PETALING JAYA: Housing experts have lauded Yayasan My First Home’s (YMFH) initiative to help the lower-income group who are blacklisted to clear their names and own a house. One of them has extended a helping hand.
Saying this will benefit the rakyat and the housing industry and in turn contribute to the growth of the nation, Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) offers its cooperation to realise this aim.
“We are open to be part of any discussions or engagements to help the foundation achieve its goal,” Rehda acting president Datuk NK Tong said.
“To have a foundation set up for this purpose will hopefully amplify our opinion that much work needs to be done in order to assist those in the B40 and M40 groups to own a house.”
Tong said Rehda is keen to find out how the programmes under YMFH are going to be implemented. “We look forward to seeing avenues for cooperation that may exist,” he added.
He welcomes the financial literacy programme provided by the YMFH as it is important to everyone, including homeowners and potential homebuyers.
“Discipline is required by everyone to ensure all monthly and necessary payments are made on time, and to understand where to minimise or maximise spendings to ensure they are living within their means while catering to their essential needs,” Tong said.
“We are interested to see how the foundation plans to implement this particular agenda as we believe that should it be done correctly, it will not only help them buy a house, but also take their name off the blacklist and manage their finances better for their wellbeing.”
Tong also pointed out that as many housing developers in the country are from the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) category, they may not contribute to the initiative financially or offer bridging loans to the foundation.
“Perhaps developers can also come together under one umbrella to optimise their affordable housing offerings to the market by sharing knowledge and exchanging information to benefit the housing industry,” said Tong.
“The foundation may also benefit SME developers as technologies that seem far-fetched to them, such as IBS (industrialised building system), may be well within reach in the future.”
National House Buyers Association honorary secretary-general Datuk Chang Kim Loong praised YMFH’s aspirations to assist the B40 group to buy their first home, calling it a noble initiative.
The foundation was launched earlier this month by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah, who lauded the initiative by BCorp founder and chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan, calling it a “noble cause”.
“By helping to resolve and resolving the liabilities that resulted in the lower-income groups getting blacklisted is very noble and other affluent business leaders and high network entrepreneurs and philanthropists should also help the government in coming up with solutions to provide affordable housing to them,” Chang said.
He said the key to YMFH’s success is in the execution of the programme by targeting the correct segment of people and ensure that the lower-income groups can still have a minimum standard of living after paying the new mortgage of their first home although they have been removed from the blacklist.
“They must be taught financial management to avoid future lumbering debts. The fate of foreclosure can be devastating and may end up ‘house poorer’, if they are not taught to manage money,” Chang said.
“This adage aptly applies – ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’.”
BCorp founder and chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah at the launch of the foundation by His Majesty earlier this month.
Source: https://www.thesundaily.my/local/industry-players-rally-behind-ymfh-to-help-lower-income-people-own-homes-EM8961547