By It was reported in the media today (3 Mar) that an industrial building in Alexandra, The Alexcier, was found to have illegally built an extra floor on top of its 8th floor.
The hidden ninth floor was found to have various living spaces with workstations, beds, a kitchen and a meeting room. In fact, it’s so secretive that to get there, people will have to enter through an office pantry on the 8th floor, key in a password at the door, which was disguised as a display shelf, before going up a flight of stairs to reach the 9th floor.
The hidden floor would have been kept secret if not for a whisleblower. All 3 government agencies BCA, URA and SCDF said the extra floor has been illegally constructed. They will be taking actions soon against those found responsible, they said.
It turns out that the company which owns the 8th floor unit connected to the illegal additional floor is ZACD Investments, which comes under the ZACD Group. The ZACD Group founder and CEO is Stanley Yeo Choon Guan.
When the media approached Mr Yeo, he admitted that his company had built the extra space above. Mr Yeo explained, “It’s not an additional floor. It’s a racking system (shelving storage system). We built it 4 to 5 years ago for storage purposes. It’s only about 3,000 to 4,000 sqf.” However, inspection by SCDF officers showed that, unlike a racking system, it is constructed like an enclosed floor with interior fittings.
Many people interviewed at the building said they had no idea that there was a 9th floor. But they suspected that people were living on 8th floor after seeing foreign workers taking the cargo lift to the 8th floor late at night. Even security guards were suspecting that foreign workers were living there because they were told to let these people into the building late at night.
Mr Yeo, however, insisted that no one was living up there. When asked about the furniture and beds found on the 9th floor, he said they were previously used in his company showroom. “Nobody lives there, but we have people who work overtime and overnight… they are not there most of the time. Only once in a while,” he said. As for the workstations, he said he had moved them there from the 8th floor after his company’s IT system was “hacked”.
A former member of the building’s management council told the media, “We have been holding our meetings in the 8th floor unit all these years and none of us knew about this ninth floor.” He added, “This is a safety issue that the authorities need to address quickly.”
Stanley Yeo is a grassroots leader at Tampines
Accrording to ZACD’s website, it said their founder Stanley Yeo has been actively “investing in and shaping the Industrial Property Development sector in Singapore for over 10 years”. He has transacted over $1 billion in project sales alone, it said.
It listed notable projects in which Mr Yeo has been “actively involved” in. They include:
- Penjuru Tech Hub, which “generated over 400% returns within 2 years”
- The Alexcier, which “pioneered proximity of industrial property to the CBD and featured lifestyle elements, had its value double from launch to completion within 2 years”
- Northstar@AMK which was “90% sold within 10 months of launch, generated a return on equity of 1197%, a record in Singapore’s industrial property market”
It also stated that Mr Yeo is “driven by a passion for helping the less fortunate”. “He is active in charitable causes and was recently awarded the Public Service Medal in 2015 by the President of Singapore for his contributions to society,” it said.
Indeed, a check on the National Day Award site shows that Mr Yeo is the Vice-Chairman of Tampines North CCC (Tampines GRC), who was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2015:
According to the Tampines Town Council’s website, Mr Yeo was appointed a member of the town council for a term of two years with effect from 1 October 2017.
In an article published in LinkedIn just 4 months ago (Nov 2018), it listed him as currently the Chairman of Tampines North Citizens Consultative Committee, which means he has been promoted by PA.
In the article, Mr Yeo also described himself as a “disciplined risk taker”. He said, “To do well in business, you need to know when to take calculated risks and when not to dive in recklessly.”
Certainly, he must have calculated his risk well when he decided to construct the additional floor few years ago in his Alexcier venture. He probably thought BCA, URA and SCDF would not mind.