Residents demonstrate over insufficient compensation

SOME 50 residents of the century-old ‘Lim Seh Bah’ village in Jelutong held a peaceful demonstration against a local developer as they were not happy with the compensation offered to vacate their homes.

Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi claimed the developer had initially allocated 88 low medium-cost (LMC) housing units to the 88 families in their planning permission submitted to the local authority back in 2011.

“Now they are offering only RM35,000 per household to these families which is not reasonable considering the current market price for houses are significantly higher.

“Therefore, it is better to compensate each family with an LMC unit,” he said, adding that 12 of the 88 families had accepted the compensation.

It is learnt that the developer is planning to construct a mixed-development project on the 2.4ha site.

Ooi claimed that the total gross development value of the project could reach RM385mil.

“I am sure that they can give the LMC units to the families affected as they will be losing their homes in the village due to the development.”

Angry lot: The residents showing their displeasure over the compensation offered to vacate their homes

Meanwhile, a top-ranking officer of the development company said they had raised the offer to RM40,000 but the residents still refused to accept, adding that the door was always open for negotiation.

However, he denied that the company had allocated any LMC units as compensation for the affected residents in their planning permission.

In a related matter, Ooi also urged the developer of an adjacent project to be responsible and compensate the eight households in the same village that will be affected as their front doors are literally bordering the project.

“If they move their fences at the border, then it will block the road access to the houses nearby.”

He claimed that the developer in question had refused to compensate and asked the developer of the mixed-development project to offer the compensation instead.

“I am not sure if this is allowed but I will check with the local authority,” added Ooi. - The Star

分层地契及分层管理新法令 入伙纸、分层地契须同步发出

（槟城13日讯）已在国会上通过的分层地契及分层管理法令将限定新屋业计划的入伙纸（COF）必须与分层地契（Strata Title）同步发出，这将避免未来出现业主入伙后迟迟未能获取分层地契的困境。
槟城土地测量师庄光汉指出，在新法令下，在有关方面发出建筑主干结构（super structure）完工证书后，发展商必须在3个月期限内提呈申请分层地契，这将使到一旦工程完工时，分层地契将可与入伙纸同步发出。
他是在光大区州议员黄伟益，与槟州民主行动党房屋及地方政府局周日联办的“2012年分层管理法案与1985年分层地契法令及其最新修订法案研修课程”上，如是指出，有关讲座会吸引众多的公寓管理机构单位业主前往聆听。
他表示，在法令下，任何综合发展计划下，只有管理机构（MC）可成立次管理机构（sub MC），联合管理机构（JMC）将禁止成立次管理机构。在法令下也成立分层地契仲裁庭以解决任何管理与购屋者间引起的争议纠纷。- 光华

Malaysian consortium to sell all 800 units in UK project by end-April

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 — The Malaysian joint-venture consortium for the £8 billion (RM38.9 billion) Battersea Power Station, which launched its local sales programme for the first phase today, is targeting to sell all 800 units by end-April.

The consortium comprises SP Setia Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund.

SP Setia chief executive officer Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin said the consortium had allocated 400 units for the Malaysian market and the balance for the Singapore and Hong Kong markets.

“For the London market, which was launched on Wednesday, we have allocated over 200 units and given the overwhelming response from the sales, we might consider revising it upwards,” he said at a press conference after witnessing the launch of the sales programme here by Minister of Housing and Local Government Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung.

Liew said the official sales figure would only be released on Monday.

The London Borough of Wandsworth granted detailed planning permission for phase one of the Battersea Power Station development on December 13, 2012.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed the United Kingdom government’s support for a £1 billion loan and a guarantee to extend the Northern Line underground monorail to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station.

“The £1 billion is for the full value of the project and with this backup from the British government, the monorail extension will be ready,” he said.

Confident that the consortium would benefit immensely, Liew said profits would only be recognised upon completion of the first-phase development in 2016.

Battersea Power Station Development Co chief executive officer Rob Tincknell said phase two of the development would involve transforming the 1.8 million square feet power station into a mixed development of retail, offices, leisure, restaurants and over 300 residential units.

The first phase of the project, named Circus West, has a gross development value of £900 million, a mix of 800 units of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, townhouses and penthouses, as well as a blend of offices, shops and leisure and hospitality facilities.

Prices start from £338,000 for a studio, £423,000 for a one-bedroom, £613,000 for a two-bedroom and £894,000 for a three-bedroom apartment while a penthouse unit would cost £6 million. — Bernama

Tanjung Court folk protest against management firm

GEORGE TOWN: Some 30 residents of Tanjung Court Condominium in Bandar Baru Air Itam staged a protest outside the office of their property management company to air their grievances over several issues.

The condominium’s residents committee spokesman George Khoo said it was a wake-up call for officers of Bandar Baru Air Itam Management (BBAIM) Sdn Bhd to buck up on their performance.

“There are many issues that have not been resolved by the company to our satisfaction including its failure to collect maintenance fee arrears which amounts to more than RM200,000,” he told reporters yesterday.

“We have met the officers many times. Some of the promises made by them were not honoured. They are tardy in implementing things and they usually come up with all sorts of excuses.

“There was about two weeks’ delay in the implementation of Touch N Go system which was supposed to take off on Nov 8. Till now, the system is not fully operational since the anti-pass back system is not ready,” he said.

Khoo said the committee had requested that the security company be changed many times but it had fallen on deaf ears.

However, he said the security company’s service was abruptly terminated within 24 hours and a new one appointed to take over on Friday night.

“We believe this was done after they learnt about our protest. Before this, the officers have told us that they need to give one month’s notice to the company. They said it was not easy since they have not paid the company for two months,” he said.

Khoo said the company had not come up with any plans to increase revenue collection in Tanjung Court resulting in the condominium’s accounts being in the red for four years consecutively.

“I hope the company is not planning to raise maintenance fees. This is not acceptable to us,” he said.

He said residents were also not happy with the eight-odd contractors who are paid monthly for their services including sweeping, maintenance of lift, upkeep of swimming pool, chargeman and electrical services.

“There is lax supervision by BBAIM. We don’t know how these people were hired in the first place. We don’t know the duration of their contract and why their contacts are being renewed when the service rendered is of poor quality,” he said.

“We are paying about RM5,000 per month to the cleaning contractor. The common areas are still dirty. We have been talking about this problem endlessly but there is no solution in sight,” he said.

State Housing, Urban and Town Planning Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai and Paya Terubong assemblyman Yeoh Soon Hin, who were present at the protest, said they would look into the residents’ woes.

Wong said he would arrange for the residents to meet BBAIM directors who are top officers of Farlim Group Bhd.

Yeoh said the residents committee had expressed its wish to form its own management corporation to look after the property.

“Farlim Group should look into this matter. It can give up its right to manage the property,” he said.

BBAIM assistant manager M. Mutusamy said they would invite the residents committee to discuss the issues raised by it.

He said the company had appointed bill collectors to knock on the doors of those who failed to settle their maintenance dues.

“If they still fail to pay the money, we can bar them from driving into the condomi- nium by disabling their Touch ‘N Go cards,” he said. - The Star

Construction courts soon

PUTRAJAYA: A specialised construction court will be set up in Kuala Lumpur and Shah Alam soon to hear construction disputes as demand for projects continue to rise, Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria said.

“Construction cases are unique as they involve technical issues, multiple parties and varying terms of payment. Thus, a specialised construction court would be beneficial to the industry. By having specialised judges, it will help in the speedy disposal of such cases,” Bernama reported him as saying at the opening of the Legal Year 2013 here.

The chief justice said the new court was among several initiatives to enhance performance and work quality.

Arifin said to address the significant increase in the number of cases brought forward to this year in the Federal Court, two Federal Court panels would be sitting every week from March.

He said to enable the Malaysian Bar and the Attorney-General's Chambers to improve their case presentations in complex cases, an electronic presentation system facility would be used.

Arifin said with the support of the Attorney-General's Chambers, the judiciary was seriously considering the establishment of a mediation division in the Chief Registrar's Office to undertake the promotion of mediation amongst litigants.

The chief justice also said that since Oct 16, the Federal Court had started issuing press summaries of the judgment of the court to assist the public in understanding the reasons behind the court's decision.

He said, it was part of the judiciary's efforts to make justice more transparent.

Arifin reaffirmed the judiciary's commitment to uphold its independence, saying the institution would strengthen itself against any attempt to undermine this attribute.

This would be done through training and closer supervision of members of the judiciary, he said.

“I wish to call upon members of the Bar Council and the public to restrain from corrupting the judges and officers in order to gain favours from them.

“For, in any corruption, there is a giver and a receiver. You all can stop it at your end,” he told some 400 people, comprising judges of the Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court and Sessions Court, judicial officers, members from the Bar Council and from the Attorney-General's Chambers and retired judges at the ceremony.

Arifin said the High Courts and subordinate courts nationwide had continued to maintain their high performance.

He said the High Courts disposed off more than 120,000 civil and 6,000 criminal cases while the Sessions Courts disposed off more than 130,000 civil and 27,000 criminal cases. The magistrate's courts disposed off 250,000 civil and more than 134,000 criminal cases.

He said 90.1% of the cases disposed off at the High Courts were within the nine-month timeline set, while the figure was 85.8% in the Sessions Courts. In the magistrate's courts 81.6% of cases were disposed off within the six-month timeline.

In his speech, Malaysian Bar president Lim Chee Wee said it had pledged its support to the chief justice to combat corruption, adding that it would approach and work with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission whenever there was a serious hint of corruption involving its members or the Bench. - The Star

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Investing in a property is still best

THE Christmas and New Year celebrations offer us good reasons to indulge in extra spending — shopping for presents, overseas trips, parties and rewarding ourselves more lavishly than usual.

But now that the fireworks are over, what’s next?

The talk of the town these days is that the coming 13th general election have to be called before April 2013. We will know whether the ruling coalition will govern this country for yet another term. To endear themselves to the voters, the opposing coalitions are dishing out promises of reform and concession, but are we aware how these overtures, if implemented, will affect our pockets?

Reform and spending power

Well, any reform that will increase the spending power of the people is welcome. We are anxiously waiting for reforms that will lessen our tax burdens, abolish road tolls, increase subsidies on essential goods (particularly petrol), lower the prices of cars and provide free education opportunities for all.

However, these reforms are not made available to us — yet. Instead, the looming prediction that Parliament may be dissolved appears to have caused the general public to display a sense of anxiety and unwillingness to make financial commitments in property until the coming general election is over and the government of the day has assumed office.

With or without these perks, most of us still make financial resolutions with every intention of fulfilling them. But as the months pass, it is common for us to lose sight of our goals.

Conventional standards often call for a progressive career, comfortable home in a good neighbourhood, respectable ride, savings for children’s education and retirement. Sounds simple and achievable, but we know from experience that distractions creep in to dwarf our hard-earned savings aimed for these plans.

It boils down to our priorities and preferences. If you have X amount of cash, what would you do with it? Invest wisely

The prudent approach is to invest your hard-earned money in avenues that yield long-term returns. Early gratification like rewarding ourselves with a fancy vehicle (I refer to vehicles beyond our means) before securing our first property may not be a great idea, as that would be funding a depreciating asset.

I know a young professional who owns a Ferrari but lives in a rented a house. I can’t blame him as I did the same! Although, mine was not such a luxurious ride.

Buying a property may seem like a heavy commitment now with half-a-lifetime’s worth of mortgage repayments, especially if you are young and uncertain of your future plans.

Renting appears to promise freedom of one’s cash, but in the long term, you would be glad to have tightened your belt as property values could rake in lucrative returns over the years.

As an example, I refer to a family friend, Ting, the retired general manager of an elite country club. In his younger days, the accountant reckoned that it would be more feasible to rent a house rather than buying one.

In a way, he was right in that the rent was much lower than the mortgage payments. That was in the late 1980s.

However, the world economy rose in the early 1990s, followed by a global stock market super-bull run, and local property prices have since been soaring without pause. The value of a RM200,000 link house rocketed to over RM300,000 within a few years during that period.

On seeing the phenomenon, he hastily bought his first property, a double-storey link house in an exclusive country club resort for RM400,000. That house is currently valued at about RM1.2 million.

He has since paid off his mortgage and does not have to worry about paying thousands of ringgit in rent every month.

Had Ting held off on buying that piece of property, he would have been paying monthly rent of RM3,000 till today, and thereafter, mortgage payments of easily RM5,000 every month. His timely decision saved him from all of that.

Understandably, young adults who have just entered the work force may face difficulty doing the same and some may require parental assistance. If that is not an option, it would help to have a thorough savings plan drawn up.

It is our culture in Asia for working adults to continue living with the parents as this alleviates us of the burden of paying mortgage payments or rent every month, allows us to enjoy laundry services and home-cooked meals. With such comfort, it’s easy to be unmotivated and complacent.

For young adults, the chance to buy a house or condominium unit is fast slipping away, what with the doubling of prices in the last several years. Friends and clients who are property developers say prices in the city centre, have risen from RM800 per sq ft in 2004, and to RM1,600 in 2012.

Rising property prices

Property prices rise with demand, especially demand from foreign investors, some of who have set up home in the city centre, what with the successful implementation of the Malaysia, My Second Home Programme (MM2H).

Therefore, the past few years have seen developers change their strategy in a bid to attract foreign investors.

Recently, we often hear the marketing for “bungalows in the sky,” lavish units exceeding the more conventional 1,500sq ft to 2,000sq ft. Some of these luxurious condominiums are larger than 3,000sq ft. Clearly, these products are not catering to the young working class.

These days, a double-storey link house in any prime location is selling at above RM1mil and a 1,200sq ft apartment is going for approximately RM700,000.

Pretty soon, such properties will be unatainable for the younger generation.

Furthermore, there’s Bank Negara’s credit tightening measures such as the 70% loan cap on the margin of financing for a third property purchase and other stringent lending criteria for consumer banks to follow.

Owning property isn’t going to get any easier as the years pass.

A fair perspective of the potential capital appreciation can be gained via a comparison between the KL and Singapore city centres.

A 1,500sq ft apartment in prime areas in Singapore is priced around S$4mil (RM10mil), whereas a similar unit in the Golden Triangle costs some RM2.5mil to RM3mil.

If we were to use worldwide trends in property price appreciation as a guide, we would see property prices in Kuala Lumpur have room to rise.

With relatively low property prices in the city centre, and rental yields at 6.21% (which is among the highest in the region; with Singapore at 2.94% and Hong Kong at 3.23%), investing poses an excellent proposition.

I read recently that in Hong Kong the unit rate (per square metre) for an apartment costs US$19,323 (RM59,000), while Singapore follows closely at US$16,727.

Fortunately for us, Kuala Lumpur lags, at US$2,182 in spite of our relatively high standards of living.

Consider this — the sub-prime financial crisis and the subsequent financial turmoil in the European Union did not have any negative impact on prices in our property market and the recent The Star Property Fair 2012 attracted throngs of buyers and investors. To me, this shows the high demand for property in Malaysia.

In my opinion, local property prices will not be determined by the results of the general election. Whichever coalition wins, property prices will continue to rise. So, it is up to you to make the right money moves in 2013 and make your dreams come true.

May God bless you and your loved ones with love, peace, joy and excellent health! - The Star

n Chermaine Poo, a chartered accountant by profession, was trained in corporate finance. A former beauty queen, she has since gained popularity as an actress, TV host, commercial talent and emcee. If you have any questions on money matters, send her an email at info@chermainepoo.com or follow her on www.chermainepoo.com, www.facebook.com/chermainepoo and www.twitter.com/chermainepoo.

1,000 apply for 234 apartments

THE PENANG Housing Department has received more than 1,000 applications for the 24-storey low medium-cost apartment Shineville Garden in Air Itam.

State Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said the project being developed by Zantalite Enterprise (M) Sdn Bhd is scheduled for completion by year-end.

The 24-storey block will house 234 units and will be sold at RM72,000 for each of the 700sq ft, three-bedroom units.

“The state has imposed on the developer to widen a 350m-long stretch in Lebuhraya Thean Teik from the Lebuhraya Thean Teik-Lorong Batu Lanchang traffic light junction,” he told a press conference recently.

He said the developer was required to widen the 60ft-wide (18.3m) stretch by another 40ft (12.2m).

Wong said the road expansion project — from four lanes to six — would also include a free-flow left-turn for traffic from Lebuh-raya Thean Teik to Lorong Batu Lanchang (towards the Little Sisters of The Poor), which is expected to be completed once the road is widened.

He said the condition was imposed to ensure there is no traffic bottleneck at the Lebuhraya Thean Teik-Lorong Batu Lanchang traffic light junction with the additional population once the housing project is completed.

There are two other housing projects by Zantalite Enterprise — Shineville Park condominium and Shineville Villas terrace at the 4ha land.

Zantalite Enterprise executive director Ong Soo Yong said the company was trying to resolve the road alignment problem with the Penang Municipal Council and the land office before being able to start the road-widening project.

“We expect to widen the road by the first quarter of the year and the road widening project will take about three to four months to complete,” Ong added.

For details, call the state Housing Department at 04-6505392. - The Star

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