What's next?
We set this blog up to see if anyone else was feeling like us (they are) and to pass information back and forth (we all have.) We think it has been useful, both as a cathartic release of angst and as a forum for information.
(We particularly want to thank those in the construction industry who gave us the very useful comments on the technical aspects of this "renovation.")
We also set the blog up to see if there was widespread interest in having a community meeting, and/or to see if we could generate some kind of consensus as to what an effective 'next move' would be.
In our opinion it seemed that there was not much of a desire to have a community meeting. If we are wrong about that it would be good if people could comment as such, and better still, spread the word of this blog to their neighbors, and ask them to comment as well so we can get a larger consensus of Beach Village residents. Sending a link with the address of this site by email is really easy.
Anyway, a close reading of all the comments seemed to indicate that most were moving toward the opinion that, as the work was at a late stage, it was now unstoppable and, furthermore, that HKR/DB Management would continue to avoid responsibility for it and nothing would change that. It seems that people are now talking about compensation, from either HKR or their respective landlords.
There also seemed to be little desire for having yet another confrontational meeting with DB Management and the VOC. It seemed that most of the commenters had already had several run-ins with management and sometimes even with the contractor.
Sorry in particularl to the commenter/reader "Georgethegweilo", but, and with all due respect, how many of these kinds of meetings do we need to have before we all realise they are futile? We know many owners who tried in meetings before the renovations had even started to exert influence, and they could not.
The VOC meetings in particular seem to be the wrong venue for a community meeting, as they are closed to non-owners, and even owners are not allowed to talk. Tactically that makes them the worst possible forum for broad-based participation as right away it means the vested interests of HKR/DB/VOC control the floor, literally. Also, they are in the DB offices.
Yes, one of our previous posts suggested that all should go to that meetings, (and actually we DID have a representative there,) but most of us in this "group" don't want to meet HKR, the "VOC" or DB Management in circumstances like that. We have always felt that it would be better to first have a community meeting, open to all and in a neutral space.
We (this posting group) want to now do only what is effective at this stage in the game, which we feel is to (1) apply economic pressure and (2) continue to publicize to prospective owners and renters what they can expect when they try to live here. We are, frankly, beyond listening to anymore crap from HKR or their proxies. We still think there is a story here of interest to a wider audience and we would like to try to tap into that.
Those are the steps we want to take now, and in the meantime this blog will remain focused on the main issue of the disastrous "renovation" itself; to both document it and show the extent of Beach Village resident's suffering.
As such, we ask that you please continue to add your experiences with this "renovation" to the comments section. We will continue to allow all comments, but we will delete repeats of previous comments and those that are off-topic or abusive.
posted by Fredthom @ 3:19 pm
6 comments
6 Comments:
OK, yes, I agree with you. we shoudl do what is effective.
They started to blast our building this past Sat (why do they do the loud work on saturdays only?) with water. Well, it flooded our kitchen. I could not get anyone from DB on the phone. I just cleaned up the mess. What else could I do? Our balcony is a mess, and I was hoping they would blast some of the crud off that, but they did not.
I read another user saying that the Beach Village head of the VOC is head of other villages, does anyone know if this is true? If so, would she have some liability in this were we to bring a suit against them????
I have told my landlord I want 2 months rent!!! She almost had a bird!! But hey, this is just business. I never agreed to this kind of mess, and for 8 months! Our stairs are still a mess, and this is making the inside of our unit dirty still too!!
In reply to btd's 12/6/2006 message it is not true. The Chairlady of Beach Village VOC is not the head of other villages. As Chairlady, Beach VOC she is also a member of the Discovery Bay City Owner's Committee(as are the other Chairpersons of all the VOCs in DB)
I came across this page only now.
We (tenants) never felt so helpless, angry and cheated on! We should have moved away immediately, but every month, we thought we are through the worst now, only to find the worst was still to come. When the scaffolding finally came down, we felt like war zone survivors. This whole renovation was living through a nightmare awake.
Over 8 months, scaffolding made the terrace - our terrace which we rented as part of the premises - completely unuseable. We had to dry our laundry in the apartment over the whole period because the utility terrace could not be used either with all the scaffolding, dirt and debris. We had highly explosive and poisoneous acetone vapors standing more than one meter high in our apartment one day when they renovated the staircase, of course using thinner which is only to be used on the outside, and no vacuuming or fans. We went close to nuts with the noise on every single Saturday and then even Sunday. We had cigarette buts and empty cans and other bits and pieces (don't want to know) 15 cm high on our terraces. We had buckets full of dirty water, metal tools and bamboo sticks falling down on us and missing our heads by centimeters. There was dust and dirt everywhere inside because they did not cover doors, suck out the dust or clean up after them when they jackhammed another wall of concrete. One day, the apartment bell was covered by paint - it remained covered for about 4 weeks. One day, we came home to find our living room window panels had been painted together with the walls. Everything on the outside, from garden furniture to plants down to the water hose, was (still is!) covered with paint marks. Nothing was ever covered with protective foil. We started to bet on which piece of freshly painted wall would be jackhammed down again next. Everything was done at complete random, with inproper materials (we read the labels of cans standing around without lids -astonishing), and without a hint of skill. I am an experienced hobby home worker, and I dare say I could have renovated the whole outside and staircase of one building in a better way and in half the time they needed had I worked alone.
Back in our home country, houses undergo a structural renovation once every 30 years, if ever, and are repainted within 3-4 weeks every 5 or 6 (and there is snow and heat as well). During a structural or major renovation, tenants would either be relocated at the expense of the owner during renovation periods, or would be able to lower their rent, depending on the amount of inconvenience. With such a renovation, they would not have to pay anything. There would be a plan, and there would be quality work done. And surprise, surprise, it would last for years to come. A tenant would even be legally entitled to lower the rent if there is noise in the neighbourhood of his apartment - and isn't that fair? Here there are not even the most basic rights to tenants.
Here in Hong Kong, where ever you look, there are cheap, untrained, unskilled, incompetent workers and handy men who are not to blame themselves since they are exploited by the big building companies themselves, using the poorest materials, management is lacking any skill to go by this name, there is no plan or foresight. There is only greed and disinterest in the "client". And as a result, works never come to an end, things have to be redone every few years if not weeks or months, and everybody except those earning money by this suffers. But who cares. What a pity for a "world city" like Hong Kong!
The "Beach Village" renovation was not the only disastrous "renovation" or "repair work" that we experienced in the 10 years we spent in Hong Kong. But it certainly topped all previous ones.
We have advised two befriended families not to come to Hong Kong due to the (lack of) quality of real estate, not even talking about the prices asked at the same time, because of the lack of tenants rights, and because of the way property is maintained here. They followed our advise and have happily relocated to Singapore.
So will we.
In some waysshe had shocked him. She was the only friend he had and thougheveryone called him her pity friend she didnt protesttoo loudly about the label.
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In some waysshe had shocked him. She was the only friend he had and thougheveryone called him her pity friend she didnt protesttoo loudly about the label.
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