Sunday, November 22, 2015

Platform for strata woes

The Sunday Star 
With All Due Respect by Roger Tan

On board: Senior lawyer Teh Yoke Hooi, the only woman president, receiving her letter of appointment from Dahlan, flanked by the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek and Norhayati.
With the Strata Management Tribunal, the myriad of related disputes should be effectively dealt with.  

ON July 9 this year, 20 lawyers received their letters of appointment as presidents of the Strata Management Tribunal from Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan. 

The much-awaited Strata Management Act, 2013 (Act 757), initiated by the previous minister, Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung, finally came into force on June 1, 2015, in the peninsula except for Penang which came into operation on June 12, 2015.

The Strata Management (Strata Management Tribunal) Regulations, 2015, came into effect on July 1, 2015. Act 757 also repealed the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act, 2007 (Act 663).

In fact, the tribunal is the precursor of the Strata Titles Board set up under the repealed provisions of the Strata Titles Act, 1985 (Act 318) which really did not take off despite Act 318 being amended on Dec 1, 2000, and again on April 12, 2007.

The tribunal’s headquarters is based in Putrajaya whilst offices have also been set up in Penang, Johor Baru and Kuala Terengganu (See table). The chairman of the tribunal is Norhayati Ahmad.

With more than three million Malaysians living in various stratified buildings, it is hoped that this tribunal will be an effective forum for the various stakeholders to settle their disputes.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

131 receive awards from King

Proud moment: The King
bestowing the Darjah 
Panglima Jasa Negara upon
Tan at the investiture ceremony
in Istana Negara. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, presented awards and medals to 131 people in conjunction with his birthday on June 6.

Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah was also present at the investiture held at Istana Negara here.

Heading the list of recipients yesterday was Education Services Commission chairman Tan Sri Dr Haili Dolhan, who received the Darjah Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM) award, which carries the title “Tan Sri”.

Among those who received the Panglima Jasa Negara award, which carries the title “Datuk” (PJN) were Roger Tan & Nurul senior partner Datuk Roger Tan Kor Mee.

Tan holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from Queen Mary College, University of London, and Master of Laws from the National University of Singapore.

He is currently a commissioner of the National Water Services Commission (SPAN) and president of the Strata Management Tribunal. — Bernama

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Mourning a great leader

The Sunday Star
Legally Speaking by Roger Tan 

IN MEMORY: Sunday Star columnist Roger Tan paying tribute to the late Singapore founding father Lee Kuan Yew in the condolence book at the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.
Spontaneous and emotional outpouring of grief by Singaporeans is indeed a testament to Lee Kuan Yew’s extraordinary achievement in creating a united nation out of a divided, polyglot, multi-racial and multi-religious population.

THE fact that today our Yang di-Pertuan Agong will represent Malaysia at Lee Kuan Yew’s funeral – an epochal event in the history of Singapore – speaks volumes of the island’s founding father as the greatest statesman in South-East Asia. 

In fact, President Richard Nixon held him up as a leader of similar stature as Winston Churchill. Most importantly, Lee was also instrumental in the formation of Malaysia and hence he and a generation of Singaporeans were once, albeit briefly, Malaysians between 1963 and 1965. 

Born on Sept 16, 1923, Lee read law at Cambridge University and obtained a starred double first and started practising as a lawyer in 1950 for almost a decade. As a legal assistant, he took up cases for trade unions, often on a pro bono basis. This undoubtedly helped him later to generate mass support for him when he became prime minister in 1959. 

Almost half a million Singaporeans have already turned up at Parliament House and the 18 community tribute sites to pay their last respects to the nonagenarian. Thousands more did not mind queuing for up to 10 hours the night before in order to reach the Parliament House where the body is lying in state. 

This spontaneous and emotional outpouring of grief by Singaporeans is indeed a testament to Lee’s extraordinary achievement in creating a united nation out of a divided, polyglot, multi-racial and multi-religious population. It is ironic that someone who had believed in Machiavelli, making him the most feared person in Singapore, is now someone who is most loved by his people. It is understandable that Singaporeans’ biggest regret is that their founding father would not be there on Aug 9 for their 50th national day celebrations. 

Lee was indeed a great leader in every sense of the word. He was humble enough to say sorry if he was wrong and if it was in the best interest of his county to do so. Hence, he had apologised to Malaysia a few times for some of his acerbic comments. 

He was also a first-class diplomat whose advice was often sought by leaders of superpowers even though he was just the head of “a little red dot” on the world map. 

Monday, February 9, 2015

Moderation is the key, says lawyer

The Star 
by Adrian Chan 
One for the album: Liow (right) posing with speakers at the forum (from left) Dr Tan Chong Tin, Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung, Tan, Tan Sri Dr Ghauth Jasmon, Prof Mohamad and Dr Chandra (front).
KUALA LUMPUR: Moderation is the key that opened the door to the formation of our Federal Constitution, says lawyer Roger Tan Kor Mee. 

“Our Constitution is moderate and balances the competing interests of the country’s various communities.

“If not for moderation, we would not have been able to put together a written constitution,” said Tan, who is also a columnist for The Star.

He said while the Constitution guaranteed many rights for the citizens, it also demanded that moderation be exercised with self-restraint, self-control and self-discipline.

“The thought of resorting to violence should never even cross the mind of anyone,” he said.

Tan added that in a moderate society, a person should be able to hold a rational discourse with his peers even on sensitive issues affecting his community.