is published by SYED HUSSAIN PUBLICATIONS SDN BHD (25343-K) of Redberry City, Lot 2A, Jln 13/2, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tel: 03-7495 3000 Fax: 03-7495 3200 and Printed by KHL PrINTINg CO SDN BHD (235060-A) Lot 10&12, Jalan Modal 23/2, Seksyen 23 Kawasan Miel Phase 8, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Tel: 03-5541 3695 Fax: 03-5541 3712

dubai recovers P7

A L L P R O P E R T Y F O R T N I G H T L Y W I T H FRIDAY, JANUARY 25 , 2013

The smallest patch of green to arrest the monotonyof asphalt and concrete is as important to the value ofreal estate as streets, sewers and convenient shopping

CORPORATIONS in the Land of the Rising Sun may have deep pockets but they are absolutely cautious when it comes to investing their money as the real estate bubble pop and market collapse in Japan in the 1980s are still fresh in their minds.

Property prices had shot up very fast and very steeply then, according to media reports, partly because speculators used paper profits from a booming stock market to invest in properties, insupportably leveraging the prices of both higher and higher. The biggest speculators were cash-f lush corporat ions which pumped up the commercial property market at the same time that home prices were inflating.

T h e r e f o r e , i t i s understandable why, to Japanese investors, bubbles still hurt today, and why they wil l conduct due di l igence from various aspects before they even think of parting with their cash.

Real Reserve finds out from Masato Nakamura, president/CEO, Bank of

Tok yo -M it su bi sh i U F J (Malaysia) Bhd [BTMU (M)] – a unit of the world’s largest bank in terms of total assets, T he B a n k of Tok yo -Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd – what Japanese corporations think of investing in real estate.

T he i nter v iew w it h Nakamura also touches on BTMU (M)’s collaboration with Malaysia Property Incor porated (MPI) to promote our country as an international real estate investment destination.

He said the bank sees Malaysia as a foreign direct investment destination that still offers high potential and many opportunities for Japanese investors.

“They find Malaysia a stable country in terms of its c u r r e n c y, e c o n o m y, infrastructure and politics c o m p a r e d t o c e r t a i n neighbouring countries’.

“As an international real e s t a t e i n v e s t m e n t destination, we feel that Malaysia is worth the while for Japanese corporations to explore the opportunities.

“It’s because of this that we arranged the trips to Tok yo a nd O s a k a i n December 2012 together with MPI, Sunway Group and SP Setia Bhd to meet with our clients,” Nakamura

t he k i nd of proper t y investment opportunities in Malaysia because their awareness of the local market is relatively low.

“Those who decided to explore the possibility of ac t ua l i nvest ment a re i nter e s te d to h ave a partnership with Malaysian companies.”

On what motivates them to consider to invest in Malaysian real estate, he shared, “We think the keyword is ‘stability’ … stability in terms of property price, legal framework,

c o m p a n i e s lo ok i n t o property investment as part of portfolio investment.”

O n B T M U ( M ) ’ s perception of Malaysia and do i n g b u s i n e s s h e r e compared to other Southeast Asian markets, Nakamura said:

“We’ve been i n t he country for 55 years and s u p p o r t i n g J a p a n e s e companies. As a result, there are now over 1,000 Japanese companies here. Given these facts, our perception of Malaysia is quite positive.

“There are many areas that need to be enhanced but compared to those in other countries, the government entities of Malaysia are very supportive. This is because of the very close relationship between Malaysia and Japan not only at the government level but at the private sector, too.”

The trend is that Japanese i n d i v i d u a l s a n d c o r p o r a t i o n s a r e i n c r e a s i n g l y e y e i n g outbound opportunities, driven by the declining domest ic market, a nd Southeast Asian countries, China, the United States and the United Kingdom are a m o n g t h e m a j o r beneficiaries.

SEE P5

said at his office in Menara IMC, Kuala Lumpur.

BTMU (M) organised around 20 slots of meetings and site visits to the two major Japanese cities. Its well diversified client profile i n c l u d e s p r o p e r t y d e v e l o p e r s , r a i l r o a d companies, construction companies, retailers and a s s e t m a n a g e m e n t companies.

On what the bank’s clients h ave t h e i r e ye s o n , Nakamura said, “It depends on each client but on the whole they are keen to know

tenants, foreign currency … they avoid volatile markets because of the experience with the property bubble in Japan in the 1980s.”

On how well the bank’s clients understand the local property market and how it fits into their investment plans, he said, “While the understanding varies with e a c h c l i e n t , s o m e comprehend it quite well but s o m e r e q u i r e b a s i c information. In general, property investment needs to be in line with their core business, that is, not many

Japanese investors are averse to volatile markets, haunted by the property bubble in Japan in the 1980s

James Felt,influential real estate developer (1903-1971)

PREVIOUSLY ignored by big-name property investors, the Indonesian capital is now on the rise.

In 2002, the Jakarta property market saw minimal growth at best due to regional and global economic factors that included negative business confidence following the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

As its apartment and hotel sectors were dependent on expatriate demand, growth was flat. The office sector also suffered as investments from multinational corporations shrank.

Today, Jakarta is predicted to be Asia’s top real estate market ahead of stalwarts Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney in a survey, “Emerging trends in real estate – Asia Pacific 2013”, released by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) of New York City and Washington DC-based Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Indonesia’s economic turnaround in the past few years has impressed international investors: Interest rates and inflation are under control, gross domestic product has been growing at around 6.5% annually and foreign direct investment at a much higher

rate, at 39% in H1 2012, said PwC.In the property sector, office

buildings’ rental rates surged 29% year-on-year in Q3 2012 driven by demand from national and foreign companies, PwC noted, citing data from real estate services firm DTZ.

The sharp growth in demand propelled Jakarta 10 places from its 2011 ranking, PwC said, but it also warned investors of the city’s not entirely rosy real estate scene.

Difficulties in finding inexpensive bank loans and trustworthy local partners, and land with disputed ownership would mean “caveat emptor” or buyer beware, PwC alerted.

The PwC-ULI survey lists Jakarta as Asia Pacific’s most promising city for the property business followed by Shanghai, China; Singapore; Sydney, Australia; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Shanghai’s retail property sector is heating up as investors move away from the commercial sector, traditionally the bread-and-butter investment for foreign funds in China.

Foreigners are now generally not as tempted to buy into Shanghai property because the market is saturated, commercial-grade investment buildings are scarce and Chinese regulators are not as

opportunities in the region’s prime property markets given their high rents, high capital values, low yields and abundant local capital.

Consequently, these investors look at frontier markets such as Indonesia while others revisit often overlooked capitals Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, which explains the cities’ strong showing in the survey.

Price also noted increased international buyer interest in secondary markets Kowloon in Hong Kong and second-tier Chinese cities.

Elsewhere, core investment

welcoming to foreign money as in the past, PwC continued.

The survey also highlights concerns among investors that prime assets in key real estate markets in Asia Pacific are becoming overpriced and that many are turning their attention to markets outside core cities for investment and development.

ULI Trustee and ULI North Asia vice chairman Richard Price, who is also chief executive of Asia Pacific for CBRE Global Investors, said many international investors are struggling to see at t ract ive investment

markets in many mature, western cities are also seeing a surge in demand from newly formed Asian institutional investors seeking to capitalise on the post-global financial crisis corrections there.

Analysts in Asia Pacific generally favour Jakarta (population: 10 million) as the market with the most potential for international investors, and size does matter: It’s the largest city in Indonesia and Southeast Asia; it’s Indonesia’s economic, cultural and political centre; and the world’s 13th most populous city.

by ZOE PHOON

Indonesia’s economic turnaround in the past few years has impressed investors and demand for office space pushed rents up by 29% y-o-y in Q3 2012

Why their mantra is

by ZOE PHOON

‘stability, stability, stability’

Jakarta – Asia’s new market darling

Nakamura says BTMU (M)’s clients may look into investing in residential and commercial properties for starters but the bank is also exploring the possibility of inviting Japanese companies for township development in Malaysia

2A L L P R O P E R T Y F O R T N I G H T L Y W I T H

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013

NEWS

by Zoe Phoon

Thai CBD land prices trending upASKING prices in Thailand’s central business district (CBD) continued to rise in Q3 2012 but there were no major land sales, according to a re-port by global commercial real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis.

The price increases were noted on the main roads of Ploenchit and Sukhumvit up to Soi 63.

The report said land prices in the most popular devel-opment areas in the suburbs also stayed on the uptrend.

Of the land sales, the only building sale in capital Bang-

kok was that of a 20-year lease by CPN of The Office

@ Central World to the CPN Commercial Growth Fund.

The report noted that the lack of building sales was not because of a lack of potential buyers but was due to there being few willing vendors.

Demand for both develop-ment sites and buildings was mostly from domestic inves-tors.

Demand for development sites, the report said, came mainly from condominium builders, especially in the downtown area.

The liberal laws on zon-ing would mean that condo developers compete with other potential users for most downtown sites where condo developments remain the most profitable.

WorldNews

CONTACT

real@themalaysianreserve.comEDITORIALAndrew Wong Zoe Phoon S. Sivaselvam Gunaprasath Bupalan Geraldine Lim Pavither Sidhu Daniel Hong

ADVERTISING SALESBC Tiang Rachel Wong016.333.1288 018.223.2808

▶ Lenders can’t offer no-doc, low-doc loans THE United States’ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has set rules that forbid lenders from giving home loans to buyers who are not in a position to repay the loan.

The rules also restrict lenders from offering inducements to borrow-ers to over-extend themselves while protecting the lenders if borrowers default.

Bureau director Richard Cordray said in a statement that lenders should not set up consumers to fail, adding “when consumers sit down at the closing table, they shouldn’t be set up to fail with mortgages they can’t afford”.

The new regulations were issued to restrict the kind of high risk home loans that led to millions losing their dwellings in the housing collapse and sparked the global financial crisis of 2008.

The rules require banks to fully document a borrower’s financial sta-tus of income, debts and other assets and obligations to show that the borrower can pay back the loan.

Also, banks cannot bait borrowers with teaser loan rates that hide the true long-term costs of a loan.

▶ ‘Megastrip’ in Korea after Jeju’s?SOUTH Korea has announced plans to build a new casino resort on the Yongyu-Muui islands spanning 30 square miles and costing a whop-ping US$290 billion (RM882 billion).

Named 8City and to be located near the Incheon international air-port, the development aims mainly at Chinese gamblers in a move to boost South Korea’s economy.

Reported to have the backing of a hotel company and an air carrier, the proposed casino is said to rival the ostentatious construction in markets such as Dubai.

Expected to be completed by 2030, the “Megastrip” is designed to have a unique central structure and feature one of the world’s largest buildings.

▶ Spain may be Indians’ springboard into EuropeTHE Spanish government’s effort to draw foreign investment is expect-ed to attract Indian investors considering that Indians are increasingly seen as high spenders globally.

In view of that, the Spanish residency programme is envisaged to be targeted at them in big way, said Sonu Iyer, partner and national leader for human capital and global mobility at Ernst & Young.

According to the Propertyshowrooms.com website, the programme aims to bolster the Spanish property market, putting an end to falling prices and helping to shift the excess real estate in the country.

Spain, which has set lower property price thresholds for the permits than Portugal and Ireland, which are also offering similar residency schemes, is seen to have the competitive edge.

Iyer said Spain’s lure of permanent residence for high net worth In-dians could be children’s overseas education or retirement in the Medi-terranean.

▶ Landlords ‘not the villains’ LONDON Central Portfolio Ltd has declared that "landlords are not the villains" in the United Kingdom’s empty homes crisis, according to reports.

With 354,389 families on the waiting list for social homes in the city, there is clearly a housing crisis. But the residential funds and asset management firm highlighted that while the government has targeted Central London and its private landlords as the aggravators for the scandal, the latest statistics reveal that scores of London’s empty homes are publicly owned.

It said the latest data from the local authorities reveals that in Hack-ney, almost 50% of all the empty homes are council-owned compared with 7% in the country as a whole.

According to the National Housing Federation, the London Bor-ough of Tower Hamlets has the third largest waiting list for socially rented properties in London – 19.4% of the residents. The scandal, how-ever, is that the borough has more than 2,000 empty homes with 39% owned by the Local Authority and Housing Associations.

While the Empty Homes Agency identified many vacant properties as being privately owned, they described them as often homes, which are inherited from elderly relatives, that have fallen into disrepair and where “in many cases the owner lacks the funds or the skills to repair and manage the property”.

He’s well placed to serve given his global and local experience, says founder Millicent Danker

by GunaPrasath BuPalan

INDEPENDENT stakehold-er relations consultancy Perception Management Sdn Bhd, whose clients in-clude government agencies and leading industry play-ers, has appointed Kishore Ravuri CEO with effect from Jan 1.

Among the company’s clients are the Department of Standards Malaysia, Pan-tai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Maxis, Prudential, Tropi-cana Medical Centre as well as developers such as Iskandar Investment Bhd, Syarikat Perumahan Ne-gara Bhd, Sunway Group Bhd and Dijaya Corpora-tion Bhd.

Having served six years as special assistant to Perception Management founder Dr Millicent Dank-er and as director of client

services – supporting the company’s clients and part-ners in emerging markets that include India, Vietnam, Zambia, Ghana and Malay-sia – Ravuri feels that Ma-laysian companies should make a strategic shift in their approach to commu-nications and gain from the “benefit of stakeholder en-gagement”.

“The media continue to be a powerful and intelli-gent conduit between busi-ness entities and its com-plex ecosystem of multiple stakeholders.

“To unleash this power is to be able to provide content which will not only educate the readers but also stimu-late an intellectual discus-sion, and even offer fresh perspectives and learning,” he said.

With an honours degree in marketing and a master’s in communication studies, he served with global firm

Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in Mumbai, In-dia, before joining Percep-tion Management in 2006.

He has been a public relations and communica-tions practitioner for more than a decade with experi-ence in journalism, media management, corporate communications, brand management, internal com-munications, corporate so-cial responsibility and crisis communications.

“We are delighted to ap-point Ravuri as our CEO for Malaysia. We have been in business for over 17 years now and have a varied cli-ent portfolio including key government agencies and high-profile brands which he is well placed to serve, given his global and local experience,” said Danker.

“Perception Manage-ment is a serious player in the business of stakeholder management. We recognise

that reputations today are built around how well com-panies manage the needs of their stakeholders and how well they conduct them-selves in terms of good governance in the market-place,” Ravuri added.

Kishore Ravuri is now CEOof Perception Management

Media continue to be a powerful and intelligent conduit between business entities and its complex ecosystem of multiple stakeholders, says ravuri

Domestic investors are driving demand for development sites and buildings in the capital

by GunaPrasath BuPalan

The Haven is on course to becoming a reality

THE headline-maker that is the luxury resort con-dominium project The Haven Lakeside Resi-dences in Ipoh will mark the completion of the first of its three tower blocks and related amenities in an elaborate celebration on Feb 1 to be officiated by the Regent of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah.

More than 700 guests, including Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, are expected. They include condo pur-chasers, government offi-cials, VIPs and friends of the developer, Superboom Projects Sdn Bhd.

The amenities that have also been completed in-clude the club house, swimming pool and jog-ging track.

This resort type con-dominium development with a gross development value of RM350 million comprises 497 units and

offers an array of services and facilities including a seahorse shaped swim-ming pool, amphitheatre, spa, tennis court, business centre, conference facilities, restaurant, gymnasium as well as badminton and squash courts.

The project is expected

to be fully completed in the second half of the year.

The development is on 13.6 acres fronting a 10-acre slope and a four-acre lake that has as its centrepiece a 280-year-old limestone out-crop dubbed Rockhaven.

Peter Chan, CEO of Su-perboom, pointed out that

the built-up area takes up just 5% of the entire land area.

“We want to conserve the existing natural environ-ment, promote diversity and live up to our tagline, which is, ‘In the city, yet by the fringe of the virgin for-est’”.

the first of the three tower blocks, clubhouse, swimming pool and jogging track have been completed

FOCUS

by Geraldine lim

by S. SivaSelvam

WHAT should potential buy-ers or investors look out for in order not be saddled with a lemon?

“Beware of developers with shoddy workmanship,” warned Chang Kim Loong, honorary secretary-general of the National House Buyers Association (HBA).

“Most properties in the country are sold before they are constructed. Buyers take a big risk as they contract and pay for a non-existent unit.

“Unfortunate experiences in buying properties range from misrepresentation, aban-doned projects, poor work-manship and being short-changed with poor quality materials to non-payment of late delivery damages.

“A bad experience can haunt buyers for years. Poor workmanship, for example, will result in having to repair

THE construction of proper-ties is only one aspect of a re-sponsible developer’s tasks. It must also make sure that the properties are sustainable and well maintained so that their values continue to be enhanced over time.

Sustainability involves en-suring support facilities for a development scheme, efforts to preserve its environment, and having in place a proper maintenance practice.

As both developers and property buyers, as well as the residents, are only too aware, this is easier said than done.

But a developer that has es-

Be clear about what you are buying or investing

How property developers can go the extra mile

Two experts will tell how to avoid the pitfalls at Property Investment Talk 2013 in Subang Jaya on March 2-3

the property at their own cost while some need to seek long-term loans for it. The right education can help them avoid these pitfalls,” said Chang.

On abandoned housing projects, he pointed out that buyers are still compelled to pay interest for years even though they do not have a completed property.

“Many buyers realised too late in the day that things may not be what they seem.”

He also said there are dif-ferences in the sell-then-build (STB) and build-then-sell (BTS) housing delivery systems.

“Under STB, if the housing project is stalled or aban-doned, the buyer will be stuck until the project is com-pleted. Bank interest has to be paid until the project is revived and completed.

“There are buyers who have already paid up to 60% or 80% of the purchase price.

tablished a name for going against the norm insists that sustainable property devel-opment is a viable proposi-tion – and it has the track re-cord to show for it.

Peter Chan, CEO of Super-boom Projects Sdn Bhd, said what those living or working in a property development wa nt of developers i s straightforward: A clean place that is secure and peaceful, with adequate fa-cilities that are well-main-tained and regular upgrades to the development.

What deters this from be-coming a widespread prac-tice? He put it down to hu-man fail ings – att itude, selfishness, ignorance, in-competence and cheats. And

the housing project is stalled or abandoned,” he explained.

Buyers should also beware of a developer’s advertise-ments and sales brochures.

“Keep the sales brochure as they contain relevant rep-resentations about the prop-

In highlighting the posi-tive factors for the success of the two projects, he gave sev-eral tips on ensuring good maintenance. These include, on the part of the developer, attitude, responsibility, hon-esty, some expertise, right management and right staff. “Of course, there must also be the right owner and the right tenant or resident,” he added.

Permai Lake View has been described by Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir as the best low-cost development in the country. The 576-unit

erty. Check if the developer delivers a different product,” Chang added.

On property investment, Chan Ai Cheng, general manager of SK Brothers Re-alty (M) Sdn Bhd, said, “Be clear about your objectives. Identify the amount of capi-tal appreciation or rental re-turns you aim at and the pur-pose of your investment.”

She also advised against wishful thinking such as wanting to sell the property in the highest possible price in the shortest time as “real-istically, how many of us are so accurate or lucky?”.

“It’s good for investors to set a goal for each invest-ment. Once the goal is met, it would trigger other deci-sions such as selling or refi-nancing the property. It’s also important to calculate the positive upside.

“I believe that it’s always better off investing in some-thing you know more about

scheme, the only low-cost housing that is gated and guarded, was launched in 2004 with a gross develop-ment value (GDV) of RM32 million. The launch price was RM55,000 but within two years after completion, this shot up to RM80,000.

Subang Galaxy comprises 175 units of terrace houses completed in August 2009 with a GDV of RM60 million. T he lau nc h pr ice was RM270,000 but within a cou-ple of years it almost doubled to RM500,000.

Chan outlined the reasons for Permai Lake View’s suc-cess: Exceptional value for the buyer, practical design, nu-merous infrastructure facili-ties and good management.

In the case of Subang Gal-

They risk losing all their money without the house and they are also obliged to pay bank interest on the pro-gressive payment.

“Under the BTS (10:90 con-cept), the buyer will only risk 10% of the purchase price if

where do these impedi-ments, as he termed them, come from?

His list is wide-ranging: Developers, legislators, gov-ernment departments and their staff, project managers, professionals involved in the development projects, prop-erty owners and tenants as well as staff of the develop-ers themselves.

He spoke recently on the sustainability of property de-velopment, with a case study on medium-cost properties, at a seminar on strata man-agement in Petaling Jaya, Se-langor. It was organised by the International Real Estate Federation (Fiabci) Malaysia chapter and the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association.

And the case study con-cerned two of Superboom’s three projects – Permai Lake View low-cost apartments in Ipoh and the medium-cost Subang Galaxy in Subang 2, Shah Alam, both of which were sold out.

These days, Superboom and Chan are prominent in the news for the luxury re-sort condominium project The Haven which is under development nearby to Per-mai Lake View.

3FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE | REAL RESERVE

The speakers will include HBa’s Chang and SK Brothers realty’s Chan

or in a location you are fa-miliar with. Do your own independent assessment and make a decision based on your own assessment and your own needs. It’s danger-ous to have others decide on your investment.”

It is also essential to check on one’s own financial status and ensure a clean record with the bank, she added.

Chang and Chan will elaborate on their views at the forthcoming Property In-vestment Talk (PIT) 2013 – Towards Education, Empow-erment and Enrichment, organised by G Prop Mar-keting and Management Sdn Bhd.

It will be held at Grand Dorsett Subang Hotel in Subang Jaya, Selangor, on March 2-3.

For more information on PIT 2013, ca l l 018 -383 0488/012-611 7820 or email enquiries to seminar@gprop.com.my

axy, these were exceptional value for the buyer, efficient design, no renovation re-quired, and good finishes and materials.

The two properties con-tinue to be managed by Su-perboom, and it is with obvi-ous pride that Chan said:

“We have developed the best value affordable hous-ing at RM55,000 in Permai Lake View, the best value terrace houses at RM273,000 in Subang Galaxy and now, at RM338 psf in The Haven, the best value luxury condo in the world.”

“I will not build some-thing that I will not live in,” he emphasised. A motto that all developers ought to adopt to give meaning to sustaina-ble property development.

The rm270,000 launch price of Subang Galaxy terraces has almost doubled to rm500,000 within two years

Perak menteri Besar datuk Seri dr Zamry abdul Kadir has described the gated and guarded Permai lake view as the best low-cost housing development in the country

4A L L P R O P E R T Y F O R T N I G H T L Y W I T H

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013

PROFILE

THE buildings he has de-signed dot Greater Kuala Lumpur. He has also made his mark in preserving his-toric edifices. And he is mentoring students ventur-ing to follow in his footsteps.

It is at the age of 67 that Dat uk Hajeedar Abdul Majid has been recognised by his peers, with Pertubu-han Akitek Malaysia (PAM) awarding him the PAM Gold Medal 2012. The presenta-tion was held recently.

“The award is the most prestigious that can be ac-corded to an architect or an architectural practice and it was for his lifelong contribu-tion to architecture,” says PAM president Saifuddin Ahmad. “The award, first instituted in 1988, has been conferred to six individuals previously and Hajeedar, as the seventh, joins a legion of distinguished architects.”

The landmarks he has de-signed include the MNI Twin Towers (now known as Etiqa Twins) at Jalan Pinang and Menara Bank Pemban-gunan at Jalan Sultan Ismail – long before Kuala Lumpur became famous for its Petro-nas Twin Towers.

Others include Surau Pre-cinct 8 in Putrajaya; Dataran Maybank and Masjid Saidi-na Abu Bakar As Siddiq (Bangsar mosque) in Bang-sar; Wisma Telekom Se-marak (now Menara Cel-com) and Kompleks KDN

Reward for a career par excellenceAn abiding interest in human relationship has led Datuk Hajeedar Abdul Majid to attain success as an architect of note

Wilayah at Jalan Duta; Mas-j id Sa idi na Osma n i n Bandar Tun Razak; and Masjid Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah in Shah Alam.

He also designed the re-cently completed Kidzania KL in Mutiara Damansara.

While Hajeedar’s forte is modern architecture, the other side of the coin is also alluring to him – he has been playing a pivotal role in the conservation of many landmarks in the country. These include the conserva-tion of Carcosa Seri Negara.

He strongly believes that buildings and spaces must be designed to co-exist in a sustainable harmony and be able to withstand the test of time in terms of their functionality and relevance to contemporary society.

His specialty in this

the Islamic Centre and Grand Friday Mosque in Male, capital of the island state. This was one of the earliest instances of the ex-port of Malaysian architec-tural services.

Hajeedar was also ap-pointed honorary consul of Maldives to Malaysia.

Another mark of the man is that he doesn’t mince his words. As PAM’s Saifuddin puts it, “He is someone you wouldn’t want to mess with.” That was best exem-plif ied in one instance when he led immigration and police officers to the then Kuala Lumpur Inter-national Airport in Subang to stop a foreign architect from practising in the coun-try without authorisation.

Coming from a family of nine sibl ings, Hajeedar even during his school days (at SK Jalan Pasar and Victo-ria Institution) was known as a child artist. But being an architect was the fur-thest from his mind.

“I had to decide what to do after my schooling years but art is not something you could survive on in those days,” he recalls. He feared he would end up like Vin-cent Van Gogh, an artist struggling to find a place in society and only becoming famous after his death.

“So, I pondered several options. Being an account-ant was one of them but it wasn’t an attractive choice. Then I thought I could be-come a psychiatrist since my interest is human rela-tionships.

“But I realised that it would take years to become one and it takes a postgrad-uate course to become a professional,” says Hajeed-ar in an interview with Real Reserve.

niche has also earned him international recognition – Norway bestowed him the Penguin Prize for the resto-ration work done on the In-fokraf Malaysia building along Jalan Hishamuddin in KL.

Among other historical buildings that Hajeedar has restored are the Industrial Court of Malaysia, the old Chartered Bank building (now Restoran Warisan) and the KL Memorial Library (formerly known as the Gov-ernment Printing Office), all in the vicinity of Dataran Merdeka.

Hajeedar also notched a first in the local architecture sector when his firm ac-quired the computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) system in 1984 for the Bank Pembangunan project.

That move led to even then Prime Minister Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad to visit his firm to check out the system.

His design for the Bangsar mosque so captivated then President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of Maldives when he visited KL that he ap-pointed Hajeedar to build

Hajeedar (left) receiving PAM’s highest accolade from Saifuddin

by GerAldine liM

Some of his masterpieces are Surau Precinct 8 in Putrajaya; Grand Friday Mosque in Male,Maldives; and dataran Maybankin Bangsar, Kl

Tun dr Mahathir (left) at the young Hajeedar’s (right) office in 1984 to see the CAdd system

His father, who used to be chairman of the then Royal Federation of Malaya Police Cooperative Thrift and Loan Society Limited, used to bring him and his siblings along when inspecting the progress of the construction of Bangunan Koperasi Polis at Jalan Sulaiman, the first highrise building in KL back then.

The building was the crea-tion of one of Hajeedar’s mentors, the late Datuk Kington Loo who was the first recipient of the PAM Gold Medal award in 1988. Loo told Hajeedar’s father that the boy’s inclination to-wards art would make him a fine architect one day.

Hajeedar also realised that architecture could create op-portunities for rational think-ing – he saw that the creation of a “three dimensional form” could derive from the study of human needs and the natu-ral environment – and felt that a combination of these three elements could be real-ised through becoming an architect.

In 1966, he was offered federal and state scholar-ships to study administra-tion or diplomacy at Univer-sity of Malaya but rejected them because the fields were “not agreeable to my career preference”. He sought in-stead sponsorship from Mara to study architecture but was offered naval archi-tecture.

 “I wanted to study archi-tecture and not naval archi-tecture. But I needed the scholarship, so I crossed out the word naval and of course, they weren’t happy about it,” he recalls.

Eventually, he did obtain a scholarship and Hajeedar spent seven years in the UK pursuing his architectural studies at the Plymouth Col-lege of Art (1966-1969) and Portsmouth Polytechnic, majoring in urban and con-servation studies plus two

One of Hajeedar’s conservation works is the Carcosa Seri negara

years of practical training in Brighton.

“When I was studying abroad, I needed to show to the others that I was schol-arship-worthy and that drove me to excel and top the others,” he says.

He returned to Malaysia in 1973 with a diploma and a professional registration with the Royal Institute of British Architects. He be-came an architect with the Urban Development Au-thority and had risen to deputy director of the tech-nical services division when he left in 1978 to set up his own practice.

HAJ dan Rakan-Rakan was subsequently renamed Hajeedar and Associates Sdn in 1983. It was one of the very few Malay architec-tural firms at that time and since then its growth has kept pace with the country’s economic development.

Even so, Hajeedar has in-sisted on keeping it as a small outfit so that he can run it “my way” – where his architectural ideas still see light of day as freehand sketches and renderings!

Hajeedar was PAM presi-dent from 1985 to 1987, when he was also on the board of Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia and a member of its discipli-nary committee.

His opinions were sought in, among others, the devel-opment of KL city, nurtur-ing of a national culture and in national planning. He was also involved in the es-tablishment of the Aga Khan Foundation for Islam-ic Architecture.

Currently, Hajeedar is grooming budding archi-tects as an adjunct professor in the School of Architec-ture at Universiti Putra Ma-laysia. Last year, the school exhibited and published his works at its Putra Architec-tural Exhibition 2012.

At 67, he contemplates re-tirement but in the same breath insists, “I will con-tinue to practise while I can and am healthy to do so.

On being awarded the PAM Gold Medal, he says, “I don’t go for accolades. I’d rather my clients say he’s okay, so let’s appoint him. At least I got it (the Gold Medal) during my lifetime and not posthumously!

“The award is not only an honour but also a humbling event in my life.”

FOCUS 5FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE | REAL RESERVE

IN the past, university towns were commonplace around the world, where set-tlements developed around institutions of higher learn-ing and grew into urban centres. That concept is now taking on a 21st century transformation and termed a university metropolis.

This time around, a uni-versity is being built within an existing commercial and residential area, as unveiled recently by Paramount Prop-erty (Glenmarie) Sdn Bhd, a division of Paramount Cor-poration Bhd.

Paramou nt Ut ropol i s, with a gross development value (GDV) of between RM750 million and RM800 million, is to emerge in Glenmarie, Shah Alam, an-chored by the new campus for KDU University College. The developer sees it as a l ive-and-lear n sel f- con-tained integrated develop-ment.

The overall development will be across 21 acres of freehold land at Jalan Kon-traktor U1/14. Of this, 11 acres are for the integrated development of 120,000sq ft of retail space, 1,000 units of serviced apartments spread across six blocks, 400 units of SoHos and approximately 4,600 car parking bays.

The other 10 acres will house the university. It will include fully-equipped halls that can hold up to 250 peo-ple each, 60 state-of-the-art classrooms for lectures, tu-torials and discussions, a 50,000sq ft library, discus-sion cubes, a multi-purpose hall and a 500-bed student village.

Paramount believes that as a university metropolis, the township would always be vibrant with the constant infusion of students. Com-mercial and retail enterpris-es will see strong business activities in catering to the students, and property in-vestors would benefit from steady demand for residen-

FROM COVERA READ through some property acquisit ions by Japanese corporations in re-cent times reveals these to be predominantly situated in central locations well served by transport infra-structure and possessing vast prospects for growth or redevelopment. Essentially, these make for excellent in-vestments with longer-term potential.

Early this month, Japan’s second largest developer, Mitsubishi Estate Company (MEC), bought its first prop-erty in London, the 1-19 Vic-toria Street in Westminster, for £180 million (RM868 mil-lion).

The 10-storey, 340,000sq ft building located 200m from the British Parliament is let to a government department until 2021 with annual in-come of about £9.2 million (RM44 million), according to

Glenmarie to host university metropolis

Properties Japanese investors favour

The live-and-learn integrated development of Paramount Utropolis will have a GDV of between RM750 million and RM800 million

tial housing from students and faculty.

The myriad of activities in a campus environment m e a n s c o m m u n i t i e s around them get to gain from the spillover benefits from a host of activities that they too can enjoy, for in-stance music, the perform-ing arts and sports.

“University metropolises always stay relevant and seldom become unfashion-able; in fact most university towns gain stature and em-inence as the universities mature,” said Paramount Group CEO Chan Say Yeo-ng.

“Furthermore, many stu-dents opt to continue living and working in the vicinity, creating a growing commu-nity around the area, just like Boston in the United States, Berlin in Germany as well as Oxford and Cam-bridge in England.”

Designed by architect firm SA Architects whose portfolio includes Tijani 1 & 2 bungalows, Kenny Hills, Bayrocks, Sunway South Quay, Sunway Vival-di, Desa Sri Hartamas, Ze-nia, Desa Park City, The Residence Mont Kiara and Kiara Hills, the develop-ment’s first phase, compris-ing serviced suites and the university, is set to be com-pleted in 2015, with the en-tire project to be completed in seven years.

Once developed, the resi-dential and commercial components will have a two-storey retail mall that holds up to 50 retail outlets featuring alfresco dining, entertainment outlets, gro-ceries, banks and various services. Both levels of the re ta i l ma l l w i l l have “ground floor” frontage as an access road will serve the first floor shops, while a covered walkway linking all the different parts of the development will make it pedestrian friendly.

The serviced apartment units will come in sizes of 690sq f t, 900sq f t and 1,100sq ft with studio, two-bedroom and three-bed-room combinations that

Property Investor Europe news.

The British property in-vesting arm of the Tokyo-listed group has been an active developer in London, developing Patermoster Square near St Paul’s Cathe-dral and the mixed-use Central St Giles site in Camden. The £450 million (RM2.2 billion) project at the site was completed in 2010 and the building put up for sale.

MEC was also actively in-vesting in 2011. In the Unit-ed States, the company via subsidiary Mitsubishi Es-tate New York Inc jointly acquired with Rockefeller Group International Inc an office building, with renta-ble floor area of 291,480sq ft, located at 1101 K Street in central Washington DC.

An MEC press release, which said it will expand

open for sale by March. “The pricing of around

RM580psf offered by the developer is attractive, as UOA will be launching its Kencana Square's SoHo at R M80 0 psf a nd D i jaya launched the first phase of Tropicana Metropark ser-viced apartments at around RM600psf last November,” said RHB Research Institute analyst Loong Kok Wen.

“The GDV is likely to be revised upwards, as the current RM800 million is based on an average pricing of RM500psf, which we think is rather conservative. Prices for the subsequent phases are expected to catch up with the neigh-bourhood,” she added.

This move is expected to transform Glenmarie from an industrial area into a vi-brant learning, commercial, retail and residential hub.

There will be ready ac-cess to this development, with the developer claim-

laysia Airports Holdings Bhd, last year announced plans to develop Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA on 49 acres at KL International Airport in Sepang.

Elsewhere, Mitsui Fudos-an said it will grow its retail and residential property business in key cities in China and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Bank of To-kyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Malay-sia) Bhd has played a mean-ingful role in our country’s development over the past 55 years and worked with the government to attract Japanese investment under the Look East policy. The bank has also arranged one-on-one meetings with its major clients for govern-ment entities that include Malaysia Proper t y Inc (MPI).

One of its initiatives in-volved the December 2012

w i l l b e pr o g r e s s ive ly launched. According to the management, units will be sold from RM550psf to RM-650psf.

The facilities floor at the serviced apartments will have a swimming pool, deck and rainforest-inspired gar-dens, while a large land-scaped area at the forecourt of the drop off area coupled with a canopy will create a grand welcoming space for visitors to the mall.

This design is the work of landscape designers Urban Design Group, which is also responsible for the land-s c ap e de s ig n s of t he A’Famosa Golf Resort club-house and Safari World in Malacca, the Equatorial Hill Resort Hotel in Cameron Highlands, The Horizon in Bangsar South and the East Lake Residence at Seri Kem-bangan.

Two blocks of serviced apartments comprising 414 semi-furnished units will be

its real estate business in the US, described the K Street location as an “extremely prime” area for offices as a large concentration of busi-nesses is situated nearby in-cluding a convention centre, law firms and consulting companies.

In China, MEC has plans to set up a representative of-fice in Shanghai considering the country’s long-term growth. In Singapore, it an-nounced it will participate in a project jointly with Cap-itaLand Residential Singa-pore Pte Ltd to develop con-dom i n iu m s i n Bi sh a n Central. The project marks the second major Asian col-laboration between CapitaL-and and MEC outside of Ja-pan, after another project in Vietnam.

Locally, another major Japanese developer, Mitsui Fudosan, together with Ma-

by GunapRasath Bupalan

market,” he added.The group has a landbank

of 800 acres in Petaling Jaya, Klang, Cyber jaya, Shah Alam, Kota Damansara, Sungai Petani in Kedah and Iskandar Malaysia in Johor worth a total of RM8 billion in GDV, which will keep it busy till 2020. Its unbilled sales as at end-2012 stood at RM250 million.

but the general public lacks basic knowledge on proper-ty purchase here.

On what Sunway Group has learnt from the trips, he said, “Japanese are keen to invest in Southeast East Asian markets; and Japan’s domestic market is declining, hence their companies are looking to expand overseas.”

Lim added that MPI is providing a good platform to promote local real estate to the international market and “Sunway Group will definitely consider future business-to-business trips with MPI”.

SP Setia, however, de-clined comment.

Real Reserve’s interview with Kumar Tharmalingam, CEO of MPI (and who has since retired having completed his contract with MPI recently), will appear in the next issue.

ing that it will be just half an hour away from the Kuala Lumpur city centre.

For commuters, the Batu Tiga and Subang Jaya KTM stations are nearby, as will the extended Kelana Jaya LRT line.

Besides the new KDU Uni-versity College campus, cur-rent pre-schools as well as internat ional and local schools offering primary and secondary education are within a 10km radius of Paramount Utropolis.

The same goes for medical and healthcare centres, po-lice stations, fire and rescue departments, hypermarkets and shopping arcades as well as mosques.

On funding for the pro-ject, Chan said the company is exploring various options. "We will finalise the financ-ing structure very soon. It should be a combination of bank (borrowings) and (fun-draising from the) capital

trips together with MPI, Sunway Group and SP Setia Bhd to Tokyo and Osaka to explore the possibility of es-tablishing collaborations be-tween the Malaysian devel-o p e r s a n d J a p a n e s e companies in township de-velopment in addition to he ig hten i ng awa reness among Japanese investors on property investment op-portunities here.

The Sunway Group man-agement team comprised Daniel Lim, chief operating officer, property develop-ment division; Joyce Sin, senior general manager, marketing and sales/cus-tomer relations; and Gerard Yuen, GM, marketing and sales.

Lim, in response to Real Reserve questions, said the Japanese corporations are generally aware of Malaysia, especially Sunway Iskandar,

the serviced apartments and soho units at paramount utropolis will come with full amenities, including a pool

natural lighting and specially-designed learning pods at the KDu university College campus aim to inspire thinking and promote learning

paramount utropolis will have over 400 soho units designed for entrepreneurs

Front view of paramount utropolis, a learning, commercial, retail and residential hub in Glenmarie

the 120,000sq ft retail centre will act as a beacon for the utropolis community and those in Glenmarie

6A L L P R O P E R T Y F O R T N I G H T L Y W I T H

FOCUSFRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013

THE tremendous growth in economic activity across the globe is placing pressure on our natural and environmen-tal resources. There is in-creasing evidence that hu-man activities are causing irreversible damage to the global environment, which will have an adverse impact on the quality of life of future generations. It was recently reported that Beijing was en-during the highest levels of air pollution on record.

Under China's plans for greater urbanisation, about 70% of its population are ex-pected to live in cities by 2035. The current figure is about 50%. More highrises will be needed to satisfy living and working demands. Driven by this huge demand for space, about two billion square me-tres of new buildings are be-ing constructed every year, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

It's reported that one new tall building is completed every five days in China. However, more than 80% of these new highrises are not green and they use high lev-els of energy. More than 95% of the existing 40 billion square metres of buildings also consume high levels of energy and lack sustainabili-ty features.

A stringent and complete evaluation standard on green buildings is said to be urgent-ly needed.

The rising concern for the environment in response to global warming is driving the Chinese government to seek sustainable solutions for their cities or face the consequences.

Singapore has set a good example for its neighbouring countries in promoting green buildings and an ecological city environment. With limit-ed land and resources, the

THE Shard in London, a skyscraper rising 1,016sq ft, will not be the only newest place to have a panoramic view of the city.

Its toilets on the 68th floor, which are 800ft up in the air, promise spectacular vistas as well with their full length windows looking out to River Thames, Tower of London and 30 St Mary Axe, known as The Gher-kin, in the city’s financial district.

The main attraction will be the spectacular 40-mile vista from The View, which opens on Feb 1. Tickets for the first and second days c o s t i n g up t o £ 24 .9 5 (RM120.21) for adults and £18.95 (RM91.30) for chil-dren are sold out.

The View’s chief execu-tive, Andy Nyberg, said it is the only venue where peo-ple can see the whole of London at one place, mak-ing it a natural starting

Going green makes good business sense

Loos with a full view of London

Landlords can’t ignore the fact that environmentally friendly buildings attract higher-rent-paying tenants

authorities early on realised the importance of sustainable development and promoted green buildings as one of the strategic national policies.

It launched initiatives to promote green buildings and targeted to greening at least 80% of its buildings by 2030. In 2005, it launched the Green Mark Scheme, an incentive campaign worth S$100 mil-lion (RM248 million) to en-courage building owners to upgrade their existing build-ings to become more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. It has achieved com-mendable results.

Why eco-buildingsHave you ever walked into a shopping mall, office or gov-ernment building and find that the temperature is freez-ing? Many buildings have very poor energy footprint due to a lack of understand-ing of sustainable (or green) buildings.

The real estate industry is a significant contributor to global warming due to exten-sive energy use in buildings. In some countries, the built environment accounts for about 40% of the energy used. Therefore, there is an impera-tive for the industry to devel-op sustainable building tech-nologies and green buildings.

In Malaysia, the thrust of new green buildings is main-ly confined to the commercial sector – office, hotel and re-tail. Although we use the word “green” or “eco” brand-ing for residential develop-ments, there haven’t been any large scale residential projects that incorporate the green standards yet. What is en-couraging is that Malaysia is waking up to the need for sustainable cities for the fu-ture and it is projected that 26 million square feet of new construction in the pipeline will be green.

A green building focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use – energy, water and materials – while reduc-ing its impact on human

point to explore the United Kingdom’s capital.

According to the Daily Mail, the main toilets are lo-cated on level 1 of The View while a limited number of “loos with a view” are situ-ated on level 68 but these are not normally open for general use.

Visitors can use one of the four lifts to access the view-ing galleries, situated from levels 68 to 72, in less than 60 seconds.

Here, they can view for free through 12 special tel-e s c o p e s k n o w n a s Tell:scopes. These are espe-cially useful when visibility is poor as they show not only a live “as it is” image but also, at the push of a button, a choice of a clear day, sunset or night view.

Besides, the telescopes can zoom into particular landmarks and provide in-formation via the release of audible in format ion on those sights.

The £2 billion (RM9.6 bil-

developing green buildings but has made tremendous progress since 2008 with the formation of the Malaysian Green Building Confedera-tion (MGBC), supported by Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) and the Association of Consulting Engineers Malay-sia (ACEM). Shortly thereaf-ter, MGBC launched its green building rating programme called Green Building Index (GBI).

It later developed Green Pages Malaysia, an informa-tion resource directory of green products and process-es, and is highly commenda-ble because it takes into ac-count the local conditions and has incorporated the best of the other standards listed above.

Whether the government should mandate green con-struction is always debated. As the population and econo-my grow, demand for energy has to be met. The need for buildings to reduce their en-ergy footprint becomes im-perative as that puts less pres-sure on new supply and investment in energy supply and transmission. Not to mention the fact that energy costs are continuously rising and impacting businesses.

For now, there are no plans for mandated regulations al-though local authorities are looking into imposing green features in order to obtain the approval of new building permits. The way to grow the green agenda for now is for the government or govern-ment-l i nked companies (GLCs) to lead the way by em-bracing green buildings for all new projects.

If you look back in history, the US government was one of the first major building owners to embrace levels of LEED construction in many building projects of its agen-cies and departments. In es-sence, it took a voluntary pro-gramme and mandated a given level of performance for government buildings.

Some of our more notable

top priced at £50 million (RM241 million). Of course, their occupants would get to enjoy great views from their loo.

developers are constructing green buildings to attract multinational clients. It is be-coming apparent that the drive for this product will come from our foreign clients initially. In fact, when I asked an owner what rent premium he could get for his green building from local tenants, his answer was “zero”.

Unfortunately, the general sentiment among developers is that green buildings cost higher than similar conven-tional buildings, and it is dif-ficult to get positive returns on this extra investment. This issue is mainly due to:• The still-evolving nature of

green buildings;• Lack of technical informa-

tion;• Incomplete/inefficient exe-

cution of green projects; and

• Short-term view on returns, instead of focusing on life-time return on investment (ROI) of these buildings.For property owners, going

green cannot be ignored if they want to be in business over the long term. Green buildings are cheaper to run, attract higher-rent-paying tenants, and create an envi-ronment where workers feel much more comfortable – facts we can’t ignore as land-lords.

It makes very good business sense and has to be considered as part of the overall invest-ment. Owners do not have to go for the highest rating but strive for a lower energy foot-print for their buildings.

For Malaysia’s GBI, once a building obtained it, it lasts for three years and has to be assessed after that for renew-al, unlike the Australian NA-BERS which demands an an-nual audit and the energy footprint made public.

The question is, how will the ongoing re-certification programme be conducted if there is a huge supply of green buildings to audit. Or will the owners quietly forget to renew their GBI certifica-tion once their buildings are full. This remains to be seen.

To conclude, what is impor-tant is that while there has to be more effort to construct green buildings, it is so much more important to encourage owners of existing ones to re-invest in their properties to make them more energy effi-cient. In fixing our buildings, we fix our planet at the same time.

Why don’t you replace that 10-year-old air-conditioner in your home with a more ener-gy efficient one and raise the temperature setting, insulate your roof, or switch your home lighting to LED types as a start? You can make a dif-ference.

Datuk Stewart LaBrooy is a prominent speaker on conven-tional and Islamic REITs in the region. He is chairman of the Ma-laysian REIT Managers Associa-tion, a board member of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association and CEO of Axis REIT Manag-ers Bhd, the first REIT listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2005.

health and the environment during the building’s lifecy-cle. This is achieved through better design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal of wastes.

Green buildings are de-signed to save energy and re-sources, harmonise with the local climate, improve the quality of life of its occupants, have significant operational savings, increase productivi-ty and provide the right mes-sage about a company or an organisation.

Rating systemsThe green building move-ment has led to the emer-gence of various green rating systems. The predominant ones are:

BREEAM - Building Re-search Establishment Envi-ronmental Assessment Meth-od, which is widely used in the UK;

LEED - Leadership in En-ergy and Environmental De-sign, developed by the US Green Building Council and used in the US;

Green Star - Developed by the Green Building Council of Australia and used in Aus-tralia,

CASBEE - Comprehensive Assessment System for Build-ing Environmental Efficiency, developed by Japan Sustain-able Building Consortium and is used in Japan;

Green Mark - Used in Sin-gapore and mandated by the Building and Construction Authority for all new devel-opment and retrofit works; and

NABERS - National Aus-tralian Built Environment Rating System managed by the New South Wales Depart-ment of Environment and Climate Change.

Of all the systems, the one I like the best is NABERS as it is the only rating system that measures ongoing operation-al performance.

Facts landlords can’t ignore Our country is a late starter in

lion) triangular glass tower has 600,000sq ft of offices, three floors of restaurants, 200-room Shangri-la hotel and 10 apartments at the

STEWART LABROOY

The PTM ZEO (zero energy office) building in Putrajaya by Tenaga Nasional Bhd is an example of an eco-conscious initiative led by a GLC

by PaviThEr Sidhu

These toilets on the 68th floor of The Shard are not your usual ones as they command a panoramic view of the city

in the viewing areas are 12 telescopes, called Tell:scopes, which are especially useful when visibility is poor due to the weather

The rM9.6 billion triangular skyscraper, opening in February, promises to be London’s next big draw

FOCUS

IT is being hailed as “the world’s strongest housing market” and the place where some of best luxury highris-es will once again take shape. This is Dubai, once the dar-ling of the world for the amount of money that was being pumped into it to turn its 4,114 square kilometres into a development jewel not only of the United Arab Emirates but also the world.

Sporting greats such as the world’s tallest superstructure (the 829.8m high Burj Khali-fa), the world’s largest retail centre (the 12 million square feet Dubai Mall), the seven-star Burj Al-Arab luxury ho-tel and the underwater At-lantis hotel resort at The Palm which boasts 1,539 rooms and a 40-acre aqua-venture theme park, Dubai’s world came crashing down in 2009, when property pric-es fell by over 50% some four years after the United States’ property market collapsed.

But the playground of the rich and famous is now on the path to strong recovery, with a research house saying the recorded 13.46% surge in its 2012 residential property index has made Dubai the “strongest market in the

Dubai or not DubaiFour years after falling from grace as the world’s icon for property development,this city state of the United Arab Emirates is poised to reclaim its title

world” as in the same year, other key cities experienced price declines: London by 4%, Singapore by 3% and To-kyo by 2%.

Global Property Guide at-tributed Dubai’s growth as a return of investors attracted by the city state’s zero tax on capital gains for property sales and rental yields and noted that in 2012, new iconic developments such as The Address luxury hotel, MBR City and a new community development by Meydan were announced.

Real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) af-firmed in its 2012 Middle East and North Africa Real Estate Investor Sentiment Survey that Dubai is “now the favour-ite destination in the region for overseas investors looking to boost their income” due to the tax-free environment and that its “property market is proving to be a key invest-ment vehicle, not only for in-stitutional investors but also individuals who recognise the medium to long term gains available in a strengthen real estate market”.

JLL a lso h igh l ighted Dubai’s tourism sector being a driving force in the com-mercial segment, with hotel occupancy and room rates at the highest since 2008.

will recognise the emirate as a safe and profitable destina-tion in which to invest.”

Buoyed by the return of in-vestors, Damac recently launched a 295-unit, 53-sto-rey serviced apartment pro-ject called The Distinction in Downtown Dubai to cater to the top-end luxury segment and is slated to have a total of 4,000 luxury serviced hotel apartments under develop-ment by the end of next year.

However, foreign investors will need to be cash rich as the UAE central bank in De-cember limited the amount of loans foreign purchasers can borrow to 50%.

On whether the move will cause Dubai to lose its growth momentum, analysts said they believe it was intro-duced to deter the unchecked speculation that caused the last property boom.

“Previously, some banks lent as much as 85% to some projects … the question now is

whether the additional 35% in cash buyers will have to raise will become a deterrent.”

7FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE | REAL RESERVE

by ANDREW WONG

LAND MATTERS

SALLEHBUANG

How to make Hotel rooms a safer place

AS PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE, CONSIDER MAKING YOUR OWN “ALARM

SYSTEM” IN ADDITION TO THE EXISTING

SECURITY FEATURES

ACCORDING to a recent media report (Lawyer robbed while sleeping in hotel room, NST, Jan 19, 2013), Nurulhuda Mansor, a young lawyer from Shah Alam, Selangor, was robbed when she was sleeping in her hotel room in Penang. She lost her cell phone which was placed next to her and RM250 that she kept in her handbag. She had used the phone at 2am to call her husband.

When she reported the robbery to the po-lice, she was shown CCTV footage of two men loitering outside her room at 4.30am.

“I am relieved I slept through the entire episode and am thankful that I was not harmed,” she said.

The hotel management made no effort to extend any apologies or sympathy for her dreadful experience, she added.

Unfortunately for members of the public who may be contemplating to visit Penang, the hotel’s name was not mentioned in the re-port. If identified, probably many among us would not stay there.

The question that must be asked, upon reading her story, is this – can a hotel guest sue it for (a) the loss of her personal belong-ings, (b) the trespass into her private space, and (c) the trauma which ensued?

Must she sue the hotel in contract (for breach of contract in ensuring the safety of a paying hotel guest)? In addition, or as an al-ternative, can she sue the hotel management in tort (for negligence, for failure to discharge a duty of care for the personal safety and safety of a hotel guest while she is on the premises)?

These are complex legal issues which only a seasoned lawyer can answer.

Assuming the action is grounded in con-

tract, the hotel management will probably deny there is such a contractual obligation; alternatively, even if there is such an obliga-tion and a breach thereof has occurred, it will raise the usual limitation or exception claus-es. It will say that it is liable only up to a cer-tain limit (say RM100) and nothing more.

A hotel guest who considers suing the hotel in contract may not bring the desired results, and may instead choose to file her action in tort, for negligence. For her to succeed, she must prove the following:• That the hotel management owes her a duty

of care;• That, on the evidence, the hotel manage-

ment has breached that duty of care;• That the breach has resulted in damage or

loss to the hotel guest;• That the damage or loss is foreseeable.

On the question whether a hotel manage-ment owes a duty of care to its hotel guests, let me quote some passages from an online portal (http://www.freddelmarva.com/ ho-telsecurity.html):

“What degree of care constitutes the ‘rea-sonable care’ a hotel must provide? Many authorities hold hotel and innkeepers to the exercise of a very high degree of care. Recently, a court held that a person enter-ing a hotel is entitled to expect far greater preparations to be made to secure his safe-ty than one entering a private building …

“ The degree of care which a hotel must exer-cise for the safety, convenience or comfort of its guests may vary with the grade and perceived quality of the accommodations

of the hotel offers. Additionally, a hotel can virtually set its standard of care by imple-menting certain customs or operating pro-cedures. Once a standard of care has been set by the hotel, it will be held to it, regard-less of whether the standard is higher than that required by the duty of ‘reasona-ble care’.

“In one case, a hotel was held liable for a patron’s stolen prop-erty because the hotel had an inadequate se-curity force on duty at the time of the theft. At one time the hotel had a larger force to countermand a small crime wave that had hit the hotel. When the number of criminal incidents decreased, so did the hotel’s security force? The plaintiff guest was robbed shortly thereafter …”

In 2010, a Saudi Arabian princess and four other persons stayed at the Wyndham Lon-don Chelsea Harbour Hotel. She later sued the hotel for the loss of her jewellery and cash amounting to US$16 million. She blamed ho-tel group Wydham Worldwide Corporation for its lack of security as well as its “rude and unhelpful” staff.

In its defence, the hotel management said the valuables should have been kept in a bank or a safety deposit box at the hotel’s reception instead of in the room.

Back to Nurulhuda’s story, we have no idea what security system has been installed at her hotel room’s door. Is it the old way of us-ing a key to unlock or lock the door? Or is it the modern electronic card system? In the

past, the card had to be inserted into the slot and then withdrawn before the door can be opened from the out-side; nowadays, you just tap it lightly and the door will unlock for you.

Most hotel rooms h ave s a fe t y bolt s, which the guest should turn or activate when he or she is already in the room. If that is done, it will be virtual-

ly impossible for anyone on the outside to gain access into the room.

Not everyone has the presence of mind or forethought to put a wedge under the hotel room’s door or place a chair or something against the door when we sleep.

Few would bother to make our own “alarm system” – such as stacking something like glasses or cups or other objects (which make noise when they fall) against the door.

Perhaps, in light of Nurulhuda’s story, we should consider doing that when we stay in a hotel.

Salleh Buang is senior advisor of a company special-ising in competitive intelligence. He is also active in training and public speaking.

DUBAI’S 13.46% SURGE IN ITS 2012

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY INDEX HAS MADE IT THE

STRONGEST MARKET IN THE

WORLD

The highrise high life is once again envisaged for this city largely made up of expats

Branded residences and “pentominiums” were once very much in vogue

The Jumeirah beach resort is one of the city state’s prized icons

Said Niall McLoughlin, senior vice president of Da-mac Properties, the largest private property developer in the Middle East: “Dubai is an international metropoli-tan city, in a strategic trading hub between the east and west … as tourism continues to rise by as much as 10% per year, more international cli-ents interested in real estate

P8 FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2013 THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE | REAL RESERVE