Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, the founder of I-Berhad recently received the "Outstanding Property Entrepreneur Award" for fusing real estate and technology and transforming Shah Alam's once-sleepy western corridor into the thriving financial city today known as i-City.

 

i-City, which he founded in the 1990s, is his "baby"

 

"I would not be entirely honest to say that we had grown just from the hard work from my team and me. It took an entire ecosystem of people to develop i-City from a barren land. I still strongly believe in hard work, mindset, and passion. However, 'you are your own limit'. We are only human and humans have limitations. We become stronger with a good support ecosystem.

 

"Today, my baby has grown so much that if one travels on the Federal Highway from Shah Alam to Klang, one would see landmarks such as 32-storey Mercu Maybank and DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel," he said in his LinkedIn posting.

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Lim said that today, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Malaysia's largest bank by assets, saw i-City as a good fit to set up its second headquarters for business continuity management reasons and DoubleTree by Hilton saw i-City as a good business location

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"Which financial institution worth their salt would want to set up an office with little accessibility and few networking potentials? Which international hotel would open its doors at a place where opportunities are scarce?

 

"For that, I am grateful to the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, and Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA). The conferment of i-City as an international zone by Sultan Sharafuddin in 2008 and in 2011, the signing of a management and development agreement with the Selangor State Government and MBSA for i-City to be managed and developed as an investment location for global businesses paved the way for all these and more," Lim said.

 

According to Lim, i-City was one of the first to build the City of Digital Lights, which CNN Travel named one of the top 25 brightest and most colourful locations on earth.

 

"If I may go further down in history, I would say that the MSC (Malaysia) Cybercentre status is important. Our journey would have been hampered had we not been identified by the Selangor State Government led by the then Menteri Besar of Selangor, Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamed Khir Toyo back in 2005 as the centre of the State's ICT activities. This recognition brought us support from the State to be the first privately funded MSC (Malaysia) Cybercentre in Selangor in 2007," he said.

 

Lim added that the Space Agency of Malaysia supported the first Aerospace show in 1995, even though i-City was a desolate area at the time.

 

"We are now in a position to strive forward and play a pivotal role as nucleus within the state ecosystem to be a key economic driver for Selangor State by driving new technologies in line with the State's "Smart Selangor" vision. We will benefit not only the residents of Shah Alam but the community at large," he said.