Robin SK Loh (; 1928/29 – 28 August 2010) was a Singaporean businessman and

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

. Loh was best known in Australia as the founder of

Robina, Queensland Robina ( ) is a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Robina had a population of 25,659 people. Robina is one of the first Planned_community, master-planned residential communitie ...

, a suburban town on the Gold Coast of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. Robina, which turned 30 in 2010, is considered one of Australia's most successful

planned communities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

. He was also credited as a leading businessman during Singapore's industrialization.

Education

Loh obtained a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Asian political science in 1995 and subsequently a doctorate from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. The University of Berkeley considered his business success as a general degree and allowed him to pursue his degree in the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

Early life and career

Loh was born in

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, and moved to Singapore during the 1940s at the age of 18. He began his career in business by salvaging abandoned U.S. Army military equipment. He also worked as a

taxicab driver A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

. In the early 1970s, Loh established the Robin Shipyard in Singapore. In 1980, Loh purchased 20 square kilometres of

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

land on the southern Gold Coast in

. Loh built the town of Robina, which grew into a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

with a population of approximately 30,000 people, as of 2010. Loh built a

town center A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus st ...

with entertainment, parks and healthcare facilities. In addition to Robina and other real estate holdings, Loh also held interests in research and development, hotels, banking,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

, manufacturing, shipping and

oil rig An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construc ...

construction during his career. Robin Road and Robina House, in Singapore's

Shenton Way Shenton Way is a major trunk road serving Singapore's Central Area and is most commonly known for the commercial skyscrapers flanking both sides of the road. The road is a one-way street that starts at the junction of Boon Tat Street, Raffles Qu ...

, are named after Loh. The government of

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

also granted him the title Datuk. On 28 August 2010, Robin Loh died of

breathing difficulties Shortness of breath (SOB), known as dyspnea (in AmE) or dyspnoea (in BrE), is an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to breathe well enough. The American Thoracic Society defines it as "a subjective experience of breathing discomfort that ...

on an international flight from Singapore to Hong Kong, at the age of 81. He had suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loh, Robin 1920s births 2010 deaths Singaporean businesspeople in real estate Real estate and property developers Singaporean people of Hakka descent Indonesian emigrants to Singapore