Tuesday, August 29, 2006
[RealEdge] TodayOnline Forum : When neighbours and friends turn enemies ...
 This story was printed from TODAYonline | |
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| When neighbours and friends turn enemies ... En bloc sales process stirs up so much misunderstanding Tuesday August 29, 2006 Letter from chiu Li Yu Despite the recent cool-down of the collective sales fever, if we were to look around, we would find that there are still countless estates clamouring to gather that sacred 80 per cent majority to put their estates up for sale, all hoping to catch that final wave before it is gone. Our estate is no different. We are a group of individuals who volunteered ourselves and devoted immense amounts of time and energy to facilitate the en-bloc process for our privatised HUDC estate, as we feel that this is in its best interest. Our estate is getting old with an ever-shrinking lease.The maintenance costs would also accelerate over time. We cannot afford to wait any longer. However, as in many stories that we hear, collective sales spawn divisive voices that split an estate into various vocal groups. Strata developments, unlike landed developments, are founded on the concept of community living. Community living, which is the heart of living in an estate, all but disappears when owners drag their disagreements out in the open. In our case, even with the hard work that the committee put in, we were all mentally prepared at the onset for objectors to the collective sale who would have no qualms throwing egg in our faces. But the manner in which some spin stories out of thin air to derail the process was truly an eye-opener. One main grouse involved the legality of the en-bloc pro-tem committee. Many accused us of being an illegal set-up and the Owner's Meeting, which we helped to set up to present the Collective Sale Agreement, was described as nothing more than an illegal gathering of individuals. Many collective sales go through the same process and many must have faced similar resistance. If not clarified, this issue is likely to dog us and future collective sale efforts in other estates. Based on our understanding, having a specific committee appointed at an AGM or EOGM does not make the committee or the process any more legal. But perhaps greater buy-in from whoever bothered to turn up at an AGM/EOGM to vote few in most instances would. What should be more important, however, is that there is a committed group of individuals willing and able to make the effort to facilitate the process. How should we move on from here? At the end of the day, whether the collective sale is successful or not, one thing will remain: The misconceptions, misunderstandings and difference in opinions created by this process will linger for a long time to come. Neighbours who have been friends for more than 30 years have now stopped talking to one another. Neighbours look at each other with suspicious glares. Where is the harmonious living we all desire? Perhaps, at the end of the day, it has come to a stage where people have to realise that it might actually be better to split ways, pocket a tidy sum of money and move to somewhere more peaceful. | |
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// posted by Shajahan @ 12:58 PM 