I SUPPORT the suggestion by Mr Paul Chan Poh Hoi that subsidiary proprietors of condominiums take turns to serve on the management council ("Relook condos' management council system"; Forum Online, last Friday).
Currently, there are no term limits for council members. Often, council members lament that few or no one would come forward to serve, which is one of the reasons for their long service.
But what is overlooked is that with the same people on the council, there is little incentive for someone new to step forward.
To hold on to their seat, members of the outgoing council can, at the annual general meeting, propose to enlarge the size of the team, say, from 10 to 12 members, to accommodate the new members. Or they use proxies to keep themselves in the council. This is extremely unhealthy as council members can effectively hold on to their seats for as long as they wish, while new members can simply be outvoted in council meetings.
The Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act needs to be changed to cap the number of years subsidiary proprietors can serve on the management council, and to have a system of rotation for all subsidiary proprietors to serve on the council.
Chan Lai Chan (Madam)
Currently, there are no term limits for council members. Often, council members lament that few or no one would come forward to serve, which is one of the reasons for their long service.
But what is overlooked is that with the same people on the council, there is little incentive for someone new to step forward.
To hold on to their seat, members of the outgoing council can, at the annual general meeting, propose to enlarge the size of the team, say, from 10 to 12 members, to accommodate the new members. Or they use proxies to keep themselves in the council. This is extremely unhealthy as council members can effectively hold on to their seats for as long as they wish, while new members can simply be outvoted in council meetings.
The Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act needs to be changed to cap the number of years subsidiary proprietors can serve on the management council, and to have a system of rotation for all subsidiary proprietors to serve on the council.
Chan Lai Chan (Madam)
