Ivory Defends the Monstrosity!

http://www.theedgeproperty.com/news-a-views/4198-penang-property-focus-a-life-of-luxury-with-ivory.html

Penang Property Focus: A life of luxury with Ivory
Datuk Low Eng Hock , Ivory Properties Group , Moonlight Bay

By Regina William of The Edge Malaysia
Sunday, 15 August 2010 00:00
Driving up the winding road to the tourist belt of Batu Ferringhi in Penang, it’s hard to miss the grand homes being built atop a nearby hill. Penang-based Ivory Properties Group says that with its iconic development, Moonlight Bay, it is raising the bar for luxury living on the island.
IS THIS REFERRING TO JALAN BATU FERRINGHI THE LONGEST AND MOST DANGEROUS CAR PARK IN PENANG. WHERE AMBULANCES AND CEMENT TRUCKS MIX WITH BUSES AND MOTORCYCLES, ALL DODGING THE POT HOLES AND OPEN DRAINAGE SYSTEM!
Moonlight Bay was inspired by the charm of the southern European-Mediterranean seaside towns, where villas are built on terraces with sweeping views of the sea. YES YOUR ARTIST IMPRESSIONS LOOK GREAT. HOW ABOUT SOME PHOTOS OF THE REAL THING? OR IS IT POSSIBLE THAT EVEN YOU ARE TOO EMBARRASSED TO SHOW IT FOR WHAT IT IS?



Ivory touts the development, with a GDV of RM190 million, as being like no other in the country. THANK YOU FOR THAT AT LEAST. PROMISE US IVORY THAT YOU WILL NEVER AGAIN BUILD A MONSTROSITY LIKE THIS.

Moonlight Bay raises the bar for luxury living on Penang Island IT DESTROYED A HILL SIDE WE WILL GIVE YOU THAT MUCH!
Sprawling (ACTUALLY STACKED UP ON A NEAR VERTICAL HILL SIDE)over 5.6ha, Moonlight Bay comprises only 70, 4-storey villas and 20 “condovillas” equipped with state-of-the-art-security systems, landscaped gardens, pocket parks, cascading water features,(ESPECIALLY WHEN IT RAINS AND ALL THAT MUD ENDS UP IN THE SEA BELOW) swimming pools,(GOOD AT LEAST THEY WON'T HAVE TO SWIM IN THE SEWAGE BELOW) indoor and outdoor gyms, a 3-storey club house and service lift towers to allow residents to move easily from the top tier 250 ft above sea level to the bottom tier.

Ivory Group managing director Datuk Low Eng Hock
Addressing concerns over building on hillsides, Ivory group managing director Datuk Low Eng Hock says the project adheres to local hillslope development guidelines as well as the guidelines for similar developments in Hong Kong, where they are common.
YES LET HONG KONG KEEP THEM! HILL SLOPE DEVELOPMENT OF MAXIMUM 3 STORIES? MAXIMUM OF 15 HOMES TO THE ACRE? THOSE LOCAL HILL SIDE DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES?

A retaining wall system that meets both US and European safety standards was built. Because of Moonlight Bay’s elevation there is a low density requirement, but Ivory opted to build 50% fewer units than permitted under the guidelines. The project has been described as an engineering and technical feat because of the challenges of the construction. Each stage was monitored and certified by three teams of independent engineers. STILT HOUSES WITH A WALL TO HIDE THE STILTS SO THAT THE UNSUSPECTING PEOPLE FROM HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE DON'T SEE THEM!

The foundation of each invidividual 4-storey villa is reinforced with caisson piles strong enough structurally to support a 10-storey building. AS LONG AS THE HILL SLOPE IS STABLE AND DOES NOT MOVE!

Retaining as much of the greenery as possible, the entire site has been landscaped into a resort-style garden. TAKE ANOTHER LOOK! THIS WAS ONCE A RAINFOREST SLOPE IT IS NOW BROWN EARTH AND CONCRETE! YOU COULD PAINT ALL THOSE WALLS GREEN!

Low says creating Moonlight Bay was not easy but it is a masterpiece among Ivory’s projects and it has already won several international property awards.THE UGLIEST SITE IN THE WORLD?

The villas, each with its own private lift, have land areas ranging from 2,350 sq ft to 6,550 sq ft and built-ups from 3,800 sq ft to 5,500 sq ft. They are priced from RM2.7 million to RM4.6 million (RM646 per sq ft).

The condovillas range in size from 1,950 sq ft to 2,200 sq ft with prices starting at RM1.2 million to RM1.4 million (RM618 per sq ft). Fifty-eight of the villas and seven of the condovillas have been sold.

Buyers come from as far away as the US, the UK, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Middle East, Singapore and Indonesia. The keys should be handed over to the owners in August. YET MORE "FOR SALE" SIGNS GOING UP IN AUGUST AS IF WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH EMPTY PROPERTIES ALREADY!

Resort style living at 10 Island Resort
Just a stone’s throw away from Moonlight bay(WHICH YOU FAIL TO SHOW IN THE ARTISTS IMPRESSIONS) is another Ivory project — 10 Island Resort at the famed Miami Beach in Batu Ferringhi, with a spectacular seafront hillside setting.(ANOTHER ILLEGAL HILL SLOPE DEVELOPMENT)



10 Island Resort, with a GDV of RM193 million, comprises three blocks with 266 condominiums and 15, 4-storey resort villas. The density of the condos is low, with only four units per floor on the regular levels, two units on the executive floors and one unit on the penthouse floor. Each unit has a sea view.

Prices range from RM479 per sq ft, with built-ups from 1,100 sq ft to 3,200 sq ft. Completion is expected in 2012. Facilities include a swimming pool and other recreational facilities.

The Soul of Penang

The Soul of Penang
Fast Disappearing…..Laments of a Township.

Please don’t sell Penang down the road!

Once upon a time, as recently as 5 or 6 years ago, you could take a relaxing, cooling, shaded drive up the north coast of Penang, along the sleepy rainforest teaming with local wildlife, the calls of the Langurs and Macaques hanging out, colorful birds singing on one side; and the beautiful, vast blue sea with her quiet inviting beaches on the other that Penangites and Malaysians from all over the country seeked out as their unique water playground. As a child, I remember the clear blue waters we swam in with fish visible clear to the bottom, comparable to the waters of the Greek Islands.... no more! Oh, how I weep for my beloved Penang.

This drive now has become a heavily packed, dangerous, overused utility road for developers with heavy vehicular traffic (lorries and cement trucks) that they have introduced. A curving, slope-hugging roadway that cannot be expanded to accommodate such a large increase in traffic. Many permanent residents worry about the safety of all who use this road, including cyclists and pedestrians, while motorbikes maneuver recklessly around cars and buses.

Random, chaotic, arbitrary development of every meter of hillside and seafront from Tanjong Bunga to Batu Ferringhi has become the norm. Massive high rise developments have up sprung everywhere, haphazardly, right to the edges of the main thoroughfare, the only direct roadway from town to the coastal rainforest/beach/resort areas of this beautiful island, without proper thought or planning for the consequences that come with this kind of rapid development. The steep watershed areas of Tanjong Bunga once reserved, now being developed is of great concern to its residents....what will happen to our water supply? The results of this kind of hill degradation was recently experienced in the form of flash floods by the Chee Seng Garden residents of Tanjong Bunga. We worry about the hill sliding in a heavy monsoon... a mud slide that could cause another Highland Towers or an Antarabangsa!

There are a thousand reasons not to do this to our beloved Penang especially our beach and waterfront areas which should have a unique status as a ‘Special Recreation Area’ for all, not only in the present, but also for posterity. But leaders and consortia of avarice have led Penang‘s Town and Country Planners of public good down a bad road. Worst of all, there is no demand for these high rise apartments, many are lightless at night and empty! They are being heavily marketed by ravenous developers to local “investors” of the mindset that ‘the more property you put your money in the better off you are, a kind of failsafe protection but short sighted and environmentally unsound; but also to “investors” in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Australia, UK,USA etc. advertising grandiose air brushed architect designer plans which never show the real Tanjong Bunga or Batu Ferringhi of congestion that has been created. There is simply an over-supply and over-building which serves no ‘real local or imagined need’ in the saturated housing market. Development of housing should follow demand for housing, which is generally the reason for new developments.

Unchecked corporate avarice has become the motivating force above all, creating uncontrolled, socially irresponsible, and environmentally unsafe, unethical developments. The common good of the residents of Tanjong Bunga and Batu Ferringhi, and all living in Penang, has been put on the back burner, leading us rapidly to a TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS in our neighborhoods. Sometimes, the most valuable things in life cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

Our beaches belong to all of us, not the few who have built right to the sea, developers, corporations and foreign consortia building along and blocking access to the waterfront, which negate the ordinary people’s right to enjoy the beautiful beaches and seaside of Penang.

A beachside recreational park for all posterity, for all the people of Penang and her mainland, is a priority. We need public lands set aside for the well being of the people of Penang. Our State Town and Country Planning Board and our State Government in their vision for Penang must take into account the wishes of the people of Penang and all its MM2H stakeholders.

To the new Government of Penang, please listen to the cries of your people. Please don’t continue the plans made previously. Hill cutting to build shoddy structures to house absentee investor residents and serve a few developers in Penang, which may lead to death and/or property destruction in these uncertain times of increased earth tremors, must be taken seriously, and has criminal implications. It cannot be deemed “not the fault of the developer” in Penang when they come tumbling down because of such negligence.

To all those involved...Please stop the permanent environmental damage and destruction, and the permanent aesthetic degradation and “visual eye sore” of the unique Penang landscape of coastal rainforest once rich with wildlife and our dying beautiful beaches and waterfront. Let’s work together on changing this. Please get involved and FREE OUR PENANG.

Let’s keep the “Pearl of the Orient” simply that!... and not let it become the “Toilet of the Orient” (in reference to where all the human waste from Tanjong Bunga and Batu Ferringhi goes...the overflow goes into the ocean untreated in some stretches of the North Coast, we just can’t be sure which stretch!)

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more.~ George Gordon, Lord Byron from 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' ~

Look deep into nature,
and then you will understand everything better.
~ Albert Einstein ~

Botanic Garden Arches Help!

Arches in the Penang Botanic Gardens in Min Of Tourism Website
Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:59:31 +0800
From: Penang Heritage Trust (PHT)
To:



The Ministry is running a survey on whether the ARCHES SHOULD BE RETAINED.

Please participate in the survey. Details of the website are as below.

Please send urgent message out to all your friends to ask them to vote and please stress that the box / answer they should tick should be the NO box

Enclosed picture of the arches.

The website is http://www.motour.gov.my/en.html

The survey is right on the main page.

They are going to use the survey as the reason to keep or not to keep.

The Coastal Park Invitation!

Press Release
May 31 2010

Launch of Tanjong Bunga Coastal Park
.....“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot”.....
‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mitchell ...singer/songwriter

This seems the unfortunate state of affairs Tanjong Bunga Residents find themselves in again and again! The people have requested on multiple occasions for the preservation of a coastal park/safe area as a nature preserve, for recreational purposes, for musical weekends of jazz and other multi-use purpose for the residents of Tanjong Bunga and the larger Penang community.....instead of more unoccupied high rises added to our everyday landscape!

It seems our local government is sensitive to the issues raised by her people and we will get a coastal park in Tanjong Bunga! Therefore, it is with great pleasure and sincere appreciation that Tanjong Bunga Residents Association invites the Press and other interested social media to observe Tanjong Bunga residents with YB Teh, initiate the soft launch of TANJONG BUNGA COASTAL PARK, near the Cove Condominium on Saturday, 5 June 2010 at 10 am.

All Press and Social Media are invited. Please come and commemorate our delight for ‘Local Residents in Partnership with our Local Government’ putting our wishes first and our dreams for a Coastal Park as a priority over illegal and unwanted development.

Purpose: Launch of Tanjong Bunga Coastal Park

Date: Saturday, 5 June 2010

Time: 10.00 am

Place: Between Cove Condominium entrance and old ‘Country Club’ site on Jalan Tanjong Bunga (opposite Tanjong Bunga Hawker Center)

Refreshments: courtesy Copthorne Orchid Hotel, Penang

For more information please contact Lee Laine at 012- 581 1123

POLICE DO NOTHING!

Police blasted for ignoring 'flying rock' incidents
Susan Loone | May 27, 10 1:18pm
A group of irate residents from Tanjong Bungah is extremely
upset with the police for allegedly not taking any action against a
hillside developer's blasting activities which resulted in a flying
rock hitting a home in the area.

Tanjong Bungah Residents Association chairperson George Aeria
who has written several scathing emails to Chief Police Officer Wira
Ayob Yaakob on May 20 and 21, lamented that the police had been "slow
to investigate the matter".

Aerie claimed that residents have lodged police reports on May
19 and 20 related to the flying rock incident, and have written to
Wira Ayob since May 20.

The incident occurred at 4.20pm on May 19 sending a rock soaring
to 500 feet in the air to hit a house along Jalan Chan Siew Teong,
damaging its roof, claimed Aeria. No one, however, was reported
injured.

"We do not need the police to come into Chee Seng Gardens in a
convoy of cars and four-wheel rrives to dramatise to the residents
that some sort of action is being done, as clearly nothing came out of
it," said Aeria, referring to a police visit to the affected area in
February.

Complaints of hillside development have been heard from
residents since mid-2009 and all blame have been directed squarely at
the previous state government under former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon
for issuing permits for the construction work.

Police charged with being laid back

"The police have only on May 25 gone over to interview the home
owner when repairs have already been undertaken on the 21st by the
developer, who told the owner ‘don't worry, Auntie, we can settle
this, please do not make a police report'," said Aeria.

"The police have not yet called or spoken to the complainant of
the police report who did a video of rock hitting the roof of house
No. 172," he added.

Aeria said busses, motorcycles and cars had been see were seen
passing the site even as the siren was sounding, while the blast
occurred and flying rocks seen landing on roof tops.

He added that documentary evidence in the form of video clips
dated May 12, 17 and 19 were submitted to the police at the Tanjong
Tokong branch.

"Despite all these actions by concerned residents, what we have
is continuous blasting resulting in flying rocks for nearly two years,
thus showing that proper guidelines and safety measures were not being
followed or practised," Aeria said.

When contacted, Wira Ayob was not very forthcoming in his
response, merely stating that the police were investigating the matter
and will take the necessary action soon.

Meanwhile, Tanjong Bungah (DAP) assemblyperson Teh Yee Cheu,
said a temporary stop-work order has been issued against the developer
by the George Town Municipal Council.

Teh added that the developer Bolton Bhd had been told to stop
all earthworks pending investigations into rock-blasting works at the
site near Chee Seng Gardens.

He expressed some helplessness in resolving the issue and urged
all parties including the media to highlight the matter so that
"something can be done" to assist the residents.

"Developers often say they have taken all the necessary
precautionary measures so when accidents happen, it is an act of god,"
he said.

"The problem is the permit to undertake these construction
activities have been issued way beyond 2007, but we are trying our
best to resolve it otherwise we have no choice but to try another
approach, which we will publicise later, " he added.


--
Best regards,

Susan Loone
Email: susanloone@gmail.com
Blog: www.sloone.wordpress.com

COMING TO A NEIGHBOURHOOD NEAR YOU SOON!

This is the result of Chinese Developers cutting corners, saving money and not being supervised by the authorities. Could this happen in Penang?
Ivory, Bolton Surin, Plentitude or Asia Pacific Land?
No, Not possible it never rains in Penang!


Yes it is a 13 story building and it is lying on its face!





The contractor built the building, then needed to build an underground garage! A hole was excavated to a depth of 4.6 meters on one side of the building and the earth was piled on the other side of the building. This resulted in a sideways pressure of some 3,000 tons which the hollow unreinforced foundations were not designed to stand! Then it started raining and softened the ground.
The results are clear to see!
MPPP and Penang watch this space!

Who protects the public?

Dear Dato' CPO

Reference is made to my telephone call to your office yesterday (26th May @ 9.30am) where I spoke to your secretary who has confirmed receipt of our two e-mails below (dated 20th & 21st May 2010). Sadly I would like to state the following in this follow up mail

A. Your Departments Actions have been Slow to investigate into this matter
i. Residents have made police reports on 19th & 20th May relating to the Flying Rock Incident.
ii. We from TBRA have written to you since 20th May 2010 relating to the same

* Your police have only on the 25th gone over to interview the home owner. Of which the repairs have already been undertaken (on the 21st by the Developer - telling the owner - "don't worry Auntie - we can settle this - pls do not make a Police Report"
* Your Police have not as yet called or to speak to the complainant of Police report Tg. Tokong/001266/10 who videod the event of the blasting of 19th May with the rock hitting the roof of house no. 172.


B. INEFFECTIVE OCS in the Tg. Tokong Police Station or Perhapd in the Entire State
i. Residents, have since November 2008 have made numerous Police Reports of Flying Rocks.
ii. Just in year 2010 - we have made Police Reports (with accompanying CD) since Feb 2010 showing flying rocks to you and to your Police Dept in
Tg. Tokong
iii. Latest Police Report given on 19th May with more CDs of video of flying rocks - and yesterday (26th May 2010) your Tg. Tokong Dept. calls us
up to ask for the Video CDs again.
iv. Totally ineffective or NO monitoring of the daily blastings (leading up to the 19th May incident) where
a. Busses, bikes and cars are seen passing the blast site even when the siren is sounding AND when the blast is set off (videos available)
b. Flying Rocks continue to land on homes (videos clips dated 12th, 17th & 19th May 2010 sent via CD vide Tg. Tokong Report No. 001266/10
clearly indicate as such)

Yet what we have is continuing Blasting resulting in Flying Rocks for nearly 2 years, thus showing that Blasting Guidelines are not being followed.

End Result - No Effective Action Perceived to have been taken by Our Police Department to monitor, CONTROL and guide the actions of the Blasting Contractor Vide the Blasting Permit as issued by the Police Department. The reasons are all up to conjecture why no such action has been taken against the errant blasting contractor of BOLTON Surin for all this time.

As such TBRA calls upon our Police Department through our CPO to: -
a. Withdraw the Blasting Permit issued to the Developer & Contractor of the BOLTON Surin Project UNTIL all matters pertaining to compliance to
blasting guideline and the EFFECTIVE monitoring & CONTROL of the irresponsible Developer is resolved. Failing which to NOT allow any further
Blasting permits to be issued at all.
b. To take Disciplinary Action against the Ineffective &/or Negligent OCS in the Tg. Tokong Police Station that has failed in his duties to provide a
duty of care to residents to ensure all Blastings by the Developers Contractor are carried out according to guideline as stated in the Blasting
Permit.
c. To arrest the persons responsible (of the Contractors engaged by BOLTON Surin's Developer) for Criminal Negligence for not comply with all
Blasting Guidelines which resulted in the Rock Blasting that occured on 19th May 2010 at @ 4.20pm causing a rock flying @ 500 feet to hit and
damage house along Jalan Chan Siew Teong
d. To take immediate action ensuring that the Police Department will be more effective in relation to serving the public which we believe is its
paramount reason for its existance. IN SHORT - START SERVING US, THE PUBLIC, BY JUST ENSURING OUR SAFETY. We believe that is
NOT too much to ask of our Police

Dato CPO - we do not need you to come into Chee Seng Gardens in a convoy of Cars & 4 Wheel Drives to dramatise to us residents that some sort of action (as done in Feb 2010 by yourself) is being done by you & your department, as clearly nothing came out of it Dato from that action you did in February 2010. Elementary, my Dear Dato' as the rocks kept flying and the incident of 19th May is stark evidence of it.

What we appeal to you is IMMEDIATE & EFFECTIVE action as mentioned above and a response to the affected residents (be it to us in TBRA or the complainants of the two Police Reports vide Tg. Tokong 001266/10 and 001268/10).

Should we not hear from you in the next few days &/or we do not see any action on the part of our Police Department to arrest the wayward & irresponsible actions of the Blasting Contractor and your ineffective OCS in Tg. Tokong, we will take it that you are not in a position to assist or perhaps you require assistance from your superiors in KL, and we will thus refer the entire matter to your superiors in Bukit Aman. We will also do & take whatever other actions that we deem fit & necessary to bring the sense of safety back to the residents in Chee Seng (in Particular) and Tg. Bunga (in general).

Thank you

George Aeria
Chairman
Tanjong Bunga Residents Association.