Home Ownership Programme Expo 2011

I am going to be an invited speaker at the current Home Ownership Expo 2011 at Level 4, PWTC between 29th July until 31st July 2011 which is organised by Barisan Nasional Youth. Check the event more at this link : BN Youth HOPE 2011

Here are some details : 

On 30th July, between 11.30am - 12.00pm will be speaking about 'Affordable Housing: Common pitfalls and mistakes'

On 31st July, between 12.30pm - 1.00pm will be speaking about 'Buying your first property from a Housebuyer perspective'
 

And on 31st July, between 3.30pm - 4.00pm I will be speaking on 'Legal issues when you buy your first property'

Affordable houses in Malaysia Part 1

How wonderful it is to be in Malaysia now. One day the Federal government launched the PR1MA housing scheme labelled as affordable housing while the next day, the Selangor state government briefed a select few, including our legal firm, on an affordable housing scheme which is totally different in nature from the one launched by the Prime Minister.

I actually told a few people that this is the benefit of having competing political parties controlling different segment of the government (one holding the Malaysia Federal government's rein whilst another holding the rein of the richest state in Malaysia, Selangor). In my personal opinion, only a status quo will benefit Malaysians in general for the next general election. If the change is vice versa also may bring lots of benefit too.

Let us look at what are on offer for all Malaysians in term of affordable housing. I got an image to help with difference of affordable housing by the Federal government and by the state government, which was presented to me by a Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor senior officer when she briefed us on the differences during the Seminar Perumahan Mampu Milik Selangor 2011. 

 

As the picture cannot be viewed properly (and is written in Bahasa Malaysia), let me break down what is written on the slide there :

The difference of the 'Affordable Homes' proposal between the Selangor government and the Federal government :-

Selangor government

1. The household income is below RM5,000-00;

2. The price of the property is below RM120,000-00; and

3. The target group are : (a) Those below the age of 35;

                                        (b) Those in their golden age;

                                        (c) Disabled person;

                                        (d) Those who doesn't a house yet; and

                                        (e) Owners of 5 years old low-cost houses (RM42,000-00 and below)

Federal government

1. The household income is below RM6,000-00;

2. The price of the property is between RM220,000-00 and RM300,000-00; and

3. The target group are those who doesn't own a house yet.

So, in my opinion, there are not much difference between the two proposals. It must be noted that the Federal government already has a First Home Scheme which is priced between RM100,000-00 and RM220,000-00, hence the affordable homes for the Federal government being as such. Just that they seems to be a window of RM42,000-00 and RM100,000-00 which is not covered by the Federal government scheme.

It seems that the real winner here is the rakyat and the double winners here are those who live in Selangor. 

In my next blogpost about affordable home let us look at how did we reached the plateau for government to launch schemes such as seen above.

Malay Wedding favors

It seems that the middle of the year, I have been inundated with weddings invitation. It is so much so that I have to miss a few as there were so many of them. One of it was my cousin and as one of the ‘orang pangkal’ or in English, close relative, I have to be at the groom’s house nearly the whole day (regardless whether I did anything or not during the event itself. As it was the first cousin from my youngest uncle of my mother’s side, the event was quite grand. A week before, my sister-in-law was getting engaged to the man of her dream to and being Malay, that too was a grand event as you can see from these pictures :

In most of these weddings, one of the things lacking after spending nearly most budget on preparations and clothes is the door gifts. You can consider it as those wedding favors you can find at Malay wedding. That was until I found www.jonfactory.com which seems to be selling Malay wedding favors. When I checked their address which is located at : JONFACTORY OFFICE/SHOWROOM, 27 – A – B, JALAN 17/45, 46400 PJ SELANGOR, I emailed them at inquiry@jonfactory.com. I also found out I can call them at 0122056669 too.

My sister-in-law wedding will be at the end of the year. I am thinking of gifting her these Malay wedding favors. Look at the wedding favors by JonFactory.com here and tell me what do you think :

Bersih 2.0 : Semangat Hang Tuah atau Hang Jebat?

Dalam masa beberapa lagi, tarikh 9 Julai akan muncul dalam kehidupan rakyat Malaysia. Tidak seperti hari-hari lain, ia telah dinantikan oleh pelbagai pihak. Sama ada sebagai orang yang turut serta, orang yang cuba memberhentikan ia dari berlaku atau hanya sebagai pemerhati, dari jauh dan dekat. Apa yang saya maksudkan adalah perhimpunan atau perarakan yang telah dilabel sebagai Bersih 2.0. Saya telah cuba mengupas sebelum ini di dalam satu blogpost bertajuk Can I not make a stand?  yang secara mudah bertanya adakah setiap rakyat Malaysia mempunyai pilihan dalam hal Bersih 2.0 ini atau tidak? Ia lebih bersifat subjektif dari objektif dan hanya meminta setiap individu menilai dan berfikir sendiri.

Namun begitu, sedang saya memandu di sekitar Bandar Sunway, saya ternampak satu kain rentang yang mengatakan bahawa bangsa Melayu diperalatkan dalam perhimpunan Bersih itu. Ia secara tak langsung merujuk kepada orang yang mengepalai perhimpunan Bersih itu bukan berbangsa Melayu. Amat jelas kain rentang itu memberi amaran kepada bangsa Melayu untuk tidak menyertai perhimpunan tersebut kerana ia diketuai oleh bangsa lain.

Bukankah ini polemik bangsa Melayu sejak dari dahulu? Jika kita melihat semula sajak Melayu oleh Usman Awang (saya pautkan di sini melalui Scribd.com, kita dapat melihat senarai sifat orang Melayu dengan jelas. Dan ia bukan dikurung kepada beberapa jenis sifat sahaja tetapi ia memuji orang Melayu sebagai orang yang mampu menilai sendiri dengan pemikirang yang matang sama ada dia perlu mengikut telunjuk orang atau dia akan mengambil tindakan yang dirasakan sesuai untuk sesuatu situasi.

Mengenai semangat Melayu yang sentiasa kita rujuk, tentu semua yang pernah membaca pelbagai hikayat sastera amat maklum tentang bagaimana Hang Tuah dan Hang Jebat bertarung di atas istana kerana Hang Jebat percaya bahawa Raja Melaka yang disanjung pada ketika itu perlu disanggah. Hang Tuah pula tetap setia dengan Rajanya walau apa pun arahan yang dikeluarkan oleh Raja.

Bersih dikatakan akan cuba menyampaikan hasrat mereka kepada Institusi DiRaja yang dikatakan dapat menyelesaikan masalah pilihanraya yang dilakukan adalah tidak adil dan terlalu banyak yang boleh diperbetulkan oleh Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya Malaysia. Diharapkan Institusi DiRaja tidak hanya dijadikan alasan tetapi benar-benar dihormati oleh pihak yang memanggil diri mereka Bersih. Sehingga kini, dapat dilihat terlalu banyak pihak menggunakan Bersih 2.0 untuk kepentingan masing-masing, sama ada menyokong atau membantah perarakan ini.

Untuk yang masih mencatu penyertaan mereka pada hari itu, mungkin semangat salah seorang dari pahlawan Melayu zaman kurun itu perlu dirujuk. Semangat Hang Tuah kah atau semangat Hang Jebat kan yang akan dialirkan pada 9 Julai nanti agaknya?

Property transaction in Malaysia - Part 3

Highrise during a sunrise

As a continuation from my previous post about how purchasers of property in Malaysia purchase a property with title in cash, here is an infographic on how a buyer of a property in Malaysia purchase a property without title (such as condominium, apartment, land which is still hasn't been subdivided, to name a few). Both blogposts still deal with the purchase from a housing developer (in contrast if it is a subsale, where you buy a property through the secondary market) :

HOW DO YOU SUMMARISE

PURCHASE OF PROPERTY WITHOUT TITLE

FROM A HOUSING DEVELOPER USING CASH

Purchaser pay 10% purchase price and sign Sale & Purchase Agreement

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Housing Developer signs

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Lawyer stamps the agreement and gives each party a copy of the agreement. Original copy should be handed over to the Purchaser

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Property is constructed according to the description of the property as provided in the Sale & Purchase Agreement. With each completion of the construction according to the Third Schedule of the Sale & Purchase Agreement, the Housing Developer will send a certification from his architect showing proof as such and request for payment to be made.

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Purchaser makes payment according to the progress claims send by the developer where the Purchaser has 14 days to do as such which can result in interest accrued if payment is late.

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Within 36 months, construction must be completed. This includes the common facilities as listed in Second Schedule of the Sale & Purchase Agreement

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When the property’s construction is 92.5% complete, upon fulfilling Clause 25 and 26 of the Sale & Purchase Agreement, vacant possession is given to the Purchaser and the Housing Developer can request for another payment to be made. Purchaser can now move in into his new property

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Housing Developer must submit an application to the appropriate authority for an application to subdivide the said land or building and show written proof to the Purchaser of such application and acceptance. Payment of 2.5% of the property can then be made by the Purchaser.

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The warranty period for the property will last for 36 months but payment of the final balance purchase price of 5% must be made to the lawyers appointed by the Housing Developer as the stakeholder for the payment. Within this period, claim for any defect on the property and common facilities can be made and paid for by this stakeholder money as provided under Clause 25 of the Sale & Purchase Agreement

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Housing Developer must have at this point, at their own cost and expense, as expeditiously as possible, apply for subdivision of the property into parcels and obtain a separate strata title under the Strata Titles Act 1985