appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Peggy Sito

Grandson of famous builder follows where the money is - designing restaurants in luxury hotels

Inheriting the family business often means  having to face a host of challenges, especially when the business belongs to a sunset industry.

So David Sung Hai-soon reckons it is not worth  following in the footsteps of his late grandfather, the famous construction engineer Sung Tak-sui.

The  elder  Sung was one of the  builders of the HSBC Building on Shanghai's Bund district in 1923 and the founder of construction firm Sung Foo Kee, which erected most of the landmark  edifices in Hong Kong's Central district  such as the Mandarin Oriental hotel and Prince Building.

'Hong Kong's construction industry is a sunset industry as the growth pace of its economy slows. It is also capital intensive  as contractors need to  buy the building materials in advance  and get paid by the developers  only months later,' Mr Sung said.

'And it is an industry  that easily draws criticism from the public.'

Instead of putting up buildings, the young Sung  has set his  sight on a  robust industry in fast-growing regions.

Mr Sung specialises in designing restaurants for luxury hotels in  the mainland and Macau - forecast to be two of the world's fastest-growing economies  in the next decade.

'There are not many business opportunities in Hong Kong. How many new hotels are being built in the city?' said Mr Sung.

The choice  ran against his grandfather and father's footsteps.

'Most of my grandfather's construction businesses  were  confiscated when the Communist Party took control in 1949. He  and his family then  came to Hong Kong and set up Sung Foo Kee,' Mr Sung said.

'When China announced  it would take back Hong Kong in the  1980s, he sold Sung Foo Kee and moved to Canada.

'The old generation lost confidence in China. But I, the younger generation, am not afraid,' he said.

'With the fast expansion of its hotel industry, the China market is a must-go market.'

Mr Sung said most  international hotels  were entering  the mainland, so the business opportunities  were huge, especially for small companies  that faced tough competition in Hong Kong, where  construction projects had become fewer  than  in past years.

The world's top 10 hotel groups, including InterContinental, Marriott and Hyatt, have all entered the mainland,  attracted by  its growing economy and the prospects of the domestic tourism market, according to Xinhua news agency.

There were 12,930 star-level hotels in  the mainland by the end of 2005, topping the 2004 figure by 2,042,   ResearchInChina said.

Mr Sung is one of the few key designers in  the mainland's hospitality industry with clients that include  Grand Hyatt, Hilton International and China Resources Holdings.

The latest project was designing  interiors for all five restaurants of the newly opened Shangri-La hotel in Guangzhou.

Mr Sung said he would  follow his clients moving to  southern China. 'Many international hotels have set up their presence in Shanghai and now they are shifting to southern China as well as Macau,' he said.

Mr Sung has designed one restaurant for Melco PBL's  Crown Casino Macau.

He is also in negotiations to design another restaurant for  Melco PBL's City of Dreams hotel-casino project that is undergoing construction in  the enclave.



Sung heir takes divergent path