Fun By Design
It’s all in a day’s work for the Ling siblings, who are celebrating their latest mall, Design Village. Jessica Liew reveals the fun, trials and future that entails
The last thing you’d expect of land developers is to get a party started. Boy, was I proven wrong, when the Ling siblings walked into the room. Joanna, executive director and Ronald, general manager of family-owned retail development company PE Land were fresh and chirpy, despite working round the clock on the launch of their latest venture, Design Village. Ronald and Joanna, whose family own and run The Spring shopping mall in Kuching, are setting foot into West Malaysia by way of Penang’s first outlet mall. Matching her eye-catching Ong Shunmugam batik dress, Joanna’s effervescent personality buoyed the photo shoot alongside her towering, younger brother, who found his happy place among the tangles of balloons. As confetti scattered, the two giggled and leaped gleefully, offering a glimpse of their inner child coming out to play. Kuchingites Ronald and Joanna grew up together with three other siblings in a very close-knit, middle class family. Although they went their separate ways, they eventually found themselves running the family business together. “It was never instilled in us to join the family business. I was working in Kuala Lumpur when my dad engaged my help to build The Spring shopping mall,” says Joanna, recalling it as a crazy idea. With her design background, she coordinated with consultants and oversaw the mall’s construction. What was meant to be a year and a half project soon took over her life. Ronald, on the other hand, felt the calling to return to Sarawak after 10 years of studying and working as a quantity surveyor in New Zealand. As with all family businesses, roles were somewhat blurred, but the two got used to becoming jacks-of-all-trades. Despite not having retail experience when they first started, their solid traits complement one another. “Ronald is very calm and collected. He’s sensible so I can always count on his opinion,” opines Joanna, the more straightforward of the two. “Joanna is incredibly smart. I admire how result-oriented she is,” Ronald shares in turn. It took the siblings eight years before leaping into Design Village, with big visions, no less. Design Village is set to be the biggest outlet mall in Malaysia, spread across 25 acres offering 400,000 sqft of retail space—setting the benchmark as one of the biggest outlet malls among neighbouring countries. “Design Village is built for the consumer experience. When they shop, they’re discovering corners and lush landscaping and new architectural techniques. One unique feature is our ‘jewel box’ anchor units covered in a special material similar to the one clad over the Beijing Olympics’ swimming stadium,” Joanna says. In sync with Penang’s artistic charm, the duo infused art and quirky touches into the development, bringing in yarn bomber artist Magda Sayeg last year. Despite the challenges of a new, untapped market, they’re now 99 per cent completed and in the process of handover to tenants. Design Village is
Despite not having retail experience when they first started, their solid traits complement one another
expecting an unrivalled number of flagship outlets, and the largest outlet openings in the country, too. “Penangites are proud of their heritage and famous food. I hope Design Village will be added to this honourable list eventually,” Ronald humbly quips. Joanna can’t wait to develop the market of Batu Kawan. “There are benefits to being the first mover here. Providing employment to people in that area is just the start. As a Sarawakian company, that’s something to be proud of.”