-
The pros and cons of gated living
21/04/2007 NST-PROP
Why do people really go for such a
scheme, and what can be regarded the
"best model?
-
The sad
tale of Abu Seman 12/05/2007 NST-PROP
High time a lop-sided law that
continues to protect rogue
developers is rectified
Twenty years ago, Abu Seman Saad
embarked on a journey to realise a
dream. It may not seem like a very
big dream to some, but for the KTM
Bhd worker, owning a single-storey
home in Taman Kotawira in Taiping,
Perak, was nirvana.
-
Busting red tape, Malaysian
style 26/05/2007 NST-PROP
IN 18 days' time, on June 13 to be precise, the government's One Stop Centre
(OSC) for the approval of development projects will start work. I was
reminded of this date when attending a recent seminar on the Build-Then-Sell
(BTS) mode of housing delivery, organised by the Institution of Surveyors
Malaysia (ISM) at the Matrade Building in Kuala Lumpur.
-
Time to have protected corridors
30/06/2007 NST-PROP
IN the year 2000, Kuala Lumpur
residents lost a historic landmark,
the Bukit Bintang Girls School, which
was built in 1893. This happened
because the city fathers, in their
infinite wisdom, felt that having a
multi-million ringgit commercial
development on the site would be far
better than an old school building.
-
Righting a wrong
21/07/2007 NST-PROP
Once again, that awful Federal
Court decision of 2001, in the
Boonsom Boonyanit vs Adorna
Properties case, has cast its dark
shadow on the legal landscape. The
New Straits Times front-paged it
last Saturday under the headline,
"Land Deal: Court of Appeal
declares Federal Court Ruling
Wrong". This is not the first time
that the Court of Appeal has
declared a decision of the highest
court in the land as "wrong".
-
Defreezing heats up Johor
07/07/2007 NST-PROP
FOUR months before Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
officially unveiled the master
plan for the Iskandar Development
Region (IDR) on Nov 4 last year,
the federal government announced a
temporary freeze on land sales
within the region. This freeze was
lifted in early March this year
and welcoming it, Johor Menteri
Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman,
who is also cochairman of the
Iskandar Development Authority
(IRDA), said it would boost
development in the region.
-
Say hello to the Northern
Corridor
04/08/2007 NST-PROP
SIX months have passed, but it
only seems like yesterday, that we
saw the official launch of the
Iskandar Development Region (IDR)
in south Johor. And then just
earlier this week, Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
launched yet another mega
development: The Northern Corridor
Economic Region or NCER, covering
the four states of Perlis, Kedah,
Penang and Perak.
-
Words into action
18/08/2007 NST-PROP
A DEVELOPMENT plan, no matter how
meticulously crafted, is only as
good as its implementation. With
regard to the country's two
largest developments, the Iskandar
Development Region (IDR) and the
Northern Corridor Economic Region
(NCER), now that their plans are
in place, we have to wait till the
next decade to find out if the
authorities charged with
implementing them have lived up to
the vision and dreams of our fifth
prime minister. In the south,
overall responsibility is vested
with the Iskandar Regional
Development Authority (IRDA), a
body established under the
Iskandar Regional Development
Authority Act 2006.
-
Moving
at snail’s pace
01/09/2007 NST-PROP
We are now 50 years as a free and
independent nation. A joyous
occasion indeed for all Malaysians,
as we pat ourselves on the back for
the splendid progress we have made
over the last five decades. Did I
say "progress"? Perhaps you may want
to revise your opinion after you
read two stories I recently picked
up from our local media.
-
Avoiding a mortgage meltdown
08/09/2007 NST-PROP
A number of our real estate players
may have learnt a valuable lesson
following the recent mortgage
meltdown in the United States.
Besides property, other sectors of
the national economy were also
affected. And, as everyone
predicted, the problems spread
around the globe, albeit in
different degrees.
-
An invasive feeling of good
15/09/2007 NST-PROP
THE morning following Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's
tabling of Budget 2008 brought with
it a cheery feel-good sensation. As
common folk, you might have missed
it, but certainly not so our
country's property players.
-
Fast tracking the eastern
corridor
29/09/2007 NST-PROP
THE buzzword of late that I kept
hearing during two recent weekend
trips to Pahang was "fast tracking".
This was mentioned in relation to
the need to speed up the development
process in the three eastern
corridor states of Pahang,
Terengganu and Kelantan following
the East Coast Economic Region (ECER)
plan.
-
Please,
protect landowners too 19/11/2007 NST-PROP
In about a month's time, it will be
exactly seven years since the
Federal Court made that "historic" –
or "disturbing"– decision as many
have described it – in the Boonsom
Boonyanit land transaction dispute.
