All Questions posted a week before EGM were unanswered and I received personal harassment.
Date of receipt of questions acknowledged receipt by the office on 11 Feb 2017
Sunday 19 Feb 2017
During the EGM, I volunteered to provide my personal sound system in the EGM whereby Mr Philip Yap had instructed a guard to stop me. I merely had to explain to the guard that Mr Philip Yap and the guard service received salaries that came from monthly maintenance payments from the owners of the apartments. This was a meeting of the owners and it will be unlawful for the guard to disallow a sound system that would help create more order in the meeting as only one person get to speak at a time with the microphone given to him. The guard didn't stop me and as you can compare the two video clips, the EGM had less people shouting and individuals could speak clearly to present their views at the meeting.
Monday 20 Feb 2017
For my purpose of allowing the meeting to be carried out in a more organized fashion in loaning my sound system, Mr Philip Yap continued his harassment to me by clamping my car which was properly parked outside, having an authorized sticker some time on Monday as I only discovered it when wanting to use the car in the evening. I asked the guard why and they said it was under Mr Philip Yap's instruction.
As it was raining in the evening, a piece of paper put on my windshield was totally irrelevant as it claimed that I failed to get the 2017/2018 sticker which I did. It also said that I was also to be fined RM50 for the clamp to be removed if I failed to have a current car sticker for the car which was obviously on the windshield as per the photo below!
Tuesday 21 Feb 2017
First thing I did the next day was to get the company secretary to issue an official letter to the Building Management committee addressed to the Chairman. When I presented the letter to the office, Mr Philip Yap rejected it and presented his reasoning that I was only a tenant and not entitled to an outside car park despite the letter stating clearly that I was the authorised representative of the Company who is given full access and occupational rights to the property. Furthermore the Company letter stated that I am vested with the full authority to deal with the Property in anyway whatsoever for and on behalf the Company in all matters whatsoever pertaining to the Property!
Visit to the Commissioner of Buildings office
Wed 22 Feb 2017
Frustrated with proceedings from the past AGM and EGM meetings with refusal of Mr Philip Yap to unclamp my car after giving him the official letter from the company stating my position that I am not a tenant but an authorised representative of Tai Aik Thong sdn bhd who is given full access and occupational rights to the property, I followed a group of owners to go to the COB office to meet with Che Adzhan b. Adnan, being a total of 7 people.
This is on the 17th Floor of Bangunan TH Perdana, 1001 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur
Complaints of various nature was reported such as denial of proxy rights, car park rights and even report of tampering of an official receipt of the Management Corporation including my car being unlawfully clamped. Proof of document was given to Che Adzhan b. Adnan who informed all of us that he would need 7 days to follow up.
Most urgent was my car that was still clamped needed to be used to pick up my visitor friend Mr Govind Nair from Washington DC, formerly a leading world bank economist for 25 years arriving on late night of Wednesday the very day itself! We have been busy planning an international project where discussions started in early January of the year through our online video discussions over the internet. He decided to fly over to meet with me for face to face for more detailed discussions with travel plans to Penang and Melaka. Having the car clamped would certainly be a great inconvenience.
I gave a call to the Management Council chairman Mr Packiasingh Raja Solomon at his apartment whom the TAT's official letter was addressed to which was delivered to the office the day before. On asking if he has received the letter, he replied that he had not seen it. I asked him if I could see him to pass him a copy of the letter and he simply said, "I leave everything to the building manager to handle!" He didn't seem interested to receive the letter or read it.
Owners gathered at office to seek answers to the 7 questions
Sat 11 Mar 2017
A group of owners brave enough to confront Mr Philip Yap showed up on Saturday morning at 10am when the office was opened to request for him and the Chairman of the management council Mr Packiasingh Raja Solomon to give answers to the questions submitted.
A group of owners brave enough to confront Mr Philip Yap showed up on Saturday morning at 10am when the office was opened to request for him and the Chairman of the management council Mr Packiasingh Raja Solomon to give answers to the questions submitted.
I gave a copy of the letter from the TAT to the Chairman as when I called him on the phone on the day after it was delivered to the office, which is day we visited the COB office, to ask if he did get to see the Company's letter addressed to him, he said no. He didn't want me to see him personally either to pass a copy of the letter to him. I guess the Chairman too doesn't know the law as regards to his position or role as a Chairman of the Management Council! A copy of the official mail from Tai Aik Tong sdn bhd(TAT) addressed to the Chairman was given to him on this day.
As Mr Philip Yap didn't want to respond to our 7 unanswered questions and chased us out of our office, we continued our meeting outside recorded by the following videos :
Major decisions like change of open car park privileges to owners and other matters discussed and decided by the Management Council has not been disclosed to the owners as minutes of the Council meetings have not been posted on the official notice board in the apartment building. This is another violation of law required by the Strata Titles act
More comments on the conflict of interest in having Mr Philip Yap as a building manager who is also a tenant in the apartment is covered below:
An owner speaking in Cantonese expressed two points about biasness of Mr Philip Yap. One is about why he had observed that another owner had two cars of which one did not have a sticker and the car was not clamped. Another point is that he had observed during AGMs and EGMs in the past, as many owners as possible are welcomed in those meetings but why Mr Philip Yap seemed to be knocking out people from attending the meetings.
My answer is that Mr Philip Yap was acting with biasness and intentions to control or influence the proxies obtained from contacting owners who don't live in the apartment himself, as he has access to it at the office, to get them to sign proxy forms so that he could use them for his benefit during the AGMs or EGMs. This reflects again the conflict of interest for appointing a tenant or owner to be a Building Manager in which case Mr Philip Yap is a tenant! The owners in attendance could witness his nominees as proxies and therefore have brought up this crucial conflict of interest situation that seriously affect their voting rights in the past general meetings. A full investigation to follow up on who attended the meetings tied with who are the proxies for which owner will reveal the evidence of manipulation of the voting rights in these official meetings.
How much have I suffered in losses of my productivity for my ongoing projects and how much apartment owners have lost themselves due to unlawful acts?
Everyday that passes by without the use of my car and time wasted in seeking ways to resolve the apartment issues for myself and the owners is costing me a lot of time and money for sure. I am a low profile person living as a simple man in the downtown apartment. Nobody really knows my background of the past and present. If I were to estimate my daily losses of income from clamping my car and costs of time and money to settle the issues in a civil way with Mr Philip Yap and other person or persons for creating hinderances in my life, based on my track record of my performance and capabilities, I think it would be quite substantial. Consider the following shared in 3 languages :
But something else drives me and it is not money or power. I have figured this out a long time ago.
Today I am a writer and a socialpreneur working for a good cause and not just for profits though is important as an entrepreneur explained here in my Latest News link - https://goo.gl/ox5x1A
I like to help not only the owners of Merdeka View but owners of properties of other high rise buildings in Malaysia. Here are news reports of unlawful acts that have been reported :
Cases can also be read in online news as found here : http://m.malaysiakini.com/news/371019 I have always believed that Prevention is better than Cure.
I have assisted Tai Aik Tong sdn bhd(TAT) in the company's lawsuit against the Property Developers of the well known Blue Boy Mansion of Kuala Lumpur to win in a high court case that helps other owners bullied by Embassy sdn bhd to take away their property rights as the win by TAT created a new precedence for the other owners to win in court also for the same matter. Reference to the case in 2013 can be found in the All Malaysia Law Index :
A copy of the court documents of the win in the legal battle of TAT against Embassy sdn bhd over the company's property in Blue Boy Mansion is also in my hands.
Owners of Merdeka View Apartments must take every action to stop unlawful acts, abuse of power or authority and improper practices in the management office. I am not involved in this matter because of any financial gains. It is to appease my heart and mind that as a Malaysian, I should give back to community for the blessings my family of 6 children who were all born and nurtured from young in the country to become good and capable citizens of the world today, living and serving in 3 countries overseas of Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom. My story of Malaysia and my family can be read by clicking here.
Learning from the history of our community and the psychology of our human mind
The Council Members of Merdeka View Management Corporation (MVMC) for the year 2008/2009
Chairman - Mr Choo See Hong
Vice Chairman - Mr Siew Yoke Wah
Finance in Charge - Mdm Teresa Sinnakaruppan
Finance Assistant - Mr Phuah Seng Hock
Company Secretary - Mr Chong Sun Fu
Building Maintenance in Charge - Mr Goh Kiat Seng
Building Maintenance assistant - Mr Thoo Chee Wan
Building Cleaning in Charge - Mr Packiasingh Raja Solomon
Security in Charge - Mr Ho Foo You
Security Assistant - Mr Lai Kok Choy
Public Relations in Charge - Mr Lee See Kwang
Public Relations Assistant - Mr Lau Chin Siong
Public Relations Assistant - Ms Wong Chow Won
(Note not all Council Members were present in the group photo taken above)
I will share my experience of what I've learnt in serving the community, especially that of Merdeka View apartments in Kuala Lumpur.
First watch this video that shares my announcement of my Community Service First initiative and OPTION :
So at the end of the video, I touched upon the topic of behavior. It will involve a knowledge of psychology or understanding the mental and emotional factors governing a situation or activity. I have done extensive research on the topic of human behavior and can share some of my writings as found here. A later post will cover the various psychological personalities found within our communities everywhere in the world
Meanwhile listen to my discussion about the Mind with the co-writer of our book that will be published next year. The book will cover the unique society of Malaysia in relationship with the major powers of the West and the East. It is worth noting in history that the Malay peninsular with its historical port of Melaka has served the visitors of these western and eastern powers who also left behind their influence in the period before, during and after World War II.
Meanwhile listen to my discussion about the Mind with the co-writer of our book that will be published next year. The book will cover the unique society of Malaysia in relationship with the major powers of the West and the East. It is worth noting in history that the Malay peninsular with its historical port of Melaka has served the visitors of these western and eastern powers who also left behind their influence in the period before, during and after World War II.
Follow up with COB office and Political Party Service Center
After the failure of the AGM on 20 Nov 2016 to be conducted properly as well as the subsequent EGM on 19 Feb 2017 that also failed, the management council has called for a 3rd meeting to be held, an EGM at 2pm on Sunday 26 Mar 2017.
Mon 20 Mar 2017
Owners went to visit the Commissioner of Buildings(COB) office again on the 17th floor of Bangunan TH Perdana for two reasons.
No. 1 was to ensure that all documents required for eligibility to vote in the EGM or to be nominated as a council member are checked and pre approved by the officer to avoid being rejected by Mr Philip Yap who has been known to look for any faults to disallow owners to vote especially if they are not the owners whom he has obtained their signature to appoint proxies for the voting in the EGM obtained by his access to owners information to contact them. A clerk of Tai Aik Tong sdn bhd did receive a phone call from Mr Philip Yap digging about company information and my status in the company and despite a letter of authority from the company secretary stating that I am an appointed representative of the company, with parking rights due to an owner which is the company, he has unlawfully ignored it and refused to unclamp my car to this date that was clamped since 20 Feb 2017. I had made a police report on the matter but as the Strata Title Act controls the rules and regulations of the private property, the police could not help as they cannot interpret the by-laws or house rules of the Management Corporation so the matter should be decided by the COB.
No. 2 was to follow up with our complaints of self made rules of Mr Philip Yap reported to Che Adzhan b. Che Adnan when we first visited him on 22 Feb as there was no reply from him verbal or in writing after he promised us he would follow-up after a week's time. I was informed by some of the owners who went to try to meet Che Adzhan the following week that they saw him in the meeting room with Mr Philip Yap. They felt the officer was more interested to listen to Mr Philip Yap than respond to the owners so they left frustrated. In our visit on this day, we found a more experienced officer named Mohd Ferdaus bin Mat who said Che Adzhan was transferred somewhere else and I thought just as well!
He clarified a number of things to us about the right of owners such as the right to nominate any other owner from the floor to stand for election as a council member at the time of the EGM and not follow the rule made by Mr Philip Yap to submit the names to be nominated a week before the EGM. I recall in all previous AGMs and EGMs as many as the law allowed, 14 people could be nominated to be in the council during the time of the meeting. Instead, Mr Philip Yap seems to prefer only a small number of owners in the council. I think he only wants owners like Mr Packiasingh Raja Solomon, the current chairman who would leave everything in the hands of the building manager, as quoted in my previous post. There only seems to be two others in the council who are active whom we tried to meet on that Saturday of 11 March but Mr Philip Yap seems to be the head of the council to refuse to give us time to present the 7 questions that wasn't answered in the last EGM. I have presented those questions outside of the office recorded on video shared in the previous post.
On my issue of my car that is clamped, he understood what was stated in the letter from the company and learned from the other owners that the car park rule was that owners had always the right to one open car park space per apartment. However as the matter was wrongly decided by Che Adnan and written in their internal office report, he could not overturn it but guided me to my option under the law, that is to go to the arbitration tribunal office in Putra Jaya as per the video below :
Mon 20 Mar 2017
Owners went to visit the Commissioner of Buildings(COB) office again on the 17th floor of Bangunan TH Perdana for two reasons.
No. 1 was to ensure that all documents required for eligibility to vote in the EGM or to be nominated as a council member are checked and pre approved by the officer to avoid being rejected by Mr Philip Yap who has been known to look for any faults to disallow owners to vote especially if they are not the owners whom he has obtained their signature to appoint proxies for the voting in the EGM obtained by his access to owners information to contact them. A clerk of Tai Aik Tong sdn bhd did receive a phone call from Mr Philip Yap digging about company information and my status in the company and despite a letter of authority from the company secretary stating that I am an appointed representative of the company, with parking rights due to an owner which is the company, he has unlawfully ignored it and refused to unclamp my car to this date that was clamped since 20 Feb 2017. I had made a police report on the matter but as the Strata Title Act controls the rules and regulations of the private property, the police could not help as they cannot interpret the by-laws or house rules of the Management Corporation so the matter should be decided by the COB.
No. 2 was to follow up with our complaints of self made rules of Mr Philip Yap reported to Che Adzhan b. Che Adnan when we first visited him on 22 Feb as there was no reply from him verbal or in writing after he promised us he would follow-up after a week's time. I was informed by some of the owners who went to try to meet Che Adzhan the following week that they saw him in the meeting room with Mr Philip Yap. They felt the officer was more interested to listen to Mr Philip Yap than respond to the owners so they left frustrated. In our visit on this day, we found a more experienced officer named Mohd Ferdaus bin Mat who said Che Adzhan was transferred somewhere else and I thought just as well!
He clarified a number of things to us about the right of owners such as the right to nominate any other owner from the floor to stand for election as a council member at the time of the EGM and not follow the rule made by Mr Philip Yap to submit the names to be nominated a week before the EGM. I recall in all previous AGMs and EGMs as many as the law allowed, 14 people could be nominated to be in the council during the time of the meeting. Instead, Mr Philip Yap seems to prefer only a small number of owners in the council. I think he only wants owners like Mr Packiasingh Raja Solomon, the current chairman who would leave everything in the hands of the building manager, as quoted in my previous post. There only seems to be two others in the council who are active whom we tried to meet on that Saturday of 11 March but Mr Philip Yap seems to be the head of the council to refuse to give us time to present the 7 questions that wasn't answered in the last EGM. I have presented those questions outside of the office recorded on video shared in the previous post.
On my issue of my car that is clamped, he understood what was stated in the letter from the company and learned from the other owners that the car park rule was that owners had always the right to one open car park space per apartment. However as the matter was wrongly decided by Che Adnan and written in their internal office report, he could not overturn it but guided me to my option under the law, that is to go to the arbitration tribunal office in Putra Jaya as per the video below :
Tue 21 Mar 2017
Visiting the DAP Bukit Bintang service center
We had a very good meeting with YB Fong's assistant named Eric who understood our plight and prepared us well for the coming EGM and assured us of good support.
As citizens of a democratic country of Malaysia, we are grateful that there are many avenues for us to seek attention and help to the problem that we face in our civil society under our latest up-to-date laws such as ACT 757 below pertaining to our matter :
As citizens of a democratic country of Malaysia, we are grateful that there are many avenues for us to seek attention and help to the problem that we face in our civil society under our latest up-to-date laws such as ACT 757 below pertaining to our matter :
Coincidental News reported on this day : On corruption
Click here to read the news
Click here to read the news
Another EGM where adoption of accounts was rejected by a majority of owners who demand the right to query the accounts
Sun 26 Mar 2017
Sat 8 April 2017
Mr Phillip Yap seen at the front of the meeting while Mr Packiahsingh Solomon remains his usual self, being quiet and not contributing much to the meeting. Dato Ng Kek Kiong was elected to be the EGM Chairman.
The video below is an indication of the noise level of the meeting in general. The majority of the owners would not vote to adopt the accounts and requested that management council allow a representative group of owners to query or investigate into the accounts for details thus postponing the general meeting for a period of 4 months. The meeting ended when this was agreed.
The video below is an indication of the noise level of the meeting in general. The majority of the owners would not vote to adopt the accounts and requested that management council allow a representative group of owners to query or investigate into the accounts for details thus postponing the general meeting for a period of 4 months. The meeting ended when this was agreed.
Sat 8 April 2017
A group of owners led by Ms Chan was seen at the office attempting to look into the details of the accounts kept by the management office.
AGM on 1 October 2017
Previously the 14th AGM on 20 November 2016 had failed to adopt the accounts with a subsequent EGM on 19 Feb 2017 that 9also failed to adopt the accounts with yet another EGM on 26 Mar 2017 that decided on a delay of another 4 months period to allow a group of owners to investigate into the accounts of the past two years of 2015 and 2016.
It became 6 months later before the 15th AGM was set on 1 Oct 2017. The 2 year accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 and 31 Dec 2016 were also to be adopted in this AGM that was scheduled to start at 10am with registration. I had early morning meetings at Church on Sunday starting at 9am that did not complete till 1pm and headed back to the apartment's indoor car park area where the usual AGM/EGM meetings would be held.
It became 6 months later before the 15th AGM was set on 1 Oct 2017. The 2 year accounts for the year ended 31 December 2015 and 31 Dec 2016 were also to be adopted in this AGM that was scheduled to start at 10am with registration. I had early morning meetings at Church on Sunday starting at 9am that did not complete till 1pm and headed back to the apartment's indoor car park area where the usual AGM/EGM meetings would be held.
I noticed Dato Ng Kek Kiong was chairing the meeting and on the far right of the main table was the Commissioner of Building (COB) division Sr. Hj. Kamarulzaman bin Mat Salleh.
The Dato played his part well to chair the AGM and directed proper notes taking of the minutes of each resolution.
The Chief of Commissioner of Buildings (COB) division was a little overwhelmed by the issues of the apartment management and the vociferous feedback of the owners in attendance!
Mr Phillip Yap was seen sitting at the side unusually quiet...
... still giving some instructions to an office staff
The new committee was being nominated and confirmed as per the names on the white board in the photo above. As I was late, I had learned that these were mostly new names of owners and not from those who supported Philip Yap formerly to hire him. Phillip Yap, who in the past has been unethically contacting owners with his access to owners' information from the office who do not live in the apartment in order to get them to sign proxy forms for the forthcoming AGM to be in his hands. This was his known gerrymandering tactic to be employed as a manager of the building by the elected council members of his influence. He could not use them in this AGM due to the presence of the chief of COB with his supporting staff present and when a vote by a show of hands was decided to elect new council members, Phillip Yap could not show he was in control of all the proxies he had obtained and was seen as a lone quiet man sitting at the side close to the front.
He only got the job due to his relationship with a Chairman of the past from an apartment owned by a company that turned it into a mahjong recreation place for staff. Philip Yap frequented the apartment and from there he used the relationship with the former Chairman to get the post as building manager.
Problems began to be witnessed by owners who stayed at the apartment where he was seen shouting at women owners and guests, bossing around the guards and even making decisions for the Chairman Packiasingh Solomon by personally responding to reject the letter from our company secretary's official letter to the Chairman about my car being clamped unlawfully that bore the carpark sticker with a request to cease all harassment to me as the Company's authorized representative. There was no resolution at any AGM or EGM that was passed to take away the one free open space parking lot given to very apartment unit since the beginning of the existence of the apartment.
He only got the job due to his relationship with a Chairman of the past from an apartment owned by a company that turned it into a mahjong recreation place for staff. Philip Yap frequented the apartment and from there he used the relationship with the former Chairman to get the post as building manager.
Problems began to be witnessed by owners who stayed at the apartment where he was seen shouting at women owners and guests, bossing around the guards and even making decisions for the Chairman Packiasingh Solomon by personally responding to reject the letter from our company secretary's official letter to the Chairman about my car being clamped unlawfully that bore the carpark sticker with a request to cease all harassment to me as the Company's authorized representative. There was no resolution at any AGM or EGM that was passed to take away the one free open space parking lot given to very apartment unit since the beginning of the existence of the apartment.
Here is a video of 3 important business matters of the management corporation that I captured in the afternoon :
With the new committee, they can investigate the past accounts that seemed to have inadequate disclosures which needs to be resolved before accounts can be adopted. Secondly the Sinking Fund seems to have been not fully accounted for and was highlighted to be checked. Last and most important is the giving back of the one open car park space to every apartment unit. That was the personal matter that Phillip Yap wrongly used to harass me and I'm glad I used social media to expose the wrong doings of his management style that will open the door to more investigation back to more years even before his time when certain improper practices in the management council were not fully disclosed to owners! The troubles that started 7 months ago in February of 2017 and can be read here.
Prelude to the Chinese New Year Celebrations in Malaysia
Click here to jump below on the beginning of legal proceedings at Merdeka View in 2021
I had a surprise after coming back to the apartment from a meeting at the Marriott where I had crossed the street to see the Chinese New Year decorations at the Pavilion Mall. When I returned to the apartment, I saw decorations being set up by some volunteers:
31 Jan 2018
In all my years coming back to the apartment whenever I was in KL, I've never felt such peace and happiness among all the apartment owners living there. These were not those owners who merely rented their properties out without knowing what was happening in the apartment management nor did they so long as they could collect their monthly rental and were used as proxies by those who were in the management council themselves to have a Chairman serve for years and years! The latest Strata Title laws had improved to allow a Chairman to serve a maximum of 2 terms only instead of 2 years duration as delays were often the reason why elections were delayed depending on how timely the accounts were ready to enable an AGM to adopt them if the owners were satisfied from the reports presented!
One can see by reading from the top post by clicking here that the previous management council led by their chosen hired building manager wanted to push for elections to take place when the majority of the owners living in the apartment and present at the AGM were suspicious of the accounts and refused to adopt them. They could not explain the discrepancies in the accounts and why the public auditor left exception notes in the financial report. The previous council members could not use all the proxies secured by their building manager as an officer from the government was present arranged by the concerned owners living in the apartment building. This manager, an ex-government officer, was the mastermind to get himself hired in the office as building manager while the Chairman and other council members showed their lack of education nor initiative to learn proper laws and practice in the management of the Corporation that is created by the Strata Title Act. Even a company owner's letter addressed to the Chairman of the management council was refused to be read by the previous Chairman while another Chinese businessman councilman who spoke or read no English could not help me get my car unclamped caused by the ex-building manager, which started this social media publication to bring back justice to our Merdeka View apartments!
In South East Asia, Prime Ministers and Presidents who once served 'forever' soon stepped down when the people living under a democratic government revolted starting with the Philippines and even Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysian long time leaders quickly voluntarily stepped down. Only Singapore was smart enough to have the Prime Minister step down to only hold another position as Mentor Minister in the government and his son to rule for many more years later until as expected, when the father passed away, the son will reign for a term or two but will soon resign as well! We do not want politicians in Merdeka View but good people to be in the management council, "to make sure the money goes into the right pockets" as one owner expressed to me, so that a pre-Chinese New Year dinner could take place as the following photos portray :
With Dato' Ng the new Chairman of the Management Council and Mr Siew on the far right who holds the record as the oldest living owner living in the apartment!
There was even a Karaoke set up for those happy to sing Chinese and English songs:
Yours truly sang an oldie English song in the spirit of happiness felt by everyone in attendance of the dinner that night:
Legal proceedings begin at Merdeka View
I am grateful in Malaysia that we have honest whitsle blowers shared in the video below whom I could share this video of what he did to expose corruption in the government of our country. Politics in governments can be dirty but don't forget the politics of thousands of apartments in Malaysia who suffer from their local apartment politics!
Rafizi Ramli from SF on Vimeo.
Rafizi is still active and well, concerned for the rural Malay problems shared in this 23 Aug 2021 news.
Strata-Titled properties in the City are also having problems but the law was used to solve these problems in Blue Boy Mansion, also located in the Bukit Bintang area just 10 mins from Merdeka view. Read how the problem was solved by simply using lawyers by clicking the photo letter from DBKL below or clicking here.
(Click next page of information)
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