\n<\/p>\n
The Pilbara region of Western Australia is a vast, rugged expanse of iron-red earth\u00a0<\/span>shaped by minerals billions of years old<\/span>. Its dusty, arid landscape is hardly the place you\u2019d expect to find a 72-year-old Singaporean who spent much of his career navigating the air-conditioned corridors of the duty-free trade. But 13 years ago, as Bruce Cheung began thinking about retirement, it became clear that becoming a landlord and spending his autumn years on the golf course was not his idea of a fulfilling third act. What he craved was reinvention. \u201cSo I said to myself, \u2018Why don\u2019t I try to do something more meaningful and see how I can survive in a new industry,\u201d he said over video call with CNA Luxury.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At around the same time, the Singapore government began unveiling its 30-by-30 goal, a strategy to produce 30 per cent of the country\u2019s nutritional needs locally by 2030 (the goal has since been revised with new targets for 2035). That seemed to Cheung like a challenge he could get behind. \u201cSo I thought, why don\u2019t I try something totally different?\u201d he recalled. \u201cOne of the main food groups that Singapore doesn\u2019t have is an ample supply of beef\u2026 And that\u2019s when the ideas started coming.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In 2014, Cheung bought a used SUV and drove 2,500km north from Sydney to Cairns in search of a farm. When that journey yielded nothing, he continued west towards Darwin, where one property sharpened his admittedly \u201cfuzzy\u201d criteria.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI found a freehold project that was A$80 (US$58; S$74) an acre. I couldn\u2019t believe it. It was so attractive,\u201d he said. The owner offered him the land, the house, and 300 cattle. \u201cI knew this was too good to be true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The catch, he found after some digging, was the lack of a reliable water supply for irrigation. Australia\u2019s water rights laws prevented him from using the water beneath it. \u201cAnd from that point on, I changed my direction. I began looking for water because water can transform the numbers and determine if the project would work or not,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nTIME TO HIT THE ROAD<\/span><\/h2>\n