Thursday 16 February 2017

Tony Tiah. Donald Trump. My Father's Son

Is the 2013 hit for Pearl Jam, taken from the superstar alternative rock band's10th album, lightning bolt.

Tony Tiah, of TA Securities must be saying that his 37 year old son, is the father's son, as his son hits the global lime light like a lightning bolt, for being Donald Trump's partner.

Read below, the exclusive from the Financial Times :

Joo Kim Tiah, the son of one of Malaysia’s wealthiest tycoons, sat on stage in the summer of 2013 as his new business partner announced their plans for a C$360m luxury condominium-hotel project on Vancouver’s most prestigious downtown thoroughfare.

With characteristic salesmanship, Donald Trump bragged that the 63-storey glass tower on West Georgia Street would be “one of the great buildings, not only in Canada and the US but anywhere in the world”.

Mr Tiah, chief executive of Holborn Group, his family’s Canada-based property development company, was similarly effusive, saying the Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver would one day “become a new symbol” for the city.

For many residents of Vancouver, a proudly multicultural city with a thriving film industry and environmentally friendly vibe, Mr Tiah’s prediction has already come true.

Since his business partner’s election as US president in November, the shimmering tower has become an unwelcome symbol of the man whose name shines in large block letters on the front façade.

“The building comes to represent the worst in humankind with that name on it: bullying, sexism and intolerance,” said Kerry Jang, a city councillor.

He and other politicians in the city, including the mayor, have called for the Trump name to be removed from the building. Mr Tiah, the 37-year-old son of Malaysian property developer Tony Tiah Thee Kian, insists he will not remove the name.

“I am locked in with the contract,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times.

The Trump family is “aware I’m under pressure but what am I going to do? From a business standpoint they haven’t done anything wrong.”