Mr Andrew Wong Fook Hin, a senior member of the Bar and the Chairman of the Bar Council’s Conveyancing Practice Committee conducted a talk entitled “Laws Governing Gated Communities” for the Malacca Bar on 23rd October 2008 at the Seri Costa Hotel. This is a topic of special interest especially to conveyancing lawyers, developers and home owners. With the rising incidence of burglary, robbery and theft, gated communities have become a popular trend in
Mr Andrew Wong gave an overview of what a Gated Community Scheme (GACOS) was as opposed to a Guarded Community and explained how GACOS operated under the Strata Titles (Amendment) Act 2007. He also explained what amounted to common property and the requirements of the Developer to form a Joint Management Body and the Management Corporation to regulate affairs of residents in such a scheme. He finally spoke of the laws relating to the payment of maintenance charges under the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 and the new Schedule Agreements prescribed under the Housing Development (Control & Licensing Regulations) which was amended on 1st December 2007.
34 members of the Bar, 11 pupils and attachment students, 3 MMU students and 4 members of the public attended the talk which was chaired by Mr Wong Fook Meng. There was a lively question and answer session at the end of the talk. In particular, a British couple who live in a guarded community in Malacca raised a number of interesting issues on gated community. They were most pleased to obtain some guidance and clarification from the speaker.
The Malacca Bar wishes to thank Mr Andrew Wong for delivering a most enlightening talk in an engaging manner.
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