MASTER OF HIS CASTLE

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MASTER OF HIS CASTLE

25 August 2008

MASTER OF HIS CASTLE

Dr Dennis Wee, 56, founder and chairman of Dennis Wee Group

A Secondary 2 dropout, Dr Wee has come a long way.

In 1999, he was conferred the title of honorary doctor of business by the Kennedy-Western University in California, US. He was also awarded the life-long learning award by President S R Nathan six years ago.

Dr Wee started his company with only 10 agents in 1993.

Last year, it achieved a turnover of $7.3 billion in sales and now has 2,500 agents.

He lives with his wife, 49, a son, 25, who runs a restaurant, two daughters, both students aged 20 and 18, and a maid in a 7,000 sq ft freehold bungalow in Katong.

He bought it in 1998 for $2.5million, and spent another $1.4m on renovations.

Disclosing that the value of his house has more than doubled over the last 10 years, Dr Wee said: 'I saw the potential in the land, as it is near town - it takes me only seven minutes to travel to my office in Park Mall.

'I have also always been a District 15 guy. I've been living in this area since I was young. I like this place because there is a lot of food, and a lot of nice people in the area.'

His home is a museum of sorts, with an extravagant collection of pieces from high-end furniture store Le Merciers, ranging from statues of Greek goddesses pouring water into a swimming pool to a glass coffee table with a golden panther for its 'legs'.

Dr Wee, who collects these pieces on his travels around the world, said: 'I feel more relaxed coming home than when I'm on holiday.

'It is my castle.'

Although his bungalow has eight rooms, he makes sure that he does not have a study room at home. 'I do enough work in the office. I don't want to continue working at home!'

Instead, Dr Wee, who calls himself a 'rocker', has a room where he stores his collection of vinyl records and music posters.

The room, which doubles up as a movie room, has a projector, a screen and a pool table.


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THE QUEEN

Ms Ivy Lee, 44, founder and CEO of Ivy Lee Realty

A former nurse and florist, she went into real estate in 1994 because she needed money to tide over some financial difficulties while running her floral shop.

A year later, she earned a reputation as Queen of the Dairy Farm estate after beating the competition by selling more than 20 houses there, then going on to claim her throne as the Queen of real estate by selling close to 1,000 homes over the next few years.

Now, her company has a sales turnover of between $300 million and $800 million a year, despite employing fewer than 50 agents.

Home is a three-storey freehold bungalow tucked away in a corner of Bukit Timah, 'where family gets together and has fun, and is united'.

Her hectic schedule prompted her to look for a quiet area where she can be 'away from others'.

That is the first thing Ms Lee looks for in a home.

She bought this bungalow in 1995 when she was launching the whole stretch of houses, but moved in only in 2000.

Ms Lee, a single mother, often plays cards and watches DVDs, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, with her two sons, Kenneth, 17, and John, 16. The TV corner is her favourite spot of the house.

The interior decor and each piece of antique furniture in her English-style home was painstakingly planned and chosen by her over the eight years she has been living there.

The only place where Asian elements prevail is on the third floor, where there are some Chinese antique pieces.

In all, she has spent $300,000 on furniture, including a $14,000 chandelier in her living room, but her favourite item is her dressing table in her bedroom, which is carved entirely from marble.

Ms Lee, who still enjoys flower arrangement, also sees to it that each table in the house is adorned with a vase of flowers.


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Dream home near dream school

THE FAMILY MAN

Mr Mohamed Ismail, 45, CEO of PropNex Property Management

HE started his company in 1996 after 13years as an army officer. Today, his company employs 5,500 agents. In the second quarter of this year, Propnex's revenue hit $28 million. Last year, its revenue came to $108 million.

Home is a simply furnished freehold semi-detached house in Bukit Timah. It is a stone's throw away from Raffles Girls' Primary School (RGPS), where his eldest child is studying.

He has two other children - 3-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.

The main reason for buying this house, Mr Ismail said, is so that both his daughters can go to RGPS. His younger girl will be entering Primary 1 in four years.

His wife was the one who saw that the house was on sale and jumped at the offer.

Although Mr Ismail does not want a 'lavish' home, he does appreciate luxury, such as the $18,000 entertainment system with a 63-inch flat-screen television - the better to watch football games.