The prices of houses in Monaco, the playground of the rich and famous,
have already surpassed those in London for the first time in five years
last month, according to a Knight Frank report, with average prices of
prime properties in Monaco said to be at 3,762 Sterling pound ($9,647)
psf versus London’s 3,291 Sterling pound psf. “There’s already
tremendous interest in the project despite the global problems,” says
Yeoh. “The discerning of the world would love to have a global address
in Singapore, [and] if you really have the DNA to produce the excellence
you promise, the world’s discerning will come, and they will love it. In
that way, I’m not afraid.”
One of Malaysia’s highest-profile conglomerates, the Bursa
Malaysia-listed YTL Corp with a market capitalization of RM9.7 billion
($4.1 billion) as at last Wednesday – owns internationally renowned
luxury resort Pangkor Laut Resort, which Hollywood actresses Joan
Collins and Jodie Foster, golfer Nick Faldo, and Steve Forbes of Forbes
magazine have visited, and the late world-renowned tenor Luciano
Pavarotti pronounced “a paradise” when he saw it. The group also owns
Tanjong Jara in Terengganu, Spa Village Resort Tembok Bali, The Chedi
Phuket and a six-star resort hotel in St Tropez, France. “The common
denominator is that it’s close to nature, it’s very green, and the
materials we use are not jarring, there is no ‘bling bling’ here,” says
Yeoh.
