sell any of its overseas assets.

“Our long term vision is to be a global real estate conglomerate that is ranked in the top 100 real estate companies in the world, from a market cap and annual turnover standpoint. This is a big audacious goal that is going to take some time for us to get there, but we will start by setting smaller targets along the way,” Joo Kim says.

The group plans on investing more with the countries it is familiar with as it scours Canada and Australia for more opportunities.

“We like being diversified as it acts as a natural hedge against currency fluctuations as well as market cycles,” Joo Kim says.

The group, which bought its first site in Phnom Penh in June 2013, has sold nearly all residential units and about 70 per cent of small office home office (Soho) units at The Bridge, its first project there.

It started construction on its second project, The Peak, on Tuesday. It has sold nearly 50 per cent of units at one of the two residential towers, which comprises 507 units. Units at the other 506-unit residential tower were launched on Tuesday with prices from US$164,000 and sizes from 45 sq m (484 sq ft) for a studio apartment.

Both projects are collaborations with Cambodian developer Worldbridge Land. Oxley has another two development sites in Phnom Penh.

“When I first came here (Cambodia), I was pretty surprised to see so many young people, a lot of human traffic. The infrastructure was pretty good too. So I felt we could introduce our concept of affordability and smaller apartments,” Oxley founder and executive chairman Ching Chiat Kwong told The Straits Times. “Back then, the apartments were huge – 100 sq m and above. So we started having apartments in 40, 60, 90 sq m. Those sold pretty well.”

Reception has been so good that average prices went up from US$3,000 per sq m (US$280 psf) for The Bridge units to US$4,500 per sq m (US$418 psf) for The Peak.

In a market facing some condo oversupply, Oxley differentiates itself with its Singapore standards and better quality – taking in the Shangri-La Hotel brand for The Peak, for example, he said.

“We are like a branded residences, and people feel comforted that we are a Singaporean developer, listed in Singapore.”

About half of the buyers at The Bridge were Cambodians while the rest were Singaporeans, Chinese and others. While the average Cambodian salary may not be high, “affordability here ranges from about US$100,000 for a mid-level executive, and we have such units (for these buyers)”, said Ching, adding that payment schemes in the country are quite flexible.

That said, most of Oxley’s buyers in the country tend to be from the higher income households, as two to three bedders at its projects are priced at US$200,000 or US$300,000, and penthouses can go up to US$700,000.

The group has a presence in nine geographical markets, but in terms of trying to get new sites, its focus is mainly on London and Dublin now. “London is truly international, with not only great demand from locals for affordable housing, but investment demand from foreigners as well.” There also seems to be a shift away from central London, where prices have run up too high – favouring Oxley’s Royal Wharf project in London’s Docklands.

“We will continue to look for opportunities, especially in East London and Europe. To us, Europe is on the path of recovery.

“For the projects in other countries, we will launch everything first before deciding,” he added.

Oxley is also waiting for the right time to re-enter the Singapore market. “The situation now is difficult due to the cooling measures and expensive land. When Singapore fits our plan right, we will make a comeback.”

The firm’s total bank borrowings and debt securities stood at S$2.48 billion (US$1.82 billion) as at March 31, or a total debt to equity ratio of about 349 per cent. But Ching said the balance sheet would be stronger from the end of this year: “This year, we have four major developments in Singapore completing and that will fetch us about S$800 million to S$900 million. Next year, we will continue to reduce debt as we are partially completing the Royal Wharf project in August, so revenue will come back on completion – or about 80 per cent in cash, as downpayment in London is only 20 per cent.”

As for funding further expansion activities, there are many instruments available, he said. “The banks are comfortable with us as we have already delivered in some new countries. We can approach them for an equity loan, or do a bond issue again, or use cash from funds flowing back from completed projects.

“I don’t think we are spreading ourselves too thin (across the different markets). We are very focused and know what we are doing, and will launch a few more projects this year. After this year, we will have to look for new land to focus on.”

Ardhi Setyo Putranto, an entrepreneur from Yogyakarta, is seeking a new market for his organic banana chips. His eyes are set on Saudi Arabia, home to more than 30 million people.

The 24-year-old has already successfully promoted his Banana Queen chips in Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan and the US.

At present, sales of Banana Queen stand at 200 million rupiah per month ($14,980), spurring optimism for Ardhi that he can expand the business beyond its current markets.

“I am curious about expanding to Saudi Arabia. Up until now, I have only tried exporting my chips to one Middle Eastern country, Pakistan,” he said at the recent “Saudi Arabia buying mission”, held by the Trade Ministry.

The mission aims at facilitating business deals between foreign importers and local entrepreneurs. Importers looking to join in are required to submit an application to an Indonesian embassy, which then verifies their business and credibility.

As many as 34 Saudi Arabian businesses and 100 Indonesian companies participated in the latest buying mission, with coverage ranging from construction to food.

Arlina Imbang Jaya, an expert staff member at the Trade Ministry, said that Saudi Arabia was playing a more and more important role in Indonesia’s trade with the Middle East.

“Saudi Arabia is a very important trade partner for us and we are committed to maintaining bilateral relations with them,” she said.

Export value between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia rose by almost 50 per cent over the past five years. Exports stood at $1.43 billion in 2011 and had climbed to $2.06 billion by the end of last year.

Arlina urged Indonesian entrepreneurs to increase the quality of their products as Saudi implemented strict criteria for imported products, including some put in place by the Saudi Standards, Quality and Metrology Organisation (SASO).

Maher Saleh Jamal, chairman of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce delegation, said that it was committed to increasing trade value between the countries by at least 15 per cent annually.

It is planning to cooperate with the Indonesian government to create an Arabic language website and take other steps to make it easier for Saudi business people to understand details of products being offered by their Indonesian counterparts.

“We have agreed to create a user friendly website for the benefit of business people from both countries,” he said.

He added that the Saudi government had also promised to make it easier for Indonesian business people to travel to Saudi Arabia and to increase visits to Indonesia by their own entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, Ardhi is not the only local entrepreneur upbeat about reaching out to the Saudi Arabia market. Renowned cosmetics maker Mustika Ratu and restaurant Pak Ndut are gearing up to expand there as well.

Mustika Ratu assistant export manager Maria Fryda claimed that its new peel-off masks would best meet the needs of women in Saudi Arabia.

“The weather is hot in Mecca and many women wear the hijab. That’s why we think they need our products,” she said.

On the other hand, Indo PD Mandiri — owner of the Pak Ndut brand — is certain that its halal certificate would garner it new customers in Saudi Arabia, in both locals and foreigners.

T. Gopinath, 36, the owner of Restoran Silvas Curry House pleaded guilty at a Session Court here after he was charged yesterday.

The offence under Section 53A of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011, punishable under Section 57(b), carries a fine of up to 500,000 ringgit or two years in jail, or both, upon conviction.

Deputy Public Prosecutor A. Karthiyayini pressed for a deterrent punishment, saying the restaurant had been operating for three years.

According to the facts of the case, the restaurant was said to have sold a plate of nasi lemak by increasing its price from 2.50 ringgit in January to 3.50 ringgit in June last year.

Judge Ahmad Azhari Abdul Hamid imposed a fine of 4,000 ringgit, in default 14 days’ jail.

Meanwhile, Ting Pooi Guan, 59, a director of Trendcell Sdn Bhd, which owns the Jaya Grocer supermarket, pleaded guilty at the same court to selling the Sweet Meadow New Zealand Wild Flower Honey 500g at an unreasonably high price.

The company was said to have increased its profit margin by raising the price from 28.90 ringgit on January 6 to 43.99 ringgit on May 6 last year. Both prices were inclusive of the Goods and Services Tax.

(US$1 = 4 ringgit)

The company was slapped with a 30,000 ringgit fine, in default a month’s jail.

Both Gopinath and Ting paid the fines.

(US$1 = 4 ringgit)

Grab’s Malaysia country manager Jaygan Fu said the GrabHitch app allowed car owners to offer carpooling services to cost-conscious commuters, particularly those who need to travel a distance on a regular or daily basis.

“According to a study by Nielsen, Malaysia has the third-highest car ownership globally, where 93 per cent of households own at least [one] car and 54 per cent have more than one car.

“This represents a significant pool of vehicles with extra seats for more passengers and the potential to play a part in improving the nation’s transportation network,” he said during the launch of the GrabHitch app.

Besides reducing fares by between 50 and 85 per cent, he said the carpooling service would help ease traffic congestion and reduce pollution in the long run.

Fu said the new app service would not erode existing conventional taxi service but would complement alternative public transport needs.

The app will allow registered GrabHitch drivers to key in their routes to match with potential passengers for a deal to be struck based on mutual consent. The app also requires drivers and passengers to log on to Facebook as an added security measure, in which both parties can see if they share mutual friends.

“Both parties can indicate that they only want to travel with the same gender,” he said.

He also said GrabHitch was open for registration for drivers above 18 and with a year’s driving experience, while commuters can start scheduling their rides from May 15.

The local team will be looking to connect more businesses and agencies with the company’s solutions.

“Today’s office launch marks a milestone for Facebook in Malaysia and we are committed to helping Malaysians and businesses connect in more meaningful ways,” said Facebook Southeast Asia managing director Kenneth Bishop.

“Our local team in Malaysia will be focused on helping businesses tap into this unprecedented opportunity to connect with today’s mobile-first consumers.”

According to a recent survey by research firm TNS, 94 per cent of Malaysians discovered products and brands on Facebook, and 62 per cent make a purchase after discovery.

Malaysians are also twice more likely to like a page compared to the global average.

There are currently more than 18 million Malaysians on the social media platform, and 6.5 million people on Instagram, which the company also owns.

Malaysian also ranks 10th globally for the number of friends, which is 60 per cent more than the global average.

The local office will be headed by Nicole Tan, who was previously the managing director of J. Walter Thompson Malaysia, an advertising company.

“Malaysians on Facebook are an active and mobile first community. They spend more time watching video on their smartphones than consumers in any other country in Southeast Asia,” Tan said.

The company also said that Southeast Asia is its fastest growing region and Malaysia, being a mobile first country with 144 per cent mobile penetration rate, is one of the key growth drivers.

Out of the 1.65 billion users on the platform globally, more than 241 million comes from Southeast Asia, mostly (94 per cent) accessing through mobile devices.

The opening of the local office is part of its expansion in the region following the launch of the Philippines office last month.

On the Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange’s (SDIX) platform, accredited investors can buy diamonds at wholesale prices, Mr Linus Koh, chief executive of the Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange, told the Straits Times.

“The exchange allows accredited investors to trade in physically settled diamonds with full price transparency in a regulated environment, for the first time,” he said.

The wholesale prices refer to prices at which diamonds – freshly cut and polished from rough stone – are sold to jewellery manufacturers.

In the past, to invest in diamonds individuals would usually have to buy them through a jewellery shop at a retail prices that had a mark up.

The opening of the exchange represents a huge shift in the way diamonds are currently traded and the most significant change in the diamond trading practice in years, noted Mr Alain Vandenborre, SDIX executive chairman and founder.

At present, diamond trades are mostly negotiated bilaterally, between a buyer and seller. With the electronic platform, however, the highest bid price and the lowest selling price will be shown in real time. The prices of trades on the exchange will also be reported.

“This gives the market much more transparency and information,” said Mr Koh.

Investors can buy diamonds at such prices on the exchange because the top 20 companies which process the rough stone will sell their diamonds on the exchange. Diamonds can be traded on the exchange from Monday to Friday between 2.30 and 6.30 in the afternoon. Investors who wish to obtain more information can visit https://www.sdix.sg/.

The diamonds will first be certified by the Gemological Institute of America before they are traded on the exchange, and will be stored in vaults. When a trade occurs, the diamond remains in the vault but ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer. It can remain in the vault or be retrieved by buyers.

The exchange hopes to offer more sophisticated products like exchange traded funds and derivatives.Any accredited investor worldwide with an account with a brokerage registered with the exchange can trade on it.

Temasek Holdings has thrown its weight behind the exchange, backing the project through venture-capital unit Vertex Venture Holdings.

The capital expenditure projects, which include a state-of-the-art aseptic cold-filling polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle line, a warehouse facility, as well as an ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) line, will boost F&NHB’s total asset value in Malaysia to RM1.9 billion.

The projects are part of F&NHB’s total S$102 million capital expenditure committee, F&N said in a statement on Thursday (May 5).

Le Dang Dung, Viettel’s deputy general director, said the establishment would allow them to carefully prepare for opportunities to receive a business licence. The group has applied the long-term market research method to ensure suitable strategies and decisions.

Viettel has paid attention to Ethiopia and sub-Sahara countries since 2011.

In Africa, it has invested in telecom networks in four countries including Mozambique, Cameroon, Burundi and Tanzania. Last year, two new networks in East Africa, including Lumitel in Burundi, and Halotel in Tanzania, became operational and achieved positive results.

Ethiopia has a lot of potential to develop the mobile network with the fast economic growth rate of 10 per cent a year.

The country has a population of around 100 million. Of which, only 37 per cent has been using mobile phones with one telecom provider – ET – EthioTelecom. However, Ethiopia has been negotiating to join WTO. It is for this reason that the opening of the telecom market would be possible in the near future, Viettel said.

In 2015, Viettel received two visits of high ranking delegation from Ethiopia. It asked the government to grant a telecom licence for Viettel. It planned to increase network coverage to 95 per cent of Ethiopia’s population while building 70,000 kilometres of fibre cable to develop infrastructure, and contribute to the country’s economic development.

Big telecom providers such as France Telecom, MTN and Vodafone opened their representative offices in Ethiopia.