Welcome to Sikmading's Property

Yes, welcome to Sikmading's Property, but not my personal property. It's merely my new blog about realty - property, housing development, real estate, etc - in my home state, Sabah in general and its capital Kota Kinabalu in particular. This new blog is in addition to my existing blog, Sikmading's Sabah, Malaysian Borneo (http://sikmading.blogspot.com)

Why did I start this blog? Well, it's simply because for the past seven years my work has had something to do with the housing industry in Sabah - a nice break and refreshing change from politics which I had been indirectly involved in for more than three decades. Since I like writing, I just want to do justice to Sabah's housing industry (which looked after my rice bowl) by reporting on property development, seen through my eyes, without bias or favour. After all, the property market or construction industry is often seen as a thermostat to the state of the economy and is an important component of the stock market index.

For my first installment, my offering is the Imperial Villa housing development project. Before I go into the details, why did I choose this project as my first posting in this new blog? This is partly due to the fact that before one book a yet-to-be-built house and committed to a bank loan, one has to look into the reputation or trust-worthiness of the developer or else one's hard-earned money may go down the drain and the hope of owning one's dream house dashed. In case anyone think I work for the developer of Imperial Villa, no I don't, I work for the government.

What attracted me most about Imperial Villa is that unlike other developers, this company is not owned by an individual or a family business. Instead, the developer of this project, PCCCI Corporation Sdn Bhd, is a joint-effort by members of the Penampang Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCCI), some of whom are already established or experienced housing developers. I have every confidence in this project because, in the words of PCCCI president Datuk Kenneth Yen, Imperial Villa must succeed otherwise the good name of PCCCI itself would be at stake. "When I say succeed, I do not just mean delivery on time but also quality finishing," he stressed.

Imperial Villa, according to the project's brochure, is "3 mins drive to Donggongon township", the main town or 'heart' of the Penampang district. But I would like to think, after a field survey, that it is actually closer than that. One to two minutes would be more accurate, I think. Infact it won't be ridiculous to call it a 'stone's throw' from the nearest shop in Donggongon, assuming the stone-thrower is a sportsman.

The second reason why I chose Imperial Villa is again because of the location. The trend today is to stay not too close to the city because of traffic jams as well as noise and air pollution and Imperial Villa, located in the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu city, fits this bill. Though being suburban, Donggongon is a self-contained town with two banks, a well-stocked supermarket, a public library, and several restaurants including seafood ones. Infact, even the headquarters of the Sabah Credit Corporation and the branch campus of the Tunku Abdul Rahman College are in Donggongon. An added attraction of Donggongon is the unique weekly Tamu which falls on Friday but by Thursday the tamu ground is already teeming with activities. Among the items that can be purchased during the tamu are fresh and cheap vegetables and fruits as well as fish and meat, as the tamu is next to the market.

Another factor which I took into consideration was the fact that Imperial Villa is a Gated-Community housing estate and the brochure promised "Free First 5 Years 24 Hours Security" which I think is quite an attraction, considering the number of house-breaking cases reported in the newspapers lately. And of course if you are a Bumiputra (native, Pribumi in Indonesia) you get a 5% discount with 30% of all units reserved for Bumis.

The only 'minus point' about this project is that it is 'high-end' and not meant for the ordinary income group. All houses are three stroreys high, with either terraced or semi-detached as the only option. But as the Chinese saying of "one cent money one cent goods" goes, you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

In conclusion, there is no need for me to go into too much details as the images above speak for themselves. For a larger view, please click on an image. I have also omitted the prices here because I am not their salesman and also because the prices may change. For further information and pricing please contact PCCCI Corp at phone nos. as published in the brochure.