A hole too big...

He meant what he said about digging up a trench to block the passageway. I really didn't expect he would go that far. It was a perfect excavation work, clearly the mark of a JCB. Bulk deliveries have not been made, well, at least through the usual way.

Ditch dug horizontally on the access road (Apple iPhone 4S)

I had posted earlier (read it here) about a person who claimed ownership of the adjacent land, demand a passing-through fee of RM6,000, and failing which a long ditch was promised to ensure blockade.

He fulfilled that promise.

You'd have to pay for the tractor to dig a hole. I wouldn't think he'd go this far. He clearly believes in the 'money makes money' principle (Apple iPhone 4s)!

Between our builder and us, we thought the amount exorbitant but the reluctance on the former's part to split the responsibility is part of the stumbling block. I shall not go into detail on this matter, suffice to state that the ball is now in our court awaiting the next maneuver.

My would-be neighbour visited the site one day and was shocked by what he had seen. I told him the story but he didn't think that a true land owner would behave in such a way. He is convinced that the guy is an opportunist (read: con man) and strongly feels that we should stand tall and not give in. Reporting the matter to the Police would earn him the title of a prime suspect, should anything untoward happen to the building or the household in the future.

The first thing that needs to take place now is to ascertain the real owner of the land in question. Coincidentally, he has in his possession a copy of the area plan as issued by the Land Office, allowing us to identify the particular plot number. With that, I can go to the said office and conduct a land title search to obtain the owner information.

If the land does not belong to the culprit, we will refill the huge orifice and continue business as usual. Only when he shows up to protest that we can lodge a police report for intimidation or extortion or whatever the law can provide for. My neighbour, whose plot is sandwiched between mine and the purported antagonist, promises to tag along to the police station in Kuang just so that our voice is stronger. Best to also locate the actual owner and get his or her permission to use the access road. And while at that, ensure that the land owner does not have any relation with the perpetrator.

But if he has his name to it, it would mean that I can't escape from paying up. Maybe I should ask my would-be neighbour to chip in, since there is no guarantee that the guy won't ask again later on. 

There are other hazards...

Extortion, smuggling, drug dealing, prostitution, protection racket and loan sharking are but some of the illegal activities that the Mafia engage in. The protection racket though, is considered to be the group's raison d'être in the early days, providing private protection and security in return for money or favours. Clients who sign up for the racket will be protected from fraudsters, thieves and even competitors. This was at the turn of 20th century America but of course it is still thriving now. Conversely, gangsters from all over the world indulge in a more or less similar business model.


Protection racket is a necessary evil. Imagine you open a restaurant. Business is very encouraging. On the second month of operation, you are called on by a gentleman who demands that you pay protection fee. Insisting that you don't need any protection (because the Rukun Tetangga unit and the police patrol the area quite diligently), you politely decline his request and send him on his way. Next morning, you turn up at work and find that the expensive Rubbermaid rubbish bin has gone missing. You dismiss that as the handiwork of a drug addict. Later in the evening, you receive a distress call from your staff saying that someone tries to break into the premises and broke some glass panel while at it. You lodge a police report. Two police officers come by, one is smoking and the other wearing a uniform that's bursting at its seams. They have a chat with you and offer that it could be the neighbourhood notorious cat. I mean, there have been cases before involving the elusive feline. On the very next day, a graffiti is spray painted on the roller shutter of your shop. You start to sense something's wrong because that's three days in a row that you have befallen with misfortunes. True enough, the gentleman appears again at the doorstep promising that all these troubles will go away once you start paying up. At that point, you won't think about reporting him to the police because the event where the officer blames the cat has somewhat diminished your confidence on the force. Never mind that the method used by the criminal to solicit for the contract in the first place is an offense by definition but in the end he will triumph because you know what's good for you in the long run.

The concrete stumps pilfered from the adjacent vacated land. A lone warehouse in the background... (Apple iPhone 4s)

Sometime in the last week of June, a person who claimed to be the owner of the neighbouring tract of land has erected a ring fence to stop the construction vehicles from accessing the site through his land. We know that his claim can not be true because the plot in question is a TNB-reserve land, in other words a no-mans land. There had been times where the delivery team would remove the blockade and drive straight through. Then out of nowhere, a couple of guys looking more like junkies than accomplished muscle men would spring on the guys and make a lot of noise and threats, not yet to the point of physical aggression but enough to scare the poor workers, both foreign and local. He had on a few occasions brought along a 'policeman' with him to the site, which after some prodding on my part turned out to be someone in a Rela (paramilitary civil volunteer corps) uniform. But together they had managed to create the impression of being victimised: that his land has been trespassed.


It has been trying time for everyone. In fact, we have lost almost two weeks due to the blocked entrance. The raw materials couldn't get to the site so work did not get done. I should clarify here that there is another entry point through the nearby housing estate but we don't want the heavy construction vehicles to irk the residents whom would soon be our neighbours. The access road this person is obstructing is through the back way, passing by a lumber warehouse of some sort. Driving further in would lead to a plant nursery.


I finally met up with the person this weekend to settle the score after he stood me up the first time round. Arriving an hour late, he had on him a thick folder containing an assortment of documents but the proof that the adjacent land was under his name. He claimed that few other plots nearby belong to him or his family. Another revelation would be that our own land used to be his uncle's at one point in history. 


To save you the pain of reading on the crap that I had to listen to, he's asking for a compensation of RM10,000 for the damages done. Damages that only consisted of removing the concrete stumps from the ground with no other obvious destruction as far as the eye could see. Repeating for what would easily be the umpteenth time, he was never interested in money. And as if to win my heart, he said he had no problem with me as the land owner but this was more to teach good manners to the boorish contractor. This is totally unexpected and has never been taken into account. I've seen and heard crooked authorities collecting monthly fees from poor workers and mind you it's already happening at our site but a third party demanding from a member of the public is just not on. To the person and this is something that he insists on, he is taking the money from the rude contractor, not us. I told him it's us who's paying the bills ultimately. 


I reasoned with him that we don't use the road every day and perhaps the more practical way to charge is on pay-as-you-enter basis. Really, in a month we make less than five delivery trips although that might increase two-fold towards completion time. Additionally, I offered to make good the road when everything's over. After spewing out much more crap, he lowered it down to RM6,000, before finally agreeing to half of the original amount. 


Throughout the time, I could sense that he's done this several times to many caught-up victims. When I challenged him on the legality of the ownership, he said I could go to the Land Office and verify myself but he would not wait up for me to dig a trench since the ring fence was not effective. He would continue finding ways and means to block the conduit until 'further actions' are necessary. 


Before the meeting, my other half and me had talked at great length about the matter. Going the legal route would take time and money which means unwelcome delay. Reporting the matter to the police will not guarantee to keep him away from our property and family in the long term because we don't know if he's got someone on the inside working in cahoots. As long as there is no obvious crime committed, the police are not going to take any action. (I've lived in the country that long to come to that conclusion.) He could come to the site late at night and do something nasty. He could send his goons to seize the materials in daylight even. He could do many things that we could not prove. 


Best part is that we still don't know if the land is his or not. What if it really was? Could he block the passage permanently to send the message that he's really pissed with us for not trusting him in the first place? That's going to hamper the project in a bigger way.


The line between protection racket and extortion is blurred in my case but the reality is that I'm stuck in the middle and I just want to get out of it as fast as I can, like most targets. The easy way out is to give what he has asked for after some reasonable negotiation.


What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Sort out the administratives

The process of purchasing a house from a developer is less tedious compared to building on your own. With the latter, first you have to have a land. Then engage an architect to come up with the design. For the design to be raised, you need a builder. No one is going to do that on your behalf unless you can afford to hire a full-time project manager. As if that's not enough to do, there are still a few more that you have to take care of in between. 

When you purchase a house (let's use this term to mean any dwelling unit) from the developer, it is very likely that part of its services is to help you get the finance facility that you can live with and to a certain extent, legal services to look at the sales and purchase agreement. This is made easier especially if you made the purchase at a home exposition or something like it where the banks and legal offices also set up shop. You have practically nothing else to worry about except to really scrutinize all the fine points in the agreement to make sure that they are in order. And when it's time to take over the house, you may want to consider some minor renovations like installing a kitchen cabinet and do up the living room but these do not happen until later so you can plan and let the construction takes its course.

It's a different ballgame when you are building on your own. After procuring the land, you need to make sure that all paperwork is intact. Conduct a land search (carian rasmi) to verify that the plot in question indeed exists. The bank would also require this piece of paper as part of the application form. Check that the land status is really what it is as claimed by the seller/developer. 

If there is more than a plot, you need to amalgamate the plots before you can erect a building. And speaking of building, if it says rumah persendirian (residential) on the land search printout, just make sure that you comply accordingly. Back to merging the lots, there was a real hitch in the progress for us because we didn't know beforehand about the amalgamation requirement. Amalgamating is a time-consuming process and the worse part is that there is no SLA governing its turnaround time. Sure, they will give you an indication but it's still at best an estimation. The potential downtime would eat up into your overall project completion chart because you are not sure whether or not to proceed with construction. Even though there is no reason why the relevant authority should reject your application, the good people at the council will choose not to approve the house plan until they have seen the lands amalgamated. If someone's telling you to bulldoze and commence building, that's not a brilliant idea because doing so might incur the wrath of the powers-that-be. More trouble might be in-store for you.  

To join the plots, an application will need to be submitted to the Pejabat Tanah dan Galian (Land and Mineral Office) of where your land is situated. In our case, although the lands are in the Kuang area, they fall under the jurisdiction of the Gombak PTG. But having said that, we did not have to go its main office in Rawang because there was a branch nearer to us located in Selayang. And to be specific, our land is not in Kuang or Tasik Biru or Paya Jaras: it is actually on the fringe of Bukit Rahman Putra in Sungai Buloh. Confused with the so many places? Yeah, they don't add up but that's how things work sometimes in the country. I'm sure you've heard of stories of people being redirected to a farther police station although the one that they went to in the first place was quite close to home. Same difference.

While the application is underway, you will be given a temporary ownership certificate (Apple iPhone 4s)

Remember, if you are constructing on more than one tract of land, two things need to happen: one is the amalgamation, and second is the approval of the plan. If you are not, then worry only about the approval. 

Plan and layout approval is bestowed upon you by the local authority. Guess who's the local authority in charge of our area? (Drum roll)... it's the Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (Selayang Municipal Council)! Judging by the location of the land, we thought it would fall either under the purview of Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam or Majlis Daerah Kuala Selangor but no. Of course, Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam is only responsible for the said city and Majlid Daerah Kuala Selangor is a rural-based authority. The words Bandaraya, Perbandaran and Daerah defines the size of the territory of which each council is supposed to look after, didn't you know?

The much sought after stamp of approval (Apple iPhone 4s)

Preparing for submission is no child's play so do work closely with your architect and a runner, if you are engaging one, to make sure that you tick all the boxes for required documents in order to process your application. Don't wait until the council ring you to collect the approved plan because this might not come at all. Instead, check on the progress every week or so. Ask if everything's alright. We were highlighted about the need to amalgamate only when the council asked about the single plot number. For me, the person at the front counter who checked in all applications should have flagged any irregularities at his or her level but I don't want to be too harsh on this issue. It might be his first day at work or even the council's first time dealing with an amalgamation case which is rather hard to believe.

The original two lot numbers... (Apple iPhone 4s)

In general, our dealings with the officers at the two government departments had been pleasant and and I must say here that they were most helpful and kind although I can't say that processes were WYSIWYG and easily available on the Internet. There is always that element of change when you come face-to-face with the officer-in-charge. Turnaround time is another lasting issue but it's really out of your reach to try and make a difference. Don't count on the SLA being revised soon either because they need to have one before it can be amended.

Before I forget, another important thing is to pay for your quit rent (cukai pintu). I was under the impression that for as long as there was no door, no tax should be levied. As usual, I was wrong. Nonetheless, sooner or later this would be picked up by the system before you are duly directed to the payment hall to take a number and pay your cukai pintu. Without the receipt, the folks on the other floor will not go ahead processing your application. You will not like that so do the right thing. 

After all your headaches are cured (hopefully, that is) by the frequent visits to the authorities, it is time to apply for finance. Some of you out there may be lucky enough to not be needing the facility but we needed it so much even to build a chicken coop. Start early. Don't wait until your headaches are gone. Get referrals. Go back to bankers you have dealt with before on some other matters. Financing to build is not a straight line thing like buying off-the-shelf. There's a long list of documents that you need to turn in, on top of the usual three months salary slip and EPF statement. Besides, you want to know about the BLR, payment schedule, the repayment amount monthly and insurance coverage, especially when you are advance in age. 

And the 'unified' PT number... (Apple iPhone 4s)

Speaking of payment, you are able to take a percentage off your EPF savings provided you meet minimum balance required in your account two. This should somewhat ease the burden of the monthly repayment that you have to service but it does not happen automatically. There are forms to be filled up so you need to make an appointment with EPF to talk things out. 

Now back to the banking affair, your banker should be able to tell you the advantages and disadvantages between conventional and Islamic banking. Ultimately, it's for you to decide but decide with a clear mind, having understood how each package would benefit you as the borrower. In our case, we had to go back to the same bank that financed our land purchase as no other banks would agree to bear the building project. This is simply because when complete, the house and land would be counted as one asset and in the event of a default and the ensuing judgement, heaven forbids, recovering the payments from the borrower and reselling the property at a price everyone can agree with could be messy.

Truth be told though, there are still two separate loan accounts with two monthly payments to make. The bank will not consolidate these for you. It's only easier for them that when the shit hits the fan, all discussions are in the family. 

Which reminds me, following the amalgamation of the lands, you need to affect the same on the S & P. The bank needs to be formally advised about this and consequently issue a revised document reflecting the land merger. 

Boy, the administratives seem endless don't they? I've not even touched on how to apply for power and water...

Have brief will design

There is the verbal kind and there is the printed kind.

Could the printed kind look like this? Or... (image courtesy of getty images)

You prefer to talk on the phone? (image courtesy of getty images)

I’m talking about a brief, the most important responsibility that most of us tend to overlook or worse, dismiss as nonsensical. When you want your architect or communications agency (this at the work level, if your work scope expressly includes it) to address your requirements efficiently, the gesture of preparing a brief will be greatly appreciated because it makes their lives much easier.

The brief can take on two forms: one is the type that you deliver orally, You may go over it on the phone or while enjoying your mocha ice-blended amidst the din in the background, of course with the person the brief is intended for sitting in front of you. This form of brief has to be guided by the notes that one brief giver has prepared beforehand, otherwise it will be very much depended on his or her memory to regurgitate whatever he or she wants the recipient to hear. Yes, this can be dangerous as there will be potential hits and misses.

The other is the documented kind, the kind that you would type lovingly on your PC (I don’t know if anyone still has a working Olivetti typewriter), using the ubiquitous word-processor. And because you have gone so far to actually decide on a printed brief, to stare at the computer monitor without any inkling whatsoever on what to write would be a complete waste of time. The practical side of you would want to start thinking in advance, perhaps come up with some sort of a framework or content just so that your typing will be a little smoother, that is if you know your home keys.

I don’t generally consider the spoken brief as a bona fide brief but we live in a busy world where the paying party does not always see the point in delivering a complete and informative brief. Most of us neglect the importance of the brief for the people who they expect to respond to their needs. How is that fair? When the brief is not in the equation, the receiving end tends to regard your requirement as flexible and to a certain degree, interpret certain areas on their own. Maybe some of you thrive on the thrill of surprises that explorations bring but when there are just too many rounds of going back and forth then you kind of know that the architect (or the account executive or fill in the blank) is lost. Or would you prefer blur as an adjective?

It's no good when your architect is lost (image courtesy of getty images)

Before that fateful meeting with our architect, we wanted to send out the message that we were different and meant business. Already that was achieved through the post cards but we just wanted to reaffirm his initial impression. And so we decided that the brief had to contain information that would excite him as the building designer. Instead of telling him directly what we want, which could sound like an instruction and downright rude, we peppered the paragraphs with hints and cues, hoping that he would get the drift.

Our brief has the following sub-sections:

1. Location: explains the location of the land. It also gives an insight into the arterial network that serves the township the land is located on.

2. Infrastructure status: gives an update on the drainage and parameter works on the plot. Although there is an existing residential estate nearby but being a converted land, it did not come with the infrastructure mentioned. A developer's commitment would vary from one contract to another so do check what is it that the seller is promising you. We've also included some secondary information on the area as a whole to give a well-rounded perspective to the architect.

3. Land use category: states the type of building and this should be residential, unless you are building a factory.

4. Land area: the built-up size of the land.

5. Land tenure: whether it's freehold or lease hold. Ours is freehold. Not sure if this bit is useful to him but he may consider longer lasting materials... That's just me being light.

6. Budget: the amount of money that we are prepared to part with to build. The amount you want to include here should include the architect’s fee as well as construction and interior fitment works, unless you are farming this out to a different contractor. 

7.  Overview: a statement that explains the DNA of the habitat in one paragraph or two. Here's what we have written: A modern and functional single story abode away from the hustle and bustle of the city. A dwelling unit that responds to the needs of its occupants. A stopover that is looked forward by all manners of guests. The design scheme that will delight some and envy most. A home sweet home in the truest sense of the word. 

8.  Architecture flavor: the style that you like. We said tropical modernism, whatever that means. There's Bauhaus,  country industrial, Brutalist, avant garde, art deco, mock tudor, et cetera. Or simply the typical tropical Malaysian. Tepuk dada, tanya selera. Literally, pat on your chest and ask yourself what you like...

9. Unique thrusts: the unique feature of the house. Similar to the DNA but this should be more technical and in reference to the physical structure. 

10. Potential reaction: the kind of reaction we'd desire from the neighbours/public or guests. Of course we made these up but the reactions were realistic. Let me pull out an example: Joshua Chua, renovation contractor looking for potential business - "You know, the house got no fence. Some more, no grille on the window. Let me ask you this, have you seen a house with a flat roof?" The thing is, we don't know if the end product would sport a flat roof but consider this a hint to the architect. He may or may not entertain such hints but these give him an insight into the design appetite that you have.

11. Family information: each and every one of the PH household is detailed in this sub-section but you don't need to reveal too much. Information that would do the job for the architect are age, favourite pastime and personality. This list is certainly not exhaustive. No one will stop you if you decide to shed more light.

12. Household: the number of people in the house. Extremely important although it is just a one-liner bit. The architect would take the headcount into account while designing the living area.

13. Cars owned: just so that he could design a car port that would adequately park our rides. Do be specific and try to look into the future because you don't want that unsightly zinc awning as a result of an afterthought.
14. Other vehicles: other than cars and in our case we meant bicycles. He may want to propose a fancy bike room replete with tools and wall holder or a shed at the back, you never know. 

15. Living spaces: living areas that we wish to see in the house. This would include the living room, kitchen, dining room, bedroom, study and 'The Box.' You need to identify your living spaces if there's more to the list.

16. Practical spaces: different than the above as this is more utilitarian in nature. Examples include shoe room, storage area, garden, garage, et cetera. Again, do expand the list.

17. Living and practical spaces explained: explain all your entries in greater details. Talk about the personality of each room. Tell him the function of each of the room, the kind of activity you'd carry out in it. Throw in information about materials and finishes as well. Basically, being coy is not the way to go here. 

18. WC (water closet): how many bathrooms and toilets we require. Say so if you want an en suite or two. What about hot water supply? Yeah, say that here too. 

19. Novelty requirements: requirements that would respond to your other needs. Something that is outside of the main structure but would matter as much. Maybe you want a feature wall or a feature door. Or would you like to display your collection of Coca-cola memorabilia from all over the world? Let him know because he will be able to advise you how best to do it.

20. Summary of fitments: we've included this as a sub-section because the architect dabbles in interior design to compliment his main work and we'd like him to design a few items for the rooms as well. Omit this as you see fit.

21. Next steps: what are the next actions on your end that the architect needs to know. Are you applying for a finance facility? Are there any obstacles regarding the land that may hamper on the progress of the construction? You want to put in matters that would have great impact on the way forward, one way or the other. 

What do you think? It’s not that difficult is it? If there is an advice that I could give, start with the brief. Make it right from the beginning. Put your thoughts on paper. Give the architect the much needed reference point that he could go back to again and again. This is certainly not the finest example of a brief content but you are more than welcome to use it as a headstart. So grab your Dell or Macbook now and start typing away! Or do you prefer an Olivetti typewriter?

Of typical shirt and branded signature tee...

“I’ve never received a brief from my Clients before. Most of them just leave it to me to figure out what they would like…”

You have no idea how bonkers we went inside when these words were uttered by the architect at our first meeting. He was very pleasantly pleased and impressed that we had prepared a typed and bound 11-paged brief detailing what we want from the house.

The brief content (Apple iPhone 4s)

But it was a totally different feeling moments before the fateful meet on 19 January 2008. Sure by then we had been communicating via email numerous times (a select few has been posted) but to meet him in person was something else. Nerve-wrecking would probably be best to describe it.

The venue agreed was D’lish, a nice little café at Bangsar Village I. We had arrived there way before good time, partly to get ourselves acclimatized to the atmosphere but more due to nervousness. We wanted to wait, ever at the ready for him, rather than the other way round. I ordered myself a cup of latte and cappuccino was my other half’s choice.

Proof of meeting. He did not order anything for himself (Apple iPhone 4s)

15 minutes past the appointment our eyes were still roving all over the place for him. Please bear in mind that we did not know how he looked like. Thus, we would eyeball every guy that walked in, every guy that was seated alone and every guy that looked the part: we imagined him in smart khaki pants and a checked short sleeve shirt, wearing a pair of nicely weathered Timberland topsider. But then again, he could also be wearing a blue Bermuda shorts and an American grey Banana Republic signature tee and flip-flops. He could be any of these guys. Our eyes kept looking. No one looked the part.

It’s passed the half and hour mark and still no sign of him. My other half urged me to ring him but I reminded her the reason why we sent the postcards. By now, the eatery was receiving more and more people, either for breakfast or brunch, to each their own. Our seats were on the outside and although it’s only mid-morning, the heat was increasing and making us perspire. We waited for him faithfully without much complaint, which was quite uncharacteristic of us, especially when someone’s way behind time. Usually, a string of emails would have been blasted out, (maybe) containing some strong remarks, if the wait has been severe.

Then suddenly out of nowhere he appeared in front of us, checked our names and introduced himself quickly while grabbing a chair at the same time. No pleasantries, no warming up conversation. He then instructed both of us to sit flanking him so that he could spread open the thumbnail drawing and explain to us the concept. All these in less than 12 seconds, I promise.

The thumbnail in question was first sent to us through our inbox. I remember us asking ourselves is that it. What’s more, it was cropped at the other end, meaning it was not in its entirety. Although it managed to stoke our interest, it was still just a thumbnail so we could not help ourselves to doubt his seriousness. 

'Shouldn't it look, I don't know, a little bit more 'finished'?, we pondered. 

The initial thumbnail (Apple iPhone 4s)

  

So having the creator himself talked us through it was needless to say, thrilling. After ending his swift presentation, which I think took less than 15 minutes, he opened the floor for us to ask questions. What followed was a deadening silence. It felt like time stopped. Din seemed the order of the day in the café just seconds ago but it had somehow made itself scarce all of a sudden. I don’t remember who breached the dead air.

After warming up to him for a while more we gathered the guts to seek clarifications on his design. It clearly showed that we were amateurs when he expertly tackled all questions posed. I was sure he had seen that but he continued to play along to save our face. To be perfectly honest, we did not really know where to start. We were just shooting in the dark. The questions could either sound stupid and uninformed or worse still, insulting to the architect. Either way, it would be bad for both parties. So we stuck with the safe ones like ‘wow, this is fantastic!’ and ‘I like the L-shaped corridor’ which you and I know are not questions by the strictest definition. In hindsight, looking again at the thumbnail again, it was a really bold and cut-through floor plan albeit one that was only answering to the initial brief.

As mentioned in the opening paragraph, we had prepared a more detailed statement for his perusal and it contained every bit of information we imagine an architect would find useful. He was appreciative of it and could not get enough poring over the document and so he promised to read it at home. And with that, we felt a load off our shoulder had been lifted. Our job was done. For now, we should expect that he’d review the thumbnail to take into account the brand-spanking new brief.

An excerpt from the brief (Apple iPhone 4s)

And another... (Apple iPhone 4s)

I might, just might, show you the entire document (Apple iPhone 4s)

The architect was unassuming and down-to-earth but at the same time a no-nonsense person and stuck to his guns pretty much. He’s brainy and you’d feel the pressure to keep up but he doesn’t really expect you to. One would be easily intimidated and perhaps found him aloof but that’s because he’s just intense and passionate about the subject matter. And forget the checked shirt or the grey signature tee, he was impressive enough in his white long-sleeve round-neck.

His response to our tiny budget...

hello badrul. thanks much, the information provided does help. do you have an idea what total built up youd expect of your 8 rooms together with dining, living and kitchen? the budget would be tight if you have expectations of anything over 4500 square feet. my worry is that professional fees are included in the budget which will eat at what you now have. my fee for this project will be about rm50k with the current budget and built up area totalling no more than the said earlier square footage.

but it appears doable if i can control what is spent on finishes and fittings. the kitchen might possibly require a larger budget but if youre cool on experimentation, we can do you a country industrial kitchen with all the characteristics of hip laidback.

bedrooms will be intentionally small with the exception of the master bedroom, the rational being your children can build their bedrooms big when they grow up. the dining, living and kitchen areas will of course take spatial precedence in the design and apportionment of area.

no mention of a maids/utility area? more than one maid?

you can get more comprehensive with your brief if you feel it necessary. catch up with you in a bit then.

yours, kevin.

Our initial brief over email

Dear Kevin,
 
Our budget is RM500,000 for the construction of the house. We need you to fit in the built-in bits as well i.e. wardrobe, kitchen cabinets and whatever else, for all these we have RM100,000. Total budget is RM600,000, including your fee.
 
We are looking at single-storey, between 5-8 rooms. The rooms are:
 
- 6 bedrooms
- 1 study
- 1 media room
 
We thought we should also mention that we want an open plan so that there is no division between the living room, dining area and kitchen.
 
We have attached the precomp plan re your question earlier about the dimension of the plot. You will find the plots marked 22543 and 22542. 
 
Ultimately, you will tell us whether or not we can do this because it may seem ambitious. We look forward to your esteemed advice on how best we can utilize the budget.
  
Kind regards,
 
Shah & Shidah

His short response...

dear badrul, thanks for the information, your schedule appears to be fine. i will still require a budget (unimportant if its 10 or a million ringgit but the budget is probably the single most vital bit of information a client could possibly have for the architect)) and some idea of the number of rooms you will require before i can say. also, there is a document called a precomp plan which shows the boundaries of the plots with two numbers per boundary line, the first number refers to the length of that line and the second its bearing in degrees. would be good to forward this to me. the land titles should also have the lengths and bearings of the boundaries, so that will do fine as well. have a good weekend.

kevin.

And our reply...

We were ecstatic to receive your reply we can liken it to receiving an email from a superstar! Maybe Simon LeBon or someone like that… We couldn’t believe our eyes. We read it out loud. We printed it out so we can file it. We were literally jumping in joy. Seriously. Oh Kevin, the effects you have on people… you just don't know it.  
Yeah, we did take the trouble to get the cards. It was even harder to pen those words down. We figured, an architect of your caliber needs an extra effort to pull in. 
OK, just to give you the assurance that we are not stalkers (yet), we will now impart some details of ourselves.  
We are Malaysians currently working in London.  
We are in the process of procuring a land in Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh. We’re assuming you are familiar with the place, but this is not in the established residential area. This vast tract of land is located on the fringe of BRP, next to an oil palm estate and it’s been subdivided into 12 lots. If the loan goes through, we will be the very happy owners of two lots with the combined built-up area of 12,227.90 sq ft, to be exact. 
We have two boys, aged three and seven. Two cars, one each for bah and mak. Probably a third car to transport the entire family but that’s not the immediate plan. That can wait till they outgrow their child seats.  
As far as the building, we are looking at next year or early 2009. This is just to coincide with our homecoming which is due in the latter. We will decide later on the best time to start when we have a fair idea of how long a project will take, from start to the end. Coming back to a rental with a container load of stuff is not ideal if you know what we mean. Anyway, this ought to give you a temporary relief so you can go on with your current works.  
How did we happen upon your website? It was Shidah’s late night surfing on the Net. She googled “Malaysian, architects.”  
Is this level of detail enough? Or did we find you too early too soon? We have the budget and other information such as layout, number of rooms and even things we like to do but you let us know if this is fine for later. To be honest with you, we couldn’t wait! 
Shah and Shidah. 

And the architect's reaction...

dear shah and shidah, you are clearly the wittiest and most intriguing clients ive been contacted by thus far; aside from your obvious creativity, you read my situation with understanding and precision....its not often one encounters enlightenment such as yours. 

but it was a touch scary to begin with, i could not tell if you were stalkers or admirers until the third card.

may i know how you happened on my work and website?

your project sounds interesting though i must say your cards top it by a long ways. where is your piece of land located? can i guess it is in malaysia? the british origin of your cards threw me a curve ball, i must say. i am very busy at this time, so you will have to give me a touch more information for now, your expected occupation of the house and its location would do well. little extras such as total built up, how many children and cars you have and some ballpark budget will be good too. but obviously your schedule would determine if we have a starter here, no?

thank you for your kind praise and the trouble you have taken to catch my imagination! i hope it will come to prove your time was well spent. 

looking forward to hearing from you.

kevin.

We had to make ourselves known...

Here's an excerpt from the email we sent to him following the series of postcards...


Dear Kevin,
 
We hope you're wondering about the numerous cards you received in the last few weeks. We are assuming they got to you or this note would have been pointless. We were the senders (or culprits, depending on the circumstances), Rashidah and Badrul. That's Shidah and Shah for short. Let's leave it at that for now. 
 
   The cards was our way of shifting your attention to us. Judging from your website, we can tell you have been busy. And we thought it good for you to take a break, The few words in the cards tell you what we want and our opinion of you. Even the pictorial on the cover is relevant but why explain when it is self-explanatory? Anyway, we hope the cards worked.
 
   Our discovery of your website is truly blessed. We were in the market for a house but at the same time tired of seeing an even more tired design regime. We dare say that our hope has now changed we have totally scrapped the idea of buying an off-the-shelf house and decided to build it instead. The change of mind happened literally overnight, that is after bumping into your website.
 
   Let us tell you what hit our radar. The fact that you design and create furnitures (and mailboxes, and wardrobes.) The fact that you think good design doesn't have to cost. These days you can't have one without sacrificing the other. And your simplistic style. Till recently, we had failed to find a Malaysian architect who would meet all these criteria. 
 
   We had dreamt of having a house that passers-by would chuckle, thinking "with all that glass, people are going to know what they're doing inside." We don't believe in living in a prison either (read: no grilles). We don't fancy a perimeter fence which would further emphasise the prison. And roman pillars should be, well, should be just for the Colosseum. 
 
   Let us know if you are interested to board. We think it's going to be a great journey ahead. Whether or not we fit your bill of 'unusual clients', we guess you have to find that out yourself!
 
Shah and Shidah. 

Don't get the postcards?

Both my other half and I liked to watch Grand Designs while in the UK, an hour-long pseudo reality TV programme about people and the distance they would go to in building their dream homes. The subjects are real people, not celebrities or public figures so there’s always something that we could relate to. Problems like limited budget, disagreements with the builder and authority and busted deadlines keep cropping up. If you are subscribed to Unifi, try catch the show on the bundled IPTV facility called Hypp TV, on Tuesday nights I think.

The houses showcased are not your run-of-the-mill type, otherwise the whole show would have been an antithesis to the title. Granted that they do not all the time look weird or risqué, each episode is special in that there would be uphill climbs that the owners had to face in order to get it built. It could be anything from the difficulty of sourcing for an environmental-friendly material that at the same time an efficient insulator to countless visits to the local council to convince that a design does not disrupt the harmony of the existing community. There was one episode about an elderly couple who travelled all the way to Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany so that they could discuss in person with the folks at Huf Haus, the provider of pre-manufactured (or pre-fabricated, a term more in use here) homes. They would make few trips more to while the build was in progress at the factory before the final delivery of the finished product to their site in the UK. The trucks from Germany with German technicians arrived on the dot (typical Germans) in the morning but had to wait a couple of hours for the local crane operator to show. With utmost precision and professionalism, it was amazing to see how they built the unit within days without much trouble. And did I mention that while the old house had to be torn down to make way for the new house, the owners lived in a rickety caravan just adjacent to the site? Quirky moments were one of the things why we like watching the show.

The house that we want to build is a grand design from our own point of view but is definitely not TV material so it’s apt to be called small projects. 

Back to the show, it is hosted by Kevin McCloud, an industrial designer turned TV personality. Boasting a very laidback style of presenting, Kevin also narrates and writes the script which as a result, make him ‘one’ with it. The only thing that perhaps needs addressing is his sense of dressing. Needless to say, he’s passionate about the subject matter. And the architect that we want is the ultra cool presenter's namesake.

Opulence is not our style of choice and all that we want is only straight lines. Of course, the architect is also into simple lines and clean design and minimalism judging from the pictures on his website. This one ought to strike a chord with him.

The last card had a picture of a British mailbox (pillar box to be more accurate) on it. And we said we like his mailbox better. Besides being an architect, he also takes a stab at designing furniture and other accessories around the house and we think he is rather good at it. Of course, there was an actual mailbox he designed that we saw on the Internet.

38 MPC stands for 38 Mount Park Crescent, our home address in Ealing, London.

So, do you get the postcards now?