The CEO Magazine Asia — December 2017

theceomagazine.com | 11

MOTIVATION

PROFIT.”

“My

is not

JUST

TA Global’s young CEO doesn’t just want to construct

skyscrapers; he wants to build lasting memories.

WORDS DANIEL HERBORN • IMAGES TA GLOBAL

A

fresh-faced dreamer who can often be found pounding out heavy

metal rhythms on his drum kit, Joo Kim Tiah, it’s fair to say, is a

different kind of CEO. The son of TA Enterprise’s chairman Datuk

Tony Tiah Thee Kian, one of Malaysia’s wealthiest men, Joo Kim

says he has a fundamentally different approach to many of his peers.

“Most CEOs are very type A, dominant personalities. When

they go out, they want to talk a lot. They don’t really listen. I’m the opposite.

When I go out, I don’t want to talk; I like to listen. I’m inquisitive, I like to

learn from other people more.”

Joo Kim is now CEO of TA Global, a TA Enterprise subsidiary and a premium

lifestyle property company, which has developed large-scale luxury properties,

including high-rise residential and upscale, mixed-use commercial projects. It has

also managed a suite of five-star hotels from Sydney to Singapore and from Canada

to China. »

Interview | INSPIRE