♥ Wednesday, November 12, 2008
15th February 2009, SundayI was one of the prisoner's trapped in the castle. I was one of the lucky ones who was afforded freedom to roam around within the castle as I was not labelled as potentially dangerous. One night, I chanced upon an internal meeting among the management of the castle. Apparently, they were discussing about developing the site for revenue purposes. Their plan was to build a 300 units apartment condominium within the compound. This is horrifying as I believe that they have no intention of releasing us - they are out to cheat the buyers. I informed my friends, who had decided that all prisoners, no matter dangerous, are stakeholders to this issue as all of us will be embroiled in the future potential dispute. As there was no way to get out of the castle without management's approval, we felt that it is apt to release these dangerous prisoner's from their dungeons and afford them freedom to join us in our mutiny against the management's decision.
Then we have a faced off. The management tried to convince us of the benefits of getting extra revenue. Running the castle has been eating into their reserves. Will the castle be razed to make way for the condo? some of us queried. Not likely, I replied, as the castle is a historical monument gazatted for preservation. The managment clarified that the castle will be incorporated into the condo design. That is even worse. That will mean that we will need to co-exist with the condo's resident - that will sure set them off should they know that they are tricked into the deal. The project manager tried to convince the site owner that it will be a profitable project. I queried the profit margin. He said minimum $50 per unit as they will sell cheaply to attain 100% occupancy and then rely on the maintenance fees for future revenue. I told him tht $50 per unit amounts to only $15,000 which could not even buy us a playground equipment. Tapping on my working knowledge, I further tried to convince the developer that the rise in building cost will not justify this investment. How about the maintenance? Should we be embroiled in a dispute, and the outsideworld realised that the establishment harbours prisoners, maintenance companies such as the pool service company will not dare to offer us their service. Intime, the pool will be filled with filth and the whole establishment will appear like now - deserted, spooky, uninhabitable. Furthermore, the bad publicity will affect the developer's reputation and that will affect businesses of their other portfolios they are holding.
I suggested releasing us - aka the prisoners - before developing the site. That was wishful thinking on our part, said the developer. I tried to convince my point to the managing director. She seems partly convinced. But she couldn't make decisions - her mum is the major stakeholder in this. The project manager is pushy to get the project started.
Eventually, I charmed my way through the hearts of the developer - she bought my explanation and decided to abort the redevelopement plan. I had succeeded. Afterall, who could resist an eloquent, charming and charismatic young man like me? The final outcome of this fiasca is that the castle will remain status quo. All of us, the ghosts of the past, will continue to be kept within its compound for a lifetime...
Blogged @ 8:26 AM
