Tham Kuen Wei

Tham Kuen Wei (simplified Chinese: 谭权威; traditional Chinese: 譚權威; pinyin: Tán Quán Wēi ) is a notable real estate economist and Feng Shui consultant in Malaysia who was awarded the Royal Education Award from the Malaysian Conference of Rulers.^[1][2][3][4] by the Perak Sultan, Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak who is also the Chancellor of the Malaysia's premier University. Up to date, there are only less than 600 recipients who received the award^[5]. He gained popularity by researching policies in the real property gain taxes, reduction of certain taxes to gauge repayment of mortgages and propagate transparent foreclosure procedures^[6]. He was awarded a PhD fast track route by the University of Malaya without a Masters Degree in Real Estate Finance, a rare feat due to his contributions in real estate finance^[7].

Research and Khazanah Nasional Funding

Tham was awarded a fast track route to PhD by University of Malaya, Malaysia's top premier university^[8] in Real Estate Finance^[9] without a Masters Degree. This is a rare offer from the premier university where a Masters Degree is usually required for a Doctorate program. As a property expert for real estate, Tham was funded by Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia's largest sovereign wealth fund to conduct his research in developing implications of macroeconomic factors upon non-performing property loans in Malaysia at the height of 2015-2016 real estate bubble in Malaysia, looking into non-performing property loans and macroeconomic factors in Malaysia^[7]. He suggested rising of real property gain taxes to curb speculation, and lowering of the goods and services taxes to ease inflation and increase purchasing power to enhance loan repayments^[6]. His early publications included “Macroeconomic Determinants of Non-performing Property Loans in Malaysia and its Paradoxical Effect towards Non-Performing Property Loans” and “Factors Influencing the Malaysian House Price Index”^[10]. Tham also famously spoke against the vague online auction in Malaysia and was featured in various news including Utusan Melayu, Berita Harian, The Star and News Straits Times^[11][12][13]. He was also the president and founder of the National Union of Real Estate (NURES), which is instrumental in gathering Varsity graduates to unite and push for property management reforms, creating a greater awareness on regulation of property management in Malaysia^[14].

Early Life and Career

Born to a family of accountants of Chinese descent, Tham is the youngest son of Tham Fook Cheong and Shirley Chong who both are accountants practicing in Malaysia^[2]. His father is also a prominent Feng Shui master in South East Asia. Tham has two elder sisters who both are Chartered Accountants of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants, UK^[15]. He is the only child in the family to pursue a career in real estate. Tham was known as a prodigy who scored straight A's in every public examination in Malaysia^[16][15][17] since primary and secondary schools, as well as a cumulative grade point average of 4.00 in college. He scored a perfect 100% in all papers in Accounting and Economics throughout and was awarded the Luca Pacioli Award by the Malaysian Matriculation Division, Ministry of Education. Tham was allowed to skip a year through matriculation to pursue his degree at a much earlier age^[18]. At 21 years old as a licensed auctioneer, Tham started his career as Malaysia's youngest foreclosure consultant in the state of Perak, Malacca and Selangor for the Judiciary of Malaysia, conducting auctions, foreclosures and liquidations in High Courts and Land Offices. He then worked briefly for Savills Ltd, a UK based firm in consultancy, property agency, valuation and investment advisory before joining the private practice as a real estate analyst and appraiser. In 2016, Tham started his career and research as a real estate economist at the University of Malaya. Tham is also an expert in Feng Shui, providing consultancy, talks and seminars for corporate sectors as well as professional organizations.^[19][20][21]. He appeared as a columnist and interviewed by numerous media including The Star, New Life Post, Focus Malaysia^[22], Malaysian Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia.^[23]

Welfare Efforts

In 2015, while at the University of Malaya as a member of the PMUM Council, Tham organized and helped raised over RM178,000 to rebuild homes for the flood victims in Kelantan^[24][25]. Over 30 houses had been rebuilt and repaired for the effort. Tham had also done work for Malaysia Kidney Foundation, Sekolah Semangat Maju (Mentally and Physically Challenged Children), impoverished natives in Pahang, Warga Prihatin Selangor, Ray of Hope, ECM project in Penang, Kaseh4u Soup Kitchen and IJN Hospital Support Group. Tham also helped conducted pro bono foreclosure defenses^[17].

Professional Affiliations

Tham was a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors United Kingdom, FIABCI International (Fédération Internationale des Administrateurs de Biens Conseils Immobiliers), Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia, Pacific Rim Real Estate Society, and a member of the Malaysian Council of Auctioneers.

Gallery

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  Tham Kuen Wei receiving an award from Dato Seri' Nazir Razak, CEO of CIMB Bank Berhad, and also a director at Khazanah Nasional during the biennial ASEAN Youth Leaders Summit.
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  Tham with Tan Sri' GK Rama Iyer, who founded the first Malaysian Shipping Line during the ASEAN Summit. Tan Sri' GK Rama Iyer is a close relative of Tun Sambathan, one of Malaysia's founding fathers.
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  Tham Kuen Wei receiving a research award from Latifah Daud, the executive director of Malaysia’s largest sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional to do his PhD research in the field of Real Estate Finance.
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  Tham Kuen Wei with Senator Tan Sri' Abdul Rahim Rahman and Dato' Sr Lau Wai Seang, Director of the Valuation and Property Services Department in Ministry of Finance
• 
  Tham Kuen Wei as a panel and interviewed at University of Malaya
• 
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  Tham Kuen Wei receiving an award due to his feasibility studies from Pacific Rim Real Estate Society, a research society famous in Australasia and East Asia.

References