Building the future: what do young talent think of the profession?

In Modus’s first podcast, four exceptional young RICS surveyors of the year explain what inspired them to join the sector - and what keeps them motivated now that their careers are established

Author:

Modus staff

24 February 2022

“I try to bring up the status of women in the industry especially as in Asian culture, we still stereotype construction as very male-dominated.”

Michele Lui Wing Chi joined Hip Hing Engineering in 2012 at the start of her career and has powered through the ranks since then to become the company’s first female project manager. She has worked on projects as diverse as the Xiqu Centre theatre in Kowloon to overseeing the building of quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong. She is the region’s RICS Young Achiever of the Year.

“I want to make life easier for people who deliver this work, but the focus isn’t always on how we’re equipping people with the right skills to move forward. I would like people to unlock their potential.”

Daryl Ho is South East Asia’s Young Achiever of the Year and has been working in business analytics for Jones Lang Lasalle Property Consultants in Singapore where he focuses on strategy across people, process and technology. He was attracted to the profession from a desire to make our built spaces safe, attractive, productive and sustainable.

“Construction always drew me in because it’s one of the few industries that we get to see progress in a physical form on a daily basis – from a vision in your client’s head to how the building is utilised by its end user.”

Javaad Khalil’s interest in construction was started by his childhood love of den-building near his home in the north east of England. Having worked on projects across the UK, last year Javaad set up his own quantity surveying consultancy at the age of just 27 and has since won Young Surveyor of the Year in the UK for QS and Construction as well as Inside Property’s Emerging Person of the Year.

“A lot of my job has been about bringing clarity in a period of uncertainty, I want to help people understand how the housing market works.”

Young Achiever of the Year in Australia went to Eliza Owen, a data analyst with Core Logic who has a particular interest in property data and how that data fits into wider economic issues such as affordability and climate change. She has hosted TEDX talks and gives expert commentary to the Australian media.