Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Aims of internship

The objectives of the nine week internship at KFEM are to expose me to how the estate
management business and how individual development are being managed.

1.2 Type of Organization

Knight Frank Pte Ltd is a real estate consultancy firm and has a separate firm dealing with
real estate management instead of a department. This is to give better flexibility in the
management of real estate.

Chapter 2 Brief Description of Organization

2.1 Background
KFEM, the new subsidiary of KFPL, was established in January 2001 with staff strength
of not more than 60. Its vision is “To be the largest and most prestigious property
management company in Singapore”. It began with a small portfolio of 50 properties but
since its inception, KFEM has grown to manage a current portfolio of 100 properties
comprising prestigious residential and commercial buildings, making it one of the top five
estate management companies in Singapore. Presently, its staff strength comprises 200
Team Managers and qualified site personnel serving diverse property types in different
locations in Singapore.

2.2 Hierarchy of KFEM

Jordan Neo, its Managing Director together with Director Chan Wen Sun formal director
of the BCA and the heads of six Business Units has expanded their business within a short
period of time. KFEM now has comprehensive IT, Human Resource, Finance and
Administration departments to help with the smooth operation of the company. A new
Corporate Services Department has been added to provide continuous improvement in the
operations and processes of the company.

2.3 Corporate Objectives

KFEM’s corporate objective is to implement support systems that would boost its
productivity and service quality because the management is aware that in the line estate

1
management service, quality service and management forms an important part of the
business. The Management also believes in investing time and financial resources to train
its employees. Monthly trainings, annual dinners, outing trips and even competition games
are organized to improve the overall ability of its staff and to build team spirit among
employees. This is a good way to improve communications between the staff at Head
Office and the site, and thus building strong bonds among its staff.

Chapter 3 Description of Internship Training

In this chapter, it will be divided into nine weeks and in each week; I will discuss about
the training and what I have learnt during the training. In the whole nine weeks, I was
given a chance to see how the business is managed and intermittently I was also given a
chance to see the operations in each development.

3.1 Weekly Training

Week 1 (16th to 20th May)
At KFEM, I was assigned to the Corporate Services (HQ) to help out with the work there.
In the first week, I was given a few tasks to do. These tasks include setup and reformat
hard disk, to cover for a staff at Beauty World Centre on sick leave, sort out NUS-KFEM
mailing list and help with induction session for new staff.

Throughout this whole week I have learnt that in order to manage a business well, there is
much other knowledge that I must learn or must know besides real estate business. Take
for example some IT knowledge as business is heavily depended on it. When I was at
Beauty World Centre, I am fortunate to follow the centre manager for cleaning inspection
where I am told what to take note during inspection. I am able to participate in the
induction session and its aim is to welcome its new employees and let them feel like a
family.

Week 2 (24th to 27th May)

I had a chance to learn and see different aspect of property management this week as I was
asked to stand in for employees who go on leave at both Beauty World Centre and Elmira

2
Heights. In the later week, I continued to sort out the NUS-KFEM mailing list as this
assignment is an ongoing updating of mailing list and I also get to participate in KFEM’s
monthly training.
It is a good experience as I get to know at what is happening on site. Some aspects I get to
learn include asking for quotations of replacement of light bulbs, repairing defects,
looking into residents’ requests, etc. From my stay at the site, I have recognized that there
is a need to handle complaints tactfully. During my participation in the monthly training, I
realise that it is important to upgrade. KFEM has recognised this aspect and have
organized the monthly training to help employees improve themselves and also this
indirectly will enhance the quality of the company.

Week 3 (30th to 3rd May)

The Corporate Services Department had to reorganize the document filing for the Business
Units. I was asked to help record all the documents in the shelves so as to identify the
amount of space needed for each Business Unit (BU). The next step is to reorganize the
shelves for better space allocation and neat filing. This assignment took a few days and in
between I have been asked to update the key press list to match key with cupboards. At the
end of the week, I was assigned to take pictures of nine buildings for the purpose of an
upcoming project in the next week.

What I learnt this week is that in order to make full use of space and effective working
environment in a company, a proper system of filing and allocating space is required.
Although it is convenient for people to put near the shelf that they are seated but this will
cause a mess if it is properly grouped. I also took the chance to read some of the
documents thus provided me a clearer picture on the operations side of KFEM.

Week 4 (6th to 10th June)

For the whole week I have been involved in a project that KFEM is preparing. This is a
tender project for the management of a total of eleven buildings (nine commercial
buildings and two multi-storey carparks). The tender document was prepared by a few
directors and I have been asked provide support, that is, to do some editing and
compilation of the document. I have also been asked to compile a comparison on pricing

3
of three internet service providers and to compile a standard house rule for new start up
projects.

This week had been a rewarding time as I am able to get a clearer picture about the
property management business. I get to see two different perspectives – human and
technical aspects. The first aspect (human aspect) is the house rules. They are an important
aspect in the property management because it is related to the residents. The rules govern
how the residents are to behave and to enjoy the facilities in their condominium. The
second aspect (technical aspect) is the tender project. In order to submit an accurate tender
report, site investigation is very important and information must be comprehensive to
provide an accurate analysis of the building with respect to three different aspects. These
will be structural, mechanical & electrical and property management. Once these are
reviewed, only than can capital expenditure be accurately identified and projected into the
future.

Week 5 (13th to 17th June)

This week I was not given much assignments to do therefore I continue with formulating a
standard house rule for the purpose of offering it to the developers and residents for them
to make additions or alterations to this template to suit their own needs and requirements.
In the late week, I was given a task to update the checklist of “Directory of KFEM” and to
use it to draw up a list of files and documents such that different security access level can
be affixed to the files and documents. I was also asked to draw up a layout plan to
accommodate seven BU heads in the Directors’ Room.

After reading a few house rules of different condominium sites, I feel that staying in the
condominium is being governed more strictly than public estates. But it is because of these
rules laid out clearly that discrepancies and misunderstanding are reduced. I have been
able to put to use what I have learnt from the module “Building Technology” to
accomplish the drawing the layout plan.

4
Week 6 (20th to 24th June)
At the start of this week, I continued with the drawing the layout plan. After this I was
given a chance to participate in a start up project at Lilydale. KFEM has been asked to
take over as Managing Agent from CPG. It is the monthly training and I was asked to help
out and also participate in the monthly training.
In order to facilitate smooth handing and taking over of MA duties, it is a must to gather
key information relating to the estate. Take for example, the location of important
documents like the constitution of MCST certificate, the term contracts expiry dates and
what these contracts encompass, etc. After gathering this information, tabulating them
properly will enable site staff to be able to have this information at their fingertips. In this
monthly training, once again I benefited from the talks and discussions that were held
during the training.

Week 7 (27th to 1st July)

For the whole week, I had learnt quite a lot through helping the start up team with the
taking over process of Lilydale Executive Condominium (EC). Some of the major tasks
include compiling a “Key information List” and defects inspection. Because the hand over
and take over date was on 30th June, there are a lot of things to prepare and do before and
on the actual day itself. Even after the take over, there are still many things to follow up
such that the management of the EC can be done smoothly.

For any take over, it is best that key information about the development is compiled, its
minutes of meetings checked, outstanding items to take note of and defects inspection
done as these will tell about the history, the changes made and the status of the
development. Any discrepancies or grey areas can be clarified. With the information it will
be easier for the condominium manager to understand the current situation and follow up
on any urgent issues. Also doing defects inspection to reduce any discrepancies on defects
issue. Another thing that I took notice of is that the site staff are not very helpful and
showing attitude indicating lack of professionalism towards their job. I think it is
important that hand over staff is professional as it reflects the image of the company and
also shows how much responsibility the person has. Another important issue is that
preparing checklist by hand over staff beforehand is very important. It should be accurate
and in proper sequence so that the hand over process can be carried out smoothly.

5
Week 8 (4th to 8th July)
This week I am following up on the tasks that were being assigned in the previous weeks.
The tasks that I am following up include writing the standard template for house rules, sort
out the mailing list for NUS-KFEM seminar and finally tabulating the defects inspection. I
was also asked to stand in for one of the staff that was on leave at Beauty World Centre.

In tabulating the defects inspection list, I tried to formulate a template such that pictures of
defects and remarks are together. This is to allow the reader to see at one glance the
defects and what the picture is revealing. Presentation is very important when it comes to
presenting lots of information such that the reader will be able to get the correct
information at a glance. At Beauty World Centre, the staff there have finalised the design
for implementing “Muslim Food Village”. This move is to bring crowd back which in the
long run can maintain and even enhance the value of the shopping centre.

Week 9 (18th to 22nd July)

In order to gain an insight of how individual property is being managed, I requested to go
to a commercial or mixed development and was assigned to Lucky Plaza. I was very lucky
as there was a council meeting and an AGM at Lucky Plaza and I asked to attend both of
them. Throughout the whole week, I was exposed to how a mixed development was being
managed, the things to take note of and various other aspects.

The most eye opening activities are council meeting and AGM where I get opportunity to
see how the meetings are held. As a complex manager, the most important thing during
council is managing the meeting. There will be lots of conflicts the complex manager and
in order to solve the problem and reduce human friction, the complex manager must
attempt to resolve the conflict into a “win-win” situation where all parties are happy. Also
the complex manager has to be well prepared to answer any questions and and be able to
reason i.e. because each individual accept different reasoning therefore with anticipation
and precision reasoning the problem can be resolved easily.

6
3.2 Conclusion
Throughout the whole attachment, the most important aspect in real estate management I
found out was dealing with people. The reason is that estate management is a service
industry and each client who come looking for the managing agent has problem at hand,
has his/her own expectations and would like the problem to be solved therefore it is very
important to handle situations carefully and tactfully. Otherwise, the clients’ expectations
towards the managing agent will drop and consequence may be dire.

Chapter 4 Recommendations/Suggestions

4.1 Recommendations/Suggestions
Throughout the nine weeks of internship, I have observed a few areas which may be
improved to achieve a more enriching and fulfilling internship for students. I would like to
recommend a longer internship period for example a whole semester such that students
could have a comprehensive exposure into the real estate industry. The second
recommendation is that companies should provide a timetable given to the students. This
is to ensure that students know what is installed for them. The third and final
recommendation is to expose students to different sectors in real estate instead of the
students selecting a particular sector for their internship. This is because the students may
not have a comprehensive knowledge to select a sector that suit themselves.