High cost under new law may affect property investors' profit margin

Strata regime: Return on investment will always be a consideration as higher cost would certainly affect the possible margin of profit in today’s buyers’ market.

Counting the cost: Investors' profit margin may be affected under new law

PROPERTY has topped the list of investment options for those who have extra cash. Property investors and those who prefer other instruments, are trying to gain maximum returns on their hard earned money.

Property investment has gained momentum because of the price boom in the last 10 years as seen by the massive development and high take-up rate.

Because the bulk of these properties are stratified residential properties, legislations have been updated for a more efficient delivery of strata titles. Essentially, these new legislations provide more protection to house buyers.

Among these are the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) (Amendment) Act 2012 (“HDAA”), Strata Titles (Amendment) Act 2013 and Strata Management Act 2013 (both “Strata regime”). The Strata Management Act came into effect on June 1, 2015.

Return on investment will always be a consideration as higher cost would certainly affect the possible margin of profit in today’s buyers’ market. While having new legislations are good news for house buyers, these new legislations could also impact the cost of any investment in strata residential property.

For a start, there is now higher compliance cost for the housing developers, as there is an increase in the amount to be deposited in the housing development account.

There is also the new requirement to maintain the common property defects account prior to the delivery of the keys to the house buyers.

This means that under the new regime, developers will have a higher compliance cost, which may indirectly result in fluctuations of property prices. This means developers need to be financially strong and there is the possibility that they may incur financial costs as they try to maintain a feasible and sustainable cash flow.

This will discourage the smaller players. Having fewer choices is definitely not good news for the investors.

In addition, there is also a higher transactional cost for those who plan to flip their properties.

The earlier issuance of strata title upon delivery of vacant possession will require investors to fork out expenses related to the stamp duty before selling the completed property to the next buyer.

In other words, there is no longer savings on the stamp duty on transfer for those investors who bought directly from the developers. This lowers the return on investment, not to mention having to bear with the longer and complicated process of double transfers for those who are eager to dispose of the property on delivery of vacant possession.

The new template of the prescribed sale and purchase agreement HDAA (Schedule H) also requires that the payment shall be in compliance with the schedule of payment and no person shall act as stakeholder to collect such payment.

In simpler sense, the developer is no longer allowed to collect booking fee from the investors for their preferred unit and the unit they have selected is only secured upon the signing of the sale and purchase agreement with the 10% payment.

As such, there is no turning back once you have signed on those dotted lines and there is no way to secure your unit of choice with lower amount while you are working on the full 10% deposit.

Another cost that will burden property investors is the maintenance fees charged by the management office when they get their keys to their properties. The new strata regime has provided for the possibility of limited common property usage and the exclusive use of certain facilities – a privilege – which comes with a price tag. If the management adopts any limited common property, they are looking at a two-tier service charges and sinking fund, with one for those who have the use of one set of common properties and the other for the use of limited common property, to be enjoyed only by a selected few.

Despite monetary cost, time cost is also a factor for investors. A purchase into a strata development now calls for more involvement in the management as the management corporation of the development is formed much earlier now with the possibility of having the title and the keys delivered at the same time.

The new strata regime requires the active participation of all owners, as the tenure of the office bearer is limited. Other owners are required to sit in the management corporation committee on subsequent years. Despite the fact that taking up the responsibilities of committee members offers monetary gains, any misconduct or negligence may now result in a penalty.

The new restrictions on advertisement and representation by the developers also mean that the investors are required to spend time on research and do their own due diligence to better understand the investment. There is no longer permitted representation such as time/distance from a particular venue, projected monetary returns/gains and rental income. Thus, before making decision to invest, the consumers have to do more personal research on the investment.

While property investment remains feasible over the longer term, investors are advised to take these legislations into consideration to come out with a realistic projection of investment return.

By CHRIS TAN Real Legal

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Light shines brightest when it is dark

THE one time I felt really scared in an unfamiliar physical environment was many years ago when my friend and I got lost in Taman Negara.

Because of a wrong turn, what was to be a simple two-hour track to a riverside lodge took us nearly eight hours. The jungle was getting really dark. The leeches were having a feast. And the sounds of wild animals in the distance made us shiver in our pants.

We eventually found our way to the lodge and quickly lit a kerosene lamp we had brought with us.

In the heart of the deep jungle, the light was truly reassuring. After a dinner of delicious instant mee and a tin of sardines, we turned down the lamp and lit some candles to illuminate the lodge.

Those of us who live in towns may not fully appreciate the beauty of a lit candle in the midst of total darkness. But it is really true that light shines brightest in the dark.

Life is not all sunshine. There are times when we feel like we are walking through very dark valleys.

It could be due to the loss of a job, the death of someone very dear to us, or a recurrent illness where treatment seems to bring more problems than the disease itself.

At times like this, it is only natural that we yearn to see the light.

A person lost at sea is encouraged when he sees the beacon of light coming from a lighthouse. It signifies hope. But the light that we seek at times like this is not necessarily from a physical source. It can come in the form of someone who is prepared to drop everything to help us navigate through our tough times.

It could be someone willing to listen to you, with a box of tissue nearby, without saying a word.

I have, in the past few weeks, felt like I was walking through a very dark valley with no end in sight.

But it is always when I am at the lowest ebb that something invariably happens – a light shows up to brighten up my life.

Last week, I went to see my dentist and told her I would be a real challenge to her this time.

My mouth can hardly open. And from what the doctors tell me, and my own research on the Internet, this is one of the most troublesome side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

I have been having trouble eating, and even brushing my teeth is difficult. I wondered how my dentist would be able to use her tools to fix whatever problems she could find. But she patiently went to work, and spoke to me gently with reassuring words.

The session lasted close to two hours and she managed to do five fillings. It was amazing!

She told me not to lose heart over my mouth issue. Take things one day at a time, she said. “You will be fine.”

And when I went to pay, the clinic assistant smiled and said: “Doctor says no charge.”

Though my dentist knew I could afford the bill, she must have wanted to do something to cheer me up.

It was not about the money, but a reminder that I do not walk alone.

I won’t deny her the opportunity to be the giver, and for me to be the blessed recipient. There is joy in both giving and receiving, if done in the right spirit.

I got into my car and tears just streamed down. I had a good cry before I made my way back to work. Suddenly, the dark valley I had been walking through in recent weeks didn’t seem so dark after all.

By SOO Ewe Jin

Executive editor Soo Ewe Jin appreciates being on the receiving end of kind words, sincere fellowship and heart-to-heart conversations, underscoring the fact that the best things in life are not only free, but priceless.

The views expressed are entirely the writer's own.

Abe Statement: Apology, Abapology or Abomb? Crafty rhetoric, insincere politics

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a statement in Tokyo on Friday marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. He acknowledged Japan had inflicted "immeasurable damage and suffering" on innocent people but said generations not involved in the conflict should not be burdened with continued apologies. TORU HANAI/REUTERS

BEIJING, Aug. 14 -- As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe releases an official statement later Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of his country's surrender at the end of World War II (WWII), he is standing at a critical crossroad.

Upon such a highly symbolic and closely watched occasion, Abe has a choice to make, and there is only one way that will lead him and his nation closer to the "normal country" dream he has so frequently shouted from the rooftops.

Choosing a wrong course -- or keeping going astray, given his record on the sensitive history issue -- will undoubtedly carry the second-term prime minister further away from a legacy in nation-building he so desperately needs, as his signature "Abenomics" is losing sizzle.

Any statement that flagrantly flouts the true history and fails to repent Japan's WWII atrocities would be tantamount to Abe dropping a bomb upon his country's international reputation and trustworthiness.

Such an "Abomb" would be particularly sad, as its sole victim would be Japan itself, Abe's motherland, which is the only country in the world that has been A-bombed and still in the healing.

It would also be extraordinarily irresponsible and destructive, not only because its shock waves would blow the chances for his "normal country" ambition to come true anytime soon, but because its fallout would further ail Japan's already morbid ties with its neighbors and stoke regional tensions. If Abe possesses any reasonable level of sobriety, he will not throw an "Abomb" at his own country. Rather, judging from the trial balloons he has released of late, a more likely scenario is that the canny nationalist would offer an adulterated apology.

An "Abapology" -- mentioning such key words as aggression and apology but placing them in a context that waters down their meaning, or releasing nuanced versions in different languages -- would be regrettable.

Such a half-hearted apology would once again reveal Abe's deep reluctance to face up to his country's wartime crimes and take on the noble responsibility on his shoulders in seriously reflecting on the past in order to usher Japan into a world-assuring future.

A muddle-through approach of that kind would be not only unworthy of the great significance of the historic juncture, but indicative of a conspicuous lack of political and historical calcium, which explains to a large extent why Japan remains an "abnormal" country 70 years after WWII.

The only right way forward is for Abe to stop his rightist slide and provide a proper and unalloyed apology -- explicit enough to demonstrate heartfelt remorse and a resolve to abandon his erstwhile troublesome attitude toward WWII history and help dispel the specter of distrust between his country and its neighbors.

Yet should history be any guide, even an apparently whole-hearted apology from Abe would not be enough. It is the least he should do. To realize his "normal country" dream and restore Japan's standing on the world stage, he has to follow up with concrete actions.

By Deng Yushan (Xinhua)

Crafty rhetoric, insincere politics 
(China Daily)

A very cleverly worded speech. An impressive play of the words. That's about everything we could say about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's latest statement on his country's unseemly record in World War II.

Abe didn't seem to deviate much from the well-received benchmark statement in 1995 by then Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama. And the key points of that historic speech, including "aggression", "colonial rule", "remorse" and "apology", did find their way into his speech, though with abundant ambiguity.

For many in his audience, his expression of "heartfelt gratitude" to those who have been tolerant of his country and helped it return to the international community might be an unexpected bonus - not unlike his pledge to "squarely face the history of the past". That could be why some believe Abe has delivered more than what had been anticipated, given the discrepancies among its versions in different languages.

That East Asia just got around a potentially explosive occasion that could have escalated tensions is itself something to celebrate. For Japan's vigilant neighbors, however, whether or not Abe included the salient points of the Murayama Statement in his speech is not just a touchstone to gauge his attitude toward history, but the bottom line as well. Once that line is crossed, Japan's deteriorating ties with neighboring China and the Republic of Korea will slide past a point of no return, at least during Abe's term in office.

Abe knows what will come next. So, even after provoking neighboring countries no end, he waved olive branches at them requesting meetings at the highest level. He is yet to get one, precisely because of his betrayal of the Murayama Statement's spirit.

By incorporating the key expressions of that milestone statement, Abe may effectively silence some of his critics, whose latest demand was that his statement include the core Murayama expressions.

But make no mistake, he didn't present an apology of his own. He merely stated the obvious truth that earlier Japanese cabinets had expressed "heartfelt" apologies for the atrocities committed by imperial Japan.

It would be naive to think the tensions paralyzing East Asia will thus be gone. That Abe didn't cross the Rubicon, at best, means he was aware of the dire consequences of doing so and avoided it. And, that tremendous public pressure from home and abroad forced him to squeeze those words into his speech doesn't mean he actually meant it.

Rhetoric counts when dealing with Japanese politicians, for whom whether or not the Abe statement includes those key words makes a difference. Japanese politicians' infamous tradition of "slip of the tongue", however, makes it even more important to see how they act.

Abe's track record belies his claims of commitment to peace and good neighborly relations. That Abe and his advisers had reportedly struggled over whether or not to include Murayama's expressions, that the ruling parties had not agreed on the exact use of the expressions in the final transcript until the very last moment, that Abe managed to avoid directly referring to Japan's war as one of aggression and some of the perished Japanese as war criminals, and that his words became evasive when it came to Japan's colonial rule and the "comfort women" issue all betrayed a sense of reluctance.

Needless to say, reading between the lines of the Murayama Statement and Abe's speech even a casual reader can feel the difference in tones. In contrast to Murayama's sincerity, Abe seemed eager to shut out the past, though its sophisticated wording did hit the sentimental sweet spot at some points. But that will not be possible until Abe acts sincerely to achieve real reconciliation.

Therefore, even after weathering an otherwise imminent crisis, East Asia will continue to struggle in the long shadow of history.

Related:

70 years on, Japan remains lost in historical quagmire

Japan, the major aggressor in the Asia-Pacific region since the 1930s, on Saturday commemorated the [Read it]

Abe shies away from direct apology for Japan’s role in WWII

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a statement in Tokyo on Friday marking the 70th annivers[Read it]

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