Amid such eventful times, the 49-year-old managing director has been famous for e-mailing staff at 2am and turning up at meetings when he is supposed to be taking a day off.

He philosophically admits to being a workaholic, and might be assumed to be a demanding boss.

But here is a remarkable contradiction. Rather than being frantic, overbearing and stressed, Mr Fan is quite the reverse: calm, softly spoken and unassuming. He also commands such loyalty, support and respect from his staff that Hsin Chong/Synergis earlier this year topped Hong Kong's Best Employer list, and ranked sixth in Asia.

This is perhaps partly due to successes at the company since Mr Fan joined six years ago, coinciding more or less with the Hong Kong handover. Despite a roller-coaster economic ride since, the company has increased its portfolio of managed properties to 206 from 42.

The workforce has meanwhile grown to 3,400 from 600, and Mr Fan is also proud to note: 'When I joined, there was not one university graduate on the staff. Today there are over 200.'

Synergis is now embarking on its next era of growth in China, and with ventures recently launched in Beijing and Guangzhou and with a keen eye on Shanghai, Mr Fan is on a roll.

He is doubtless handsomely compensated for his efforts. Though his salary is obviously his own business, a fair indication might be gleaned from the amount of money he is prepared to pay for his one obsession beyond the company - listening to jazz.

It is ironically amusing even to Mr Fan that his speakers (Wilson Audio) cost HK$200,000 and his CD player (Wadia) was $120,000. Even the cables (MIT) that link his system were a breathtaking $40,000 - though he hastens to add, with only a hint of embarrassment, that there is much more expensive equipment on the market.

Though his second obsession is motoring, this indulgence is thankfully restrained from the likes of Ferraris and Porsches by his obligation to drive a family car. He settled for a Lexus. The motoring and music become one every Sunday morning, when he cleans his car to the voluminous sounds of Kenny G, which, not surprisingly, sometimes annoys his Castle Peak Road neighbours.

All of this is a far cry from Mr Fan's staid beginnings as a government clerical officer.

He joined the civil service in 1978, straight from the amusingly named Moral Training English College, on a salary of HK$600 a month, which was not a lot of money even in those days.

From there his career plodded along, rather than advanced, in typical civil-service fashion. Next stop was a spell as a welfare assistant with Social Services, where he met his future wife, Juliana.

He took his first step into property in 1982, when the first of his two daughters was born. Though his job as a housing officer with the Housing Department did represent a promotion of sorts, it could not have been much closer to the bottom of the property career ladder. He was in charge of a temporary housing estate in Yuen Long.

It was a time of dramatic change in Hong Kong, with then governor Sir Murray MacLehose resolving the squalid and chaotic squatter camps with revolutionary low-cost housing, and the experience stood Mr Fan in great stead.

But he was too ambitious for the civil service. 'Promotions take a long time in government,' he said. 'You can wait 15 years.'

He was not willing to wait, and jumped ship to the rapidly developing private property sector.

A brave and rare decision, abandoning a civil service career set-up for life? Not quite, he admitted.

'My wife was [and still is] with the Social Welfare Department, so we had a level of security. I still think everyone should consider security as they develop their careers.'

His first step was five years with New World Development, followed by two years with Cheung Kong before he was lured to Hsin Chong Group as general manager of its property management arm.

In just a year, he was appointed to the board as managing director.

Mr Fan has essentially steered Synergis from a traditional but smallish Chinese property manager best known for government public housing into a much wider market of prestigious properties such as Revenue Tower, Immigration Tower, Asia Airfreight Terminal, ExxonMobil and Cisco Systems in Hong Kong, a science park and Digital China in Beijing, and modern corporations in Guangzhou.

Old-fashioned property management - involving only rent-collecting, cleaning, repairs and security - has been extended to providing 'total solutions'.

'We now provide not only familiar property management services but anything that requires outsourcing, from tea ladies and mail-room staff to administrative staff,' he said.

He summed up the key to this Synergis evolution in one word: quality.

'To achieve quality, I depend on quality staff, which is why I recruit so many graduates,' he said.

'It's all about the pursuit of excellence, with our commitment in return to the career development of employees.'

Modernising the corporate culture and mindset took time, but paid enormous dividends when the company topped Hong Kong's prestigious Quality Awards in 2001.

'This endorsement was a tremendous boost to our business and portfolio,' Mr Fan said.

'My mission is always total quality and continuous improvement, while keeping my staff happy.

'When your staff are happy, they will do their best to make their company a success.'