PETALING JAYA, 15th December 2021: The National Real Estate Awards (NREA), presented by Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) returns for the 13th year to recognise the efforts and achievements of fellow real estate agents, probationary agents and negotiators in 2020.
This year’s awards were made all the more meaningful as it celebrated how real estate practitioners are resilient and were able to excel despite the challenges faced during the pandemic in the past year. In the last two years, the real estate industry has transformed and accelerated its adoption of digitization with practitioners now being able to offer live or virtual property tours which have helped home buyers to continue investing in properties from their homes. MIEA also played a key role by providing technology solutions virtually to their members. The agents have now started to adapt and transform themselves to incorporate technology throughout the property transaction process.
Evon Heng, Organising Chairperson of NREA 2021 said, “There were a record breaking 71 entries for 23 categories this year from both the state & National level. We were delighted to have received such an overwhelming response despite the challenges of Covid and the MCO. The NREA award nominations goes through a rigorous process before deciding the winners and it symbolises the good work of agents, and shows the tenacity to be resilient at all times.
The most notable award, the MIEA Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 was conferred to Mr. Sivashanker A/L G. Balakrishnan, the CEO of Rahim & Co International. He is also a past president of MIEA. The Real Estate Agent of the Year award was awarded to Dato’ Alex Ting Kuang Kuo from Kozin Realty, Kuching.
A total of 42 winners received the awards this year with the key categories for Real Estate firms, Real Estate Negotiators and Million Dollar Achievers. The Real Estate Firm of the year [large size category] went to IQI while for Real Estate Firm of the year [medium size category] was won by Espirit Estate Agent Sdn Bhd. The Real Estate Negotiator of the Year went to Amos Soo Kein Wah of CID Realtors Sdn Bhd and Rookie Real Estate Negotiator of the Year was awarded to Evelyn Cheah Pei Pei of Cornerstone X State Sdn Bhd.
During the prestigious ceremony, outgoing president of MIEA, Sr, Lim Boon Ping officially handed over the leadership of MIEA to Chan Ai Cheng, who will helm MIEA for the 2021-2023 term. Chan is also the third lady President of MIEA in its 44-year history.
Lim mentioned in his speech that it was an honour to have led MIEA during the pandemic and drive the digitization transformation journey with fellow real estate practitioners. During his tenure he launched MIEA AgentData in collaboration with MyProperty Data Sdn Bhd (now known as PropertyGuru DataSense) and the very first co-agency platform MIEAMLS.com.
He believes that with Chan’s passion and over 20 years’ experience in the industry, she will be able to lead MIEA to new heights.
MIEA’s new president Chan Ai Cheng said, “MIEA will continue to be the voice of real estate practitioners in Malaysia and also ensure fellow practitioners uphold the high standards and good ethics of our profession in order to gain, if not increase, the confidence level of investors and the general public in our members.”.
Chan added that this year’s NREA winners have demonstrated their resilience in facing the challenges resulting from the pandemic and leveraging on systems and technology to up their game.
“We hope that this year’s award will also serve as a reminder to motivate all real estate practitioners to uphold professionalism and integrity despite the challenging situation”, she said.
As the nation’s largest association representing registered real estate practitioners, MIEA is committed in helping fellow real estate practitioners in the digitisation journey by conducting free online classes and webinars to help practitioners adapt to the technology while also organising webinars for the public under the MYREALAGENTS platform.
The Main sponsors for the 13th National Real Estate Awards is Affin Bank, supported by PropertyGuru International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Triterra Metropolis Sdn Bhd as award sponsors. The official award auditor was BT & Associates and Nextdor Property Communications as public relations partner.
