Old-style businessman is looking forward to building for the future

'STABILITY, PEACE and growth are the things I like,' said Lui Che-woo, founder and chairman of K Wah Organisation, a conglomerate that has interests in property and hotel industries in Hong Kong and overseas.

Well into the golden years of his retirement, Mr Lui still holds the conductor's baton in the organisation at the age of 71.

He talked about his beliefs and businesses as he showed me around his office on the top floor of K Wah Centre on the harbour front in North Point, overlooking Kowloon. The office is heavily furnished with carved wood and oozes the old-world charm of a traditional family environment.

One of the organisation's units is K Wah Development, a medium-sized property development company that was suddenly thrust into limelight last October when K Wah led a group of other small to medium-sized property developers to petition the Government against big developers, who it said dominated the property market in Hong Kong.

'I have been in talks with the Government for the last three years,' said Mr Lui . 'The Government always takes care of the large developers and I feel that it should change its views. There are many smaller developers in Hong Kong and it can't just take care of three or four larger ones.'

Mr Lui said he highlighted a problem that was brought about because the Government did not try to allocate enough land for small developers. 'When small builders had no avenues for development, like [they did] a few years back, they started to speculate. When they can't buy land, they buy apartments and speculate in the market,' he said.