Sunday, January 3, 2010

Iconic sites and profitability

Chris Boyd of Regroup is quoted as saying, “I like the idea of iconic sites because they give identity to the country. While they instill some civic pride, they are hard to justify on commercial terms. The office market in Malaysia has traditionally been inexpensive compared with other countries in the region and we may never see the rentals enjoyed by Singapore. It is hard to make iconic buildings work financially. They are there for other reasons.

This is an excellent example of how to speak your mind and, still survive, in a place that is filled with touchy people who like to spend other people's money to build dubious (or, should it be "Dubai-esque"?) iconic buildings.

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