Lemon Law

It's high time there are better laws to protect consumers. On one hand, Malaysia aspires to be a developed nation but on the other hand, not enough emphasis is placed on quality of services and products. With better consumer laws, businesses and manufacturers would be compelled to think about the level of quality of their services and products.

I've noticed that the current generation of consumers are more demanding. They have more choices and they have more purchasing power. In this time and age, it is absolutely unacceptable for consumers being given the shorter end of the stick. Most times, they have to go against established brands and multi-national companies just to protect their rights.

The sectors that should be better regulated in terms of consumer rights is Property & Automobile, both which happens to constitute the largest commitment by consumers. The existing laws for both sectors are far from adequate. In fact, it is the businesses which are better protected than consumers!

Thanks to the internet & various forums as well as social media, big businesses can no longer hide or ignore complaints & issues as easily.

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Protecting our interests Consumer group calls on government to implement ‘Lemon Law’

THE National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) has urged the Government to make laws to help consumers seek prompt settlement in disputes over defective products.

“It is time the Government introduces what is known as a ‘lemon law’ for motor vehicles and other product purchases, to protect consumers,” said NCCC director Ratna Devi Nadarajan.

Ratna said the Consumer Association of Singapore described it as consumer laws providing a statutory right of action against a trader or manufacturer involving the sale of defective goods, in situations where there has been a failure to comply with the warranty in a purchase contract.

Such laws obligate sellers to repair, replace, refund or reduce the prices of defective goods.

Singapore introduced the lemon law on Sept 1, 2012, which was added to the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act and with related amendments to the Hire Purchase Act and Road Traffic Act.

This makes it easier for consumers to have their day in court without being given the runaround.

“Malaysians are often left with a sour taste (hence the reference to lemons) after paying for a product or service that is defective or not up to standard, especially more so now against the backdrop of rising costs of living.

“For example in renovation works, the grouse is usually poor workmanship or a hold-up in completion,” said Ratna.

“Most people may not understand the nature of lemon laws, but basically the laws will help consumers become better informed, enabling them to make trade-offs based on quality and price.

“This can signal to the market that product standards are of importance.

Read more here: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2014/12/18/Protecting-our-interests-Consumer-group-calls-on-government-to-implement-Lemon-Law/

Quit Smoking!

PROGRESS:

Week 14 (21 March 2015)

 I've just passed the 3rd month without smoking. My symptoms seem to be easing. I developed a skin rash on the face earlier which cleared up quite a bit in the third month. Sometimes, I still feel shortness of breath while at rest. The strongest trigger for cravings for me is stress.

Symptoms during the first 2 months:

• Mild depression
• Chest feels congested
• Cravings
• Rashes on the face

Week 2 (18 Dec 2014)

• Nasal congestion/stuffy nose
• Throat a bit sore
• Mild phlegm-induced coughing
• Not in the greatest mood
• Concentration improved a little
• Heart rate remained lower than before quit
• Overall withdrawal symptoms noticeably reduced

To stop tobacco addiction, governments should make tobacco a controlled substance, only available with a prescription to existing addicted smokers. This way, youngsters & non-smokers will not have access to tobacco products and nicotine addiction will be eliminated in one generation of current smokers.

Week 1 (28 Nov 2014 to 4 Dec 2014)

• Feeling tired, sleepy
• Extremely cranky
• Brain fog, trouble concentrating
• Easily irritated & angry
• Slept more than usual
• Hungry throughout the day
• Sense of taste less sensitive
• Noticed heart-rate dropped 10bps compared to before quit
• Eyesight seemed to be weaker

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Being addicted to any substance is never a good thing. Be it drugs, alcohol, nicotine, sugar, caffeine, etc.

Among all the substance addictions, drugs are the most dangerous. Second is alcohol. Third is nicotine.

It is the smokers who are the most demonised, bullied and discriminated by society, governments, and groups of pricks. It because of propaganda. When was the last anti-drug campaign you remember? Compared to the 80s and 90s, there are hardly any meaningful campaigns against grugs since then. And drugs abuse are flourishing worldwide.

Focus had been shifted to cigarettes and smokers instead. And these group of pricks were obviously delightfully championing it.

Smokers are easy targets because they are ordinary people.

For example, what are the odds that these self-righteous pricks walking up to a drug-addict to tell him off for doing drugs? On the other hand, these same pricks will bravely tell-off a smoker or show their disdain openly. Discrimination. Bullying. Classic.

Anyway, wouldn't it be logical if the governments were to use all those taxes from cigarettes collected to help the smokers quit, or render medical care for them? The taxes are collected from smokers anyways. Trust me when I say, smokers want to quit!

But you see, governments need the taxes! That's why they legalise tobacco. If it were for the good of the people, tobacco should be banned, like drugs.

So, I suggest those anti-smoking pricks to focus their hostility and anger at the government instead. I challenge you pricks to pressure the government to ban & make tobacco products ILLEGAL! That is the only way to stop people from smoking! Smokers will be grateful to you!

Everyone are hypocrites! If alcohol is bad, then ban it! Same with cigarettes, gambling, etc.

Here's something for smokers thinking of quitting: http://www.achoice2live.com/

To those pricks who think quitting nicotine is easy, "FCUK OFF & DIE!"

oh, by the way, I'm 7 days nicotine-free. It's not that bad really....

It's all the Chinese's fault!

When all else fails, just blame the Chinese.

That's the essence of Malaysian politics. I'm glad that these groups are vocal with their demands. At least now, the Chinese can't really be blamed for voting the way they did, nor being questioned with "Apa lagi China Mau?"...

Lay out all the cards on the table. Let everyone see and make their choices.

Don't say one thing but do another! I hope the rules are clearly spelled out once and for all... hopefully in my lifetime.

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Can Umno steer BN in the right direction?

by Khoo Kay Peng

Umno is making a big mistake if it caves in to the demands of Perkasa, a coalition of Malay rights groups.

In the run up to the party’s recent annual general assembly, Perkasa leaders were busy drawing up memorandums calling for the abolition of vernacular schools (especially Chinese vernacular schools), allowing only Bumiputeras to be exempted from repaying their National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loan schemes and others.

Once again, the group has chosen to target the Chinese community to bolster its credentials as an ethnic champion. What’s worse is that some Umno leaders are echoing some of the same demands leading up to their party’s annual general assembly last week.

Instead of supporting the president’s efforts to promote liberalisation, Wanita Umno has submitted a memorandum calling for the Sedition Act not to be repealed. Resolutions have been submitted to discuss a broad range of issues including the status of vernacular schools and suggestions to strip off the citizenship of non-Malays who are not fluent in the Malay language.

The party leadership should take notice that international observers are going to follow the proceedings very closely. Umno is the most dominant ruling party in the country and the resolutions passed in the party’s annual general assembly are going to have a major impact on how the country is going to be run.

Of course, Umno delegates have the right to freedom of expression.

However, the party must be reminded of its obligations as a ruling party and the consequences of its speech especially those that are racially charged and sensitive. Instead of blaming the Chinese for the BN coalition electoral setback, the party should conduct a self-evaluation on what the party has done wrong in order to improve its electoral performance.

Any ruling parties that refused to admit their weaknesses after decades of being in power do not deserve to continue to be in power. Making the Chinese community as its main political punching bag is not going to prove that the community is the main cause of the Malays’ dilemmas and grievances.

If the attacks persist, it is going to show that Umno, as the most dominant Malay-based ruling party over the last five decades, has failed to deliver as the leader of the BN-led federal government. It controls the administration and its resources. It has been able to implement any affirmative policies that benefited the Malays without any resistance from its partners in BN.

Who is to be blamed if the Malays failed to improve their socio-economic standards and conditions? Should the Chinese undergraduates be penalised just because not enough Malay graduates qualified for exemption from repaying their PTPTN loan?    

Some Umno leaders have said that the Chinese voters are easily duped to support the opposition. A few even suggested that these voters are part of a conspiracy to bring down Umno. The only fault the Chinese voters have committed is to exercise their voting right to elect a democratic government.

All political parties that choose to participate in the electoral process must respect the decision of the voters.

Some segments of Umno, especially those who insisted on blaming other races and religions for their leadership failure, are the biggest threats to the BN coalition’s political future. It would be foolhardy for any ethnic minority parties to think that they can displace the majority Malay leadership.

Most of the non-Malay voters did not vote for the BN because they had demanded better responses from the ruling BN regime for their grievances and problems. 

In this regard, MCA and other Chinese-based parties must work together with the moderate and progressive leaders in Umno to restore the confidence of Chinese voters in BN. These parties do not have to respond in similar fashion by bashing up the instigators.

MCA, Gerakan, SUPP and LDP can reach out to the Malay community by assuring them that the Chinese community encourages them to succeed and to achieve greater heights. Tertiary institutions linked to the parties could provide full scholarships and bursaries to Malay students who obtained good academic results. Chinese-based companies could offer top Malay students to work for them as management trainees.

It is important to debunk the notion that the Chinese community is the main cause of the Malay community’s weaknesses and woes. We must make an impression that meritocracy is the only yardstick for success. Individuals regardless of race or creed are encouraged to achieve greater success and contribute positively to national development.  

BN is only viable if Umno can help to steer it towards the right direction. The right path is to stay progressive and inclusive. Umno must ensure that it does not push itself and the BN further away from the moderate middle ground. 

Khoo Kay Peng is a political analyst and a management consultant. He believes that this nation can only progress with the collective will of its people. - See more at: http://www.theantdaily.com/Main/Can-Umno-steer-BN-in-the-right-direction#sthash.4XIohkLB.dpuf

Khoo Kay Peng

We were once great

You know, as a nation, we were once truly great. Really. Malaysia excelled in sports, especially football and badminton. Many MNCs invested here. The economy was booming. Then we lost the plot.

Malaysia Airlines, I think, best epitomizes the state of affairs in the country.

During it's heyday, it was ranked among the BEST IN THE WORLD... yes, in the world!!! Travellers often gave high marks for their service and menu. Other airlines send their cabin crew to be trained in MAS Academy. Even their catering service was one of the best. MAS was once held in high regards by all.

Today, one plane was "stolen" aka "lost" in mid-flight. One more shot down over Ukraine. And MAS itself is insolvent. Ironically, there's no accountability. Zero. It is nobody's fault that the airline was run to the ground. Nobody is responsible nor accountable. That, in a way, reflects the prevalent attitude of those in government as well as society in general.

Malaysian society has changed.

In the old days, you can see and even feel the energy within society, in the streets, and among the people. People had hopes. People had dreams. People were happy and proud. People had a bit more integrity. They had a bit more pride and ethics in their work.

Now, there's no accountability. There's no enforcement. There are no ethics.

We are broken.

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Could MAS see the return of its glory days?

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flies thousands of passengers daily with many opting for the airline to enjoy the typical “Malaysian hospitality.”

The airline has won many accolades, especially for its in-flight services, thus it is not surprising that it was the number one choice for local and foreign travelers for years.

http://www.nst.com.my/node/46667

Can single-stream schools fix knowledge, racial gap?

That's the problem with people in Malaysia., even the so-called experts. They always jump into deep end without first identifying the root or cause of the problem. In the end, issues are mixed up and they find themselves back in square one.

First things first. What is the basic function of schools? Many would think education. But in many countries, including Malaysia, schools are also a place of indoctrination. But the real function of schools should be learning. Kids attend school to learn and to learn how to learn.

Who caused these problems which beset our education system? It's the adults. The problem is not so much on the syllabus or system or streams, but in the people. The very fact that some of these people think that schools are the solution to their problems is enough to convince many that nothing will change at best, or decline further at worst.

Which is why, adults are the biggest hypocrites. They are so prejudiced in their thinking that instead of identifying the cause, they rather do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

Let's take the popular view of using schools to foster unity among races for example. The root cause is the adults. But the treatment is administered to the kids? The logic escapes me.

It's the adults from different races who can't get along, not the kids. Shouldn't the adults be made to attend special "single-stream" adult-schools instead? Shouldn't the adults be made to attend those National Service Training Camps, starting with the politicians first of course. Isn't it the adults who are instilling the same prejudices into their kids? The truth is, no matter how well kids mix with each other, even if some of their best friends are from a different race, each will take a different path and lead a different life in adulthood. Because Malaysian society is structured as such.

Even in countries with a homogeneous society, they still kill each other because of religion. So, do we prescribe the same solution to them? Get their kids and parents to mix with each other to "unite" them?

In terms of learning, what is the correlation between with the number of streams and the quality of education? Does having a single stream make better students, improve their learning, and expand their knowledge? Does it translate to better schools with better facilities and better teachers?

The problem is with the quality of teachers and educators, the people in government implementing education policies, the people who designs the syllabus, the people in charge of education, from top to bottom. The problems are created by people, and there too lies the solution.

We often hear about comparisons between education systems and syllabus with those from other countries. But we seldom highlight or compare the quality and training of the teachers, educators and administrators.

Focus on getting better trained people in the public education service, keep politics out & religions at home, and the problems will disappear. Simple.

Or perhaps not so simple for some of those who get mental orgasms by the mere thought of abolishing Chinese Schools :)

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Spotlight on education: Can single-stream schools fix knowledge, racial gap?

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Malaysia’s continuing slide down the global education pole has again reignited the decades-old debate to dismantle vernacular schools entirely and enforce a single-stream system.

However, experts at an education forum last night remain split in their opinions that a one-stream school system can repair the growing racial gap they blame for the country’s mediocre assessment in knowledge rankings worldwide.

“There should not be one stream of schooling in Malaysia,” Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of think-tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, told the 30-odd people who turned up for the talk titled “Should there be one stream schooling in Malaysia?”

He said the current education system was a “centralised mess” dogged by illogical policies and politicians who wanted to stamp their mark but did not really consider the effect on the students who would have to go through the changes.

“I believe the schooling system must be decentralised and depoliticised to get more people involved to plan its future,” he said.

The analyst believed that for decentralisation to work, however, policy-makers must first grapple with the idea that individuals have the right to make their own choices.

He also argued that if schools were to be used as a medium to foster unity, then focus should be given on the quality of the education rather than forcing everyone to conform.

“If the schools have enough quality, then it doesn’t matter what syllabus nor language is being used,” Wan Saiful said.

Panellist Zul Fikri too shared the belief that race issues must be kept out of education policies, but disagreed that abolishing vernacular schools was a practical solution to improving the knowledge levels.

“What we are looking at is a predominantly heritage and culture issue and not education,” said the founder and chairman of Teach for the Needs, a non-governmental organisation that provides tuition classes for underprivileged students.

“We have to let go of some of our fear that we hold on to now. Don’t talk about race in education. It is the content that matters and how they (students) are educated,” he said and floated an idea for a hybrid schooling system to stimulate cultural diversity to promote racial unity.

Another panellist, Lim Teck Ghee who heads the Centre for Policy Initiatives, also noted that politicians have attempted to thwart the national education agenda with partisan issues, but said vernacular schools should be seen as protecting minority rights.

He pointed out the proposal to abolish Chinese schools nationwide mooted by a junior Umno politician last ahead of his Malay party’s annual general assembly, purportedly as the vernacular schools were hotbeds for racism and anti-establishment sentiments.

“These schools have become a convenient scapegoat, particularly for the Malay public,” Lim told the forum.

He said critics of vernacular education have also not produced any study as evidence to back their claims that Chinese or Indian schools cause disunity.

Lim said that out of the 356 Chinese schools in the country, 314 have non-Chinese students; he added that in some of them, as much as 70 per cent of the student population were of other races.

“It’s not the racial sentiment that’s involved, but the pedagogy factor. How can you ensure that these (vernacular) schools are on a level playing field with national schools?” he said.

He pointed out the unequal public funding of the different existing school streams, alleging that most of the money was being funnelled into Mara junior colleges to ensure the Bumiputera-exclusive schools had the best teachers and facilities.

“This is where the disparity is, where the government has built up an elitist Malay education system that is sacred from the national education stream,” he said.

The researcher said that at the same time, the federal government appeared to be rolling back in its own initiatives to enhance unity among schoolchildren of the different existing streams and cited as an example, the Pupils Integration Plan for Unity that began in 1986 when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi helmed the Education Ministry and was revived again in 2005 when the latter was prime minister.

He noted that the budget for the programme that aimed to stimulate racial interaction between Malay Muslim students in homogenous institutions such as religious and national boarding schools, and other ethnicities, saw its budget slashed from Rm 25.4 million in 2007 to RM2.4 million in 2011.

Independent researcher Nor Arlene Tan Khalid concurred with Lim that national schools were “very Malay-centric” but said the indoctrination of a mono-culture plagues vernacular schools too.

She disclosed that she was a product of a Chinese-medium school where students were barred from conversing in any other dialect but Mandarin.

A policy that forced the students to conform to a certain identity was unhealthy as it chips away at the diversity of Malaysia’s rich ethnic culture without necessarily improving the country’s educational standards, she said.

“There should be a single stream that can accommodate everyone,” Nor Arlene said, making a case for single-stream schools but decentralising the system by granting autonomy to the schools.

“We should be addressing other core issues such as why aren’t our students scoring in the Pisa tests,” she said, referring to the Programme for International Student Assesment conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which tests 15-year-olds on their reading, science and math-solving abilities.

Malaysian students scored in the bottom quarter in the last assessment in 2012 the results of which were released in April this year, limping home at 39th place out of 44 countries.
- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/spotlight-on-education-can-single-stream-schools-fix-knowledge-racial-gap#sthash.repSeGMP.dpuf

High Pitched by NAMEWEE - 黃明志在中國【我是好聲音】飆高音

An outspoken & talented guy...enjoy!




another nice song of his...

Demographia: Malaysia’s residential housing market ‘severely unaffordable’

What this finding tells us is that there are more people who can't afford a home than those who can.

On one hand, many Malaysians, specifically those in urban areas and developed states, are facing great difficulty owning a home because they could not afford it. On the other, we have state and federal government who thinks that 400k is considered affordable. 10 years ago, 400k was considered expensive when the average prices were 180k to 250k. So, unless the average income have doubled since then, 400k is still not affordable to many. That is assuming that we take into account the price relative to the size.

To expect prices to fall to the level of a decade ago is unrealistic.

But that does not mean that the government cannot do more to alleviate the financial burden of the people.

For a start, they could make cars cheaper. With the reduced amount of car loans, the people will be able to afford higher loans for homes. Since they would probably be living further away from the city centre due to cheaper home prices, their transportation cost should be low for it to be practical.

Times have changed. Almost every household requires at least one car for work and leisure. The ridiculous car prices in Malaysia simply does not make sense. The government is impoverishing the people by taxing them on a depreciating asset instead of enriching them through home ownership. If the government wants to make up the loss of revenue from excise duties from cars, they can tax luxury cars more, or even raise the RPGT for properties priced above a certain amount, say, 500k.

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Demographia: Malaysia’s residential housing market ‘severely unaffordable’

Saturday, 25 October 2014

WHEN middle income professionals are unable to afford their own home based on a single income and have to team up with either a spouse or another person to qualify for a mortgage loan, then it is a sign that the unaffordability of our housing market has become critical.

A finding by US-based urban development researcher Demographia reveals Malaysia’s residential housing market is “severely unaffordable”, even more out of reach than residents in Singapore, Japan and the United States.

Demographia’s finding, cited by Singapore’s Straits Times in a report on Oct 14, rates housing as severely unffordable if the median of house price to annual income is 5.1 times.

Malaysia clocked in at 5.5 times, showing many Malaysians continue to be locked out of the housing market, compared with Singapore’s 5.1 times, while the United States’ and Japan’s housing markets were found to be “moderately unaffordable”.

Public interest group, National House Buyers Association (HBA) honorary secretary-general Chang Kim Loong says Demographia’s report supports HBA’s own finding that house prices, especially in the urban and sub-urban areas, have risen beyond the reach of many average Malaysians.

“For the past few years, HBA has sounded the alarm on the risk of a “homeless generation” made up of a growing number of young Malaysians especially the lower and middle income groups who are unable to afford their own home. When this homeless group grows in number, it can give rise to many other social problems,” he warns.

Chang says when even middle income professionals are unable to afford their own home based on a single income, the situation has become critical.

He says unless one is willing to be tied down by a long-term or back-breaking mortgage or mortgages, the high residential prices have rendered buying a house an increasingly uphill task, if not an impossible feat for the many lower income and average Malaysians.

“The skyrocketed prices have driven house buyers to take back breaking mortgages and many needed to combine their income in order to qualify for a mortgage, thus leaving them with very little or no savings after paying the monthly instalments and other basic necessities.

“This will place families at risk as they could fall into a deficit situation if any sudden emergencies happen to either of the borrowers,” Chang says.

He points out the possibility that in the event these borrowers cannot afford to pay their instalments and the banks are forced to auction off their properties, “there is a risk of a property bubble bursting, just like what happened during the sub-prime financial crisis in the US.”

“The borrowers and their dependents will also be faced with financial and emotional crisis that befalls their foreclosed property. Foreclosures can devastate a family’s economic and social standing, leaving them poorer instead,” Chang laments.

Chang says just six years ago it was still possible for a single middle level manager earning RM5,000 a month to buy a new double-storey link house in Kajang for less than RM250,000, and for a single executive earning RM3,000 a month to buy a new condominium in the Old Klang Road area for about RM200,000.

“Today, a new house in Kajang are in excess of RM700,000 but a middle level manager is just earning RM6,000 or thereabout a month. Recent launches of condominiums around Old Klang Road area are in excess of RM600,000, while the average salaries of executives are still around RM3,500 a month,” he laments.

He believes the maximum price that households with an monthly income of RM10,000 should purchase is only RM360,000 (RM120,000 x 3x).

“HBA has always stressed that affordable housing should be priced around RM150,000 to RM300,000, and not more then RM400,000 even for prime locations. Given that annual household income uses the assumption of two working spouses, there is a critical need for properties priced at RM150,000 to cater to single families and adults.

“We urge the government to further lower the threshold of affordable house price to between RM150,000 and RM300,000, and not more than RM400,00 even for prime locations,” Chang adds.

Chang says these houses, with minimum built-up of 800 sq ft and three bedrooms, need not come with fanciful finishing, but have just the bare necessities for a family’s comfort.

Stemming the greed

Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) president Siva Shanker concurs that the unaffordability housing issue has become critical over the past three to four years due to the sharp upswing in house prices.

“It was driven by the low entry costs with schemes such as no need for downpayment, developer interest bearing schemes and free stamp duty and legal fees, Although the Government has introduced various cooling measures and more responsible bank lending guidelines which has brought down the number of housing transactions, prices or value of houses still remain high.

“The fact that salaries have not kept up with the upswing in property prices have further worsened the unaffordability situation,” Siva explains.

HBA’s Chang points out the risks posed by “Investors’ Clubs” or “Millionaires Clubs” which are basically syndicated speculators incorporated by some ingenious individuals.

“They work in cahoot with developers, valuers and banks. Speculative buyers may be caught by the latest round of cooling measures. How the situation will pan out will depend on the holding capability of these speculators of which most of them may not have. Come hand-over time when it is time for these “investors” to flip their purchases, there may be a shortage of buyers for these properties, most of which were transacted at inflated and not real market value prices,” he warns.

Siva opines that the imposition of real property gains tax (RPGT) to tax gains from property transactions should be counted from the date of completion of the property and not from the signing of the sale and purchase agreement as what is being practised now.

This is given that it takes three years for high-rise residences to be delivered to buyers upon the signing of the sale and purchase agreement, and two years for landed property. Chang says the severity of the housing crisis for many Malaysians today calls for a workable housing delivery model to be put into action urgently before the problem spills over and cause more social problems in the country.

Housing the people has to be made the top thrust of the government and all possible measures need to be put to work fast and bottlenecks must be promptly addressed.

He says much more can be done to ensure a sustainable and orderly housing market for the people, stressing that holistic and concerted efforts need to be adopted.

“However, very often policies adopted are more for political expediency rather than for the betterment of the people.

“We need a single umbrella to monitor, regulate and police the performance of the various agencies that are entrusted with the role to ensure affordable housing index are met and properly distributed to the deserving ones. They must build the right quantity of the right property, at the right location, for the right populace, and at the right price.

“There must be full transparency on the location, number of units, registration and balloting process to ensure fairness to all eligible buyers,” Chang stresses.

A single database will enable individuals to learn about the availability of the affordable housing in their communities or in the communities they planned to move to, and understand financing options avail to them.

Siva also calls for a central planning and delivery agency to plan and coordinate all the affordable housing needs of the people.

“The whole process should be totally transparent with a master registry to record all the database of applicants and successful candidates. There should also be a moratorium period of up to 10 years to ensure that the successful candidates offered these affordable housing will not be able to dispose these homes for quick profit.

“The federal and state governments should provide the land and other forms of incentives to encourage private developers to lend their support for these affordable housing schemes,” Siva says.

Chang agrees that giving incentives to developers that build affordable housing will motivate them to throw in their support to build more of such housing units, adding that building up the infrastructure connectivity to the still relatively undeveloped areas will make these places more accessible and improve demand for property in those places.

“HBA has proposed to the government to take the lead by unlocking more of its vast land banks to build affordable housing for the people.

“The reason why developers are not chipping in to build more affordable housing units is because of the so-called profit maximisation by industry players. It is either high-rise multiple hundred units or high-end luxury units. Very often it is a combination of both - luxurious high-end units.I have not heard of developers building single-storey terrace houses that were so prevalent in the past. Developers are refusing to build such price and low margin items and will rather focus on higher margin items. With land being a scarce resource, developers will maximise the value of their land banks.

“If the land comes from the federal and state governments, private developers will be more willing to throw in their support to develop affordable housing for those in need,” Chang concludes.

http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/10/25/A-house-too-far-Demographia-Malaysias-residential-housing-market-severely-unaffordable/?style=biz

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Report shows Malaysian homes more unaffordable than in Singapore, Japan and the US

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Malaysia has a “severely unaffordable” residential homes market, with housing even more out of reach for its residents than in Singapore, Japan and the United States, according to US-based urban development researcher Demographia.

Demographia’s report was cited today in a report in Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper to highlight how many Malaysians continue to be locked out of the residential housing market despite the federal government’s attempt at helping first-time house buyers.

According to the ST report, Demographia rates housing as severely unaffordable if it is 5.1 times median annual income. Malaysia clocks in at 5.5x, higher than Singapore’s 5.1x, while housing in the United States and Japan is “moderately unaffordable”.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/report-shows-malaysian-homes-more-unaffordable-than-in-singapore-japan-and#sthash.kgmX5N0H.dpuf