Unfulfilled, I pranced over to the other side of the hawker centre. There I sighted a long queue - a Singaporean kinda 'quality seal'. It was Lor Mee. And so I took my chances and queued like any other deserving Singaporean would. Sure enough, when it was my turn, I finally realised what the Q was about. One of the best Lor Mee's ever...
Of course, that is not the story. Yet the lesson learnt was representative of how the market is today. Not the wet market. The property market.
Recent news about some 'ideal' property management company (you would know who if you're in the business) partitioning en-bloced condo units up resulting in no access to washing or garbage disposal facilities led to the authorities turning up the heat on checks. Some other "park complex" - a long standing iconic building in Singapore history - has also been earmarked as abuse potential. In fact, abuse has already been occuring for a long time with the influx of foreign labour in recent years - particularly the Chinese. Apartment units were partitioned and then rented out, often on short term leases too. This brought the legislation to the light - that private apartment units are not to be leased on daily, weekly or month-to-month basis. The minimum lease according to IRAS is one year. (Obviously, if short term lease was allowed, they would directly compete with the hotel industry - like one 'Soho'-style condo in one of the culturally rich areas in Singapore.) In fact, there is even a new term coined - Condotel. Actually, if you have been to Europe, the concept of Condotel, Apartotel or even Boatel is not new. I am sure you have heard of B&B (bed and breakfast) too.
Anyway, so thus luck knocks on my leisure boat house - now the expat who either has been priced out of the market or cannot commit to stay longer than a month or two has an option. And a pretty cool option at that.
So what does this teach us? People may say "one good thing leads to another". I say, one bad thing may open up the opportunity for a good one.
