Extension and renewal of Malaysia leasehold land tenure

If you are planning to buy, or are already the owner of, a property built on leasehold land, you might be wondering (or worrying) about what will happen and what should you do when the tenure of your leasehold land going to expire in the future.

In fact, the tenure can be renewed and extended to another 30, 60 or 99 years.

The following info are obtained from the National House Buyers Association.

Section 197 of the National Land Code 1965 (Act 56 of 1965) governs the extension of land leases.

Before applying for an extension, the lease must be firstly surrendered back to the state government. Then, both the property developer and leasehold land owner(s) have to submit the Permohonan Serahbalik dan Mohon Semula Tanah Untuk Tujuan Melanjutkan Tempoh Pajakan form, together will all the required photocopied documents such as land title, site plan, quit rent receipt, assessment receipt, etc. to the state's land office.

If the lease already expired, the form need to submit will be Permohonan Pemberimilikan Tanah (Application for Land Re-alienation) instead.

The land will then be checked by a settlement officer, who will then submit a report to exco for approval.

After approval, the land will need to go through re-alienation process by the land administrator.

If the re-alienation is approved, the land office will issue a Notice that Land Revenue is Due (Form 5A) to the property owner to pay a premium.

The premium charged is based on a formula factoring the following into calculation:

• Premium rate (in percentage)
• Land size
• Market value per square feet
• Lease tenure period

For example, the renewal premium for a residential land at rate of 0.5% of size 25 x 80 with market value of RM20 psf for 99 years is:

0.5% x 25 x 80 x RM20 x 99 = RM19,800 (RM200 per year).

The land valuation is done by the Valuation and Property Services Department of Finance Ministry, and is based on the latest transaction values in the area.

If the owner feel that the premium is too high, he has the option to appeal to the state government for a reduction.

Upon payment of the premium, the land office will get the land title ready and inform the property owner when it is ready for collection.


If the owner does not renew the land tenure and let it expire, the land will revert back to the state government, and be available to anyone to apply for its new ownership.

Jobs Rated 2010: 20 best and 20 worst jobs of the year

CareerCast's Jobs Rated 2010 Report has made a ranking for 200 jobs from best to worst using a comprehensive analysis methodology covering the aspects of:

• Environment
• Income
• Outlook
• Stress
• Physical Demands

The resulting 20 best jobs of 2010 are:

• 1. Actuary ($85,229)
  
• 2. Software Engineer ($85,139)
  
• 3. Computer Systems Analyst ($76,162)
  
• 4. Biologist ($71,279)
  
• 5. Historian ($62,226)
  
• 6. Mathematician ($95,161)
  
• 7. Paralegal Assistant ($46,152)
  
• 8. Statistician ($73,193)
  
• 9. Accountant ($59,176)
  
• 10. Dental Hygienist ($67,107)
  
• 11. Philosopher ($60,218)
  
• 12. Meteorologist ($81,226)
  
• 13. Technical Writer ($62,162)
  
• 14. Bank Officer ($88,217)
  
• 15. Web Developer ($60,090)
  
• 16. Industrial Engineer ($74,123)
  
• 17. Financial Planner ($59,353)
  
• 18. Aerospace Engineer ($93,133)
  
• 19. Pharmacist ($106,070)
  
• 20. Medical Records Technician ($31,150)
  

Click here to see the slideshow for The 10 Best Jobs of 2010 with their pros and cons information.

The resulting 20 worst jobs of 2010 are:

• 1. Roustabout ($31,133)
  
• 2. Lumberjack ($32,114)
  
• 3. Ironworker ($32,123)
• 4. Dairy Farmer ($32,114)
• 5. Welder ($34,122)
• 6. Garbage Collector ($31,183)
• 7. Taxi Driver ($22,113)
• 8. Construction Worker (Laborer) ($29,200)
• 9. Meter Reader ($33,170)
• 10. Mail Carrier ($50,041)
• 11. Butcher ($28,150)
• 12. Photojournalist ($28,275)
• 13. Firefighter ($44,227)
• 14. Sheet Metal Worker ($40,208)
• 15. Emergency Medical Technician ($29,158)
• 16. Stevedore ($38,182)
• 17. Reporter (Newspaper) ($35,285)
• 18. Sailor ($34,148)
• 19. Machinist ($36,150)
• 20. Choreographer ($39,272)

Click here to see the slideshow for The 10 Worst Jobs of 2010 with their pros and cons information.

The figure in the brackets above is the median income for the corresponding job.

Taiwan innovative handmade edible paper

For the 1st post in 2010, I would like to share with you an interesting and good news from Taiwan.

Taiwanese couple Huang Huan-chang (黄焕彰) and Wu Shu-li (吴淑丽) who own the Kuanghsing Paper Factory (广兴纸寮) in Puli (埔里) started to make new environmentally friendly and edible paper products from an incredible variety of plants since 2007.

The ingredients of their creative handmade edible papers include water bamboo, bittervine, okra, pineapple, coffee grounds, sugar cane dross, paddy waste, peppers, onions, carrots, moss, grass, etc.

They have just showcased over 100 types of edible paper varieties at the "Paper Loves Taiwan – Top 100" (纸爱台湾 - 荣耀 100) exhibition on 23 December 2009.

Huang says the bittervine (薇甘菊) has severely damaged Taiwan landscape like a "green cancer", a name by which it is known in Chinese. They have successfully transform it into lovely art paper suitable for handicrafts or wrapping gifts, and can also be used for making decorations, CD covers and other projects, turning the "green cancer" into "green gold".

The couple also turns okra, peppers, tangerines and even radishes into natural, edible wrappings, without adding any traditional paper pulp at all. This type of edible paper can be used to wrap food for deep-frying, yielding a product that is both safe and delicious.