Maha Sinnathamby (born 10 December 1939 in

Rantau Rantau (Chinese: 晏斗) is a small town and a mukim in Seremban District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Location Rantau is 16 km south of downtown Seremban, 20 km ENE of Port Dickson and 49 km south-east of Kajang, Selangor. It is ...

, Seremban,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

) is an Australian businessman and property developer. He is the entrepreneur behind the Greater Springfield Development in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, the largest master-planned community in Australia. In 2019, Sinnathamby's Springfield City Group was inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame in recognition of their visionary entrepreneurship in establishing Springfield, as a nation-building project and Australia's first privately-constructed city.

Early life and education

Born in

on 10 December 1939, Maha Sinnathamby is a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

descent. His childhood was spent on a British-owned rubber estate in the small farming village of

, Negeri Sembilan. His father worked for the plantation but was taken as a prisoner of war in July 1944 during the

Japanese occupation of Malaysia The then British colony of Malaya was gradually occupied by the Japanese between 8 December 1941 and the Allied surrender at Singapore on 16 February 1942. The Japanese remained in occupation until their surrender to the Allies in 1945. The ...

. In September 1945, his father was released. Maha moved to Australia and studied civil engineering at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

. After graduating, he worked as a civil and design engineer for several years in South East Asia before returning to Australia.

Business career

He started his own property business in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in 1971, before moving to Queensland in the early 1980s. He continued building the company with numerous small residential subdivisions and several commercial projects in the region.

Greater Springfield Development

In 1992 with business partner Bob Sharpless, Sinnathamby bought a 2,860 hectare (approx 7067 acre) area of land in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

, south-west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, for $7.9 million. He then lobbied for basic education and transport infrastructure to be built in the area, which required a rezoning bill to be passed. On 24 January 1997, Queensland Parliament unanimously voted in favour of the legislation. The Greater Springfield area was designed as Australia's largest master-planned community (10th largest globally), and is focused on interconnected pillars of health, education, and information technology: * Education City: the educational core of Greater Springfield located in Springfield Central. It contains a University of Southern Queensland campus, 10 public and private schools, student accommodation, and a technical college. It is currently home to approximately 14,000 students. * Health City: A 52 hectare (128.5 acre) health precinct currently under construction, the area will offer Springfield residents and the wider region access to a range of professional health services. It currently contains the Mater Private Hospital. Aveo Group has been appointed exclusive developer for 2,500 new senior housing units and other health integrated facilities. * Idea City: The IT hub of Greater Springfield features Australia's leading Polaris Data Centre, and has a strong research focus on commercialising innovation in partnership with government and business. Currently, more than $15 billion has been invested by public and private stakeholders into the project. A$1.2 billion dual track major rail line and transit hub was established in 2013 and connected Greater Springfield to the wider South East Queensland area. Greater Springfield's current population is approximately 35,000, with a predicted growth to 105,000 by 2030. Greater Springfield's masterplan also retains 30 per cent of the land holding for open, green space.

Springfield City Group

Sinnathamby established Springfield City Group (formerly Springfield Land Corporation), of which he is the chairman, in conjunction with the purchase of the plot that would become Greater Springfield. The company is responsible for overseeing the development of the Greater Springfield area.

Personal life

In 1968 he married Yoga, and they have three daughters – Raynuha, Meera, Uma – and a son, Naren. Maha enjoys playing golf at Brookwater.

Net worth

In 2017, '' The Australian Financial Review'' added Sinnathamby to its list of Australian

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...

s Rich List at 57th position with a

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

of 1.02 billion.

Philanthropy

Sinnathamby has donated more than 200 million of land and funds for vital social infrastructure, and established a program of scholarships within Greater Springfield to assist people with limited access to education. Sinnathamby also mentors a select group of young professionals, helping them to achieve personal excellence.

Awards and recognition

Sinnathamby's work was acknowledged globally in 2010 with the emerging Greater Springfield being named the world's best master-planned community by the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI). He also won the Ernst and Young Master Entrepreneur of the Year.