This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 4, 2023 - December 10, 2023

Datuk Joseph Lau | CEO of Park City Group

As the doors to the meeting room of the sales gallery in Desa ParkCity swing open, the lake park — which used to be an abandoned mine — comes into view and it has an immediate calming effect. Then in walks Datuk Joseph Lau, group CEO of Perdana ParkCity Sdn Bhd (Park City Group), dressed in a simple yet stylish outfit that perfectly reflects his casual yet confident demeanour. His smile and enthusiasm are infectious and it is clear that he is someone who takes great pride in his work. Despite his many achievements and accolades, Lau remains down to earth and approachable.

For his vision and leadership, Lau is named Outstanding Property CEO at The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards 2023. This award is granted to CEOs or experts who have led their companies to new heights.

“I am from Kuching. I was born and grew up in a kampung with a very simple life. I caught guppies from the longkang and played guli with friends. I studied in government primary and secondary schools. After my O levels, I went to Singapore for my A levels. It was there that I first experienced culture shock because the students were very hardworking, and I was just a kampung boy who never really studied hard,” Lau chuckles.

The stress of studying in Singapore led to him make the decision to start working at a timber company, which he did for a few years. His experience there opened his eyes to business and ultimately pushed him to aspire to be an accountant.

“Accounting defines how a business is doing. It manages the cash flow and balance sheet. It is a lifeline to all businesses regardless of their industry,” explains Lau, who graduated with a Bachelor of Business in Accountancy from Curtin University in Perth, Australia.

“As much as I appreciated the opportunity to go back to studying, I must admit, going back to school after working was so hard. I spent the first six months sleeping in class,” he laughs. “I knew I couldn’t do that forever, so after a while, I dragged myself to the study room and studied every day. I didn’t want to waste time retaking any subject.”

Lau was the top student in management accounting at his university and received an offer for a full-time job as an accountant in his final year of university, so he elected to study and work full-time at the same time during his final year of university.

He continued with the full-time job after graduating and stayed in Australia for the next few years, working his way up the corporate ladder from account executive to financial controller at one of the top car rental companies in Australia and New Zealand.

“I moved to Melbourne from Perth for work and settled in quite well. But after seven years in the same company, I developed the seven-year itch. I was looking for an alternative because I was curious about what was out there. Unfortunately, there were very few opportunities for foreigners in Australia in the 1990s. I couldn’t land an ideal job, so I decided to come back home,” Lau shares, adding that this decision led him to the next chapter of his life.

Given his work experience in Australia, Lau was soon offered other financial management roles. An offer with a 70% pay cut from his last job piqued his interest.

“Ikea wanted me to set up the first store in Malaysia. It was more of an operation and management position than a financial controller’s role. Not quite what I had been doing the past decade, hence the huge pay cut,” he explains. “But I was thinking, why not? I was young and I didn’t have many commitments. It was an opportunity to jump out of my comfort zone for something new.”

Lau accepted the offer and rolled up his sleeves to set up the first Ikea in Malaysia from scratch at the 1 Utama shopping mall in Bandar Utama, Selangor. That store was later relocated to Mutiara Damansara in the same state, where Lau planned and established Ikea’s first standalone store in the country as well as the Ikano Power Centre shopping mall (now known as IPC Shopping Centre). He was also instrumental in setting up the first Ikea store in Thailand. “Fifteen years then passed without me realising it,” he says.

Looking back on his 15 years with Ikea, Lau describes it as an amazing journey. He gained valuable knowledge, particularly on business operation, company culture, and brand and marketing. This provided him with a solid foundation when once again, he decided to step out of his comfort zone by taking a leap of faith and joining the property development industry in 2010.

“I was in my forties and had spent most of my time in Thailand, helping Ikea to set up the store in Bangkok at that time. Life was very busy as I was already the regional general manager of Ikea. I often thought, what should I do next? Build more Ikea stores and be married to my job? Or, I marry my girlfriend, who joined me frequently in Bangkok because I was very busy at the time. In the end, I decided to come back, settle down, get married and accept the offer from ParkCity Group,” he recalls.

Lau was offered the executive director position in the group at first in 2010, which he was happy with as it was a less demanding role that allowed him to focus more on his family. He was promoted to the role of group CEO in 2016.

“To be very honest, I did not plan to take over the CEO position when our then CEO decided to step down. I kept quiet when our chairman asked me if I was willing to take over,” he smiles. “They were big shoes to fill, so the first thing I did was to find out what my chairman’s hope for me was before making the decision.”

Lau says he eventually accepted the position because the chairman had told him to do what he thought was right for the brand, the company and the community.

Under Lau’s leadership, ParkCity Group has achieved numerous milestones on top of the organic growth in its sales numbers. These include the continued transformation of the barren land in Desa ParkCity into a thriving community, creating spaces that foster a sense of belonging, expanding the brand to the overseas market, and winning a host of local and international awards.

When asked about these accomplishments, Lau humbly acknowledges them as the result of the team’s efforts.

“Being here as the group’s executive director in my first few years, I saw a lot of potential and many unpolished diamonds — the people, I mean. Many of the employees knew what they were doing and were doing a very good job, but they had not realised their full potential yet. All they needed was to be ‘polished’ and they would shine,” Lau notes.

Becoming a CEO is not just about growing the business, but helping people to grow because Lau believes a company is an ecosystem, and everyone plays an equally important role in it.

“Whether a tea lady or a CEO, at the end of the day,  we are all part of the ecosystem. If everyone is on the same page, and we all know the whats and the whys, the ecosystem would function well and everything would move from there,” he explains.

Lau’s first task as CEO was to set a clear direction for the team and convey his expectations to them, as well as continue to enhance the DNA of Desa ParkCity through branding and product quality.

“I was an accountant who hated doing branding and marketing. I only believed in numbers. By the way, my worst subject in university was marketing,” he chuckles. “Fifteen years of management experience in one of the world’s top 50 companies has certainly changed my mind and perspective on running a business.

“My experience in managing Ikea’s retail had taught me that the devil is in the details, the purpose of doing things is important, the company’s culture and DNA are important, and the brand is important,” he says. “All of these lessons are applicable in running ParkCity Group and, I believe, in running all other businesses because, at the end of the day, all businesses are about people.”

Lau stresses that a brand is more than just a company’s image — it includes a company’s DNA and its people. He believes that it is the people who create the brand, and if done correctly, it is very powerful and has the ability to last forever.

Thus, one of his first tasks was to identify “unpolished diamonds” in the company and give them the opportunity to shine. “I never want to grow alone. It will not help the brand and the ecosystem (the company). We all need to be on the same page to grow together. It is also important to understand our strength and DNA, so that we are all moving in the same direction.”

It explains why ParkCity Group has remained very focused on curating township developments that focus primarily on the community, rather than mass market developments.

“Community building is our strength and it is an ongoing, long-term job for us. It limits us from building too fast and wide, but it is okay because it also differentiates us from the others. Being niche, detail-oriented and focused is in our DNA and that is something that cannot be copied. It makes us unique and is a key reason for the success of our townships,” says Lau.

The success of the group’s business direction is evident from the impressive take-up rates and overwhelming market response to the latest launches at Desa ParkCity, such as Park Place and Noöra. The former saw buyers queuing overnight for the official launch in October 2020, and 86% of the units were taken-up over the weekend, while for Noöra, which was launched in November 2022, some 73% units were snapped up within a weekend.

Marina ParkCity and ParkCity Eastwood in Miri, Sarawak, and ParkCity Hanoi in Vietnam have also flourished under Lau’s leadership, becoming one of the most sought-after addresses in their respective areas — similar to Desa ParkCity, ParkCity Group’s flagship development.

“I don’t really care about the outcome. I focus on the company’s direction, the DNA and the journey, hence I have never set a goal or a KPI (key performance indicator) because it is always evolving to be relevant over time … Perhaps my key mission in ParkCity Group now is to ensure that the company is moving in the right direction, to retain the core DNA and build up a strong team, so that no matter who takes over the CEO job in the future, the quality of the products and services will be maintained,” Lau notes.

When asked about his personal plans for the future, as 2023 is his 13th year with ParkCity Group, he smiles and replies: “Maybe I am ageing, but time seems to pass slower. I’m not even aware that it is my 13th year here … It could be that the journey has been fascinating!

“From a furniture man to a property man, I had many doubts at first. Even I was not 100% sure if I could do it at first. But I am happy that my business philosophy has worked. I have always believed that the people are the core of all businesses. You need to be honest and sincere to your team and your customers. Take care of them and they will take care of you. Like I have said, it is an ecosystem.”

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