MRT Putrajaya Line fully opens in 3 days. Okay, depending on when you read this article, it starts on 16th March at 3pm yeah. Happy milestone yeah.

Watch the video here from MRT Corp here

There are 9 underground stations

There are 6 stations where we could switch to another line!

There are also 10 stations with car parking facilities

This is the full overview of MRT Putrajaya Line

Source of info: MRT Corp Facebook Page. Here.
https://www.facebook.com/MRTMalaysia/

By the way, I was invited to the launch for MRT Kajang Line too. Here’s the proof. 🙂  I did not receive any invites this time though. It’s okay, go later.

MRT Kajang Line

Happy boarding.

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MRT Putrajaya Line will be opening in less than 2 weeks!

Happy even if I do not take MRT weekly

I am super happy reading this news today. It meant that Klang Valley is becoming even more connected and it’s getting harder for people to use the excuse just to buy a new car. 🙂  I will choose to drive because I prefer the convenience. However, as everyone knows, the petrol subsidy days are coming to an end soon. I have no idea how it will be implemented but perhaps there would be a limit? Anyway, I have an Exora and a Persona. Perhaps national cars are given some advantage in getting the petrol subsidy? Haha. Let’s see.

Anyway, here’s that news about MRT Putrajaya line.

Article in thestar.com.my
  The long-awaited phase 2 of the Putrajaya MRT line will open on March 16, says Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp). The Putrajaya Line, formerly known as the Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) line, runs through 36 stations to complete what is known as Klang Valley’s second MRT line. Read more here:
Article in thestar.com.my

MRT Corp’s FB page also happily showed this:

MRT and property is related, definitely

It will not increase the property price tremendously yeah. However when the developer is trying to sell us a property, mentioning the property as being close a MRT station is likely to be an extra added positive versus having no MRT stations nearby. Meanwhile anyone trying to rent out a property will get a lot more interest when the advert says ‘walking distance to a MRT station.” Last but not least, please remember that parking in the city centre can only get more expensive and not cheaper. Petrol price can also get more expensive faster because the government really have little choice since they do not have GST back in its rightful place yet. Happy understanding.

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MRT Putrajaya Line is not ready for all of us yet.

MRT Putrajaya Line a.k.a Line 2 is not ready for all of us yet. Phase 1 of the line yeah, not the full line yet. That one is next year.

Frankly, I am waiting to take the MRT Putrajaya Line when they are open to the public. A short round trip to feel the a few stations, the new trains and the facilities. Will also take some photos and report to everyone who wants to know more about the MRT Putrajaya Line. Yes, I am proud that our second MRT Line is about to open to the public.

By the way, I was invited to attend as media when they started the MRT Line 1 which is now known as MRT Kajang Line.  The photo below as proof. Haha. I was with the
famous personal finance guru KC Lau
 and
Ishmael Ho, CEO of Ho Chin Soon Research
. I wonder if I will be invited again. Well, have to see who they engage as the PR company then. Some PR company may not know kopiandproperty.com yet… 😛

From left: KC Lau, Charles Tan and Ishmael Ho

Article in freemalaysiatoday.com
   MRT Corp chief executive officer Mohd Zarif Hashim said that the opening timeline would have to be revised because of incomplete activities during the trial operations. He said, “The trial operations for the MRT Putrajaya Line Phase 1 section has been ongoing since April 29.”

He said, “A total of 16 trains have been running between Kwasa Damansara MRT Station and Kampung Batu MRT Station in full-service mode daily but without passengers to simulate actual operations.”

“During this period, the ‘final detailed inspection and system performance demonstration’ were carried out. However, the two activities have not been completed.”

“As a result, MRT Corp is not able to take possession of the asset from the appointed turnkey contractor.”

Please do refer to the full article for more details here:
Article in freemalaysiatoday.com

Some details of MRT Putrajaya Line

It is longer than the MRT Kajang Line. The Putrajaya Line (previously known as Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya Line) will serve a corridor with a population of around 2 million people stretching from Kwasa Damansara, a new township development in northwest Kuala Lumpur and its southern suburbs, to Putrajaya, Malaysia’s federal administrative centre.

Total length is 57.7km of which 44.2km are elevated tracks and 13.5km running through underground tunnels. In total, there would be 36 operational stations of which 27 are elevated and 9 underground. In anticipation for future, a further 4 stations have been provided too.

Sixteen stations will have park and ride facilities. This is definitely a good idea because otherwise, all these cars would be driven into the city centre which does not make sense and will just make the MRT less popular and jams to continue.

Hope to see you when it opens!

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MRT and rental starts at the same time. Good.

One major reason why Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is profitable is because of a good business model; renting.
They actually own the buildings on top of all the lines.
A famous example, IFC Mall. To those who believe ticket price is enough to cover the expenses, it is not true.

Imagine we are the government of the day, who pays for the public transportation? Us, with taxes collected from the people. Is it really enough or do we still have to take loans to do it? Answer is we would need to get loans for it. How do we set the price for public transportation? As low as possible. Would we increase the price even as costs of maintenance and staffs continue to increase year after year? No. There would be huge complaints from the public anytime prices are adjusted upwards, never mind that the adjustments could never cover costs as shown by most of all mass rail transits all around the world, except Hong Kong perhaps. So, their model is really worth emulating.

We did not manage to do it with Monorail or LRT lines but MRT line 1 seems to have something similar. Of course, we are still very far away from how Hong Kong MTR is operating. They even do real estate developments! According to MRT Corp, it expects to earn an annual revenue of RM2.5 million at 19 elevated stations along the MRT Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK). Commercial and land management director Datuk Haris Fadzilah Hassan said, “The revenue will be on fixed rentals and not profit-sharing. Rentals vary from RM1,200 to RM3,500 for a 200 sq ft lot, based on stations locations and dependent on market rates in that area.” I hope Haris would also note that all these need to be adjusted on an ongoing basis in order to ensure MRT Corp benefits more and thus more money is made available to improve the services.

Haris also revealed that there would be at most three shoplots at each station – mainly convenience stores and prepacked food outlets as cooking is not allowed within the premises. “Contracts are for two years and renewable based on performance.” International retail brands include Watsons, 7-Eleven and Family Mart, while the local brands are namely myNews.com, Noras Delight and Rotiboy. Yes, one of the stations that I will try would definitely be the Sungai Buloh MRT station. Will update after trying it, that’s for sure. Till then, happy following.
 MRT is exciting.

written on 22 Oct 2016

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MRT SSP first phase starts in 15 months.

When would people start having another MRT line as their mode of transport? Image below shows the stations along the MRT Sungai Buloh – Serdang – Putrajaya (MRT SSP) or also known as MRT Line 2.  MRT Line 1 is MRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang (MRT SBK). The first phase of MRT SSP will start operating in 15 months from today or June 2021. That should the following stations: Sungai Buloh – Damansara Damai – Sri Damansara West – Sri Damansara East – Kepong Sentral – Metro Prima – Kepong Baru – Jinjang – Seri Delima – Kampung Batu.

Stations not stated within the above would be under Phase 2 and it will be operational by 2022. These include Kentonmen – Jalan Ipoh – Sentul West – Titiwangsa – Hospital Kuala Lumpur – Kampung Baru North – Ampang Park – KLCC East – Conlay – Tun Razak Exchange – Chan Sow Lin – Bandar Malaysia North – Bandar Malaysia South – Kuchai Lama – Taman Niaga Emas – Sungai Besi – Serdang Raya North – Serdang Raya South – Seri Kembangan – Equine Park – Taman Putra Permai – 16 Sierra – Cyberjaya North – Cyberjaya City Centre – Putrajaya Sentral.

Image source:
https://www.mymrt.com.my/public/sg-buloh-serdang-putrajaya-ssp-line/

Article in malaymail.com
  Construction of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya (SSP) Line has achieved more than 70 per cent project completion following the success of underpass tunnel breakthrough below the Kuala Lumpur-Seremban Expressway near Sungai Besi.

MRT Corporation Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) SSP Line project director, Datuk Amiruddin Ma’aris, said of the breakthrough, “The success of the V204 underpass construction shows the strong commitment of MRT Corp as project owner, the construction team from MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP SSP) Sdn Bhd as the turnkey contractor and WCT Bhd as the work package contractor to deliver the project according to schedule.” Both tunnels have a diameter of 5.8m and are 60m in length, and are located between the Taman Naga Emas and Sungai Besi stations.  Please do refer to the full
Article in malaymail.com

Perhaps kopiandproperty.com should just invite a group of readers to have breakfast in Sungai Buloh and then board the train at 10am, visit a couple of places (take lots of photos and post online), have lunch (at some nice place within walking distance from a MRT station) and then a final coffee break (inside some cafes along the line) before arriving back in Sungai Buloh for a post-mortem and dinner?! Haha.

This article will be the reminder for me to plan something like that. 15 months is really not that far back. I await excitedly for it. As for the question of whether I would be taking it more often when it’s completed, the answer remains a no. I still prefer to drive. Haha. However, 2 times per week is possible. We shall see. What about some readers?  Are you already thinking of moving to some places along the line? Happy anticipating.

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MRT station? Walkway just 15 metres. Cool…ing!

I am writing this article outside Perak’s public library. My kids and wife are inside the library (air-conditioned) and both kids are playing because this library has a games / kids room. The place I am at is outside the library and it’s not air-conditioned. Fortunately, there’s some occasional breeze. Temperature is an issue here in Malaysia. Imagine if a project says that it is connected to the MRT or the LRT station but the distance is 800 metres away? Brisk walking should take us there is 10 minutes time. Way too long and we would have been sweating. So, if the walkway is less than 400 metres, it will take a maximum walking time of 5 minutes. Just about right; before we start sweating. Haha.

Here’s one with a walkway of just 15 metres. In steps, that’s about 50 steps away. Pretty cool…ing.
Article in TheEdgeMarkets.com
  The developeris Melaka-based Parkland Group and the development is a transit-oriented development (TOD) in Cheras, Selangor. It is a serviced apartment project on a 2.36-acre freehold site in Cheras Batu 11 (11th Mile) and it will be connected to the Batu 11 Cheras MRT (mass rapid transit) Station via a 15m link bridge. Yes, just 15 metres walkway.  Project’s name is Parkland Residence @ Cheras South and it will have a a gross development value (GDV) of RM300 million and will feature a 39-storey, L-shaped building. There will be a total of 714 serviced apartment units and a 9-storey car park podium. Indicative price selling price is RM520 psf. For more information, do read about them in the
article in TheEdgeMarkets.com

A little earlier, there was this news, not sure if it’s considered positive or a little negative.
Kelana Jaya project 6 metres away from the LRT station.
 Transit-Oriented-Developments (TOD) will become ever more popular with Greater KL (GKL) population poised to hit 10 million by end of 2020 or perhaps a little later. At least 350,000 Malaysians graduate with a tertiary qualification every year. Assuming just 50% of them coming to GKL to find employment meant a new population of 175,000 every year. They better NOT be buying one car each or KL will soon become Bangkok or Jakarta. The calculation is a very conservative one because this is just 50% from one year. What if an extra 10% from the year before also chose to come and the year before and so on…? Happy understanding the reasons why TOD will be very much in demand today, tomorrow and future.

written on 28 Dec 2018

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MRT stations will change the area dynamics

The mantra for property investment has been location, location, location. Well, that’s why certain locations are so hot and demanded by many of the richer ones. Location as a reason includes the conveniences such as near to expressways , good environment of the development, schools and more. Well, at least one; near to expressways may not be that major anymore once more LRT and MRT lines are up and running. The reason why I say so is because I calculated my total expenses of commuting to and fro my home and office daily. The toll fees plus petrol and the parking fees would come up to close to RM30 per working day. That’s around RM660 per month.

Taking the MRT would easily half this if not more. Currently, many of the secondary areas have no such convenience. There may be no stations nearby and taking the bus is really not that comforting currently. Somehow, I prefer LRTs or in future MRTs. These new stations would expand the areas which can be under consideration from that few to many more. This is why I seriously doubt that hotspots deserve so much premium like today, sometimes more than double the price per sq ft. It’s a little absurd because based on construction costs and even land costs alone, it should not be such a huge difference in the first place. It’s that high because of demand and demand happened because the choices are not many.

I am sure some of the readers staying in the hotspots would disagree. It’s okay, everyone’s entitled to their own thoughts right? Just make sure we take actions based on what we believe. For me, I will not be touching the usual areas where everyone is flocking to buy or paying premiums on top of premiums simply because that area is having huge demands and MRT station is coming in the near future. Seriously, Greater KL is much bigger than what everyone think and there are even areas outside the current Greater KL which we can still consider when we use duration instead of just the distance. Plus, change the lifestyle a bit lah. Wake up earlier instead of facing the jams everyday in the morning. I will see if I am right in a few years’ time. In the mean time, buy as you please.

written on 25 Oct 2015

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MRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang starts on 16th Dec 2016. Fares from RM1.10

I am a believer that connectivity helps economic growth. (Yes, it helps property prices in secondary areas too. Hint Hint. ) This is the reason why KL – Singapore have lots of air connections and in 2022, there would also be a
High Speed Rail (HSR)
 connection too. Greater KL needs more connectivities and MRT will start to complete the picture. LRTs are already operating at full capacity during peak hours and only MRT would provide bigger capacity. Yes, within just 30 days more, MRT starts!

I just read an update about MRT Line 1 in
NST
today. MRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang will start on 16th December 2017 for 12 stations between Sungai Buloh and Semantan. The remaining 19 stations between Semantan and Kajang is expected to start operations in July 2017. The Sungai Buloh MRT station is only 5km from my home which meant that I must try it out soon. The fares will range from RM1.10 to RM6.40. For those who’s into cashless, it’s only RM5.50 at maximum. How far is the distance from the first station to the last? 51km across 31 stations.
Here are the 31 stations.

It will be operated by Rapid KL and this is what its Chief Executive Offer Datuk Zohari Sulaiman said, “The fare structure has been approved by the government and is based on the nominal flag fall and cascading rates for every four to five kilometres travelled – similar with the fare structure of the LRT and monorail services operated by Rapid Rail, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad.” 50 percent discount on the cash fare would be offered to senior citizens, students, and people with disabilities (OKU) who travel on the MRT and the MRT feeder bus services. This is the current arrangement for Rapid KL LRT, monorail, and bus services. Children below seven travel for free. Note though that currently there is NO integration for MRT with existing LRT and monorail lines. Thus, MRT commuters would pass through the automated fare collection gates using cash tokens or Touch n’ Go cards only.
Fare details here.

There are already lots of work being done for
 MRT Line 2.
This was also the reason I told some of my friends that I think MRT Line 2 will start well ahead of the scheduled time-frame. Besides the manpower having more experience, all the equipments can be reused too. Moving them is easier too. I actually asked a few friends about the potential for them to take the MRT. It’s positive enough. They said, they would at least give it a try. In other words non-committal as yet. Perhaps they should just buy homes near these MRT stations, then they would be more inclined to start taking the public transport. Happy following.

written on 16 Nov 2016

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New Alignment for MRT Sungai Buloh – Serdang – Putrajaya line

A newly proposed alignment line option for Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) 2 has been proposed. This new proposed alignment option is for a change within the section between the Tun Razak Exchange and Seri Kembangan stations. This section would now pass through Kuchai Lama, Sri Petaling, Sungai Besi and Serdang Raya and with these stations, it will carry an additional 16,000 passengers per day. The earlier option was to pass through Maluri, Pandan, Cheras and Bukit Belimbing areas. These new stations would allow for integration with the future Kuala-Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) Nevertheless, this is only at proposal stage and would only be finalised after a public display exercise and government approval.

Personally, I am not staying in any of these areas. However, my only opinion is that the line should be passing through places where it will serve the highest number ridership. As my Professor once said, decisions must be based on decision science and not political science. Of course, irregardless of the stations, it must somehow be connected to the HSR because this project is of national importance and must succeed. In fact such an integration would allow passengers a quick and direct route into Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle. Yes, the Golden Triangle would then be even ‘more’ golden and perhaps more jammed but this jam would not be caused by people instead of cars. If anyone have been to the golden triangle during peak hours, you would get what I mean.

The announcement from MRT Corp also said that this route would allow for a more direct route for commuters from Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and Serdang to Kuala Lumpur. I think Cyberjaya would now be an even hotter topic for many property investors. As for Serdang which has always been considered ‘far’, perhaps this may increase it’s attractiveness. The market must stop concentrating on all the typical hot areas and pushing the prices up. Let’s spread the population because the number of new residents in Klang Valley would continue to increase. If all of them continue to crowd just that few areas, good luck to these areas because sooner or later, the bubble will burst. Klang Valley is still big enough to cater to more population. Everyone just have to be more open. 🙂

For those who wants to comment, well, do go take a look. For three months, this MRT Corp’s Railway Scheme Public Display will be put up at 24 locations across the city. It is beginning from mid-May 2015. After this, MRT Line 3’s feasibility study would start! Come on, this should be a good news to people who needs to buy. If we hate the jams, perhaps we should just stay further away and take the MRT. For now, everyone just have to jam or make do with the existing LRTs, KTM and Monorail. Happy viewing.

written on 2 Apr 2015

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MRT was ‘too big’ and ‘too luxurious.’

I personally like our MRT and has taken it slightly over 10 times since it first started. I have also taken my family on it once. As per one latest number, there are now 130,000 people taking the MRT nowadays. This is less than half the number needed to break-even. I think it will take time because we could see empty land along some of the stations. LRT is however extremely popular and trying to get into the first train during peak hours is going to take lots of luck. I always believe connectivity is the key to new property locations and not the other way round. Imagine the hassle to build tracks through established neighbourhoods. Below is a view from a builder.

Article in Edgemarkets.com here.
 Gamuda group managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling said that the cost involved for the MRT were too big for a project that will only see full ridership after 20-30 years. However, he said that Gamuda’s role as project delivery partner (PDP) in the project was to deliver the project as per the previous government’s request. He said, “We agree with the comment that it is too big and too luxurious. But our responsibility is to manage the project delivery for the government — the size and number of stations were all decided by the government.”
Article in Edgemarkets.com here.

We should also understand that public infrastructure is a need and may not be that easily translated into the usual profit and loss. Just for everyone’s understanding, everyone’s taking the MRT in Singapore day in and day out. For FY2018, it has declared a loss of S$86 million and requires government subsidy to continue its operations.
Here’s that article in StraitsTimes.
 It’s important to note that beyond just ‘encouraging’ people to take the MRT, the only reasons for the success of public transportation is through government policies too. Parking rates are prohibitive in Hong Kong CBD while it’s prohibitive to buy a car in Singapore. This was why I wrote this article for Penang’s LRT plans too. Seriously, are we ready with the right policy? Happy understanding.

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Written on 7th Dec 2018

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MRT Tunnel boring news breakthrough – On track!

MRT Tunnel boring news. No, the ‘boring’ here is not the same meaning as not interested. It’s a tunnelling news. The breakthrough for the twin MRT tunnels right underneath Jalan Bukit Bintang has been completed. I drove past twice during the weekend without feeling anything. Then again, if I could I think I may not be writing now right. The overall MRT underground works stands at 68.5% completion as at end September while overall tunnelling is 88 percent. The tunnelling work will complete by no later than March 2015 while underground work would continue until December 2016. This is the MRT Line 1 for Sungai Buloh – Kajang covering 51km and 9.5km underground. There will be seven underground stations when completed. they are KL Sentral, Pasar Seni, Merdeka, Bukit Bintang Sentral, Pasar Rakyat, Cochrane and Maluri.

Question. Will you be taking the MRT once its completed? Taking the connecting busses to the MRT station, walk a bit to the bus stops everyday? Are you a manager who needs to show your executives there’s a difference between you and them? In Singapore, there’s only one reason why MRT is loved by everyone. Accessibility is besides the point. The main reason is because the government said, ‘use MRT’. Then, they made sure very few people could afford a car. Once you buy a car, they ensure the car is scrapped after your Certificate of Entitlement expires. Petrol price is deliberately set high, even higher than the world petrol price. If you dare to drive into the CBD area, you are also charged toll. When all these are done, people believe MRT is the best mode of transport, starts using them and over time, everyone accepts and loves it. Some even claimed that its convenient which is true if you are a single, young and healthy adult. When you need to bring your aging parents out for a meal or when you have a baby and your wife wanted to do some grocery shopping or when you are not feeling well but needed to meet some friends at the other end of the MRT and you have to stand ALL THE WAY. I did not want to begin talking about when it rains. I am not sure about the managers here in Malaysia, whether they would be willing to ditch their cars for the MRT just like the Singaporeans. Perhaps for this case, we must make Singaporeans our very best example. After all, everyone and anyone who needs to travel from one place to another takes MRT. Even CEOs, by choice. Can’t wait for MRT to be completed and opened.

Oh yeah, more importantly, have you studied all the properties along the stations? Have you found some gems or jewels worth investing in? The prices tend to go up once MRT is completed but do note that buying a RM1000 per sf condo just because it’s next to MRT station may not be right. I am not so sure what these richer Malaysians think about taking MRT. If they love taking MRT, I am not sure if they want to stay too close to any MRT stations. If they hate taking MRT, there goes your potential huge profits. Think carefully. If majority are right, your RM1,000 per sf condo is not going to sell for RM1,500 per sf because majority in Malaysia are not the upper market you are looking for. Happy buying.

written on 27 Oct 2014

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MRT 1 completion and MRT 2 Stations, the proposed ones.

A colleague asked me about buying where the MRT 2 stations are. I asked why not buy near the MRT 1 stations instead since some stations would be operational by end 2016. The whole project would be completed in July 2017. He said since everyone is already buying properties nearby or next to MRT 1, he should focus on MRT 2 instead. I told him that the MRT 2 stations are not even finalised even if most of the time the proposed stations are normally quite confirmed. He asked if I have seen all the proposed stations. I told him that I do have one from ERE Consulting Group. Please refer below for a list of all the 36 stations prepared by ERE Consulting Group, dated April 2015.

When we look at all the 36 stations, we can see that there are some areas where the property prices remain on the low side. For example, the stations in the Northern and the Southern segments. This include even the area I have been staying for the past 9 months, Damansara Damai. It includes also areas where many would not think of making it their first choice yet. These are areas which are over 20km away from the KL city centre. On off-peak periods, 20km seems acceptable but on a daily basis, jams would stress many. Thus, perhaps MRT may be the solution for these areas.

Of course, one station stands out and that is the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) for which the the High Speed Rail (HSR) KL – Singapore would stop in the future. If you are already very wealthy, I think this may be worth looking at because the entry cost is likely to be very high and may not be that affordable for many. However, if this is your first property, it may be more prudent to buy at places where you are able to accept as a home first. Even if this is your second property, make sure you and your family are willing to stay where you intend to buy. If you do, then the risk should be low because by the time it is completed and the price did not move up a lot, you can still sell your current place and move to your new place.

Would my colleague be buying? Actually, I told him that I would still prefer to buy secondary properties today and just rent it out first. MRT 2 is expected to be fully completed only in 2021. I think there are still time and there’s little need to buy and wait for so long even if most of the time these properties should increase in price based on the usual inflation or even the potential due to it being nearby MRT 2 stations.  Thus, the decision is his to make. It would be his property number 2. Happy thinking.

written on 30 Apr 2015

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MRT3 Circle Line. It’s end August. Tender to start soon?

MRT3 Circle Line. It’s August. Tender to start soon?

I am one of the supporters of the MRT lines, whether it’s MRT 1 Sungai Buloh line, MRT 2 Putrajaya Line also the MRT 3 Circle Line which has been confirmed but has not yet started. It’s also true that even if we take out the effects from Covid-19, the MRT Lines were not yet as popular as the LRT lines, yet. When I took the MRT, I usually have seats versus when I take the LRT, I usually have to stand all the way.

Just remember that it is not possible to build only when the number of passengers are certain. If we build only when the whole area is already mature and full of residents, the cost to build is likely to be many times higher plus all those potential objections to the noise pollution, traffic jams due to construction etc.

A few months ago, in April 2021, when the government was still the previous government, this news appeared in most medias.
Article in thestar.com.my
 MRT Corp CEO Datuk Mohd Zarif Hashim told a media briefing that several proposed alignments were being evaluated. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the project would commence in the second half of 2021. The MRT3 line will be up for tender as soon as August.

Mohd Zarif said about 40% of the 50km-plus alignment would run underground. The Circle Line will form a loop or orbital line that encircles Kuala Lumpur’s city core, while linking up most of the radial rail lines mentioned earlier in stages, with construction spread over 10 years.

In some speculative versions, MRT3 will have stations at Bukit Kiara (interchange with Kajang MRT), Intan-National Science Centre, Sri Hartamas, Mont Kiara, Jalan Duta, Matrade, Segambut Tengah (interchange with KTMB), Sentul Barat (interchange with the upcoming Putrajaya MRT Line), Sentul Timur (interchange with the Ampang LRT line), and Setiawangsa (interchange with the Kelana Jaya LRT line).

It will also have stations at Pandan Indah (interchange with Ampang LRT), Taman Midah (interchange with Kajang MRT), Salak Selatan (interchange with Sri Petaling LRT), Bandar Malaysia South (interchange with Putrajaya MRT), MidValley (interchange with KTMB), Kerinchi (interchange with Kelana Jaya LRT), and University Malaya Medical Centre, among others. Please do refer to the article for full explanation too.
Article in thestar.com.my

Maybe there will be a slight delay since the new Transport Minister is not appointed yet.

I think a little delay is okay lah. Just need to ensure tender starts soon versus delayed further to next year for example. As announced too, this is likely to take up to 10 years to fully complete, so even starting in 2021 meant that the full line will be ready only in 2031 yeah. That’s like still very far away and too many unforeseen circumstances may still happen along the way.

Will keep reporting about MRT3 Circle Line news. Yes… I am waiting to take the MRT2 Putrajaya Line soon as well. What about you my dear readers?

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MRT3 to start end 2021 and the stock picks?

I was very sad when MRT3 was ‘shelved’ and I was very happy when I learnt that it is back on the table. I am now very happy that there are news that it will most probably be starting its tenders by end 2021. The reason is because the MRT2 will be ending by end 2022. Anyway, Phase 1 of the MRT2 will start very soon yeah. August was the earlier announced date. We will see. As for MRT3, let’s read latest news.

Article in themalaysianreserve.com
   MIDF analyst Khoo Zhen Ye said, “We believe the tender for MRT3 will be delayed to possibly 4Q21 instead of August as indicated by the rail developer, due to the rising Covid-19 cases and political uncertainty.” MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd foresees the MRT3 to be the lowest-hanging fruit to be rolled out potentially in the second half of this year (2H21) to pump up the economy.

Khoo said other mega projects which are also likely to kick off this year are the Pan Borneo Highway post-Sarawak state elections in September 2021, the proposed Kuala Lumpur to Johor Baru high-speed rail project and the Klang Valley Double-Tracking Phase 2 project.

MIDF views the major beneficiaries of a rerating of the sector to be Gamuda Bhd with a ‘Buy’ call and a target price (TP) of RM4.20, IJM Corp Bhd (‘Buy’, TP: RM2.27), Sunway Construction Group Bhd (‘Buy’, TP: RM2.09) and Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (‘Buy’, TP: RM2.20).  Please do read the full article here:
Article in themalaysianreserve.com

Construction projects are usually long term yeah

We can feel very excited and we can move in to buy some related counters. We just need to remember that any construction of a mega project will likely take a long time. In other words, even if the stock prices would continue to rise when the profits increases, it also meant that it’s not immediate.

Plus the fact that construction companies would need to have continuous projects to sustain their earnings and it cannot just relying on one particular project. Else, this counter become a risky purchase instead. However, if we look at the counters which are giving out very good dividend yields, then it’s really a good buy and just enjoy the continuous yields.

For example, in image above showed that one of the counters Sunway Construction Group at the current price provides a yield of 2.5%.  This is higher than typical FD rates in banks today. By the way, it may be much higher than putting money in FD. Just remember, higher returns equal to higher risks yeah.  Happy reading.

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MRTA or MLTA? What are the fallacies? Know more!

As a property investor you might have came across both mortgage reducing term assurance (MRTA) and its brother mortgage level term assurance (MLTA). Both have its pros and cons. Depending on who you ask you will get a certain preference for one or the latter.  In fact if you really want a summary of the comparisons just do a quick Google search, you’ll find many tables like these:-

I wanted to know more about the truth behind such tables so I went on to check with major bank officers and insurers.

The first thing I noticed is that bankers will promote MRTA and life insurers will advocate MLTA. No prize for guessing who gets the commission for which product. Contrasting the information I got from both parties here is what I found:-

Fallacy #1:-
 MRTA is compulsory! It is not, Bank Negara does not state this. However a form of protection is strongly encouraged for financial planning. Most banks will also give a better loan package if an MRTA is purchased from them. If a person is adequately insured he can use his personal life insurance in place of an MRTA or MLTA subject to review and agreement from the bank.

Fallacy #2:-
 All MLTA is term assurance.  There are cases where customers have been sold whole life plans or investment link insurance plans as a level term assurance. Protection wise it still fulfills the purpose of covering for the loan in the event of death and disability but premium wise it’s higher. It’s best to understand the protection duration we need and plan accordingly.

Fallacy #3:-
 The coverage is insufficient. Basic MRTA and MLTA do not cover critical illness. Most MLTA have the option of including a medical rider for dreaded diseases, MRTA do not. Purchasing a home could be a 30 year commitment.   A medical rider should be seriously considered. Statistically most people go through a critical disease at one point in their life. A counter argument to this is that if a person is struck with a dread disease he would eventually lose ability to do meaningful work and be classified as totally and permanently disabled – making him eligible for claim. Such cases are subject to debate and best avoided with critical illness protection.

Fallacy #4:-
 About the cash value. MLTA proponents’ promises guaranteed cash value back at the end of the tenure and hence free protection. This is partially true depending on the policy type of the MLTA. MLTA policies with guaranteed cash back are generally more expansive and might have an investment portion to it. Again the guaranteed portion will differ from policy to policy. On the other hand it’s also true that at the end of the tenure the cash value for MRTA is burned. However if the housing loan is settled early the MRTA can be surrendered for cash value.

Fallacy #5:-
 Can MRTA be transferred? The quick short answer is NO! One of the main disadvantages of MRTA often highlighted is that an MRTA is tied to the property, and a new one must be purchased each time a new property is purchased. This makes MLTA a more compelling choice for investors.  Fact is this is only partially true, some banks offer the option to transfer the balance sum assured for MRTA to another property. In some situations however it might just be more beneficial to purchase a new policy rather than doing a top up. Transferring MRTA from banks to banks is also complicated. Check with your local bankers for more information that best meets your situation.

Fallacy #6:-
 MRTA is easily impacted by BLR fluctuation. Partially true especially if the sum insured and the duration is a small fraction of the loan amount and tenure. If the full amount and tenure is bought it is fairly robust. This is because the interest rate used to calculate the MRTA is usually higher than the BLR.  Most banks use approximately 7% vs BLR 6.6%  (effective being around 4.4% assuming the banks give -2.2%). Furthermore the BLR only impacts the outstanding amount.  If the applicant is unable to serve the loan the he is given approx 3-4 months before the house is auction off. If a claim is made on the MRTA within that time frame it should be able to cover for the difference due to BLR increase (unless it’s a very very drastic change).

Which 1 to buy then? Well the decision is once again in your hands. The purpose of this article was to provide additional information for contemplation. Cliché answer would be if the budget is within range get an MLTA else get an MRTA.  Either way its best to get 1 or the other as a safeguard !

Article contributed by a good friend, Jerry Low. For more information, feel free to mail him at: wenghigh@gmail.com

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MRTA vs MLTA. Which is better for that property and you?

One needs you to pay all at one go. Not enough funds…  The other one needs you to pay and pay and pay.  It’s like paying forever?   So, which one is better? Actually, it’s more like which one is more suitable to you. If there’s one which is better, then no one would continue to write all these MRTA vs MLTA articles yeah.

Haha. So, here’s another one and this article is written by kopiandproperty.com where there are NO LINKS anywhere in this article for you to buy any product whether MRTA or MLTA. Happy reading and sharing yeah. Congratulations in advance because if you are interested in reading this, it meant that you are buying a property or thinking of buying one.

MRTA vs MLTA, general differences

There are  two mortgage life insurance that we may consider. They are the Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA) and Mortgage Level Term Assurance (MLTA). What would be the differences between them? Let’s look at them briefly.

Mortgage Reducing Term Assurance (MRTA)
 is a life insurance plan with decreasing sum assured over period of time and it helps to cover our remaining home loan. This is usually offered by banks when we take loans from them. If something were to happen to us during the mortgage loan period and we could no longer repay the loan, the MRTA kicks in and takes care of it.

Mortgage Level Term Assurance
 is for borrowers who prefers to buy a life insurance which offers both protection plus savings and maybe even returns on the premium. So, this can act like a personal insurance designed to protect you and your dependents in the event of death or TPD which had befallen the borrower causing him / her the inability to continue repaying the home loan. So, which one should we take then?

Differences Between MRTA And MLTA

MRTA is cheaper since it’s one time payment

When we look at the amount, it’s cheaper to get the MRTA.  However, always remember that MRTA provides protection on a reducing balance basis and the beneficiary basically gets just the home. If homeowners are already protected by life and medical insurance and does not have other financial burdens, MRTA is suitable.

MLTA is also cheaper! Since it can be paid by monthly basis

MLTA meanwhile provides homeowners with extra financial protection in the event of death or Total Permanent Disability (TPD) because it has a cash value at the end of the policy. For families with kids or even a housewife spouse, this would provide a better protection.

Protection is beyond just the MRTA or MLTA yeah

Remember though that we should always protect our wealth. There are certainly other types of insurance which we should have beyond just these two; MRTA or MLTA. For example, medical cards will help pay medical and hospital bills (usually unforeseen circumstances) and saves us from using a lot of our own hard earned savings / funds.

There’s also life insurance which is to protect one’s life over uncertainty that may occur at any point in time. Policyholder pays their premium regularly for an agreed amount of coverage and if the specified event such as death or an accident resulting in death or disability, the amount of coverage will be paid.

Get protected yeah. Wealth is not just about earning more but also to stop any potential losses yeah. Cheers.

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Sunway Property’s Sunway Velocity and Sunway Velocity Two developments become first MSC Cybercentre in Cheras

Press Release –
SUNWAY PROPERTY’S SUNWAY VELOCITY AND SUNWAY VELOCITY TWO DEVELOPMENTS BECOME FIRST MSC CYBERCENTRE IN CHERAS

·
Sunway Property aims to make Sunway Velocity an innovation hub for healthcare AI, leveraging experience in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur

Master Community Developer, Sunway Property has received MSC Cybercentre status from Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) for its Sunway Velocity and Sunway Velocity TWO developments, making it the first Cybercentre in Cheras.

The MSC Malaysia Cybercentre status is for the 30.42-acre area which encompasses both developments with Menara Sunway Visio, a corporate office tower with a net lettable area of approximately 200,000 square feet being the designated premises for the MSC status.

The MSC Cybercentre status is awarded to city, townships, or large building complexes for providing dedicated and specialised industry areas for MSC- status companies or Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-facilitated businesses to locate their operations. They serve as the physical location to catalyse and support growth of ICT and ICT-enabled industries and seek to extend the benefit of ICT to local communities.

Sunway Property’s flagship township, Sunway City Kuala Lumpur is Sunway Property’s first MSC-status township and Malaysia Digital Hub and currently houses thousands of businesses including multinational corporations which are leveraging the talent pool and research capabilities of the universities within the vicinity including Sunway University as well as the network and expertise of its incubator, Sunway Innovation Labs (Sunway iLabs). Sunway City Kuala Lumpur currently functions as a “living lab” where businesses, academia, students and researchers are working together to test-bed solutions.

Sunway Berhad’s Property Development Division Central Region Executive Director, Chong Sau Min said that Sunway Velocity is an ideal growth venue for information and communication technology (ICT) companies.

“Sunway Velocity is surrounded by 15 institutions of higher education within 15 km. These institutions will provide a vibrant talent pool of thousands of students and vast research collaboration potential. In addition to that, we are located just 3.8 km away from KL City Centre, which is just two stops away by MRT to which the development is linked. Businesses here will also have full lifestyle support, such as the 1 million square feet Sunway Velocity Mall, Sunway Medical Centre and Hotel as well as a two-acre park.”

“At MSC Malaysia Cybercentre @ Sunway Velocity, we aim to leverage the  experience we have gathered in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur to develop an innovation hub. Leveraging on our experience, we will build a networking or value-added programme for the business community, as well as implement an incubation programme for startups,” he said.

Currently Sunway Property is setting up a one-stop centre cybermanagement office which will run an incubator to nurture entrepreneurs, provide business development programmes, and act as a customer service centre for businesses within Sunway Velocity.

“Once completed, we will assist our businesses communities here to collaborate with institutions of higher learning around the area with focus on developing artificial intelligence solutions for healthcare in collaboration with Sunway Medical Centre Velocity
,
,
” added Chong.

Sunway Velocity is connected to two (2) existing Mass Rail Transit (MRT) stations, which are Maluri station (LRT interchange station) and Cochrane station and the upcoming Chan Sow Lin MRT and LRT interchange station. With the support of public transportation that connects to the MSC Malaysia Cybercentre @ Sunway Velocity, it is paved to be the potential commercial hub for businesses and investments.

Menara Sunway Visio, the designated MSC premises is a Green RE certified smart and sustainable building. Menara Sunway Visio is energy efficient and water efficient with features including building control system, magnetic bearing chillers, automatic meter reader system, natural lighting in common corridors and staircases, CO
2
 sensors to modulate centralised air conditioning, variable voltage lifts with sleep mode, water usage and leak detection through submetering, carpark guiding system, and rainwater harvesting system for surrounding landscape irrigation. The utilisation of low volatile organic compound (VOC) paints ensures better indoor air quality for tenants within the building as well.

The designated MSC premises also offers an extensive range of facilities and amenities such as meeting rooms, function hall and boutique gymnasium for tenant’s usage. Ample car parks are also available within the MSC Malaysia Cybercentre with four levels of basement car park and over 6,000 car park bays.

For the convenience of the building’s tenants, the management utilises a digital mobile visitor management system which enables them to make community announcements, community CCTV, communicate amongst the building’s tenants and resolve tenant’s problem quickly amongst others through their mobile devices.

Like the entire Sunway Velocity and Sunway Velocity TWO development, Menara Sunway Visio has multiple levels of security including township security manned by Sunway’s own team of auxiliary police as well as a smart card system.

Sunway Property
is also planning to turn its next proposed corporate office tower next to Menara Sunway Visiowith a net lettable area of 360,000 sq ft currently under construction into a designated building. The tower is target to be completed by Q2 2022.

For more information on Sunway Property, please log on to
www.sunwayproperty.com
.

— end of press release —

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Malaysia: Exports still up, exceeding expectations

Another piece of encouraging news. With support from markets as diverse as the European Union, China and the US, Malaysia’s exports jumped 8.8% to RM70.20bil in September from a year ago. This is much higher than the expectations from economists which put the export growth at 3.6%. According to the Statistics department of Malaysia, on a month to month basis, exports rose RM3.7bil (up 5.5%) from RM66.5bil. In seasonally adjusted terms, exports increased 5.2%. Imports grew 7.3% versus the forecasted 3% increase. The rise in exports were to the EU (+RM1.4bil), China (+RM1bil), US (+RM933.5mil), Singapore (+RM923.5mil) and Philippines (+RM618mil). Two ASEAN countries.

Imports grew too, faster than forecast too. It grew by RM5.3bil or 9.6% to RM60.5bil. Higher imports were from countries such as China (+RM2.2bil), Singapore (+RM1bil), US (+RM985.1mil), Vietnam (+RM659.2mil) and Thailand (+RM640.9mil). 3 ASEAN countries! I think we are very integrated to ASEAN now. Electrical and electronics (E&E) products contributed 37.2% to total exports. Always watch this sector because if the numbers are down, lots more retrenchment would be happening. In fact this remains an engine of growth for Malaysia thus far.

Yes, these numbers remain far more encouraging than what many have in their mind. Ringgit, for the first time in such a long time had an ‘UP’ month in October. Bond market has also steadily gained strength. Global funds raise their Malaysian bond holdings too. Earlier:
Malaysia: Better signs or better understanding?

Is the property market now out of the danger zone? My personal answer? Property market Malaysia has never been in the danger zone or the potential bubble zone. However, it has been really bearish since 2014 and now into the end of 2015. Main reason, negative sentiment and to some extent, the inability for many first-time home buyers to obtain loans. Most of the time, their credit records may not be the best and thus, when they try to stretch it to the limit, most of the time, they would fail. Perhaps they need to relook at the price level they could really afford. Read here:
Stay safe, buy within affordability and stop bubble building

Happy reading.

written on 5 Nov 2015

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Multinationals do not relocate simply because of currency. Be reminded

Do read this news in
TheStar first
 before continuing. I am not the owner of any multinational company but let me tell you this. Multinationals are not relocating from Singapore to Malaysia because of currency. The reason is because, if it’s due to currency alone, there are SO MANY MORE choices which are certainly cheaper. In case everyone is still thinking Ringgit is about to sink into the deepest ocean, think again. Assuming you are a multionational in the oil and gas industry. You wanted to relocate to Malaysia from Singapore because of the reason stated, which is ringgit. You try to relocate your staffs from Singapore to Malaysia. Instead of paying them in SGD, you want to now pay them in RM. Tell me honestly, how many of the staffs would be willing to accept this transfer? If you are the staff concerned, would you move? Moving staffs over is thus NOT possible.

Well, what if the talents you want are NOT available in Malaysia then? If there are no such talents, no multinationals with a clever managing director would decide to MOVE to Malaysia. Without the right talent, how will the company operate? Without the right people, they would lose out to their competitors who are still operating with good talents! In conclusion, it’s about the AVAILABILITY of the right talents at a lower price which has helped the multinationals to decide to relocate.

Of course, there are others who would now say, that these multinational may be moving because of cheaper office rentals! I was working with a Japanese manufacturing company for four years and during that period, I handled many customers from different industries. On many occasions, they needed to send out their finished goods to their end-customer FAST. This was the reason why manufacturers always build their plant nearby airports or ports. Connectivity is key. Even IF the office rental is even cheaper than today but if Malaysia is not well connected to the rest of the world, the decision to relocate from Singapore may still happen but it’s not going to be Malaysia.

There are actually even more reasons why these multinationals relocate but suffice to say that multinationals do not move into Malaysia because of ringgit’s depreciation. To any expert which is still using that as the main reason, do state a few other more significant reasons, ok. Oh yeah, multinationals also do not choose Malaysia over other cheaper cost countries simply because ringgit is stronger than those currencies. If it’s due to ringgit, then manufacturers should all move to those countries instead because in this case, cost of operations in Malaysia is higher. Happy deciding dear multinationals and feel free to write to me for more reasons to invest in Malaysia yeah. Cheers.

written on 7 June 2017

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Multiple applications to maximise future money? Lots of money!

Remember those days when credit cards were easy to apply for but after spending the future money, it’s suddenly very hard to escape? You see. RM5,000 in income meant that you could get a credit card with a limit of say RM10,000.  Imagine getting just 6 banks to approve your credit cards at the same time and you suddenly have RM60,000 credit which you could spend within 30 days. WOW. Your lifestyle will suddenly change in that 30-60 days. All your friends will envy you. Money is easy for you. Everywhere you go, the shops welcomed you.

You will soon have to wake up soon because you will suddenly realise that just serving the interests alone will already be crippling every month. If credit card application can be this damaging, imagine what happens when one submits many mortgage applications at the same time! There’s even a term for it; multiple loan submission. My
good friend, Miichael Yeoh
 wrote an article for iProperty.com.my and my good friend,
Reena in iProperty.com.my
 helped to make the article available in easy to read format. Please read yeah.

Article in iproperty.com.my
  Multiple financing is also known as the “loan compression” method, multiple financing is when one applies for a few home loans at various banks, simultaneously. This ‘loophole’ is popular amongst investors who plan to purchase a few units/properties at one go, and avoid the 70% loan margin for the purchase of the third and subsequent properties.

The situation where multiple financing is used, is usually for “cashback” properties. Usually, these units are being sold in bulk to a group of purchasers. Hence, the developer is able to offer a massive discount for its units (as high as 40%), and each buyer will get a disbursement via a cashback amounting up to 6-figures per unit. This is possible as these cash-back properties usually have a marked-up selling price.  The article is a long and very comprehensive one. Please read it here:
Article in iproperty.com.my

One word. Don’t. Two words. Don’t try. Three words. No further comments. Remember, when someone helps us to submit these applications, they will earn from the successful applications. For them, the risk is NIL.  They get to enjoy that ‘commission.’ For you, the risk is REAL.  Everything is in your name. When you need to start servicing the loan, it is you who will have to do it. Hopefully you still have the money in your bank and has not spent it all away. When you start defaulting because you have no money, that agent who helped you to submit those loans in the first place will definitely not be coming to help you yeah. He may be sipping coffee somewhere and speaking to his next client. Happy investing but never resort to gambling and definitely not multiple loan financing.

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Musang King? Quality for a price, really.

I love durians. The particular one I tasted which I still think is the best is Ling Feng Jiao from an old orchard in Penang. Else, it’s Tekka for me. Then, Musang King (MSK), Black Thorn, D24 comes into the picture. As I stayed in Penang for 15 years, so Red Prawn, Hor Lor, Cheh Phoi and even Ganja are really good durians too. I am now staying in Klang Valley, so I guess it’s much easier to have access to MSK.

This season (2021), I have already ordered MSK from my friend for a few times and today (12th Aug), I have tasted the very best MSK thus far. It’s from Uncle Dong orchard in Gua Musang yeah. Really old tree and just one look at the colour would already reveal the age of the tree yeah. You do not want just bright yellow… you want greenish yellow and then it’s a wow.

First of all, when you call this durian seller, there is no need to mention kopiandproperty.com I do not get a single cent. They deserve all the sales they could get. The Musang King (MSK) durian from this orchard is really good. Just look at the image and understand why… greenish yellowish… wow, old tree! Their FB page is this.
https://www.facebook.com/dongsdurian

Oh yeah, there are also no links for you to click to buy whereby they can keep track of referral too. When something is good, I believe we should share. Sure, it may just make it ever harder to buy or worse case, made the price go up but this is just demand versus supply yeah. I was also made to understand that it is not always available yeah because during good times, durians can travel to other countries too.

They vacuum pack for you too yeah. Their website is here:
https://dongsdurian.shop/

Do enjoy yeah. It may not be so easily available next year. Treasure it while you can.

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5 Must-Do Steps for Property Investment in Malaysia. Are you ready?

There are today many different types of investments. Many would tout their better returns. In fact some would show you triple digit returns within the same year. Erm… not sure if that’s called an investment but it’s okay, do proceed with those if you believe what was being said. Now coming back to property investment. This will always be needed because whether you rent or you buy, you still need a home or a room. When we rent, just remember that rental does not stop when our income stops. So, as much as you like to go for diversification, just remember to put property investment as one of those investments.

Do you wish to start on a good note when it comes to property investment? Well, it does not start with just a dream. It will also take lots of actions to realise this dream of owning the most expensive thing we will ever buy in our lifetime. Now, let’s say we have saved enough down payment. We also have a stable job which meant that the bank should be able to approve our loan application too. What should be the very next step that we could take?

#1 Goal / Objective:

Understand why we want to buy in the first place. There are so many different objectives that we may have. For example, we just want a roof over your head and wanted to stop paying rental. Maybe we want to buy because our new baby looks very cute and we like to give our baby a better home. Perhaps it could even be a forced saving so that when our baby needs money in future for education that house could be turned into cash.

#2 Decide on a strategy

Focus on property rental income every month or potential capital appreciation many years later? If it’s rental income, then the secondary market will be a better choice because it’s what we see what we get and we are also able to understand how’s the rental market like. If we are thinking of potential capital appreciation, then it’s quite important to look at the price we buy versus the prices of similar properties. This should give us an idea about that potential price when the property is completed in the future. Of course, if we are looking at a longer term, then even that rental income property can still yield capital appreciation yeah.

#3 Homework Time.

If it’s our first time in a swimming pool, would we jump into the pool directly? This is why we should start reading more about the property market. Understand all the potential developments which are being offered so that we could compare the choices we have. Read property magazines, property sites, buy
property books (including this one)
and many others. LIKE / Follow
 fb.com/kopiandproperty
 or sign up for a
weekly newsletter too.
Please do not think of quick profits from property investments yeah. It is supposed to be a stable and strong investment but not a quick one.
Earlier article here about investment here.

#4  View, View, View

Once you are familiar with how property investment works, start to view units. The more the better as you learn a lot during these viewings. Note the surrounding, the route leading to the property, types of properties, what are nearby, what about the traffic condition, is it nearby MRT, etc. My personal opinion, view 20 before deciding when you first started. If you viewed enough, you should be able to decide objectively.
If it’s a high rise, then here are some tips on inspecting it.

#5 Offer and Negotiate

If you think you have viewed enough and have decided on a very attractive one from the secondary market, do call the agent and tell the agent to negotiate for the best for you. Tell him specifically that if it hits your target price you would buy. If it’s a new property, then perhaps can also tell developer sales person that you have interest and would like to know everything extra which they could provide. (This is the time where the extra is still possible. In a hot market, maybe it’s harder for this to happen)

What would the future be like?

The best part about property investment is this. We get better in this journey and studies have always shown that the ones who bought their first property usually move on to the next one. It may be an upgrade many years later. It may be the money from capital appreciation which is enough for downpayment to two properties in the future. Just remember that property investment is not a gamble. It has been a rewarding journey for me since I bought my first property in 2002. Yes, today I have access to swimming pools in 6 different cities / towns in Malaysia. Happy joining this journey.

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MX-1 winner, RM7 billion GDV, MRCB.

To those who remember my earlier article,
RM3 Billion town centre in RRIM
, 6 developers were shortlisted as the finalists for the first parcel of land in the massive Kwasa Damansara project which is being positioned as the largest township development in the Klang Valley. The size included Guocoland Malaysia Bhd, Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd, S P Setia Bhd, UEM Sunrise Bhd, YTL Corp Bhd and Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB).  The winner? MRCB. According to them, they won the competitive bid for the first 64 acres which is also known as MX-1. The GDV is estimated to be RM7 Billion, quite a hefty GDV by any standard.

For any competitive bidding, there must be an evaluation panel. This evaluation panel was led by Raine & Horne International Zaki & Partners Sdn Bhd and supported by AJM Planning Urban Design Group, Perunding Hashim and Neh Sdn Bhd, ARH Jurukur Bahan Sdn Bhd and a few other leading consultants. Criterias used? Financial, technical and commercial considersations. The whole development is expected to be fully completed in 12 years. The MX-1 piece of land benefits from four expressways, two MRT stations and even because it is nearby to the SkyPark air terminal.

I think if you are very sure about this MX-1, then it is time to also look through the nearby areas such as Kota Damandara, Sri Damansara, and Damansara Damai. At this moment these are still considered on the medium to lower end or also known as secondary choices compared to Mutiara Damansara. Of course there are a few developers which has started to come into the picture and price new offerings higher in the Damansara Damai area but everything would only be serious after more announcements are made for MX-1. Otherwise, life goes on as usual. My friend declared the other day that my place is considered far away from ‘happening’ compared to his place in Mutiara Damansara. Amazing thing is, today he sent me an article about MRCB’s win and said, ‘bro, I want to buy MX-1’. I showed him the map and I laughed. He laughed too.

written on 1 July 2014

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My 2014 wish for property market

After reading through so many articles, especially The Edge which their last issues focus was on how tough 2014 may become, I was a little affected. However, I found many good news too. It seems that in November in Singapore, 95% of whatever was newly launched was SOLD! It mentioned a few points which I mentioned before in earlier articles. ‘the right price still sells’, ‘market it right’. I heard on the radio too the the US economy is showing very positive signs. As for Iskandar, Medini is still exempted from any of the cooling measures announced.

For 2014, following are my few wishes:

1) Developers be more responsible. Should stop bulk selling because housing is a need. Should not be a fast money generating machine. If every development sells fast but by bulk, sooner or later, no one can afford to buy your new properties anyway.

2) Governments, both state and federal to really set KPIs for the building of affordable homes. Set a target, follow it and report it quarterly basis. The people who needs affordable properties would be looking very closely. If none are built even after so many years of announcement, it’s time to let them hear your comments.

3) HBA to stop blaming developers all the time. There are many good things which HBA is needed but fighting the developers will not make houses cheaper, that’s for sure. How about identifying potential pieces of idle/unused land parcels and lobbying the government to use the land for affordable housing and at the same time, work with some developers who can come up with great plans on maximising that piece of land? Think Win-Win-Win for all parties.

4) REHDA to stop saying all the time at every press conference that property prices will continue to go up. This also affects the mind of sellers who continues to want to sell ever higher, thus contributing further to ‘too fast’ rise in property prices. Surely there are a lot of REHDA members who focusses on affordable segment. Why not see if you can negotiate for better incentives for these developers?

5) Buyers like me, really think, study, rethink and do more homework before buying. This allows me to buy properties which are more ‘valuable’ instead of high priced ones and ensures I do not buy from sellers who priced their properties too high. It also allows me to understand if I drive just 10 minutes more, the prices may actually be up 30% cheaper! E.g (Mutiara Damansara vs Damansara Damai or in Penang, it would be Queensbay area vs Sungai Ara)

6) Banks, well, just be as competitive as possible with your rates. The lower the better. 🙂

Happen or not, I do not know but there’s my little wishes for 2014.  HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

written on 30 Dec 2014.

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My AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccination experience and what to expect during the process

22nd May 2021 (Saturday) at 1030am, I was ‘cucukbyAZ’ or in English, I got jabbed with AZ vaccine. It was my first dose.  Why did I chose AZ despite all those ‘viral news?’ I repeat. The UK has the MOST number of people jabbed with AZ and they have reopened even their pubs last weekend. Okay I am also biased because I am UK graduate too. So, I am definitely on UK’s side when it comes to vaccines too.

If you do not get it still, it’s okay. Please wait for Sinovac or Pfizer. No one is forcing you and because everyone sent so many negative viral messages, that’s how I got to be able to register for my AZ. So, I benefited. I mean, 280,000 other people also benefited too. Remember, if you like to register for the second phase of AstraZeneca, it will be open for seniors starting 23rd at noon. Website is here:
https://www.vaksincovid.gov.my/
  Now, what has happened to me and what to expect if we are going for our jab soon at World Trade Centre, KL.

First 5 Hours

Let me tell you what has happened after 4 hours. That would be towards the end of the article but since I am still able to write this article… Below would be a guide if you are also someone going for a jab soon in World Trade Centre, KL.

How early do we need to be there? What must we be aware of?

I arrived in the car park at 835am. My session is supposed to start at 9am. I was still in time and was in Station 3 before 9am. The traffic was also very smooth too. So, if we use google map, get to know the driving duration and arrive 20-30 minutes earlier and it would be good enough.  We need to be aware of the Station we are supposed to go to. The detail is in the MySejahtera App. Image as below:

Where to park the car? Is it easy?

I chose to drive. I went down the basement car park. You may use your credit card for entry as well, does not need to be TouchNGo. There were many available car parking slots. When my friend arrived at 1030am, there were still a lot of available space probably because people come in, get jabbed and left. Thus, the car park continues to be available.

Car Park to the Vaccination Centre?

Just walk and you will see the signboards pointing to the right direction. As soon as you are out of the car park, there are already people whom you could ask how to go to your ‘station.’ Whether it’s station 1,2 or 3, there are just side by side but all are different entrances.

 How does the entrance to the stations look like?

There is This is entrance to station 3 but station 2 and 1 is just beside. You will go in from different entrance. Just need to ask any staff / police officer who will point you to the right place.

Queuing up inside Station 3

It’s comfortable. There are lines on the floor and we have many RELA members who are helping. Aircon’s cold. It gets even colder at the very end during the observation room. For guys, I think it’s okay. For ladies, it’s best to wear a jacket.

Queuing inside the hall just before the AZ jab.

(Bring a PEN if you could, else you can get one here)

When we reach this hall, we get to be seated while waiting for our numbers to be called. Seats are comfortable lah. Those typical convention hall cushioned seats. Here, we would be asked to fill up the forms. On the forms, we would also have our queue number for the jab. My number is 1106. So, I am the 106th person to be jabbed today under Station 3.

The staffs would provide step by step guidance even though it’s a simple form of just one page. It’s just a few ticks and a signature. There are two copies of which one copy will be given back to us at the end. You can get a pen from the staffs if you did not bring one. As for whether it’s infected, do note that everyone has put on lots of sanitizers before they touch the pen and I do think it’s safe enough. Just do not go and put the pen in your mouth… (Oh yeah… you have your mask on…)

Before you get jabbed

Before you get into the hall where they register you just before the jab, you will be registered. This is where they reconfirm your mobile phone number, your IC and a few other details.

Once registered, next is a short briefing by a staff. I was told that there is no such thing as totally protected after getting vaccinated. However, even if we get COVID-19 infection, the effects from this infection is likely to be much milder than if we got it without vaccination.

The staff also told me that it’s important to monitor if we feel uncomfortable within 48 hours after the shot because most allergies happen during this time period. I would also be under observation for 15 to 30 minutes before I am allowed to leave after the jab. She said since I have had allergy before (I am allergic to ant bite), so I will be under 30 minute observation versus 15 minutes for usual people.

Is the jab painful? Should I be very scared?

I did not take photo of me being jabbed. I can tell you the jab was very mild and I did not feel it much. If I am to compare it to blood donation, then the blood donation is considered 1000x more painful. Was there some mild pain on the jab itself? A little. Was my arm feeling weak after the jab? No. Do I feel weak 5 hours later? No.

Observation stage

Here, everyone are seated and have to wait for 15 minutes or 30 minutes. Then, they will call your name and ask if you feel anything strange or pain or discomfort. If your answer is no, then you are free to leave. I guess if the answer is yes, they will you more questions.

Lots of boards to take photo with

Just outside the observation hall, there are a lot of those boards for you to take a photo to show the world that you have been vaccinated. So, there is no need to wait. There’s also no need to worry too much about handing your smartphone to someone else to help you. They would have sanitized their hands and you can also sanitize your hands and your phone right after that too. My photo? I took 3. Haha.

Nasi Lemak, Bihun Goreng, Coffee and more

Just after this hall where you take your photo, you will exit to the corridor and there’s a stall selling food and drinks. There were a few people buying but I did not as I was already thinking of eating nasi kandar for lunch. Walking back to the car park was also just minutes and I was soon on my way towards buying lunch for myself.

5 hours later?

It’s now 5 hours later. 330pm. Do I feel weaker? No. Do I have any headache? No. Do I feel any discomfort? No.  Do I start to have fever? No. What happens tomorrow? Well, I have no idea yet. Let me see what happens tomorrow yeah. Will report probably after 72 hours so that it’s more comprehensive and helpful. My wife will be taking her jab on 24th.

This is my experience thus far. Happy having your jab soon. To protect our loved ones, we must protect ourselves. By the way, NO side effects and vaccine NOT working is not the same side yeah. You are still protected. As per studies, more than half of everyone actually have no or very mild side effects. Happy understanding.

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My best friend and relatives will not cheat me lah. Agree with this statement?

Read the title again. Interesting thought, right? By the way, I trust a few of my close friends a lot. I know that when I am in trouble, they will help. At least that’s what I believe. Relatives? Well, depends on how close they are to me but I think if help needed, it’s going to come from them too. So, would our best friends and our relatives cheat us when it comes to money? Perhaps better to ask, would they deliberately try to cheat us.

A friend just told me that one whole group of friends were cheated by a common friend few months back. One lost so much money that she had to sell all her shares just to pay for the losses. Upon understanding the facts of the case, please do understand that your best friend and relatives may still cause you to lose money due to scams, even if they sincerely did not want to cheat you.

They were ALSO cheated.
After some time, when the attractive scheme has been exposed as an elaborate scam, the best friends will try to find their best friend. Their best friend will try his best to find the one who introduced the scam to him many months ago. Usual circumstances? The one at the top is nowhere to be found and everyone else who were not part of the initial group will lose all their money. The top few people for such a scam would have already escaped with all the money.

They also did not CHECK.
How do we check? Well, here’s the
Bank Negara Malaysia’s website for reference on all the identified companies and websites which unauthorised to take money from the public.
Secondly and actually much more important is this. What is the business about? If we do not understand, it is best to ask more questions.

They refused to see the signs and the science
. Returns are unbelieveable. What are the returns like? Monthly? 2% per month? That’s 24% per annum! If there are such businesses providing such returns, what are the chances it will be SHARED with you? Assuming you own a business which gives you 24% returns on your investment every year, why are you sharing it away? By the way, property developers’ margins are lower than even this 24% which is just 2% per month…(here’s an earlier article)

They also DID not know.
 A fool and his money soon parted? Truth is, fools banded together may still be cheated. A close friend may have started to “invest” into some schemes and has started to get monthly returns. Of course he will be very happy with this quick returns and he would want more of his friends to benefit. He will start to tell his best friends first, followed by his friends and then acquaintances.

Conclusion? Simple. Your best friend or your relatives MAY choose to cheat you. Or they may choose not to. Then again, they may not be serious in cheating you. They were also sucked into the sad circumstances and just like you, they may now be needing money for meals too. Stop blaming them or even the authorities for being so slow in identifying all these schemes which later are exposed to be scams.

Remember, when it was still a scheme, NO ONE reports this to the authorities because they got returns every month… They were using those returns for vacations, for new hand bags and more. Who would want the exceptional returns to stop? Well, when the money stops, the happiness are gone too. Once everyone knows that it has become a scam, it’s already too late for everyone. INVESTMENT? It’s usually a slow and steady process over many years and many reading and understanding. Jumping into anything at all is not called investing. It’s called gambling. Happy understanding.

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My condo is LOW DENSITY – are you sure?

This is a very interesting topic. In fact, most recently two friends were debating about the condos that they were buying. A said, ‘It’s not worth paying so much for a HIGH DENSITY condo and the developer brand premium. Mine is almost same price but it is low density and I do not need to pay premium for the developer brand. That’s the best for me.’ My close friend, H said it is ok, as long as you like it, just buy it. We are not competing for the same unit anyway.

Let’s discuss on the topic of low density today. How do you define low density? Lesser units per floor? By lesser, do you mean 4 units? 6 units? 8 units? Of course, 10 units and above should be high density? How about the levels? Over 20 floors? 30 floors? 40 floors? Total number of units. Do you say 200 units? 300 units? 600 units?

If the developer tells you that their condo is LOW density but then they tell you that you are given just one car park or that some units have two and some units have one. As at beginning of 2013, every condo launching that I know of and costs minimum RM500,000 or more from most developers whether in Penang or Klang Valley already include TWO (2) car parks as standard. For those without, think deeper why.

If the developer tells you their condo is low density because they only have 250 units, ask them why they are building just ONE (1) block, why not build two blocks and make the place lower density? Then, at least per block, it is now only 125 units? If it is because there is no land space available for two blocks, do you now know why?

If the developer tells you their condo is low density but their facilities needs many floors, say 3 floors or even 2 floors and all around the condo, there is no space to build any of the other facilities, think carefully, why? FYI, some condos are so short of space that the car parks consists of first 6-8 floors before the ground floor of the condo starts. Think, why.

Many times, when you go to a so called ‘High Density’ condo, for example, Regency Heights, Penang (500 plus units), you would notice that the corridors are wide, airy and not at all dark. Reason being there’s space in between units for the sun light to come in. Normally this requires bigger land area compared to one long block of 8 units  The units in the middle will feel a little dark, void of natural wind and definitely do not feel spacious. Driving into the project, everyone says, wow, huge place. Lots of places for trees, plants, wooden seats here and there and more. For these high density projects, there would be much more facilities and yet the maintenance fee is lower or the same as a low density condo.

Hope you understand, if you want to buy a certain condo because you just like the location because it is near to your parent’s house or you must buy that location, then just say you love the location. You can even say you love the interior design or even the fact that the developer is your favourite for no special reason. However, think twice before you say, it’s low density because it may not be true. Low density versus high density, think carefully. Based on the price and advantages, I’d choose High Density anytime if the reasons for your low density is above.

Written on 8 April 2014

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My favourite store, IKEA. Whether or not I am renovating.

Has anyone who’s renovating their new home NEVER visited IKEA? Even if not buying actual stuffs, for the inspiration? I have not bought many things from IKEA. I feel that some of the items are really expensive and there are cheaper options. However, I bought a sofa bed recently and I can safely say that I am impressed with the quality thus far. My parents agree, my in-laws agree and even my friends agreed too. All of them have slept on it before when they stayed over at my new home. The mattress is firm enough and the body is sturdy too. Besides that, all those tiny little stuffs including a stainless steel pot which has become a favourite to my wife as our last one was just too flimsy.

If you have no visited IKEA for a few weeks due to their renovation, it’s time to visit them again. they are now renewed! In fact according to them, now they have more localised products to cater to the local market. I am not sure if that’s a good thing but hey if IKEA can make that decision, perhaps they have thought of it before. I always feel the thing really cool about IKEA is that when you use IKEA items it makes you ‘European’. Haha. Today, IKEA has 51 room sets and three home designs that is reflective of the average Malaysian home size. In fact according to their Ikea Damansara Store Manager, all the new changes were taken from a study commissioned way back in 2012. It was to obtain insights into the real life situation of Malaysians to cater better to their needs.

There has been many copycat stores and some of them are actually pretty impressive. However, for those really impressive, the prices they charge are typically almost the same if not higher than IKEA and thus when that happens, I would still rather buy it in IKEA. Don’t forget, IKEA serves those delicious Swedish meatballs too! Also, nowadays you can find the similar stuffs IKEA sells outside too, talk about internationalisation. I visit IKEA stores many times every year, even when I am not renovating but just love to touch and feel some of the stuffs. Relaxes the mind and these days, I roams it with my baby daughter and my wife too. That’s called free entertainment.

Oh yeah, another new IKEA is going to open by 2020 in Batu Kawan Penang. I think Penangites are looking forward to it. I have many friends who drove all the way to Ikea Damansara, buys stuffs and drives it back to Penang! Yes, they are this crazy and I do not have just one but many of these ‘IKEA die-hard’ fans. For those who has yet to visit, time to visit. Perhaps we can arrange for a cup of coffee there too. Haha. Coffee is free refill anyway the last time I was there.

written on 14 Aug 2014

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My first condo buy – Regency Heights

A close friend who’s a senior management in a US multinational said, ‘It’s not a good time to buy property now, I heard many people said the bubble will burst soon. I will wait until the price comes down and then I will buy’. I just smiled. By the way that was 6 years ago. I am not saying that prices would never come down. However, if you have done your homework right, you buy.

When I bought my first condo in Penang many years back in Sungai Ara, many friends gave me the ‘why’ look. Reason being in Penang, if you do not buy in places like Gelugor, Greenlane, Sungai Dua, Tg. Tokong area, there’s something wrong with you. Today, the same property has appreciated so much that some of those friends said, ‘aiya, I should have bought too’.

Let me tell you why I buy my first property. First reason, it was just RM196 psf (2 car parks). At the same time, properties in the Greenlane was already inching towards RM300 psf then. Second reason, I wanted a bigger place for upgrade. Remember, when you intend to upgrade, you will definitely be willing to pay more compared to your first home. Thus, a 700sf apartment will always attract first timers and thus price may remain low or rise slowly. Third reason, the gut feeling. My wife and I loved the design, loved the place and loved the proposed facilities. I checked the developer and found out that it was a huge public listed company. Nevertheless, after some calculation, we decided against it until few weeks later when we brought our parents to view the condo. They loved it too! We bought it.

After staying there for 6 years, I will be selling the condo. I am now based in KL and does not need a Penang condo. More reasons but if you have 3 strong ones, I think you should make the decision.

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My first condo buy (updated)

I was asked this question many years ago and I am still asked this same question today. Why did I buy my first condo? What attracted me so much that I decided to buy? What was the question lingering in my mind which made me make my decision only after 1 month? For those who are buying their first property, especially a condo, what would be some helpful considerations? How did I do my risk management, if it does not work out?

When I bought my first condo in Penang many years back in Sungai Ara, many friends gave me the ‘why’ look. Reason being in Penang, if you do not buy in places like Gelugor, Greenlane, Sungai Dua, Tg. Tokong area, there’s something wrong with you. I did not really care too much because personally I like Sungai Ara and I bought my condo due to the few reasons below.

Cost psf, objectively. It was RM196 psf, for a condo with a Balinese style theme which was the rage then. Of course the cost of land then was much lower. Sungai Ara was not exactly the type of place which is chased by a lot of people. Equivalent in Klang Valley? I’d say, Damansara Damai? Or even Kajang or even Sungai Long. the difference is that Penang is still an island. Of course today, what you may want to look for would be value to buy. I’d think value to buy would be anything RM300 psf and below. (Secondary market only). There are not many around, I know but there are definitely still some today.

Everyone loved it. Your gut feeling may be right but when everyone you brought to see the property loves it, then it should be a good decision. I think when you buy, why not get a second opinion. Not those who owns no property. Not those who loves the opposite type of properties that you like. Bring those who has experience in buying properties before and are your close friends. Chances are they may be able to be more objective than you because sometimes when you love something you may just forget about objective judgement.

Potential. The question remains, but before it is fully developed or buy when it is developing? When I bought into Sungai Ara, shops were not that many. However, I could many rows of shop houses being built and the developer is a very reputable one. The whole development belongs to them. That was how I could tell potential is there because the developer cannot be stopping if they still have lands there. Today, there are clinics, specialty restaurants and even a bank! FYI, banks will only open in places where the population can support its existence in terms of ROI.

With these three reasons, you have just managed your risk of buying that particular property. There will always be risk. Even if you put your FD in bank, how do you know that particular bank would not collapse? Robbers may take your money if you have kept it under your bed. So, managing it becomes important and these are the few reasons for my first condo buy.

updated on 2 March 2014

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My First Home – KL Edition 3.0 Full Day Seminar

First, it’s important to invest. Second, it does not have to be property related. Third, investment should be based on an informed decision which is
supported by knowledge
. If it’s property that you are looking for, readon. Humour of the day. Market is good, too expensive to buy. Market is slow, wait before buy. Market is bad, don’t dare to buy. Truth is, if we have no intention to buy, any market does not matter. However, is this is what we really want? Well, if we have intention to buy, it’s extremely important not to buy the wrong one. Most of the time, the first property would either start our real estate adventure or set us back many years!
Here’s one seminar you can attend for free.

Whenever I visit any property fair, I always sit down to listen to the talks arranged by the organiser. Learning has no ends and listening to different speakers would mean different perspectives. Who knows, one may be very relevant to what you intend to do? Some speakers would tell you that primary properties are best for first-time buyers due to the many incentives today. Some would
recommend secondary instead
 since there are undervalued ones and you can start staying in your own home instead of paying rental. Honestly, I have bought both primary and secondary properties. It does not really matter! Just choose the one you are most comfortable with.

Do drop by an upcoming one day seminar to learn from four really popular property experts who are full-time sought-after speakers. They include Chris Tan, a lawyer whom I recommend very much as it is easy to understand and digest. Miichael Yeoh who will basically share how to have the highest chance to get your loans approved. Ishamel Ho who’s the CEO of Ho Chin Soon Research. We also have the Personal Finance guru, KC Lau. The fifth speaker is Charles Tan (yes, that’s me). He is working full-time and property investment is just a part-time interest. Details as follows:

Date: 24th September 2016 (Saturday)

Time: 9 – 6pm

Venue: Wisma MCA, KL.

Entrance fee:
FREE, but registration is required.

See you there.

written on 23 Aug 2016

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