Transition Period

26th February 2012
It has been a smooth sailing for us all who is living in Vista Bay Apartment and for the past 2 and a half year, we have been living in a calm and mindful environment, to most, it's called home.

And for this past 2 1/2 hear, the Joint Management Committee has done all within it's power to protect and maintain the health of this building be it from outside source or within. AGM, Annual General Meeting has just past and collectively, we manage to pass a few resolutions and this of course, are agreed by all residents.
We are glad with the great turn out and  we do hope this kind of support will continue as we are not doing for ourselves only but for all of us, who called this place home.

One of the topic I want to point out during this meeting is that, we are basically on a transition, a transition of the view, wisdom and opinion of the people handling the place. As of now, the Chairman of the Joint Management Committee has decided to give way due to unforeseen reason and this has paved way to a new blood to lead the management after more than 2 years in helm.

Vista Bay Apartment Strata Title

17th January 2012
With great pleasure to announce that the residents of Vista Bay Apartment would be able to collect their Strata Title to their respective unit.

With this, we would strongly advise all of the owners to make the transfer without delay and according to the New Strata Title Act (Amendment) 2007, the owner maybe liable to penalty of minimum of RM1000 to a maximum of RM10000 by the relevant Authority for not effecting the said Transfer without delay.

Also to take note that a storage/admin charge of RM50 per month will be charged to the owner's account commencing 1st June 2012 for the safe keeping of the original Strata Title.

For the purpose of collecting the Strata Title, owners would need to prepare the following document:

a) The relevant pages of the stamped copy of Sale and Purchase Agreement
b) Purchaser's Mykad
c) The current loan/security documentation (Letter of offer/Facilities Agreement) of the current financier.

One last thing to bear in mind, the transfer will only take place if the owners are not in arrears of any payment to the Joint Management Board or Cendana Realty Sdn Bhd.

Thanks

2012: End of the World

3rd January 2012
On Dec. 21, 2012, many doomsday believers fear the apocalypse — anything from a rogue planet smashing into us to our world spinning end over end. However, the world should expect nothing more next year than the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, NASA says.

So, before you guys decided to go out and spend all your belongings as well as to go out to commit any crime or anything bad that your heart desires but not willing to do till now,..........better think twice.

Many people point to the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar on Dec. 21, 2012 as evidence of the coming apocalypse, but astronomers have been quick to stress that there is nothing to be concerned about.

Logos Hope

3rd September 2011
Logos Hope was purchased in 2004. The ship's gross tonnage is three times that of Logos II, the ship it replaces. The extra space gives visitors the opportunity to choose from a wider range of activities and will allow for more crewmembers to serve on board. Logos Hopeis OM Ships International's largest ship.

After going through a complete renovation to transform her from a ferry into the ship she is today, Logos Hopelaunched into active service in February 2009.

The ship is operated on behalf of OM Ships International by GBA Ships e.V., a private, non-profit, charitable organisation registered in Germany.

Enough on the small facts.

The ship will be here from 18th August 2011 till 27th September 2011 before moving on to the next destination which is in Port Klang, Kuching then Kota Kinabalu.

They are open from 10.00am till 10.00pm Tuesday to Saturday, 1.00pm to 10.00pm on Sundays and close on Monday.

Rove Beetle - They are Back!!!

28th August 2011
The Rove Beetle is less than 1 cm long. The body is dark orange and the tip of the abdomen, the upper abdomen and the head are black. The upper middle iridescent greenish region of the abdomen are the hard wings (elytra). A pair of transparent wings are neatly folded and hidden under the hard wings. During daytime, the beetle will be seen crawling around swiftly with hidden wings resembling ants. When disturbed it raises the abdomen in a threatening gesture like a scorpion and can fly away. It can also run on water swiftly!

Ecology
Rove beetles are known from every type of habitat that beetles occur in, and their diets include just about everything except the living tissues of higher plants. Most rove beetles are predators of insects and other kinds of invertebrates, living in forest leaf litter and similar kinds of decaying plant matter. They are also commonly found under stones, and around freshwater margins.
Although rove beetles' appetites for other insects would seem to make them obvious candidates for biological control of pests, and empirically they are believed to be important controls in the wild, experiments with using them have not been notably successful. Greater success is seen with those species (genus Aleochara) that are parasitoids.

Vista Bay Apartment Sold Out

5th April 2011
Good news to everyone or at least to resident of Vista Bay Apartment. Seems our place still can be considered a hot property as shown by the Sold Out of each unit in the block. Meaning there is no more first hand buyer will be added to our list and from now on, only sub-sale (second hand unit) units will only be available.

I strongly believe that the value of our place will still proceed to climb as long as we can maintain our place as great as possible.

Have a great day ahead.

Telaga Emas - Update

4th April 2011
Regarding the work which is being carried out right now by AIRMAS Sdn Bhd on Vista Bay building, they have set a dateline in making appointments with the house owner and the date is as following:

9th April 2011 (Saturday)

This has been correspond to us by their representative.
For those who has not make appointment with them due to heavy commitments, please make this a top priority.

Thanks and have a great day.

Telaga Emas - Update

1st April 2011
Good news to all of the residents in Vista Bay Apartment....... and I can assure you that this is not an April Fool's news. We receive a letter from MPSP yesterday as we are part of the recipient but the letter was actually intended for the AIRMAS Contractor beside.

Anyway, the letter was a feedback letter from MPSP to Saujana Desa Bina Sdn Bhd regarding their request to prolong their working time from existing 9.00am till 6.00pm from Monday to Saturday to add 1 hour at each end with the option of working on Sunday as well. This of course was turned down by us immediately as this would definitely effect our daily routine with the need to bear all the noise pollution coming from their side. Bear in mind that their project is about 50 feet away from our building only.

Earth Hour 2011

19th March 2011
Earth Hour is back and I'm assuming you guys do understand the meaning behind it. For those who does not know the meaning to it then do go through the statement below:

"Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries/territories participating. Global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

Queen Elizabeth Cruise Coming To Town

18th March 2011
One of the three Cunard Queens, The Queen Elizabeth or known as QE will be docking Penang Swettenham Pier International Cruise Terminal on the 21st March 2011, from 8am to 5pm.  The arrival of cruise brings revenues as the passengers visit local tourism destinations, eat in Penang, and shop in Penang.  Over 2,000 passengers are expected to land on Penang shore and enjoy their day tour here in the George Town Heritage City.

Penang is proud to be one of the destinations of the QE Maiden World Voyage.  The Penang State government welcomes the cruise visit with a warm reception by lion dance and traditional cultural dance.  The rich heritage and cultures offered by George Town, the UNESCO world heritage site surely amaze the visitors.

Queen Mary 2 being the lead ship, followed by Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth or known as QE is the newest pride of the fleet. Being a sister ship to Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth has a capacity of 2,090 guests, with 12 passenger decks, specialty restaurants and bars, Wi-Fi, pools, casino, fitness classes & gym, spa, library and more.  QE has up to 1000 crews to provide impeccable service to over 2000 guests on the cruise.

Biggest Moon

18th March 2011
If the moon looks a little bit bigger and brighter this weekend, there's a reason for that. It is.


Saturday's full moon will be a super "perigee moon" -- the biggest in almost 20 years. This celestial event is far rarer than the famed blue moon, which happens once about every two-and-a-half years.


The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993 and I would say its worth a look.
Full moons look different because of the elliptical shape of the moon's orbit. When it's at perigee, the moon is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to Earth than when it's at the farthest point of its orbit, also known as apogee.


Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the moon's orbit.
This full moon will rise in the east at sunset and should look especially big at that time because of what's known as the "moon illusion."


For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects.
Even though it may look close enough to touch, Saturday's full moon will still be at a healthy distance -- some 211,600 miles (356,577 km) away.


Those who wants to take picture of the moon, this would be the time. So, all photographers out there, take note.


As rare as it is, it may be worth a look. Miss it and you'll have to wait until 2029 to see it again.


**Source: Nasa

McDonald Free Breakfast

17th March 2011
Free McDonald Breakfast is real. There has been this email circulating around regarding this promotion coming out from the giant fast food company. To tell you the truth, I was skeptical at first about this promotion as i have seen many false underlying promotion before.

Anyhow, this news seems to be true when I see people queuing up at this fast food outlet on a daily basis after this promotion starts to appear in email. The queue can be seen stretch 10 cars long for the drive through and about more the 20 people lining up in 3 lines inside the restaurant itself.

Just for your information, you can just print out the free coupon below either in black in white or even colored coupons. With any purchased of RM5 and above, you will be entitled to get yourself 2 set of McDonald breakfast which to me, are quite large and able to feast by 4 people. Do bear in mind that this promotion only for McDonald Breakfast period which covers from 4.00am till 11.00am.

Do enjoy...!!!

New Security Guard

15th March 2011
Today mark the first day of our new security guard change. Starting at 7.00pm, we have change our security guard company, Metro, to a new one due to many reasons.
One of the biggest reason was due to irresponsible guards that were stationed at our place. They would normally be seen sleeping at working hour and at times, even reporting to work drunk. This basically proves to be vital in our decision to change the company itself and now, we have a new one which will start today at 7.00pm shift.
We will still remain with the same number of guards per shift. We as residents of Vista Bay, are responsible of their behavior and therefore, if we see that they are slacking in their daily routine, do advise them on this matter.
Bear in mind that we are their employer and everyone of us should play our part in maintaining the security level at our place.

Telaga Emas - Updates

22nd July 2010
Here we go again for another round of update on our Nemesis, Telaga Emas. It's not that we hate them for having development at the side of our building but then, having a tall building being built at the side after most of us have move in is just .............is just......... not comforting at all. If they are building low-rise building or even shop lots, we don't have any qualms about it but, a 11 storeys tall building......?...........just unacceptable......!!!!
Anyway, what we can say is that we won't go down without fighting of course. We will fight till the end, using every option available to us.

So, what is the update you may ask.

Great Gifts, Guaranteed

20th July 2010
Guaranteed gifts are back and this time, the gifts are more interesting then before. Before I proceed any further, I just would like to clarify one thing, I'm not representing Standard Chartered bank in promoting any of their products or services, but just that I'm sharing with you guys what a great bargain that they are offering, from my point of view that is.

This type of bargain actually came around before, about half year back and I was really sceptical then about this as they mention guaranteed gifts which makes my eyes peel even bigger. There are sure hidden agenda that might trouble you in getting what they are offering. After digging deeper into their terms and condition, I discover only one set back to it, which is the amount you need to spend in order to get a grab of the gifts, and that's about it.

This promotion actually open to everyone who is using the Standard Chartered card, regardless what type it is. It is divided into 2 categories:- (1) Spending between RM2,500 and RM4999.99 (2) Spending RM5000 and above.

BlockBuster Deals from Streamyx

10th April 2010

For you guys who is using streamyx or any Telekom product phone package, do take a look into their new promotion which i think is something of a good bargain.

They only launch it last month that goes by the name of BlockBuster Deals.

Its basically cover voice plans as well as Broaddband packages.

It has been been separated into 2 groups which are the Broadband and Voice Deals and also the Voice Deals.

News Flash - Strata Title

29th March 2009
HOMEOWNERS of properties without individual titles are in limbo. Most of them are apartment and condominium owners, whose numbers run into hundreds of thousands.

According to the National House Buyers Association’s website www.hba.org.com, more than 29 per cent of the approximately 30,000 complaints made each year to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government against developers relate to their failure to issue buyers with individual strata titles.

This figure is set to break the 30 per cent barrier this year. Failure to provide the buyer with the basic document of ownership, the elusive strata title, has become a disgrace in the administration of land matters, especially since it has been 22 years since the Strata Title Act 1985 was passed.

Without the strata title, homeowners face substantial problems and added costs in the use and enjoyment of their property.

For starters, they can be held to ransom by unscrupulous developers who choose to profiteer from service and maintenance charges and misuse sinking fund money while providing shoddy services.

Recently, homeowners have complained about this. They also face unjustifiable increases in charges when trying to sell their property when it does not have a strata title, as some developers have been known to demand unreasonable administrative charges and legal fees for "vetting the documents".

More serious, however, are the increased water and electricity rates these homeowners face because they lack an effective body to negotiate with the utility providers on the basis for charges.

The overall lack of transparency in many management companies and breaches of the Housing Developer (Control And Licensing) Act 1966, which requires them to give owners audited accounts, has made the situation intolerable.

It appears that the promises of the glossy advertising brochures have long since been forgotten, after the bitterness of the reality of high-rise property ownership sinks in.

In several cases, the developer’s management company or agent have misused even the sinking fund money, sold off car parks and spent the money allocated for the strata titles for other purposes.

Some developers and their management companies have also gone into liquidation, leaving the homeowners stranded and having to deal with a large number of creditors.

In the past, even electricity and water supply have been cut to apartments because the developer’s management company was unable to pay the electricity bills, even though responsible owners had been promptly paying their charges.

In short, the situation is an absolute mess. Under the present law, until the strata title has been issued, a homeowner’s management corporation cannot be formed and so homeowners cannot effectively deal with these problems.

In fairness, there are some responsible developers who have done a good job, but the present number of complaints suggests the problem is serious.

Despite a 22-year-old law that ma- kes it mandatory for a developer to apply for strata titles within six months of the sale and purchase agreement, the strata title remains the elusive holy grail of high-rise ownership. There appears to be no effective enforcement against offenders of the Strata Titles Act 1985, and impotence on the part of some to make these errant developers accountable.

In addition to prosecution under the Act by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the blacklisting of errant developers and their directors by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, money in the housing developers’ accounts for the project should also be seized to cover the cost of the strata titles if, after six months, no proper application is made.

Unless there is genuine will to protect the public, the recent 2006 amendment to the Strata Titles Act 1985, which, among others, increases the penalties against the developer, will fail and it will just be a case of "all bark and no bite".

No doubt the 2006 amendment to the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act 1966, which links the final 2.5 per cent of the purchase price to the issuance of strata title, will help homebuyers of new projects.

But for the rest, the nightmare continues with the hope that the new Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2006, once implemented, will lead homeowners to the "promised land".

The management of apartments and condominiums is very profitable, especially if there is no transparency and accountability. Although Section 21 of the Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act 1981 prohibits a developer from charging property management fees, some developers have resorted to innovative ways to "milk the cow".

Some of the techniques used are denying access to accounts, charging large directors’ fees, engaging service providers at inflated prices, selling car parks allocated for the public and, in some cases, building on, leasing out and using the common property for private benefit. In cases of commercial property, the whole issue of income from parking charges needs to be looked at.

Many of these actions may violate the law and some may constitute criminal offences under the Penal Code, such as cheating and criminal breach of trust. However, there must be a will to enforce the law.

What homeowners should do, once the new management corporation is formed under the Strata Titles Act or empowered under the Building and Common Properties Act 2006, is to immediately commission a forensic audit of all accounts inherited from the previous management, if the accounts warrant such treatment.

They must make sure that when they take over, everything is fully disclosed and transparent because, in some instances, they end up with a serious cash-flow deficit.

The simplest solution to the strata titles problem, and a solution to most of the homeowners’ complaints, is to make mandatory the 10/90 model for the sale of property governed by the Housing Developers Act 1966.

This means unless the strata title is registered in the name of the buyer, the developer will not be entitled to the balance purchase price. This is quite normal when property with an individual title is bought and sold.

However, there are a lot of "lame duck" excuses as to why this cannot be mandatory, even though most people conduct business on the basis that full payment is made after the job is completed.

It is a joke that when a person has paid the full purchase price for his property, he has not got the strata title after 10 years.

It remains to be seen how effective the amendments and new laws will be in solving this problem. If they don’t work, then the 10/90 model must be made mandatory. Until then, caveat emptor (buyer beware).

Source: Derek Fernandez