CEO Insights Magazine

Property and facility management services industry in Malaysia has seen massive change owing to the emergence of technology innovations. Rental platforms all over the internet have made it easier for customers to rent or search property according to their requirements and from any part of the world. Tourism is also on the rise in Malaysia which is why the demand for accommodation is increasing day after day. However, while availing services from a property management services provider, consumers often face problems on several grounds. Aspects like renovation, rental agreements, scheduled maintenance, basic furniture requirements, basic electronic requirements have to be taken care of in order to provide complete satisfaction to tenants.

This is exactly what Loh Chun Yew’s Onex Home Management is here to provide a solution to. Apart from providing good accommodation, his company provides a complete range of services that include renovation of the property, providing electronic items such as refrigerator and washing machine and also tending to other requirements a tenant might have with an apartment. CEO Insights Asia magazine engaged in a conversation with him to know more about the company and the kind of impact it is making in this sector.

Take us through your educational and professional journey. How did you come up with the idea of starting a company in the property management industry?

Before starting my career I completed my Chemical Engineering degree in 2020. But I had ventured into home and property management back in 2019 which was a part time opportunity. I had to gain the basic knowledge about property management before starting out on my own. My parents and my life partner have been the key motivation for me in this aspect. As my parents are growing old, I want to give them a more comfortable life.

I joined as the committee of Career Carnival in 2018-2019. Here, a student’s gets opportunity to learn and get in touch through the human resource department. It was only during that course that I decided to change my field from engineering to property management. In the academy I was educated about how to maintain work life balance. There were various extracurricular tasks that were part of my program there.

Give us an overview on Onex Home Management and tell us about the company’s position in dynamically changing business landscape of Malaysia.

Onex Home Management is a property management company that helps its clients find solutions for their vacant properties and provide accommodation services in all of Malaysia. Our company is considered as one of the new players in this segment. Currently, we are managing around 200 rooms and occupancy rate is 98 percent. The company's motto is put the customer first and imagine ourselves in their situations. We provide the complete range of management services starting from renovation, marketing, rental collection, maintenance and also handling tenant complaints. Owners and investors are able to save a lot of time if they are availing our services because we are always true to the cause and at the same time are able to gain the rental income.

All our tenants comprise of students and workers who work in Johor Bahru and Singapore. We follow simplicity in all our designs as we provide basic furniture in all the rooms we manage. We provide a complete package to tenants at a very affordable price which is why clients keep coming to us. We have staff to take care of hygiene in the properties that falls under us. Scheduled maintenance is a part the company's operational excellence. We also provide commodities like water dispenser, fridge, washing machine, oven and WiFi.

Tell us about your leadership mantra and also mention how your approach brings out the best in your employees.

I want to take everyone along with me. It is not impossible for anyone to make a mistake. I try to make them understand that and make them fell at home with the company they are working for. It is my responsibility to guide them and show them the right way. I hold weekly meetings to get an update on the progress made on regular basis. In this way I feel that I along with the team is one step closer to our destination. This exercise provides a lot of motivation to all the employees.

What are the industry challenges that you have faced since the inception of the company? How did you overcome them?

Industry challenges were encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic period. 18th March, 2020 the first lockdown was announced in Malaysia. We were unable to conduct business property because maintenance was not up to the mark because of the lockdown scenario. We were also unable to acquire the working permit in some of the cases. So, within 2-3 months of lockdown we started getting requests for rental discounts. The demand for accommodation also went down. This was a big challenge for us. It was right after all the lockdowns were lifted, more and more businesses started to operate smoothly. That is also when we gained momentum and demand also went up for us.

What is the road ahead for Onex Home Management?

We want to keep growing like this and one day becomes one of the trusted home and property management services providers in Malaysia. We want to acquire more units in the coming years and more support from the investor's end as well. We are also planning on launching a room renting platform which will make it easier for the customers to find accommodation. Eventually, we do not want to remain restricted in Malaysia and also spread our business in Southeast Asia and after that we would also like to have global operations.

Loh Chun Yew, Founder, Onex Home Management

Loh Chun Yew is a Chemical Engineering graduate with a First-Class Honors degree from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. He is a self-motivated and diligent professional with experience as the Founder of Onex Home Management. Loh also has a strong academic background, including research projects and honors in process system engineering and Japanese language proficiency.