3 min read
On 22 September 2026, Tan Sri Dato' (Dr) Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman, Executive Chairman of Rahim & Co | Chestertons, received the World Distinguished Real Estate Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement Award at an event organised by the World Business Forum in London. Rahim & Co shared the news on Instagram, and the award recognises more than five decades of work in real estate and public service.
London fits the honour well, because it is where his career began.
Tan Sri Rahim was born in Kelantan. He studied at Sultan Ismail College in Kota Bharu and Penang Free School, then trained in London at Hammersmith College of Building and the College of Estate Management.
He started work in 1967 as a Valuation Officer with the London Borough of Hounslow. He then returned to Malaysia and held a series of property roles: in the Valuation Division of the Ministry of Finance, as Properties Manager and Secretary to the Board of Malayan Railways, and as Properties Manager of Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Berhad.
Those years gave him experience of the property market from several sides, including the valuer's desk, government, transport infrastructure and banking.
In 1976 he founded Rahim & Co International. It now has 23 offices across Malaysia and offers valuation, research, estate agency, property and facilities management, project management and investment consultancy.
In a 2022 interview with The Edge Malaysia, he described the early breaks that shaped the firm. One was being handed the management of Putra World Trade Centre with a team of around 15 people. The Edge gave him its Outstanding Contribution to the Real Estate Industry award that same year.
His influence extends well beyond his own firm. He was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and became a Fellow in 1976. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Surveyors, Malaysia.
He has served as President of RISM, FIABCI Malaysia, the Asia Pacific Real Estate Federation, and PEPS, the association for private-sector valuers, property managers, estate agents and consultants in Malaysia.
He was also the first Malaysian elected Deputy World President of FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation, serving from 1990 to 1992. He later received the FIABCI Medal of Honour.
He has also spent years in academia. He was Adjunct Professor at Universiti Utara Malaysia from 2013 to 2015 and at Universiti Teknologi MARA from 2014 to 2016, and has held the same role at Universiti Malaya since 2017.
Universiti Malaya awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in Real Estate in 2018. Earlier in 2026, the Property Surveying Division of RISM named him Philanthropist Property Surveyor of the Year.
From 2010 to 2016 he served as a Senator of Malaysia, appointed by His Majesty the King. In 2015 he was President of the Malaysian Senators' Council.
In 2014 he was conferred the Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM), which carries the title Tan Sri. His other state honours include the DIMP, DMSM and DPTJ, each of which carries the title Dato'.
If you work in real estate, you know how uncommon it is for one person to shape a firm, a professional body and a country's policy conversation all at once. Tan Sri Rahim has done this for more than 50 years, and he built it on professional standards and service.
Everyone at Chestertons Global congratulates Tan Sri Rahim on this recognition. To learn more about Chestertons Malaysia and the wider Chestertons Global affiliate network, visit chestertons.com.
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