A passion for real estate

HERMAN Chang, founder and managing director of property development and hospitality group Macly, decided in his teenage years that he wanted to make money out of real estate.

At a sleepover in a classmate's home in his upper secondary school days at The Chinese High School, the young Mr Chang noticed that his classmate's dad was a developer/construction contractor and "making a lot of money". "So I concluded that I can do the same."

That decision influenced Mr Chang in his choice of subjects for higher studies. At Hwa Chong Junior College, he studied Physical Science, General Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Economics as his 'A' level subjects.

After national service, he proceeded to the National University of Singapore, graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree (second upper class honours) around the mid-1980s. For the next two and a half years, he worked as a financial futures trader in Singapore before heading to the Un…