Arm In Arm, Cheek To Cheek

- Kathlyn D'souza

ALL IS FAIR in love and war—while some may extend that saying to business. And when one addresses business, one prefers to not mix business and pleasure, let alone blur the lines between work and personal affairs. However, the affable and humorous Datuk Seth Yap together with the elegant and warm Datin Lea Chan seem to have cracked the code for the perfect partnership in all aspects of their life as husband and wife, as well as business partners. Here’s the story of how the lawyers-turned-developers met, and how they are now seeing through the success and plans for their company, M101.

MT: First, an introduction of yourselves.

Datuk Seth Yap (SY): I spent my early years until I was 12 growing up in Malaysia, then Singapore to study, and finally England to read law. I’ve always known I wanted to be a lawyer—I like to talk! But I also considered teaching, so before I decided to go to England to become a lawyer, I had a brief stint as a tutor. I did so well that my mother opened a teaching centre! But then, after that I saw through my dreams of becoming a lawyer, and eventually qualified as a barrister. I just felt like that was who I should be. Not to forget, that was also how I met my wife, close to 13 years ago. We chambered together, she had a boyfriend, married the boyfriend, many years down the road I got married too, then we both divorced, and we got together! That’s the long story short! [laughs]

Datin Lea Chan (LC):