The scheduled extraordinary general meeting (EOGM) at Thomson View condominium for the establishment of a new en bloc sales committee was called off yesterday due to a lack of quorum.
CKH Strata Management, the appointed managing agent of Thomson View, called off the meeting after announcing that the minimum 30 percent of share value, comprising of residents or their proxies, required to attend the EOGM was not met by 1pm – the time slated to begin the meeting.
However, residents of the 15-year-old, 55,000-sq-ft condo said that the delay was caused by CKH for being late in its administrative process.
Several residents complained that the minimum threshold required to be met by a specific time was not clearly stated in the EOGM notice. They also said that CKH should have given them some leeway, as it was over administrative matters at the registration counter that caused the delay.
A quorum of a minimum of 30 percent of the share value was required by the Land Titles (Strata) Act for the meeting to proceed.
According to CKH, the meeting was called off because they wanted to follow the current law of dissolving the EOGM if the quorum is not met by the scheduled time. They maintained that if they allowed the meeting to continue, it may thwart the en bloc sale process if a minority group questions its validity at a later date.
Mr. Chan Kok Hong, managing director of CKH, said: “I’m only a managing agent and I have to act according to the law. If I was lenient, then people who were against the en bloc sale could declare this whole election of the new sales committee null and void as the law was not strictly adhered to.”
A recent proposal to change the Land Titles (Strata) Act has provided for an hour’s leeway for the required quorum to be reached, but this new proposed ruling is expected to be implemented only in June.
The conflict cooled off when Mr. Tan Kin Lian, ex-chief executive of NTUC Income and former chairman of the previous sales committee, offered to facilitate the reconvening of the next EOGM through email with the residents.
The inflexibility from CKH was uncalled for, said one resident, who only wants to be known as Mr. Ng.
“People put in so much trouble to come in and the EOGM was cancelled just because some people cannot be reached or are late.”
“The managing agent should be more flexible and give us half-an-hour more instead of saying there is no quorum,” he said.