Do we really care?

Do the owners of the apartments really care? Not really, not many really do. To many the apartments are just where they dump the excess money that they have, just use the apartments as an investment arm in the property ownership. A few are not even interested to collect rent (that is my impression anyway), they just left their apartments empty, though many do rent their apartments out. Here again they just rent these apartments without really taking care of the tenants, where at the end of the month they just come to collect the rents , though I suspect a few may just ask the tenants to remit the rent money into a bank account. These are evident in their not taking care of the physical well beings of the apartments, many apartments have roof leaks (the top storey flats), plumbing in bad state (or even leaking) and many tenants may even use (or may even rewire or add wirings) illegal electrical extensions which are fire hazard. Such bad states of the apartments have caused a high turnover of tenants, and some owner are even renting these apartments at a very low asking price (so I hear). A good cared and furnished apartment may be rented out at an asking price off RM 1500 a month (USD1 = RM3.3) but some owners are renting these apartments for as low as RM 600 a month (so I hear) because of the unmaintained state of them.

A few other evidence of my impression in that ‘we do not care’ is in the payment of maintenance fees. Currently we are paying RM150 a month (at least I do), and this is tied down to a non-payment means that water supply will be cut off. I wonder if the present management has been able to collect that RM150 from each apartment owner/occupier for the maintenance fees, and I also wonder if water supply to these ‘unpaid’ apartments have been cut off. Perhaps they do take the necessary action, but personally I see very limited evidence. And nobody makes any noise about the buildings not being repainted. And recently on the ‘call’ for the owners meeting, so that the owners can take part (and have more say) in the management of the complex, I am told that not many owners turned up (I have never attended these meetings because I am always outstation when they call these meetings, most inconvenient time to me).

Physically, do we care?
Leaking bathroom floor, seen as stalagtite on the carpark ceiling.

Swimming pool floor, tiles broken off.

Children playground, swing seats needing repairs.


And do we care for our neighbours? My mind is blurred on this. Many just throw pieces of paper and wrapppings indiscriminately, plastic bags and food containers not put in proper bins. And at night many still rev their motorcycle engines and car engines when coming in into or going out of the compound, after midnight, or even in the early hours of the morning mind you (some are the residents visitors no doubt). And some even doing carpentry (and dragging of furniture) in the middle of the night, or even pounding on the stone mortar, cooking. All the noises are projected throughout the building structure, transferring the noise throughout the building.

When I bought the apartment about 10 odd (or so) years ago, it cost me about RM150,000 but because of the present ‘neglect’ I do not know what the present value of my apartment is now, granted that property price in Kuantan is not as lucrative as that of Kuala Lumpur.

There are other apartments complex like this in Kuantan Town, and one of two are better maintained and they attract better market price in rental (their tenants are in a better/different class) and in property transaction/demand.



And anyone wanting to write about Kuantan (Pahang, Malaysia) may volunteer to join this blog by providing e-mail address (for approval) for inclusion into "Permission". (Inappropriate article published will be deleted).