A place where cultures blend

To create a home for people of different cultures with different expectations, as well as to ensure they live happily and in harmony together, sounds like a tough job — but that is what Eco World Property Services Sdn Bhd (EWPS), the property management arm of Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld), has been working hard to achieve at The Verandah, a residential project with lush, breathtaking gardens and parks at Eco Botanic in Johor.

The property management team must have done something right as the project emerged as one of the Joint Silver winners in the below 10 years multi-own strata residential category at EdgeProp Malaysia’s Best Managed Property Awards 2018 recently.

Also winning the Silver in this category was EcoWorld’s Cradleton precinct at Eco Majestic, Semenyih.

Launched in September 2013, Eco Botanic is EcoWorld’s first township development. The 270-acre freehold development in Iskandar Puteri comprises cluster homes, semidees, super-links, bungalows, condominiums, shopoffices and a street mall.

The Verandah precinct consists of 624 units of 2-storey cluster and semidee homes on a 68.82-acre land. It was handed over in September 2016 and the joint management body (JMB) was formed in November 2017.

Wahid Ali Mohd Khalil, one of the committee members of the JMB and a retiree, is appreciative of the prompt service provided by the property management team.

“I engage with the staff very frequently. Whenever there is any problem, I look for them and they will attend to it swiftly, like within half an hour or one hour. So, we can have peace of mind as there is someone we can rely on,” he offers.

According to EcoWorld divisional general manager Datuk Hoe Mei Ling, around 70% of the residents in The Verandah are locals while the rest are expatriates from Japan, South Korea, the UK and China. Most of the residents are white-collar workers, professionals and senior managers, who often have high expectations on the quality of living, she added.

“So, the main challenge for us is to manage their expectations and ensure that they live happily here,” she tells EdgeProp.my.

To create a sense of belonging in a community, activities such as communal farming were set up while the many gazebos and soft landscape in the development serve to encourage residents to spend time together outdoors.

Other community events such as cooking classes, cuisine carnivals, festive celebrations and recycling workshops have also been held to help foster a vibrant and sustainable community.

“We want residents to interact with each other and embrace their different cultures. The emphasis is on promoting human interaction from the macro to micro levels. Expansive public parks and gardens as well as thriving commercial offerings help to nurture the nascent community,” offers Hoe.

An interesting communal feature at The Verandah is its edible garden. It is situated next to the management office and is tended to by the residents and the management team. Chili, lady’s fingers, rosemary, eggplant and pandan are harvested and shared among the residents.

Besides nurturing community bonding, residents are also encouraged to strive towards being an eco-friendly community. One of its green initiatives is to convert garden and food waste into composting materials that can be used as fertilisers through their own composting machine.

“The residents appreciate the composting machine because not only are they concerned about the environment, the machine also helps us to reduce cost on fertilisers,” says Hoe.

At the end of the day, Hoe admits, a sustainable community is achieved when there is trust and respect among residents as well with the property management team. “We realise the importance of building trust between us and the residents. People want to be respected and listened to when they bring up issues to property managers, so we always listen and solve the issues together,” she concludes.

This story first appeared in EdgeProp.my pullout on May 11, 2018. Download EdgeProp.my pullout here for free.