Law must make strata watchdogs act

ation: Liu Rui/GT -    

DeepSeek | 深度求索  

  PETALING JAYA: From run-down facilities and dirty walkways to allegations of misused management funds, the issue of poor property and building management continues to plague stratified homes in Malaysia.

With the government now mulling changes to property and building management laws, stakeholders say the focus should be on improving enforcement by the commissioner of buildings (CoB).

The new laws must improve and mandate the CoB to enforce laws under the Strata Management Act (SMA) 2013, said Datuk Theng Book, chairman of the Strata Owners Association Malaysia.

“There’s been a serious lack of enforcement by CoBs. In most cases, they will pass the buck back to management bodies.

“Management corporations (MCs) and joint management committees (JMCs) do not have the authority to enforce the laws,” he said.

This then usually leads to long-drawn-out and expensive civil court cases, he said.

Theng said the new laws must also clarify how MCs or JMCs can use maintenance funds, and standardise maintenance fee rates in the growing trend of mixed development stratified projects.

“The maintenance fee rates for residential and commercial tenants can vary wildly from project to project,” he said.

Michelle Lai, director of property management company Auntie Michelle Resources (M) Sdn Bhd, says the problem is also due to a lack of standardised enforcement and training in the industry.

“There is no consistency as different management offices enforce different rules which leads to confusion, especially for owners and investors who have units in different buildings,” said Lai.

“Many JMCs are not professionally trained and lack the capacity to manage buildings properly.”

She added that new laws should have CoBs demanding greater accountability and professionalism from JMCs and MCs.

“CoBs can perform regular transparent audits of management bodies and set clear enforcement standard operating procedures.

“They should also conduct perio­dic on-site inspections to assess building safety, especially for ageing properties.

“In addition, there must be a mandatory guideline for sche­duled refurbishment and main­tenance of property,” she added.

Malaysian Institute of Property and Facility Managers president Ishak Ismail said any new pro­perty management laws must provide more enforcement mechanisms for management bodies.

On Tuesday, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming announced that new laws may be formulated to overcome the issue of poor management of stratified homes.

He said there was a shortage of licensed property management firms in Malaysia, with only 594 licensed firms serving 26,334 strata schemes or 2.9 million units of Malaysian strata properties.

This has led to a rise in unlicensed and unqualified property managers

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America First’ cannot deprive other nations of development rights

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT -    

DeepSeek | 深度求索

On Wednesday, the US implemented higher tariffs on nearly 60 trade partners, including a 104 percent tariff on goods from China. This is undoubtedly a serious provocation to the world trade system and a direct blow to the stability of global industrial supply chains. In response, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson stated that the Chinese people's legitimate right to development cannot be deprived, and China's sovereignty, security and development interests are inviolable. On the same day, the Chinese government released the white paper, "China's Position on Some Issues Concerning China-US Economic, Trade Relations." The document points out that the rise of unilateralism and protectionism in the US has significantly impeded the course of normal economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. It criticizes the US for imposing trade restrictions, such as tariffs, under the banner of "America First." The US policy of unilateralism is not only a blatant infringement on the development rights of other nations but also a selfish and short-sighted approach that will ultimately backfire.

Development is a common pursuit of humanity and a fundamental right recognized by the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All countries and peoples should have equal rights to improve their economic and social conditions and raise the standard of living, with no hierarchy of priority. As the world's largest economy, the US has long benefited from the trade rules, yet when faced with its own structural economic issues, it chooses to shift the burden onto other countries. This is extremely selfish and irresponsible. The logic behind "America First" is rooted in unilateralism and power politics, attempting to reshape the rules of globalization through tariffs, technology blocks, and industrial decoupling. In essence, it is a crude violation and systematic deprivation of the universal development rights of all nations.

The most-favored-nation principle and bound tariffs commitments under the World Trade Organization (WTO) are cornerstones of the multilateral trading system that was initially led and shaped by the US. They also serve as crucial institutional safeguards for developing countries to achieve fair development rights. Multiple assessments have found that tariffs have dealt particularly heavy blows to developing countries, especially many of the least developed nations. Ensuring the stability and strong resilience of the supply chain is a necessary condition for the economic development of many countries, and foreign trade is an important way for a country to integrate into the process of globalization. However, the US is now preemptively setting up "gates" and "toll booths" along this path, even attempting to monopolize and manipulate other countries' development rights. This represents not only a regression in history, but also a betrayal of humanity's shared values.

The US unilateralism actions have already provoked widespread international countermeasures. Facing the unreasonable "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the US, China firmly retaliates. It announced the additional tariffs on products imported from the US to 84 percent, effective from 12:01 pm Thursday, fulfilling its promise to "continue to the end" and demonstrating its commitment to defending the multilateral trade system. On Wednesday, a majority of the EU's 27 member states voted in favor of the counter-tariffs of 25 percent to hit around 21 billion euros ($23.2 billion) of US goods in retaliation for the duties imposed by the US last month on EU's steel and aluminum exports. Canada also declared its retaliatory 25 percent tariffs on vehicles imported from the US starting Wednesday. It is evident that even traditional allies are unwilling to foot the bill for "America First." This growing divergence reveals a hard truth: An "America First" approach that undermines globalization won't gain broad recognition and support from the international community. It will only lead to deeper isolation for the US, and the decline of its international credibility and moral standing will be inevitable.

Washington fantasizes about reshaping the global economic landscape through enacting tariff barriers, yet it underestimates its own dependence on global supply chains and the resilience of other countries' economies. Ironically, the "America First" policy has primarily undermined the development rights of the American people. High tariff policies have led to increased costs for US imported raw materials, which not only fail to revitalize the manufacturing sector but also result in shrinking profits or even large-scale bankruptcy for small and medium-sized enterprises. A study by the US-China Business Council finds that in the three years following 2018, the US lost approximately 245,000 jobs due to the trade war. "America First" cannot take away the development rights of other countries; it can only become synonymous with "self-inflicted consequences."

What we need in today's world is justice, not hegemony. Justice means respecting the development rights of all countries and resolving differences through dialogue within the framework of the WTO. The US, under the guise of "reciprocity," is actually implementing an "America First" policy, which not only cannot deprive other countries of their development rights but also exposes the shortsightedness of unilateralism and highlights the necessity of global cooperation. By cooperating to counter the "America First" policy, which goes against the historical trend, as well as firmly opposing various unilateral actions that challenge international consensus, the international community can better uphold the fair development rights of all countries and truly achieve shared prosperity. - Global Times editorial

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Crypto ownership surges among youths

 

Modern method: Pedestrians on Orchard Road in Singapore. Among the older generation of crypto users, 42.9% of them use crypto for P2P transactions, followed by 35.7% for online shopping and 17.2% for bill payments. — Bloomberg

SINGAPORE: More people in Singapore own cryptocurrencies and younger users among them are leading the way in using the asset for daily financial needs, such as online shopping and bill payments, a new study shows.

The number of Singapore residents who own cryptocurrencies is on the rise, with 26% of them owning digital assets in 2024, up from 24.4% in 2023.

Of those who hold crypto, a majority, or 52% of them, have paid for goods and services with it, and 67% of them plan to increase usage of crypto for payments in the future.

Gen Zs and millennials, or those aged between 16 and 44 years old as at 2025, lead in crypto ownership, with about 40% of them holding crypto.

Of this group of people, 41.1% of them use crypto for online shopping, 35.9% for bill payments and 27% for in-store retail goods.

While younger consumers use crypto to pay for retail goods and bills, the older generation – those aged 45 or older in 2025 – uses crypto more for peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions such as those made between friends and family.

Among the older generation of crypto users, 42.9% of them use crypto for P2P transactions, followed by 35.7% for online shopping and 17.2% for bill payments.

These were some of the findings from the study by Singapore-based crypto payments firm Triple-A, based on a survey of 1,006 residents in Singapore.

Singapore has seen a notable increase in crypto payments, with merchant services receiving nearly US$1bil (S$1.3bil) in crypto in the second quarter of 2024, much higher than any other quarter in the past two years, according to data from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

A separate Chainalysis report in September 2024 noted a growing adoption of crypto as a payment method in Singapore.

“The combination of regulatory clarity and merchant adoption suggests that Singapore is positioning itself as a major hub for digital assets, which could eventually attract more global businesses and investors,” Chainalysis said.

AXS, in partnership with Triple-A, allows its app users to make top-ups or pay bills in digital currencies such as bitcoin, ethereum, USD coin and tether. Other merchants that have partnered Triple-A to offer the crypto payment option include fashion brand Charles & Keith on its eCommerce platform and Apple products reseller iStudio at its retail stores.

The findings from Triple-A also noted that 37% of respondents cited global acceptance as a key benefit of crypto payments.

Higher transaction speed (29%) and lower fees (20%) were also important factors, particularly for cross-border and time-sensitive transactions. But there are concerns about the crypto ecosystem.

The complexity involved in using crypto was the top challenge cited by 63% of respondents. For instance, users need to figure out the use of private keys, or passwords that allow them to access and manage their crypto funds.

Security concerns (60%) and lack of merchant acceptance (54%) were also factors of concern.

The crypto payments trend comes against a backdrop of a rising number of digital payment token (DPT) firms being licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), fuelling new roles in the growing Web3 industry.

Web3 companies are those that use blockchain technology to build products and services.

As at end-November 2024, MAS had issued a record 13 new DPT licences in 2024, raising the total number of DPT licensees from 16 to 29, a report from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs released in December 2024 said.

Despite a global slowdown in hiring with mass layoffs in 2024, more than 75% of local Web3 companies want to expand their workforce in 2025 as they continue developing products and services for global and regional markets.

This is according to a report led by the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA), Web3 business account platform HQ.xyz as well as Web3 builder communities SG Builders and Superteam, which conducted surveys and case studies with 53 Web3 companies.

Of these companies, 60% are looking to expand their current workforce by half or more, the report said.

SFA, which facilitates collaboration between market participants and stakeholders in the fintech ecosystem, told The Straits Times that the hiring plans are driven by growing institutional adoption, ongoing technology improvements in blockchain, and the expansion of applications for Web3 technology.

Moves that increased institutional adoption of digital assets include the US Securities and Exchange Commission approving the first US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds launched by Blackrock, Fidelity and others in January 2024.

A total of 2,433 individuals are currently employed in the local Web3 sector, excluding those working in Web3 roles in non-Web3 native firms.

These roles include those in partnerships, marketing strategy, and sales to help Web3 companies go to market with their solutions, said SFA.

Product managers as well as developers and software engineers are also key roles being hired.

“We also see jobs being created in the professional services sector that support Web3, which include legal, advisory, and consulting roles,” SFA said.

Companies also outlined what they hope to see improvements on as the acceptance of Web3 grows in Singapore. — The Straits Times/ANN

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