BUSINESS & PROPERTY
Epoch Times
september 19 – october 2, 2014 15
Vietnam office established
2003
China, Malaysia and India offices established
Interior design capability added
1997
First URA Architectural Heritage Award for Chijmes
2004
Landscape design capability added
2005
ONG&ONG’s 360° Solution developed
2006
Rankine & Hill (S) Pte Ltd integrated
FRED FAN/EPOCH TIMES
2007
• Name changed to ONG&ONG Pte Ltd • CP Architects International integrated
2008
• ADT and AT-ii integrated • Project Innovations established • Environmental branding capability added
(L) Mr Ong Tze Boon. (B) A group meeting at ONG & ONG staff cafeteria.
To design an experience is not an easy task. It requires the control and mastery of multiple fields and the ability to weave them together into a single experience.
FRED FAN/EPOCH TIMES
2010
US office established as SILVER+ONG, Inc
• SCE Consultants (Pte) Ltd and TSP • Architects & Planners Pte Ltd integrated • Fire consultancy capability added
2011 vividly illustrates this idea: “Have you been to Botanic Gardens? There are chairs in there made of metal, but they are bolted to the ground. When you look at the chair, what do you think? Everyone talks about design, whether it is pretty, whether it is green or blue. In reality, there is no better colour; it is all up to taste. “But there is another, less known dimension of design. If this chair is bolted to the ground, I am actually telling the people – please don’t move my chair and just sit here. Not only that, I am also telling people to sit like this. After you sit, you naturally look forward. Therefore, by putting the bolt, I am telling people where to sit, how to sit and where to look. “Maybe I will even put a pond and some ducks in front of the chair. So after a stroll, you can sit down and look at the pond and the ducks. So beautiful! I must also make the chair comfortable, and control the sunlight and electric light. “This is how you design an experience, and this is what we do.” To design an experience is not an easy task. It requires the control and mastery of multiple fields and the ability to weave them together into a
single experience, like different engineers working together to create “the posh experience” of a Porsche. Mr Ong emphasises that the future of design is one where customers rely on designers’ knowledge and experience of what customers want for tomorrow. “We gear up for the future and design is just a means to an end. That’s all.” Doing Things Right Beyond design, it was very apparent during the interview that Mr Ong is guided by strong principles. He recites a phrase from ‘The Great Learning’ by Confucius when asked about the values his late parents had instilled in him. “Wanting to govern well their states, they first harmonised their own clans. Wanting to harmonise their own clan, they first cultivated themselves. Wanting to cultivate themselves, they first corrected their minds.” “The basic value is if you want to do (something), do it well. Don’t (be) corrupt,” he explains. Mr Ong also believes in doing things right and aiming for excellence in everything we do. He advises young entrepreneurs, “If peo-
ple do business just for money, then I think – there’s no right or wrong, I am not criticising – but for me, it is not about making money, it is about doing it right.” “Because when you do it right, money will follow. If you aim for excellence, these things will come. Money is just a result sheet. We don’t study because we want A (grades). People who score well are often those who enjoy the subject. So I tell people, just do what you do well, and the money will find us. So money is not the goal, the goal is to get it right.” “Get what right? If I am in the restaurant business, I must cook well. If I am in the design business, I must design well,” he adds. Concluding Thoughts Mr Ong is a pioneer and a man of the future, but it would be hasty to label him a visionary. For all his innovations and dreams, Mr Ong is in essence realistic about his business and design. His business philosophy is one of succession and survival. His design philosophy ultimately comes down to anticipating and meeting the market’s changing needs and demands. As he says in the interview, “It is about answering the customer’s needs. And when you get there, you must
Wanting to govern well their states, they first harmonised their own clans. Wanting to harmonise their own clan, they first cultivated themselves. Wanting to cultivate themselves, they first corrected their minds.
• Amalgamation of SCE with Rankine&Hill • KD Architects, dlq design and SCA design integrated • Lighting and experience design capabilities added • All Singapore entities moved to SLF Building
‘The Great Learning’, Confucius (551–479 BC) start asking yourself as a CEO, where is this going? Where is the market going? What do the customers want for tomorrow? “At the end of the day, business is problem-solving for people.” Mr Ong does not linger around ideals and the only constant in his vocabulary is “change”. Perhaps, it might just be this potent combination of realism and foresight that has made him the successful man he is today.
2012
Mongolia, Indonesia and UAE offices established
O+ merchandise launched for 40th anniversary
2014
• Immortal the Design Station integrated • Brand and digital engagement capability added