we will call an EGM (extraordinary general meeting) in March, mainly for the renewal of fire insurance, at the same time, may also bring up other matters for residents to consider, or approval for implementation.
our current fire insurance policy will expire at the end of March, at this time we feel we should let resident to decide what kind of coverage they wish to have, especially for the last few years, our property value has jumped up so much!
in year 2009, when JMB jz took over the management from the developer, the insurance premium per unit was abt RM95, as those days the property value per unit in Vista was abt RM140k, then the following few years we kept it at the same rate but later on we forced to rise to RM105 as property value increased to abt 180k per unit, the reason of the rise of the insurance premium is to provide bigger coverage for resident's apartment shall fire happen in the unit, but early last year as property value has reached 220K per unit, we forced to increase the premium to RM125 per unit, this has caused some complaint from residents as they don't understand the reason of the increment on the premium, worse still, some residents have even speculated some hanky panky may have taken place in our dealing with the insurance matter.
so as now, property value has further increased to abt RM300k per unit, inevitably, the coverage need to be up again, in another words, premium will increase too. so this time we have got the insurance agent to quote us the coverage at few level, from 150k, 200k, 250k and 300k. Each level of coverage will come with different amount of premium, we will present the packages to residents for them to choose, and during the EGM we will try our best to explain to our residents the detail of the plan, we also may invite the insurance agent to attend the EGM, and if it's needed then we will get him to answer the question.
the MC will meet on this Sunday to discuss abt this, once finalized then the notice of meeting will be sent to our residents, we trust that our residents will make the best decision during the EGM.
thank you.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
no posting...due to CNY holidays
hi guys, no posting this week, busy bringing our family members for CNY holidays function :)
Friday, February 13, 2015
some interesting facts abt water tanks installation
for past few weeks, we have been working like crazy for the water tank matters, checking around for the regulation concerning installing new waters, negotiating with vendor abt the trade in price for our existing tanks, even talked to him to see possible to install bigger tanks for our blk k (bigger than the unit quoted by him earlier), also try to anticipate possible situation during the installation of bew water tank....
after talking to experts & relevant authorities, some interesting facts like to share with our beloved residents...
- PBA & other authorities don't have right to instruct us what kind of tank or the volume of the tank we are going to install, at first we were quite concern abt do we need their approval for project like this, but after checking with few dept, we found it's MC & residents' right to choose what type (and size) of tank they want to use.
- the size of the tanks is not as important as the performance of the water pump in regard of making sure continuing supply of water to our residents, earlier on we did have concern that the new tanks may not be big enough compare to the existing tank, but after talking to few specialists who are well verse in this line, they said as long as the pumps are running smoothly, then we should not worry too much abt the size of the tanks, but of course we still prefer bigger tank for blk k as more units there, so now we are still pushing vendor to provide bigger tanks for blk k, but it also depend on how much is the additional cost, if we can afford then we should go ahead with the idea.
- fiberglass tank is consider new idea in Penang, at first we thought many apartments have already installed fiberglass tank, because recently we heard a lot abt this, but as we check around wish to see the real fiberglass tank, we found out so far only one apartment project in Jelutong has done so, most of the apartment in Penang still using the the traditional steer type or PV type, anywhere we were told by the vendor & our specialist that fiberglass tank are equally good as steer type, haha...hope so :)
still many things need to be finalized before the installation take place, this is to make sure smooth process when the work is commenced, for this is a big project indeed.
thanks.
after talking to experts & relevant authorities, some interesting facts like to share with our beloved residents...
- PBA & other authorities don't have right to instruct us what kind of tank or the volume of the tank we are going to install, at first we were quite concern abt do we need their approval for project like this, but after checking with few dept, we found it's MC & residents' right to choose what type (and size) of tank they want to use.
- the size of the tanks is not as important as the performance of the water pump in regard of making sure continuing supply of water to our residents, earlier on we did have concern that the new tanks may not be big enough compare to the existing tank, but after talking to few specialists who are well verse in this line, they said as long as the pumps are running smoothly, then we should not worry too much abt the size of the tanks, but of course we still prefer bigger tank for blk k as more units there, so now we are still pushing vendor to provide bigger tanks for blk k, but it also depend on how much is the additional cost, if we can afford then we should go ahead with the idea.
- fiberglass tank is consider new idea in Penang, at first we thought many apartments have already installed fiberglass tank, because recently we heard a lot abt this, but as we check around wish to see the real fiberglass tank, we found out so far only one apartment project in Jelutong has done so, most of the apartment in Penang still using the the traditional steer type or PV type, anywhere we were told by the vendor & our specialist that fiberglass tank are equally good as steer type, haha...hope so :)
still many things need to be finalized before the installation take place, this is to make sure smooth process when the work is commenced, for this is a big project indeed.
thanks.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
early challenges of the water tanks
after few rounds of discussion with the tank vendor, through face to face meeting & phone conversation, now we realise that to replace all the water tanks for Vista Condo is indeed a very tough job.
and the toughest one, is to replace the water tank at the ground floor of each block, for info, the ground floor water tank serve the purpose of keeping the water from PBA, before it's sent to the roof top tanks through the water pumps, in our case, our residents are using the water directly from the roof top tanks.
here the tricky part is, to replace one tank will take abt one week, so when the vendor is taking the one week for the ground floor tank, no water will supply to the roof top tanks, and the roof top tanks can only keep the water good for 2 to 3 days for our residents usage...headache!
one of the solution suggested by vendor seems more workable for our situation here is to put a temporary tank at the ground floor while installing the new tank, so that this temporary tank will do the job of keeping the water from PBA, and to this, the size of temporary tank should be similar to our existing tank, which is 8 ft(height) by 8 ft(length) by 12 ft(depth), if the size is too small then it can't keep up the pace of the water consumption by our residents, and in fact, the vendor is willing to provide the temporary tank to solve this problem, well, it will lead to another challenge ;)
where to place the temporary tank?
our existing pump room's space at the ground is just enough to cater for one tank, which means while the vendor is dismantling the old tank, the temporary tank got to be in place to take over the job, but as there no more space in pump room, we got to place the temporary tank outside the pump room, and bear in mind of the size, now we got find a right place for it....
it got to be somewhere very near to the pump because it need to connect to the pump & the control panel, another headache!
as we look at it, it will be most likely using the motorcycle parking area, or the air well next to the pump room, but we will wait for vendor to come and check again if these places is feasible for the purpose, hope that it's the right place for the temporary tank :)
let's continue to pray for the smooth process for the tanks installation, thanks.
and the toughest one, is to replace the water tank at the ground floor of each block, for info, the ground floor water tank serve the purpose of keeping the water from PBA, before it's sent to the roof top tanks through the water pumps, in our case, our residents are using the water directly from the roof top tanks.
here the tricky part is, to replace one tank will take abt one week, so when the vendor is taking the one week for the ground floor tank, no water will supply to the roof top tanks, and the roof top tanks can only keep the water good for 2 to 3 days for our residents usage...headache!
one of the solution suggested by vendor seems more workable for our situation here is to put a temporary tank at the ground floor while installing the new tank, so that this temporary tank will do the job of keeping the water from PBA, and to this, the size of temporary tank should be similar to our existing tank, which is 8 ft(height) by 8 ft(length) by 12 ft(depth), if the size is too small then it can't keep up the pace of the water consumption by our residents, and in fact, the vendor is willing to provide the temporary tank to solve this problem, well, it will lead to another challenge ;)
where to place the temporary tank?
our existing pump room's space at the ground is just enough to cater for one tank, which means while the vendor is dismantling the old tank, the temporary tank got to be in place to take over the job, but as there no more space in pump room, we got to place the temporary tank outside the pump room, and bear in mind of the size, now we got find a right place for it....
it got to be somewhere very near to the pump because it need to connect to the pump & the control panel, another headache!
as we look at it, it will be most likely using the motorcycle parking area, or the air well next to the pump room, but we will wait for vendor to come and check again if these places is feasible for the purpose, hope that it's the right place for the temporary tank :)
let's continue to pray for the smooth process for the tanks installation, thanks.
Friday, January 30, 2015
general update as at 31/1/15
hi, few updates for our beloved Vista residents,
1) concerning the new water tanks, we have discussed abt this in the MC meeting & decided to visit the chosen vendor's facility first before we give him the ultimate go ahead for this project. the purpose of this visit is to make sure that the company is truly capable of handling this big project, and at the same time to discuss with him in detail abt the plan & schedule of installing the new tanks, the visitation will take place next week, we don't foresee any big issue here, furthermore they are kind enough to let us trade in our old tanks with some good value, which will be a great help for us to deposit into the gov't account for the 20% of total cost as per requirement.
2) last night, the blk k residents hit by water shortage problem, we have first received the complaint at abt 9pm, then few MC members rushed to the pump room to check the pumps, found that the 2 pumps & their control circuit were functioning, but ground floor water tank got less than half tank of water. then we went quickly go to the roof top to check, all the tanks were almost empty. we concluded that the inflow water of the ground water tank is too slow, causing the pump didn't manage to send enough water to the roof top tanks for blk k residents to use, so we quickly called the swimming pool vendor to get his contact to help, they both came at abt 11pm, did the checking, found out a rubber at the ground floor tank inflow area was out of position, it blocked the water & causing the mentioned problem. then the vendor adjusted the rubber into the position it suppose to be, so immediately inflow water back to normal pressure level, hence problem rectified. the vendor will come back again in a day or two, to replace the rubber if it's needed.
3) we have engaged a new electrician & his company to do general maintenance & repair for Vista electrical facility, this is due to the new company is with all the proper registration with the relevant authority, and manpower is sufficient for serving the facility. but anyhow we also want to thank the former electrician for helping us all these while, especially during the few big crisis in past 2 years, where he really show some good commitment for the job, but too bad as his business grows, he also found it hard to attend to our requests, so as he also voiced out to us his desire to focus more on his other business, so we thought it's a right time to replace him, then with the management lady recommendation, we have interviewed the new vendor & decided to use him, trust that the new electrician will provide good service.
thanks.
1) concerning the new water tanks, we have discussed abt this in the MC meeting & decided to visit the chosen vendor's facility first before we give him the ultimate go ahead for this project. the purpose of this visit is to make sure that the company is truly capable of handling this big project, and at the same time to discuss with him in detail abt the plan & schedule of installing the new tanks, the visitation will take place next week, we don't foresee any big issue here, furthermore they are kind enough to let us trade in our old tanks with some good value, which will be a great help for us to deposit into the gov't account for the 20% of total cost as per requirement.
2) last night, the blk k residents hit by water shortage problem, we have first received the complaint at abt 9pm, then few MC members rushed to the pump room to check the pumps, found that the 2 pumps & their control circuit were functioning, but ground floor water tank got less than half tank of water. then we went quickly go to the roof top to check, all the tanks were almost empty. we concluded that the inflow water of the ground water tank is too slow, causing the pump didn't manage to send enough water to the roof top tanks for blk k residents to use, so we quickly called the swimming pool vendor to get his contact to help, they both came at abt 11pm, did the checking, found out a rubber at the ground floor tank inflow area was out of position, it blocked the water & causing the mentioned problem. then the vendor adjusted the rubber into the position it suppose to be, so immediately inflow water back to normal pressure level, hence problem rectified. the vendor will come back again in a day or two, to replace the rubber if it's needed.
3) we have engaged a new electrician & his company to do general maintenance & repair for Vista electrical facility, this is due to the new company is with all the proper registration with the relevant authority, and manpower is sufficient for serving the facility. but anyhow we also want to thank the former electrician for helping us all these while, especially during the few big crisis in past 2 years, where he really show some good commitment for the job, but too bad as his business grows, he also found it hard to attend to our requests, so as he also voiced out to us his desire to focus more on his other business, so we thought it's a right time to replace him, then with the management lady recommendation, we have interviewed the new vendor & decided to use him, trust that the new electrician will provide good service.
thanks.
Friday, January 23, 2015
new water tanks in sight :)
lastly, lastly, lastly, we have got the letter from Jabatan Kewangan Negeri to confirm on the water tanks!
on THURSDAY we have received a phone call from the department, ask us if we want them to send the letter to us or we will drop by Komtar to collect from them (as earlier on we have told them to call us once the letter is ready), without second thought we asked them to keep the letter for us & we will go there on the same day to take from them, so after the long wait, we have seen the letter on that day!
in fact the deal is much better than what we first expected, we must thank God for His help, also thank the state gov't for their generosity...., the proposal they have picked for us is for 10 new water tanks, fiber glass type, total cost is RM405K, wow!!!!
out of this 405K, 80% or RM324K will borne by state govt, whereas 20% or 81K will need to be paid thru management fund, for this is the arrangement for low medium cost apartment (LMC) project funded by state gov't, it's got be based on 80% / 20% arrangement.
(we are fortunate enough to be considered as LMC apartment, as the first selling price by the developer those days was RM80K, which qualifies us to be LMC, many apartments in the neighborhood can't be considered as LMC, which make it very very very difficult to get the state gov't to fund projects like us,we also want to thank God for this LMC status. yeah must thank YB Yeoh Soon Hin too, because he also helped to send a letter to the kewangan to confirm Vista Condo is a LMC project)
concerning the 20% or 81K which to be borne by Vista Condo, we have talked to the contractor who is chosen to handle this project, he is willing to let us trade in our existing 10 water tanks (blk j roof top 4x, blk k roof top 4x, blk j pump room 1x, blk k pump 1x) to him with the price very close to RM80K, and the best is that he will try as much as possible to pay us in advance some big portion of the money so that we are able to get the bank to issue banker cheq for 81K, because by procedure we need to deposit this 20% into the state treasury for them to issue the work order to the contractor, but all these proposal must be approved by the MC in this coming meeting, haha...! hope that no one will object this :P
so....., even now we are still very happily digesting this piece of great news, and thank God for His favor upon Vista Condo....
on THURSDAY we have received a phone call from the department, ask us if we want them to send the letter to us or we will drop by Komtar to collect from them (as earlier on we have told them to call us once the letter is ready), without second thought we asked them to keep the letter for us & we will go there on the same day to take from them, so after the long wait, we have seen the letter on that day!
in fact the deal is much better than what we first expected, we must thank God for His help, also thank the state gov't for their generosity...., the proposal they have picked for us is for 10 new water tanks, fiber glass type, total cost is RM405K, wow!!!!
out of this 405K, 80% or RM324K will borne by state govt, whereas 20% or 81K will need to be paid thru management fund, for this is the arrangement for low medium cost apartment (LMC) project funded by state gov't, it's got be based on 80% / 20% arrangement.
(we are fortunate enough to be considered as LMC apartment, as the first selling price by the developer those days was RM80K, which qualifies us to be LMC, many apartments in the neighborhood can't be considered as LMC, which make it very very very difficult to get the state gov't to fund projects like us,we also want to thank God for this LMC status. yeah must thank YB Yeoh Soon Hin too, because he also helped to send a letter to the kewangan to confirm Vista Condo is a LMC project)
concerning the 20% or 81K which to be borne by Vista Condo, we have talked to the contractor who is chosen to handle this project, he is willing to let us trade in our existing 10 water tanks (blk j roof top 4x, blk k roof top 4x, blk j pump room 1x, blk k pump 1x) to him with the price very close to RM80K, and the best is that he will try as much as possible to pay us in advance some big portion of the money so that we are able to get the bank to issue banker cheq for 81K, because by procedure we need to deposit this 20% into the state treasury for them to issue the work order to the contractor, but all these proposal must be approved by the MC in this coming meeting, haha...! hope that no one will object this :P
so....., even now we are still very happily digesting this piece of great news, and thank God for His favor upon Vista Condo....
Friday, January 16, 2015
alamak!!! no letter yet :(
waiting is torturing, as we always said.
we have been pulling our neck & hope for the official letter concerning the water tank replacement for one whole week already, but still see no sight of it :(
almost everyday we check with the office to see if postman drop to them any letter from state gov't, every time got disappointed, for we are waiting eagerly for the letter so that we can talk to the chosen vendor for them to get ready for the project, and hope to see it start as early as February, but....
perhaps we are just a bit impatient, so such letter needs some signature from those high ranking officers, like YB or EXCO member, common sense tells us it will definitely take awhile to get them to sign, so to expect the letter to arrive in the past one week maybe is too optimistic.
yesterday contacted the EXCO office, the reply is we should receive it on this Friday, if not then the following week will get it, it gives us an impression that the letter has been sent out but hasn't reach us yet, as we didn't get the letter yesterday (Friday), we hope that on Monday or Tuesday we will see the letter, then we should inform our residents so that all of us can rejoice together :)
waiting....waiting...waiting...real torturing.... :P
we have been pulling our neck & hope for the official letter concerning the water tank replacement for one whole week already, but still see no sight of it :(
almost everyday we check with the office to see if postman drop to them any letter from state gov't, every time got disappointed, for we are waiting eagerly for the letter so that we can talk to the chosen vendor for them to get ready for the project, and hope to see it start as early as February, but....
perhaps we are just a bit impatient, so such letter needs some signature from those high ranking officers, like YB or EXCO member, common sense tells us it will definitely take awhile to get them to sign, so to expect the letter to arrive in the past one week maybe is too optimistic.
yesterday contacted the EXCO office, the reply is we should receive it on this Friday, if not then the following week will get it, it gives us an impression that the letter has been sent out but hasn't reach us yet, as we didn't get the letter yesterday (Friday), we hope that on Monday or Tuesday we will see the letter, then we should inform our residents so that all of us can rejoice together :)
waiting....waiting...waiting...real torturing.... :P
Friday, January 9, 2015
good news for water tanks is near?
now we are a bit anxious, and impatient too, after we heard some reply from the EXCO office :)
but it's good problem if these considered as problem :P
few days ago when we checked with the EXCO office concerning our request on the new water tanks, to be more exact, 8 new water tanks for Vista Condo, to replace the existing water tanks which located at the roof top of blk J & K, total cost for the project is more than RM350K, and their reply really get us unsettled.
they said YES, our request is approved & pls wait for the official letter!!! Wow, thank God for His blessing for Vista Condo!
but waiting is torturing...., how we wish we can get the letter now and share the good news immediately with our beloved residents by putting it at the notice board, for indeed this is the biggest allocation of fund we have received all these years!
we understand that many residents are hoping the building to be painted soon, but in committee we know well that unless the water tanks are in good condition, or else the water leaked from the water tank will soon damage the new paint at the building wall, and it's not the best option to paint the building without having the new water tank. So now as we receive news abt the new water tanks approval, we just want to thank God for this arrangement.
we have looked at our account, talked to various vendor & even some residents concerning the 20% of the cost which we need to absorb, and we are in the good position to pass this money to govt for them to issue the work order to the chosen vendor to start the work, and we hope that state treasury will soon forward us the letter concerning this project so that we can trigger the process to bring the new water tanks for our Vista Condo.
waiting....waiting...waiting...
but it's good problem if these considered as problem :P
few days ago when we checked with the EXCO office concerning our request on the new water tanks, to be more exact, 8 new water tanks for Vista Condo, to replace the existing water tanks which located at the roof top of blk J & K, total cost for the project is more than RM350K, and their reply really get us unsettled.
they said YES, our request is approved & pls wait for the official letter!!! Wow, thank God for His blessing for Vista Condo!
but waiting is torturing...., how we wish we can get the letter now and share the good news immediately with our beloved residents by putting it at the notice board, for indeed this is the biggest allocation of fund we have received all these years!
we understand that many residents are hoping the building to be painted soon, but in committee we know well that unless the water tanks are in good condition, or else the water leaked from the water tank will soon damage the new paint at the building wall, and it's not the best option to paint the building without having the new water tank. So now as we receive news abt the new water tanks approval, we just want to thank God for this arrangement.
we have looked at our account, talked to various vendor & even some residents concerning the 20% of the cost which we need to absorb, and we are in the good position to pass this money to govt for them to issue the work order to the chosen vendor to start the work, and we hope that state treasury will soon forward us the letter concerning this project so that we can trigger the process to bring the new water tanks for our Vista Condo.
waiting....waiting...waiting...
Saturday, January 3, 2015
year 2014 review, highlights
year 2014 just concluded, as we look back, it was a year which we got more reason to be happy than despair :)
no doubt there were sad incidents which have caused same anxieties, like blk J lift rope problem which came so suddenly, and for more than 3 weeks the lift was out of order until the new rope was installed & get it run again, so as we learn from this experience & in the future we got make sure all rope will be checked on the more regular basis.
another unfortunate incident was a blk k water pump problem, was somewhere at September, we can recall that that eventful evening when we received calls from blk k residents abt no power supply, we went to rooftop to check all the water tank, and to our shocking that all the water tank were empty, then we quickly reset the pump & let it run manually until all the tank were filled, then vendor was called immediately to attend to the problem, and the faulty component was replaced, so the problem was rectified.
of course there were some good news to celebrate too, in year2014...
the most significant one not other than the blk k lifts upgrading completion, it was finally done in first quarter of the year, it was the long process, started in year2013 and dragged until last year, we thank blk k residents for their patience, and pray & hope that with this upgrading the both lifts at blk k will serve our residents well.
another highlight of year2014 is the residents gathering, where the recorded number of 230 residents have signed up but actual number of peoples who attended this function is higher than that. It was a biggest gathering in Vista Condo, furthermore we have 2 VIP graced this occasion, YB Jagdeep Singh & YB Yeoh Soon Hin.
In year2014 we also held the AGM and more importantly we have a group of new committee joining the existing ones to serve our Vista Condo residents, the new committee indeed have brought new strength to the MC and with their contribution, we know that the Vista Condo future looks even brighter :)
last but not the least, 2 projects completed in year2014 which have help us to save cost & generate revenue, the T5 light tube which completed beginning of the year have helped us to save at least RM1200 per month on the electricity, with the return of investment in just 6 months' time. Another one is new rental parking lot, for it generates RM300 per month as 6 lot have been created & rent to residents.
here we also want to thank our beloved residents' support & cooperation in every area, particularly paying the service charge promptly & observing the house rules, in fact if without residents' support, there won't be any successful story to be told, so, really thank you so much!
no doubt there were sad incidents which have caused same anxieties, like blk J lift rope problem which came so suddenly, and for more than 3 weeks the lift was out of order until the new rope was installed & get it run again, so as we learn from this experience & in the future we got make sure all rope will be checked on the more regular basis.
another unfortunate incident was a blk k water pump problem, was somewhere at September, we can recall that that eventful evening when we received calls from blk k residents abt no power supply, we went to rooftop to check all the water tank, and to our shocking that all the water tank were empty, then we quickly reset the pump & let it run manually until all the tank were filled, then vendor was called immediately to attend to the problem, and the faulty component was replaced, so the problem was rectified.
of course there were some good news to celebrate too, in year2014...
the most significant one not other than the blk k lifts upgrading completion, it was finally done in first quarter of the year, it was the long process, started in year2013 and dragged until last year, we thank blk k residents for their patience, and pray & hope that with this upgrading the both lifts at blk k will serve our residents well.
another highlight of year2014 is the residents gathering, where the recorded number of 230 residents have signed up but actual number of peoples who attended this function is higher than that. It was a biggest gathering in Vista Condo, furthermore we have 2 VIP graced this occasion, YB Jagdeep Singh & YB Yeoh Soon Hin.
In year2014 we also held the AGM and more importantly we have a group of new committee joining the existing ones to serve our Vista Condo residents, the new committee indeed have brought new strength to the MC and with their contribution, we know that the Vista Condo future looks even brighter :)
last but not the least, 2 projects completed in year2014 which have help us to save cost & generate revenue, the T5 light tube which completed beginning of the year have helped us to save at least RM1200 per month on the electricity, with the return of investment in just 6 months' time. Another one is new rental parking lot, for it generates RM300 per month as 6 lot have been created & rent to residents.
here we also want to thank our beloved residents' support & cooperation in every area, particularly paying the service charge promptly & observing the house rules, in fact if without residents' support, there won't be any successful story to be told, so, really thank you so much!
Saturday, December 27, 2014
pls help the flood victims
hi,
would like to urge our beloved Vista residents to give generously to the flood victims, for at the moment our nation are going the worst flood crisis in history.
for us in Penang, we are so fortunate for not experiencing those suffering the flood victims are going through right now, but from the news & photos we have seen in the media, all of us see how bad is the situation....
just quote some of the unthinkable situations which we have received from some friends from those badly affected area, run out of clean water so forced to use rain water to make milk for infants, hospital emergency ward electrical power cut but patients need oxygen tank & it can't function due to no power, many areas have no water & food supply but there's no sign of rescuer reaching them, some areas even though need help urgently but helicopter can't land there due to the flood....
believe that there are still many more other things which are worse than that... :(
after reading this, can you pls check around for those relief collection center, at the moment items like instant noodle, diaper, panadol, milk powder....etc are badly needed, but if you can't find any relief collection center then do kindly check with Malaysiakini website, they do compile a list of organization with necessary info for the relief works for the flood victims.
thanks.
would like to urge our beloved Vista residents to give generously to the flood victims, for at the moment our nation are going the worst flood crisis in history.
for us in Penang, we are so fortunate for not experiencing those suffering the flood victims are going through right now, but from the news & photos we have seen in the media, all of us see how bad is the situation....
just quote some of the unthinkable situations which we have received from some friends from those badly affected area, run out of clean water so forced to use rain water to make milk for infants, hospital emergency ward electrical power cut but patients need oxygen tank & it can't function due to no power, many areas have no water & food supply but there's no sign of rescuer reaching them, some areas even though need help urgently but helicopter can't land there due to the flood....
believe that there are still many more other things which are worse than that... :(
after reading this, can you pls check around for those relief collection center, at the moment items like instant noodle, diaper, panadol, milk powder....etc are badly needed, but if you can't find any relief collection center then do kindly check with Malaysiakini website, they do compile a list of organization with necessary info for the relief works for the flood victims.
thanks.
Friday, December 19, 2014
some brief outlook on next year high priority project
we are in the last phase of finalizing next year's budget, committee do decided only in January 2015 for setting the time line for those project we plan to carry out next year.
some of bigger will be as follow,
1) Bomba under ground piping, we have found out awhile ago that the underground conceal piping for supplying water from Bomba pump to blk k have been leaking, at the area near the swimming pool foyer, few months ago we received the quotation from vendor for replacing the pipe, but couldn't go ahead as we haven't fully recovered financially speaking, after spent on some other big project earlier on, especially IWK matter & main pipe for blk j, for info the bomba pipe replacement project will cost abt 16K, but we in the committee have agree that should give this project highest priority in 2015, so it should be done in first quarter of 2015.
2) Switch room calibration, we also give this project high priority, and target at first quarter of 2015, beside the safety concern, we also hope through this exercise, we will be able to find out why the TNB bill of blk j is double of blk k consumption, as both meter are supporting the same facilities of each sides, namely lifts, pumps, common lights, etc, so it's hard to accept the huge gap of the bills. In the past we did approach TNB & other technical ppl help to rectify but none of them can tell the reason of this big gap, but during the calibration, as we are going to switch off all the supply & check all the component one by one, we should be able to rectify that.
3) Lift T&G system, from the feedback, found most of our residents prefer to have the system to be installed in all our lifts, security is the main reason, besides that, it should be able to help to get those hardcore defaulters to pay, especially those who thought can escape by parking their vehicles but happily using Vista facilities, for by implementing this system, they either pay the outstanding or climb staircase to go home, of course we understand those stay at lower floor still can be stubborn, but let their kids asking their parents why can't use lift...... ;)
Pray & hope that God will enable us to complete all these in the first quarter of 2015 :)
some of bigger will be as follow,
1) Bomba under ground piping, we have found out awhile ago that the underground conceal piping for supplying water from Bomba pump to blk k have been leaking, at the area near the swimming pool foyer, few months ago we received the quotation from vendor for replacing the pipe, but couldn't go ahead as we haven't fully recovered financially speaking, after spent on some other big project earlier on, especially IWK matter & main pipe for blk j, for info the bomba pipe replacement project will cost abt 16K, but we in the committee have agree that should give this project highest priority in 2015, so it should be done in first quarter of 2015.
2) Switch room calibration, we also give this project high priority, and target at first quarter of 2015, beside the safety concern, we also hope through this exercise, we will be able to find out why the TNB bill of blk j is double of blk k consumption, as both meter are supporting the same facilities of each sides, namely lifts, pumps, common lights, etc, so it's hard to accept the huge gap of the bills. In the past we did approach TNB & other technical ppl help to rectify but none of them can tell the reason of this big gap, but during the calibration, as we are going to switch off all the supply & check all the component one by one, we should be able to rectify that.
3) Lift T&G system, from the feedback, found most of our residents prefer to have the system to be installed in all our lifts, security is the main reason, besides that, it should be able to help to get those hardcore defaulters to pay, especially those who thought can escape by parking their vehicles but happily using Vista facilities, for by implementing this system, they either pay the outstanding or climb staircase to go home, of course we understand those stay at lower floor still can be stubborn, but let their kids asking their parents why can't use lift...... ;)
Pray & hope that God will enable us to complete all these in the first quarter of 2015 :)
Saturday, December 13, 2014
no posting this week, school holiday :)
hi,
no posting this week, busy bringing family for holiday :P
wish everyone, especially kids in Vista Condo happy school holidays :)
will be back next week.
best regards.
no posting this week, busy bringing family for holiday :P
wish everyone, especially kids in Vista Condo happy school holidays :)
will be back next week.
best regards.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Report on Meeting with EXCO
some brief report the mentioned meeting...
on Thursday, 3 MC members went to Komtar 53rd floor, to attend the meeting called by EXCO office, on the various projects (on water tanks & lifts only) presented by some apartments in Penang, the meeting was attended by 3 EXCO members, 4 YBs, COB, UPEN and representatives from abt 8 different flats and apartments, included Vista Condo.
some apartments do have their requests on water tank & lifts be granted financial aids, where some were told to furnish more detail to the gov't for further consideration, also some were told to put on hold.
we took the opportunity to present the our request to replace all the roof top water tank lining, total in 8 number (4 big tank & 4 small tank), we show them the photos of our tanks, together with the quotation/proposal by the contractor, and we tried our best to let them know that our water tank lining are indeed at the end of their life span, and should be replaced as soon as possible.
to our pleasant surprise, after the EXCO member saw the photos we presented to them, the advice is to replace the water tank lining is not the best option, as they also notice that the outer layer of the tank, the metal panels are not in very good condition too. so the EXCO YB was graciously suggesting to us to consider to replace all the tank with new tanks, he even mentioned the fiberglass type.
what he suggested, is really beyond our expectation, because we thought to request for the help (on the 80% cost shouldered by gov't) is something big, but he even thought of something bigger than that! so now we are busy checking around for the quotation of the fiberglass tanks to replace the existing tanks at the roof top, so far few vendors did mention they are able to do this job, but still waiting for their official quotation.
of course, just in case the EXCO agree to extend financial help for all the tank replacement, this will pose another financial challenge to us, as the rough estimation of 8 fiberglass tank is amounting to RM400K, for 20% of the total cost need to be absorbed by Vista Condo, or RM80K in this case :P
but let's not to worry abt this 80K now, we got to try our best to get their approval for this project first, once got the approval then let's find way to raise the fund.
thanks.
on Thursday, 3 MC members went to Komtar 53rd floor, to attend the meeting called by EXCO office, on the various projects (on water tanks & lifts only) presented by some apartments in Penang, the meeting was attended by 3 EXCO members, 4 YBs, COB, UPEN and representatives from abt 8 different flats and apartments, included Vista Condo.
some apartments do have their requests on water tank & lifts be granted financial aids, where some were told to furnish more detail to the gov't for further consideration, also some were told to put on hold.
we took the opportunity to present the our request to replace all the roof top water tank lining, total in 8 number (4 big tank & 4 small tank), we show them the photos of our tanks, together with the quotation/proposal by the contractor, and we tried our best to let them know that our water tank lining are indeed at the end of their life span, and should be replaced as soon as possible.
to our pleasant surprise, after the EXCO member saw the photos we presented to them, the advice is to replace the water tank lining is not the best option, as they also notice that the outer layer of the tank, the metal panels are not in very good condition too. so the EXCO YB was graciously suggesting to us to consider to replace all the tank with new tanks, he even mentioned the fiberglass type.
what he suggested, is really beyond our expectation, because we thought to request for the help (on the 80% cost shouldered by gov't) is something big, but he even thought of something bigger than that! so now we are busy checking around for the quotation of the fiberglass tanks to replace the existing tanks at the roof top, so far few vendors did mention they are able to do this job, but still waiting for their official quotation.
of course, just in case the EXCO agree to extend financial help for all the tank replacement, this will pose another financial challenge to us, as the rough estimation of 8 fiberglass tank is amounting to RM400K, for 20% of the total cost need to be absorbed by Vista Condo, or RM80K in this case :P
but let's not to worry abt this 80K now, we got to try our best to get their approval for this project first, once got the approval then let's find way to raise the fund.
thanks.
Friday, November 28, 2014
new development on gov't fund application & blk j theft case
there are some new development on the gov't fund & blk j theft case which we have mentioned in our last posting...
we have submitted our appeal for financial aid on both water tank lining & building repainting projects to the state EXCO office on 21/11/14, and were told by the special assistant of the YB that they will soon contact us for meeting on the mentioned projects, we read it as a positive sign.
but anyhow we have waited anxiously for their official letter to invite us for the meeting, then after 1 week, exactly 1 week, on the following Friday (28/11/14), we got the letter from the EXCO office that a meeting will be arranged on 4/12/14 (Thursday) morning, this meeting will be attended by committee members or their representatives from few housing project in Penang Island (where they have also submitted similar appeal of fund), respective state assemblymen from their area (according to the list abt 6 YB are invited), together with COB and EXCO member Jagdeep Singh, is a big meeting indeed.
we are not sure what will be the outcome of this meeting, of course we pray hard that they will grant us our wish that both projects will be funded by them :)
or if not, then at least one project will be approved, to be carried out this year, even though in that case we still need to forge out the 20% of the total cost, but we really wish it will happen this time.
concerning the blk j theft case, after the viewing of CCTV recording in blk j ground floor, lift & main entrance, we have now manage to see the 3 thieves' face clearly, all at their early 20's, came in abt 4am, cheated the new guard that they are residents here, but went to the bike parking area of blk j stealing parts from those old or abandoned bikes, and left at abt 4.45am.
They knew that there's a camera which covering the area they plan to steal, so that climbed up to turn the camera upward, without knowing all their action have been watched & recorded by other cameras, so now our cctv vendor have helped us to copy the files, compiled into video clips, saved into CD. we have viewed the CD, and passed a copy to the bike owner, which he will turn it over to the police station where he has lodged the report, we also passed those video clips to few voluntary patrolling body to locate the thieves, and tonight we will send another copy to the guard boss when he come over for meeting with the committee, we believe that soon these mentioned parties will nab the culprits soon.
will continue to update residents on these matters, thanks.
we have submitted our appeal for financial aid on both water tank lining & building repainting projects to the state EXCO office on 21/11/14, and were told by the special assistant of the YB that they will soon contact us for meeting on the mentioned projects, we read it as a positive sign.
but anyhow we have waited anxiously for their official letter to invite us for the meeting, then after 1 week, exactly 1 week, on the following Friday (28/11/14), we got the letter from the EXCO office that a meeting will be arranged on 4/12/14 (Thursday) morning, this meeting will be attended by committee members or their representatives from few housing project in Penang Island (where they have also submitted similar appeal of fund), respective state assemblymen from their area (according to the list abt 6 YB are invited), together with COB and EXCO member Jagdeep Singh, is a big meeting indeed.
we are not sure what will be the outcome of this meeting, of course we pray hard that they will grant us our wish that both projects will be funded by them :)
or if not, then at least one project will be approved, to be carried out this year, even though in that case we still need to forge out the 20% of the total cost, but we really wish it will happen this time.
concerning the blk j theft case, after the viewing of CCTV recording in blk j ground floor, lift & main entrance, we have now manage to see the 3 thieves' face clearly, all at their early 20's, came in abt 4am, cheated the new guard that they are residents here, but went to the bike parking area of blk j stealing parts from those old or abandoned bikes, and left at abt 4.45am.
They knew that there's a camera which covering the area they plan to steal, so that climbed up to turn the camera upward, without knowing all their action have been watched & recorded by other cameras, so now our cctv vendor have helped us to copy the files, compiled into video clips, saved into CD. we have viewed the CD, and passed a copy to the bike owner, which he will turn it over to the police station where he has lodged the report, we also passed those video clips to few voluntary patrolling body to locate the thieves, and tonight we will send another copy to the guard boss when he come over for meeting with the committee, we believe that soon these mentioned parties will nab the culprits soon.
will continue to update residents on these matters, thanks.
Friday, November 21, 2014
general updates as at 22/11/14
few matters to update our beloved Vista residents,
1) lift T&G system, so far the feedback from the blog readers is generally positive, we did also check with some of our residents personally, they too feel OK with the proposal, well, we will wait for more green light then if all condition are right, we should get something going at the beginning of yr2015.
2) blk j lift rope, the faulty lift rope was replaced awhile ago, performed some test run, then contacted the lift inspector to inspect the new rope (according to the requirement) & he too ok with the rope,so now at blk J, both lifts are running, but we are also budget for new rope for other lift in yr2015, and we asked the lift vendor to monitor the condition of the other ropes, and should not wait for the sudden breakdown case like this.
3) theft at blk j, few days ago we received a report that someone force-opened the seat of a bike & stole some parts of the bike at blk j ground bike parking area, we advised the owner of the bike to make police report & we did check the CCTV the next day. We found out the camera which suppose to cover the bike where the bike part was stolen, someone has purpose turned the camera faced the ceiling but not the bikes, so now we have contacted the CCTV vendor to use other cameras at blk j to check who's the person turned the camera, and bring him to police for further investigation, will update residents on this once more info available.
4) building repainting matter, someone asked in the last posting any news on the repainting, well, as we have said earlier, we were advised by YB to apply next year, but anyhow, few days ago we brought the documents for fund application for both water tank & repainting to EXCO office for them to consider, and to our pleasant surprise we were told one meeting will be set in 2 weeks' time for the YBs in charge to have further discussion with us on the matter, we hope to hear some good news from them :)
but if (just in case) they agree to our request for the building repainting (abt 450K) or water tank lining (abt 220K for 8 tanks), then we need to contribute 20% of the total cost as soon as possible, so guys, any idea how to get the money ready :P
thanks.
1) lift T&G system, so far the feedback from the blog readers is generally positive, we did also check with some of our residents personally, they too feel OK with the proposal, well, we will wait for more green light then if all condition are right, we should get something going at the beginning of yr2015.
2) blk j lift rope, the faulty lift rope was replaced awhile ago, performed some test run, then contacted the lift inspector to inspect the new rope (according to the requirement) & he too ok with the rope,so now at blk J, both lifts are running, but we are also budget for new rope for other lift in yr2015, and we asked the lift vendor to monitor the condition of the other ropes, and should not wait for the sudden breakdown case like this.
3) theft at blk j, few days ago we received a report that someone force-opened the seat of a bike & stole some parts of the bike at blk j ground bike parking area, we advised the owner of the bike to make police report & we did check the CCTV the next day. We found out the camera which suppose to cover the bike where the bike part was stolen, someone has purpose turned the camera faced the ceiling but not the bikes, so now we have contacted the CCTV vendor to use other cameras at blk j to check who's the person turned the camera, and bring him to police for further investigation, will update residents on this once more info available.
4) building repainting matter, someone asked in the last posting any news on the repainting, well, as we have said earlier, we were advised by YB to apply next year, but anyhow, few days ago we brought the documents for fund application for both water tank & repainting to EXCO office for them to consider, and to our pleasant surprise we were told one meeting will be set in 2 weeks' time for the YBs in charge to have further discussion with us on the matter, we hope to hear some good news from them :)
but if (just in case) they agree to our request for the building repainting (abt 450K) or water tank lining (abt 220K for 8 tanks), then we need to contribute 20% of the total cost as soon as possible, so guys, any idea how to get the money ready :P
thanks.
Friday, November 14, 2014
are we ready for lift T&G?
as we are still finalizing the budget for yr2015, the lift T&G system was brought up again in the committee meeting, generally we feel that we are now more ready for it's implementation.
so decided to get residents feedback here, if our residents also give positive response then we are looking at early yr2015 to install the system at both blk j & k lifts.
we did bring up the same matter abt 2 years ago, those days even though the feedback was ok, but we felt that our blk k lifts were in bad shape, to install the T&G system may cause more problem to blk k residents, so we decided to put in on hold, until the lifts condition improved, so with God's help, we managed to upgrade the blk k lifts, so with 2 good condition lifts in blk k, and 2 reasonable condition lifts in blk j, perhaps now is the better time (can be the right time too) to install the T&G system in our 4 lifts.
some of the reasons we have cited in our previous meeting for this system are, first is for the security reason, this system will help to discourage the outsider with bad intention to try their nonsense in our place, shall they manage to get past the security guard post.
other important reason include to get hardcore defaulters to pay their SC (service charge), especially those stay at the higher floor, accordingly our record, quite a number of them rather to park their vehicles outside but still choosing not to pay the outstanding SC, well, this system will help to get them to pay.
we also can use lift T&G system to make sure the renovators to behave better, at the moment we still notice some renovators are not observing our house rules such as worked outside the time which they are allowed to do their renovation works, messed up the common areas, carry too much things in the lifts, etc, so with the T&G system, we can bar the access card until they behave well.
we also feel that the lift T&G system may able to help to reduce the number of foreigners hostel in Vista Condo, we actually can set in our house rules that the lift access card is not for foreigner hostel (for security reason), so by not issuing the card to these units, will force them to use the staircase for their in & out, this may produce a result which many vista condo residents like to see, control the number of the foreigner hostel to the lowest one!
someone also mention to us that the same access card can be used for swimming pool, we actually like the idea too :)
so pls give us your feedback, thanks.
so decided to get residents feedback here, if our residents also give positive response then we are looking at early yr2015 to install the system at both blk j & k lifts.
we did bring up the same matter abt 2 years ago, those days even though the feedback was ok, but we felt that our blk k lifts were in bad shape, to install the T&G system may cause more problem to blk k residents, so we decided to put in on hold, until the lifts condition improved, so with God's help, we managed to upgrade the blk k lifts, so with 2 good condition lifts in blk k, and 2 reasonable condition lifts in blk j, perhaps now is the better time (can be the right time too) to install the T&G system in our 4 lifts.
some of the reasons we have cited in our previous meeting for this system are, first is for the security reason, this system will help to discourage the outsider with bad intention to try their nonsense in our place, shall they manage to get past the security guard post.
other important reason include to get hardcore defaulters to pay their SC (service charge), especially those stay at the higher floor, accordingly our record, quite a number of them rather to park their vehicles outside but still choosing not to pay the outstanding SC, well, this system will help to get them to pay.
we also can use lift T&G system to make sure the renovators to behave better, at the moment we still notice some renovators are not observing our house rules such as worked outside the time which they are allowed to do their renovation works, messed up the common areas, carry too much things in the lifts, etc, so with the T&G system, we can bar the access card until they behave well.
we also feel that the lift T&G system may able to help to reduce the number of foreigners hostel in Vista Condo, we actually can set in our house rules that the lift access card is not for foreigner hostel (for security reason), so by not issuing the card to these units, will force them to use the staircase for their in & out, this may produce a result which many vista condo residents like to see, control the number of the foreigner hostel to the lowest one!
someone also mention to us that the same access card can be used for swimming pool, we actually like the idea too :)
so pls give us your feedback, thanks.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
sorry, water is not money :)
for some Chinese like to jokingly say, water is money, but for us once heard there's big water in our place, it's definitely not bring in money, but likely need to burn (spend) money :(
the two big source of water, namely rain water & water tank leaking water, have indeed cost us big fortune, just for the past few weeks, nearly 30K have been allocated or spent for the water related damages.
the rain water gutter at blk K can't stand the big volume of rain flowing through it & strong wind blowing against it, then it broke at the upper part, as we see that the whole gutter will fall at anytime, we have no choice but to remove the broken pipe & replace with new one, it was a high risk work, the project cost us 8K, we have seek claim from insurance company & hope that there will be good news soon.
the block J lift rope, according to vendor, also have been damaged by rain water, this really burn a big hole in our pocket,14K! we have already paid the robe supplier 7K so that the new part can be brought in, now the lift vendor have completed 80% of the work, hopefully another few more days we will see the lift running again, now the challenging part is how to convince the insurance company that the reason of the breakdown is due to rain water.....the adjuster have came in 3 times & called us many many times but still can't see the relation of lift rope damage & rain water :(
another headache of rain water is it took advantage of those crack at the wall & roof top, sip into residents house, in some cases, it is so serious until you can see water mark at the wall during the heavy rain! from our record, at least 10 unit reported this kind our water leaking problem, each case take abt 1k to 3k to patch the crack (by applying water proofing material at the affected area), so for total will amounting to abt 20K, the worst thing is, unlike the water gutter & the lift robe case, insurance company will not consider the claim for this, headache.....!!!
early on we wish for raining season so that Penang will not lack water, but now as the rain comes, we have new worries.... :P
sigh! life..... :)
the two big source of water, namely rain water & water tank leaking water, have indeed cost us big fortune, just for the past few weeks, nearly 30K have been allocated or spent for the water related damages.
the rain water gutter at blk K can't stand the big volume of rain flowing through it & strong wind blowing against it, then it broke at the upper part, as we see that the whole gutter will fall at anytime, we have no choice but to remove the broken pipe & replace with new one, it was a high risk work, the project cost us 8K, we have seek claim from insurance company & hope that there will be good news soon.
the block J lift rope, according to vendor, also have been damaged by rain water, this really burn a big hole in our pocket,14K! we have already paid the robe supplier 7K so that the new part can be brought in, now the lift vendor have completed 80% of the work, hopefully another few more days we will see the lift running again, now the challenging part is how to convince the insurance company that the reason of the breakdown is due to rain water.....the adjuster have came in 3 times & called us many many times but still can't see the relation of lift rope damage & rain water :(
another headache of rain water is it took advantage of those crack at the wall & roof top, sip into residents house, in some cases, it is so serious until you can see water mark at the wall during the heavy rain! from our record, at least 10 unit reported this kind our water leaking problem, each case take abt 1k to 3k to patch the crack (by applying water proofing material at the affected area), so for total will amounting to abt 20K, the worst thing is, unlike the water gutter & the lift robe case, insurance company will not consider the claim for this, headache.....!!!
early on we wish for raining season so that Penang will not lack water, but now as the rain comes, we have new worries.... :P
sigh! life..... :)
Friday, October 31, 2014
defaulters issue :(
we have no choice but to put up the defaulters list at the notice board, we would not like to do it if our finance is always at the comfortable level.
there are few major expenses recently which is abt to dry up our building maintenance fund, namely blk j lift rope (14k), swimming pool pump & domestic water pump (total abt 8K), blk k rain gutter (7k), even though these items can be likely claim from insurance as the damage are due to weather & power surge, but it will take at least few months to see the money paid from insurance company, but right now we have to start paying the contractors in installment manner, easily 3k per month, besides the 7K we have already paid to lift contractor as the down payment to purchase the rope, so that blk j lift will be again be running, hopefully early next week.
normally we will keep abt 10K in the bank account as buffer, for real emergency use, but this time it has dropped to 5k due to blk j rope replacement, and we hope to build it up (to 10K) again as soon as possible, because we don't know when another urgent need will come, but it's very hard to archive that as we need to pay those installment as mentioned earlier, so right now we are facing a mini crisis :(
it's also quite shocking to learn that actually the outstanding by the defaulters is quite a big sum of money, total for blk j is abt RM54K, and for blk k is 87K, which means there's more than 140k owned by the defaulters, and we badly need them to pay now for the above mentioned repair cost, and for the upkeep (even to upgrade) our aging facilities, especially the water tanks.....
it's not fair if we just rely on the good pay masters to contribute for the maintenance & management of common facility of Vista Condo, we hope that the defaulters will come to their right senses to understand that it needs everyone's cooperation (especially in the finance area) to help to keep Vista Condo's facilities in good shape, for the defaulters too are using the lifts, corridors lights, rubbish room, etc.....
if you are reading this, and you have chance to talk some of the names in the defaulters list, perhaps you can help to encourage them to pay, we hope we don't have to send them legal notice of demand, and even drag them to court for the repayment.
thanks.
there are few major expenses recently which is abt to dry up our building maintenance fund, namely blk j lift rope (14k), swimming pool pump & domestic water pump (total abt 8K), blk k rain gutter (7k), even though these items can be likely claim from insurance as the damage are due to weather & power surge, but it will take at least few months to see the money paid from insurance company, but right now we have to start paying the contractors in installment manner, easily 3k per month, besides the 7K we have already paid to lift contractor as the down payment to purchase the rope, so that blk j lift will be again be running, hopefully early next week.
normally we will keep abt 10K in the bank account as buffer, for real emergency use, but this time it has dropped to 5k due to blk j rope replacement, and we hope to build it up (to 10K) again as soon as possible, because we don't know when another urgent need will come, but it's very hard to archive that as we need to pay those installment as mentioned earlier, so right now we are facing a mini crisis :(
it's also quite shocking to learn that actually the outstanding by the defaulters is quite a big sum of money, total for blk j is abt RM54K, and for blk k is 87K, which means there's more than 140k owned by the defaulters, and we badly need them to pay now for the above mentioned repair cost, and for the upkeep (even to upgrade) our aging facilities, especially the water tanks.....
it's not fair if we just rely on the good pay masters to contribute for the maintenance & management of common facility of Vista Condo, we hope that the defaulters will come to their right senses to understand that it needs everyone's cooperation (especially in the finance area) to help to keep Vista Condo's facilities in good shape, for the defaulters too are using the lifts, corridors lights, rubbish room, etc.....
if you are reading this, and you have chance to talk some of the names in the defaulters list, perhaps you can help to encourage them to pay, we hope we don't have to send them legal notice of demand, and even drag them to court for the repayment.
thanks.
Monday, October 20, 2014
last post temporary suspended
hi guys,
we need to temporary suspend the last post as both sides started to exchange strong words, and not so appropriate one too, we just worry the matter will get out of hand & become big problem.
pls use the proper words when give comment so that it will bring constructive action, we know that everyone who give their comment here are with the good intention, but just need to polish the words a bit.
for those who give their comment in last post, we would like to meet up with you guys to clarify the issue, pls do email us at vistacondo.relau@gmail.com, so that we can explain further on the matter.
thanks..., happy Deepavali.
we need to temporary suspend the last post as both sides started to exchange strong words, and not so appropriate one too, we just worry the matter will get out of hand & become big problem.
pls use the proper words when give comment so that it will bring constructive action, we know that everyone who give their comment here are with the good intention, but just need to polish the words a bit.
for those who give their comment in last post, we would like to meet up with you guys to clarify the issue, pls do email us at vistacondo.relau@gmail.com, so that we can explain further on the matter.
thanks..., happy Deepavali.
Friday, October 10, 2014
some proposals for budget 2015
Najib has just done his budget 2015 presentation in parliament, perhaps it's also right time for us to look at how will be our financial outlook next year.
in fact we will spend some time to look at it in the coming committee meeting....
at the moment our monthly income based on the collectible:
service charge RM27500 from 275 unit, and RM2000 from car park rental, total is RM29500, with the condition that most of the residents willing to pay promptly.
regular expenses will be 6200 (TNB), security (4300), management (3300), cleaner (2100), lift (1400), pool (850), PBA (800), 500 (Genset/Electrical contract), 175 (pest control), 240 (phones for office & MC), 2500 (maintenance & parts), for which the total will come up to RM22365.
monthly surplus, RM29500 - RM22365, will be RM7135, or RM85620 per annul.
the surplus will be used to fund some of the project which we have mentioned in previous postings...
assuming, by God's grace, next year we will get gov't financial aid to paint the building, RM350k total cost, which for that we will need to pay 20%, or 70K, so we will take from the above surplus of 85620, to pay this, then another 7 should be used for water tank lining replacement, where 20% need to be paid by us from the total cost of RM35k for 2 tanks. Then the balance of another 7K will used for other upgrading project.
thanks.
in fact we will spend some time to look at it in the coming committee meeting....
at the moment our monthly income based on the collectible:
service charge RM27500 from 275 unit, and RM2000 from car park rental, total is RM29500, with the condition that most of the residents willing to pay promptly.
regular expenses will be 6200 (TNB), security (4300), management (3300), cleaner (2100), lift (1400), pool (850), PBA (800), 500 (Genset/Electrical contract), 175 (pest control), 240 (phones for office & MC), 2500 (maintenance & parts), for which the total will come up to RM22365.
monthly surplus, RM29500 - RM22365, will be RM7135, or RM85620 per annul.
the surplus will be used to fund some of the project which we have mentioned in previous postings...
assuming, by God's grace, next year we will get gov't financial aid to paint the building, RM350k total cost, which for that we will need to pay 20%, or 70K, so we will take from the above surplus of 85620, to pay this, then another 7 should be used for water tank lining replacement, where 20% need to be paid by us from the total cost of RM35k for 2 tanks. Then the balance of another 7K will used for other upgrading project.
thanks.
Friday, October 3, 2014
challenges ahead (part 3)
(side track a bit, if u are reading this, pls pray for Ms Ang our management lady boss, her husband admitted to hospital due to main blood vessel burst, now doctor is doing an emergency operation on him, condition consider as critical, pls pray that he will be able to pull through this stage, thanks!)
last week we mentioned much on the water tank & strategy to counter it's challenges, this week will shift our focus to the more visible, the condition of the paint on the outer wall of both blk J & K, even the corridor wall as well.
in fact even though it's not as urgent as the water tank lining, but the priority will still be given to it, as the old paint will give a very bad impression to those peoples (especially visitors) on our place, and it affects our property value as well.
at the moment Vista Condo apartment worth 280k to 310k depending on the condition of the unit, but if we put a new layer of new paint on the outer wall, one can expect increase of abt 50k immediately :)
sinking fund still no news...., so again we are hoping state gov't will extend help on this, on the 80% - 20% arrangement, one good thing is in the past they didn't even want to consider our appeal on this as we are a private project, but lately they have changed their policy, private project is within the scope of their consideration as long as we can show them that we a low medium cost apartment, for which we have done our part & they will consider our application on this.
the latest development on the application is, we have spoken to both the EXCO & the YB in our area, advice were given that pls submit the application next year because this year they have already given us more than 150k for the lifts upgrade, so, let's try in year2015 :)
thanks.
last week we mentioned much on the water tank & strategy to counter it's challenges, this week will shift our focus to the more visible, the condition of the paint on the outer wall of both blk J & K, even the corridor wall as well.
in fact even though it's not as urgent as the water tank lining, but the priority will still be given to it, as the old paint will give a very bad impression to those peoples (especially visitors) on our place, and it affects our property value as well.
at the moment Vista Condo apartment worth 280k to 310k depending on the condition of the unit, but if we put a new layer of new paint on the outer wall, one can expect increase of abt 50k immediately :)
sinking fund still no news...., so again we are hoping state gov't will extend help on this, on the 80% - 20% arrangement, one good thing is in the past they didn't even want to consider our appeal on this as we are a private project, but lately they have changed their policy, private project is within the scope of their consideration as long as we can show them that we a low medium cost apartment, for which we have done our part & they will consider our application on this.
the latest development on the application is, we have spoken to both the EXCO & the YB in our area, advice were given that pls submit the application next year because this year they have already given us more than 150k for the lifts upgrade, so, let's try in year2015 :)
thanks.
Friday, September 26, 2014
challenges ahead (part 2)
continue from the previous posting....
well, base on our current collection rate, barring office staffs are too fearful to block defaulters access cards, our regular collection should hit 85% to 90%, which is good enough to pay those regular expenses such as utility bills, management service, lift vendor, guard, pool...., even to cover for general maintenance item like pipe or tap burst, light bulb blow, electrical components replacement.
but the real headache is those major items, the 3 items mentioned in the previous posting, lift, water tank, repainting.
in fact out of the 4 lifts in Vista Condo, 2 at blk k have been upgraded recently, with the help of state gov't. Another 2 lifts at blk j still in reasonable condition, which may only need gov't financial aid after 3 to 5 years' time.
this week let's talk more abt the water tanks.....
the 8 water tanks at the rooftop of blk j & k (4 each), immediate attention needed for at least 2 tanks, the rest also can't wait too long, in fact we should complete the changing of the water tank lining for all these tanks in the coming 3 years in order to make them serving Vista Condo residents well.
for these tanks, the outer layer, or the stainless steel panel still in good condition, but should put the new paint to make it lasting, but some of the top cover will need to be replaced not more than 2 years from now. and painting of panel & top cover replacement are still bearable as far as our management fund is concern.
but water tank lining replacement pose a great financial challenge for us, each tank will need 40k to 50k to have it's water tank lining replacement, together with those supporting structure attached to the lining, as said earlier, time is not at our side as we need to replace all of the water tank lining in this coming 3 years :(
so our plan is, run to state gov't for help, and in fact we have just got first approval from fund requisition from them recently, so very soon the first new lining is within sight, but let's pray that we will continue to receive kindness from them for the future requisition.
God, pls help us....
well, base on our current collection rate, barring office staffs are too fearful to block defaulters access cards, our regular collection should hit 85% to 90%, which is good enough to pay those regular expenses such as utility bills, management service, lift vendor, guard, pool...., even to cover for general maintenance item like pipe or tap burst, light bulb blow, electrical components replacement.
but the real headache is those major items, the 3 items mentioned in the previous posting, lift, water tank, repainting.
in fact out of the 4 lifts in Vista Condo, 2 at blk k have been upgraded recently, with the help of state gov't. Another 2 lifts at blk j still in reasonable condition, which may only need gov't financial aid after 3 to 5 years' time.
this week let's talk more abt the water tanks.....
the 8 water tanks at the rooftop of blk j & k (4 each), immediate attention needed for at least 2 tanks, the rest also can't wait too long, in fact we should complete the changing of the water tank lining for all these tanks in the coming 3 years in order to make them serving Vista Condo residents well.
for these tanks, the outer layer, or the stainless steel panel still in good condition, but should put the new paint to make it lasting, but some of the top cover will need to be replaced not more than 2 years from now. and painting of panel & top cover replacement are still bearable as far as our management fund is concern.
but water tank lining replacement pose a great financial challenge for us, each tank will need 40k to 50k to have it's water tank lining replacement, together with those supporting structure attached to the lining, as said earlier, time is not at our side as we need to replace all of the water tank lining in this coming 3 years :(
so our plan is, run to state gov't for help, and in fact we have just got first approval from fund requisition from them recently, so very soon the first new lining is within sight, but let's pray that we will continue to receive kindness from them for the future requisition.
God, pls help us....
Friday, September 19, 2014
Challenges ahead (part 1)
one may wonder, what is the life span of the vehicle he/she is owning now, and all of us may know, there's no standard answer, your expensive imported car may only in good condition for abt 10 years if you don't maintain it well, but even the local assembled cars can last for more than 30 years if you do the regular service & necessary repair on time, many cars we see on the roads are actually hitting 35 years, which is much longer than the life span set by the car manufacturers.
well, come back to our Vista Condo, sometimes we do ask ourselves, how many years more this condo can be in the reasonably liveable condition? 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? 40 years?
according to our record, Vista Condo exist since yr 1993, which means it has reached 21 years of its age, younger than those in Rifle Range or Kampong Melayu, same era with Villa Condo, slightly older than Taman Desa 2, and consider as veteran if compare with those newly built & nice looking apartment in this area.
to maintain this apartments & it's facilities posed a big challenge for us in the MC, the building structure should be no problem for another 20 years or more, but the aging facilities are the one needed a lot of finance & effort to maintain/replace/upgrade, and if we do it right then Vista Condo should have many many good years ahead.
3 important facilities will critically define & decide how is the condition of Vista Condo, the lifts, the water tank, the outlook appearance (or the condition of the paint at the common wall), other facilities like car barriers, gutters, car parking lots, lights, etc, are also important but just not as critical as these.
share with our beloved residents in next posting (part 2) for more strategies & plans to prolong Vista Condo's good condition to make it a really liveable apartments for many many more years to come :)
well, come back to our Vista Condo, sometimes we do ask ourselves, how many years more this condo can be in the reasonably liveable condition? 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? 40 years?
according to our record, Vista Condo exist since yr 1993, which means it has reached 21 years of its age, younger than those in Rifle Range or Kampong Melayu, same era with Villa Condo, slightly older than Taman Desa 2, and consider as veteran if compare with those newly built & nice looking apartment in this area.
to maintain this apartments & it's facilities posed a big challenge for us in the MC, the building structure should be no problem for another 20 years or more, but the aging facilities are the one needed a lot of finance & effort to maintain/replace/upgrade, and if we do it right then Vista Condo should have many many good years ahead.
3 important facilities will critically define & decide how is the condition of Vista Condo, the lifts, the water tank, the outlook appearance (or the condition of the paint at the common wall), other facilities like car barriers, gutters, car parking lots, lights, etc, are also important but just not as critical as these.
share with our beloved residents in next posting (part 2) for more strategies & plans to prolong Vista Condo's good condition to make it a really liveable apartments for many many more years to come :)
Friday, September 12, 2014
water supply interruption & pump maintenance
some report on the water supply interruption incident & immediate measure to counter it.....
we were alerted by residents from blk k on Wednesday afternoon abt the low water pressure, and subsequently no supply at all at abt 6.45pm.
2 MC members went to the blk k roof top to checked on the water tanks, to their shocking, all the 4 water tanks were without any water, so they went on to check the main tank at the ground floor, the main tank is where the PBA supplied water be stored, before be sent to the 4 water tanks at roof top.
They found the water level at the main tank is full, which means the pumps didn't do the job of pumping the water to refill the roof top tank, and this condition should be at least 2 days already because it will take more than 2 days for blk k residents to use up all the water in the roof top water tank.
and it's true enough that, it was short circuit & the trip caused no electrical supply to the control panel which resulted pump not running, so we quickly reset the MCB at the switch room, and the pumps run immediately, water supply back to normal at 7.20pm, a bit yellowish, but quality of water improved over times & it's good at midnight hours.
in order to prevent the same thing happen in the future, we called few pumps experts to come in on 13/9/14 (Saturday) morning to check, assess all the water pumps, control panels, float sensors, valves and other related essential components, to produce a report to us which component need to replace or repair now, and even a long term maintenance contract to check & service the mentioned equipment on the regular basis, we hope can finalize the matter in the MC meeting this week & seal the deal, so that the pump vendor can start help to monitor & service our pumps & it's related equipment as early as this month.
thanks.
we were alerted by residents from blk k on Wednesday afternoon abt the low water pressure, and subsequently no supply at all at abt 6.45pm.
2 MC members went to the blk k roof top to checked on the water tanks, to their shocking, all the 4 water tanks were without any water, so they went on to check the main tank at the ground floor, the main tank is where the PBA supplied water be stored, before be sent to the 4 water tanks at roof top.
They found the water level at the main tank is full, which means the pumps didn't do the job of pumping the water to refill the roof top tank, and this condition should be at least 2 days already because it will take more than 2 days for blk k residents to use up all the water in the roof top water tank.
and it's true enough that, it was short circuit & the trip caused no electrical supply to the control panel which resulted pump not running, so we quickly reset the MCB at the switch room, and the pumps run immediately, water supply back to normal at 7.20pm, a bit yellowish, but quality of water improved over times & it's good at midnight hours.
in order to prevent the same thing happen in the future, we called few pumps experts to come in on 13/9/14 (Saturday) morning to check, assess all the water pumps, control panels, float sensors, valves and other related essential components, to produce a report to us which component need to replace or repair now, and even a long term maintenance contract to check & service the mentioned equipment on the regular basis, we hope can finalize the matter in the MC meeting this week & seal the deal, so that the pump vendor can start help to monitor & service our pumps & it's related equipment as early as this month.
thanks.
Friday, September 5, 2014
general updates as at 6/9/14
after all the excitement of the Residents' gathering, now got to shift our focus to the management & maintenance of the common facilities in Vista Condo our beloved homes...
here are some updates for our residents,
1) building supervisor, the new building supervisor has just reported to work 2 days ago, his name is Richard, a veteran with more than 10 years supervisory experience in this line, hope he will do well & enjoy his works in Vista Condo, he is to replace Ah Khye the former supervisor, we want to thank Ah Khye for his various contribution (especially the car park matter), as now he wish to change the working environment & the company granted him his wish & transferred him to another project, we wish him all the best in the new place.
2) we were shocked with another big PBA bill for blk j domestic use, RM8000 plus for abt 6 month usage, but after we check all the related facility and found there's no major leak (for info, only major leak will cause big volume & big money), so we contacted the PBA & asked them to check, and as they also found no major leak here, they went back & check their part, seems it's their meter recording system problem, so now the bill reduced to RM2000 plus, like to share this matter here to ensure our residents that we do check our facility regularly to make sure we can arrest the problem before it become big which will cost us big money :)
3) building repainting, we are at the moment calling those shortlisted vendors for interview, to negotiate further on the quotations sent by them earlier, besides asking them to reduce (if possible) the quoted price, also checking if they have done any projects in Penang, for even though we wish can submit the 3 quotations to the state gov't (as requirement) as soon as possible, we also want to make sure these companies have credibility to do the job, hope by end of September we are able to finalize the 3 quotations & send to state gov't for their consideration.
thanks.
here are some updates for our residents,
1) building supervisor, the new building supervisor has just reported to work 2 days ago, his name is Richard, a veteran with more than 10 years supervisory experience in this line, hope he will do well & enjoy his works in Vista Condo, he is to replace Ah Khye the former supervisor, we want to thank Ah Khye for his various contribution (especially the car park matter), as now he wish to change the working environment & the company granted him his wish & transferred him to another project, we wish him all the best in the new place.
2) we were shocked with another big PBA bill for blk j domestic use, RM8000 plus for abt 6 month usage, but after we check all the related facility and found there's no major leak (for info, only major leak will cause big volume & big money), so we contacted the PBA & asked them to check, and as they also found no major leak here, they went back & check their part, seems it's their meter recording system problem, so now the bill reduced to RM2000 plus, like to share this matter here to ensure our residents that we do check our facility regularly to make sure we can arrest the problem before it become big which will cost us big money :)
3) building repainting, we are at the moment calling those shortlisted vendors for interview, to negotiate further on the quotations sent by them earlier, besides asking them to reduce (if possible) the quoted price, also checking if they have done any projects in Penang, for even though we wish can submit the 3 quotations to the state gov't (as requirement) as soon as possible, we also want to make sure these companies have credibility to do the job, hope by end of September we are able to finalize the 3 quotations & send to state gov't for their consideration.
thanks.
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