More Protest Photos

Thanks, Allen for the collage of photos taken during the protest rally at Yeng Chong's office. Your words of encouragement are appreciated. At least some positive things came out of the rally. Firstly, our problems were highlighted in the media. More importantly, we got the opportunity to meet fellow purchasers, some of whom we have not met before. Who knows, this could be the beginning of friendships being struck!

Allan says:
I wish to thank Mr John and all the committee members who had organised the protest day at Yeng Chong's office. It went off like clockwork despite some glitches at the police station with Mr John making the police report. Most important was the display of our esprit decorps and we are gaining in strength. Let's keep up the momentum as Mr John should receive a reply/report from the police in one month's time. Meanwhile keep being in the loop.

Thanks for the support!

The Chairman of the BGVAC Mr Christopher John says:

Dear All,

Wednesday July 22, 2009 was a great day! Yes, there was a solar eclipse, but there was also another exciting event, our peaceful rally in front of Yeng Chong’s office.

I wish to thank all those purchasers, who took time off from their job or business, and in some cases, even travelled a great distance from other states to support us. I would also like to thank all the BGVAC committee members for sacrificing their time and energy, seeing to so many different aspects of this. I even wish to thank YB Tan Kok Wai for supporting our rally in front of Yeng Chong’s office. I also have to thank the police for their kind cooperation, and even the media for carrying our story. I am aware that Malaysiakini, Sin Chew Daily and The China Press published our story.

The day started very early for many of us. While the vast majority of land buyers, including some committee members, went to Yeng Chong's office, Raha, John Oh and I went to the police headquarters opposite Pudu jail. We were there to fill out the police report. YB Tan Kok Wai joined us there.

It seemed an eternity going through the bureaucratic process of filling out this report. Then of course, Murphy’s Law struck with computer glitches, which delayed things further. In the meantime, I was getting phone calls from other committee members who were on site at Yeng Chong's office, asking where we were. They were also telling me what was happening in front of Yeng Chong’s office.

Reporters were outside waiting for us, as John Oh, Raha & I were leaving the police station. We were trying to rush to the Yeng Chong’s office, and were trying to tell them to meet us there. However, they said that they had been waiting for us for a long time. So we obliged. I believe that they were from the Malay press.

YB Tan Kok Wai was parked in a different area, and so managed to speed off to Yeng Chong’s office much faster than us. That’s why he was at Yeng Chong’s office earlier than us.

A few of us went to yet another police station, this time dealing with commercial crimes. Although this needs to be verified, it looks like Yeng Chong has launched yet another project in Malacca.

Anyway, I will be discussing with the rest of the committee on our next steps soon.

I also want to get a proper register of purchasers going. Some purchasers were calling me while I was driving. I didn't get a chance to get down their details, including their name, phone numbers and e-mail addresses as a result.

In the meantime, I am also toying with the idea of having some informal social meeting amongst all the buyers… a chance for everyone to get to know one another in a more relaxed, friendly atmosphere, perhaps on a weekend, when everyone is free. The problem would be to find a proper and affordable venue for all of us. What do you all think? Any suggestions? Any volunteers?

Protest highlighted in Anwar's blog

Our protest outside Yeng Chong Realty's office was also highlighted in Anwar Ibrahim's blog!

We are still hopeful the authorities will do something to get the responsible parties to pay us back the money. We will go seek the Prime Minister's help if we have to. He has said in his 1Malaysia blog that he will give the people his first priority and that he will fight corruption. We are the people and we are being cheated of our land. It has been 11 years and why are we still waiting?

The purchasers of the land in Jasin comprises a wide spectrum of people of all races and some of them are not very rich. They thought the land project was a a "safe" project as it was supposed to be a joint-venture with the Malaysia Building Society Berhad. Now MBSB claimed that they were not in joint-venture. They were merely the financiers. However, we paid the monthly instalments into a Yeng Chong/MBSB joint account. There were also Press reports of them signing the joint-venture agreement. If they had backed out of the joint-venture, they should inform the buyers about it. Then we would not have continued paying into the joint account all these years. As it is, some people are still paying the instalments!!!

Big Play Up in Malaysiakini, Sin Chew, China Press

Our rally at Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd's office yesterday received a big play-up in Malaysiakini. There was a write up and also a video clip of what went on. The protest clip is also available on YouTube, courtesy of Malaysiakini. The Sin Chew Chinese newspaper also carried our story in the night edition. Another woman called up to say she read about us in The China Press and she had a group of about 8 buyers. Hopefully more buyers will come forward to lend a bigger voice to our cause.

We would like to register our thanks to the media for covering our story. We hope some of them will be curious enough to dig deeper into the story, like how did the state land in Jasin get into the hands of Yeng Chong Realty. And someone should also follow the money trail, where did all the millions collected from buyers go to. Until yesterday, the clerk at the Yeng Chong office was also telling some buyers that the joint account set up by Yeng Chong Realty and MBSB was frozen but the money was still there! She said they could not release the money as MBSB was the other signatory and that they were in litigation. However, we found out that most of the money had been withdrawn! How could this be? That is why we have lodged a police report. We hope the police will question her about it and help us by investigating the case as soon as possible. We have waited long enough.

From the gathering yesterday, we learned that some people who invested in the land were not rich. One lady used her baby-sitting money to pay for the instalments. She would take a bus monthly to go to the Yeng Chong office, baby in tow, to pay the instalments. Now she is worried she would not see her money again.

Another woman is having difficulties paying for her husband's medical bills and hope the money would be returned to her soon.

Among the group were old ladies who accompanied their children to attend the rally. An old Mak Cik said her daughter bought the land when her grand-children were still babies. Now the children are all grown and the land is still not in sight. She was going home to pray, she said.

Let us all pray for those who put us in such a predicament, and that they will wake up tomorrow and realise that they cannot just take the hard-earned money of the people without feeling any twinge of conscience. Many people are suffering because of the failed land deal. The right thing to do is return us our money. What is the use of a Sales & Purchase Contract if they do not honour it?

The Sin Chew article

Show of Frustration

The senior police officer listening to our plea

The MP for Cheras talking to some land purchasers

The big poster showing the signing ceremony and the
abandoned project

Inside Yeng Chong's office, Mr John showing the police report to
reporters while the MP, Mr Tan talks to the Press

No big bosses were in the office and so the crowd waited,
many still displaying the posters

The crowd left but they left the posters behind, some are pasted on
the wall, together with the memorandum

A group of land purchasers who felt they have been cheated gathered at the Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd office in Taman Ampang Hilir at about 10am this morning to vent their frustration and to tell the mass media their situation. They carry placards saying phrases like "Where Is Our Money", "We're Fed Up", "Refund Our Money", "We Feel Cheated" in three languages. There was also a huge poster showing the signing ceremony of the joint-venture agreement between Yeng Chong and MBSB and the abandoned land which is still a palm oil plantation.

The MP for Cheras Mr Tan Kok Wai was good enough to turn up for the rally to show his sympathy and he told the people he would raise the matter in Parliament. He said there should be legislation to protect land purchasers. At the moment the land buyers can only seek redress in the civil court because the land transaction does not come under the Housing Act.

Before showing up at the gathering, the president of the BGVAC Mr Christopher John and a few committee members had lodged a police report at the Police Headquarters in Jalan Hang Tuah. Mr Tan was also there to show his support. "We want our money back and our patience is running out," Mr John said. "We have waited for more than 11 years and enough is enough."

There were a few senior police officers and police personnel at the place to stop us from gathering there as our permit for a gathering was denied.



However, when we pleaded with them and explained to them the reason for our need to show our protest, the officer relented and allowed us to show the placards and posters. We were also allowed to march into Yeng Chong's office to deliver a memorandum demanding the return of our money and to inform them that a police report has been made.

No manager or director was at the office. Only a few clerks were there and they said they had no authority to accept the memorandum. Mr Tan Kok Wai, who accompanied the group up to the office, said the directors should have the "guts to meet the people". He said they should have the moral responsibility to return the money if they are not giving them the land. The people have suffered long enough and some have put in their life savings into the land. Their refusal to meet the land buyers showed they are not committed to help the people, Mr Tan said. Ten years is long enough for anyone to wait, he added.

Our plight highlighted

Our interview with The Star appeared in Starbizweek section on Saturday, July 18. We are thankful that the newspaper carried it, although we were not the focus of the story. Our plight was told as another example of several projects that were abandoned. The reporter did not manage to get a comment from Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd. However he did get a comment from a spokesperson of the Malaysian Building Society Bhd who told him that MBSB was planning to hold another meeting with the developer and the buyers to find "an amicable solution". We are still waiting for that meeting to take place. I am sure the reporter talked to the spokesperson some time ago.

Map to Yeng Chong's KL office

The map to Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd which is at Excella Business Park, Block C, fifth floor. It is actually the first block as you enter the road off the MRR2 to Cheras. You are advised to take the side road parallel to the MRR2 as it will be difficult to turn if you take the flyover.

Pictures of the Abandoned Project

Red signboard warning people to keep out... next to a board stating Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd's Malacca address and phone number

The tarred road has a barrier to keep out trespassers

The oil palm trees are still producing fruits

Some angry purchasers visited the land in Jasin, Malacca, recently and came back with these snapshots. Although nothing was done to the land, it looks like the through road is maintained to facilitate the harvesting of oil palm fruits. The oil palm trees were growing healthily and Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd is still reaping the fruits and making a lucrative income from the land while we wait in vain for our money to be returned or the land to be handed to us!!!! Well, palm oil prices were very high the last few years and Yeng Chong would have made a lot of money from the plantation. So why are they not giving us back the cash? Some of us visited the place about 10 years ago and workers were busy harvesting the oil palm fruits. The proceeds of the palm oil sale should come to us. And there is a signboard warning people to keep out, next to a board to say the land belongs to Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd, giving the Malacca address and contact number.

It looks like the purchasers also made a mistake of thinking that the golf course next door is part of the project and snapped this new signboard welcoming people to the Golden Valley Golf & Country Club. Many purchasers thought the golf club was part of the land, which is called Bandar Golden Valley Golf Resort. When we visited the golf club, they told us they had nothing to do with the land! One would not be blamed for making that mistake as the brochure released by Yeng Chong Realty at the launch of the land sale also had pictures of the then chairman of Yeng Chong Realty Sdn Bhd Mr Lee Sung Yong playing golf with royalty at the golf club.

The signboard welcoming people to the golf club which had
nothing to do with the land

Taken from the promotional brochure