Every once in a while, a unique opportunity is presented to remember with much respect the life time achievements of a distinguished individual, close to the heart of our academic and professional peers. One such individual that the Department of Real Estate in the National University of Singapore (NUS), has taken the initiative to commemorate was the late Dr. Amos Koh in the form of a University memorial fund, which would be significantly beneficial to our student body.

The richness of the life of Dr. Amos Koh extended beyond his personal life. Although he much valued family life with his wife, Dr. Koh abounded with much care, commitment and energy for the community of business colleagues, real estate professionals and University colleagues. His long standing association with the University’s Department of Real Estate has been filled with much admiration particularly in his complete dedication to teaching, his gentle style of encouragement, kindly advice and innovative suggestions and his seemingly inexhaustible hours spent with students, friends, colleagues and business associates. He worked tirelessly in the name of excellence, be it in business, the real estate investment profession, academia or church work.

Beyond doubt, Dr. Amos Koh’s business acumen in his private- and public- sector roles was outstanding. As a leading pioneer in regional and international real estate ventures through out the 1990s to 2000, he provided valuable advice to the Indonesian and Nepal tax authorities; the Hainan International Financial Investment & Consultancy Co.; Beijing’s Qing Hua University Alumni Real Estate Consultancy Group; Shanghai’s urban redevelopment local authority; Asian Development Bank and Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. He was a long-standing board member of Singapore’s Jurong Town Corporation, having served with distinction on several board committees from 1991 to 2000. As a real estate valuer and a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Surveyors & Valuers, his immense valuation portfolio extended beyond the shores of Singapore to include real estate assets in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Bintan, Surabaya, Jakarta, Bangkok and China. Dr. Amos Koh ran his own company when he initially ventured into Indonesia and subsequently led the operations of PT Surya Prapta Inda/Knight Frank Baillieu as Managing Director. These were followed by key appointments as Managing Director of DTZ Leung in Singapore and Indonesia; and as Executive Director of Knight Frank in Singapore, heading its International Projects and Industrial departments. Ultimately, he served as a leading foreign talent in heading the real estate group of the Saudi Economic & Development Co. Ltd in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Despite his significant achievements, Dr. Koh was an all-rounder in every sense of the word, with a musical talent in playing the guitar, composing musical pieces, a penchant for poetry and composing poems distinctly of his own.