Moving forward with Virtual Meetings in Management of Strata Properties, post covid-19

December 7, 2020 editor

The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown have changed the ways we conduct our daily activities. Gatherings or meeting in a big group is prohibited. It was not until the country phased into Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) on 10.6.2020, that the government relaxed the rules against group gathering and allowed management bodies of stratified properties to organize AGM, EGM and management committee meetings subjected to the strict adherence of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) prescribed by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT).

What is the current SOP for strata Management Committees in Malaysia?

The SOP, amongst others, detailed the following

Restricting meeting duration to not more than 4 hours
attendance of the general meeting is on ‘first come first serve basis’ if the venue of meeting could not accommodate all the attendees
only important motions are to be discussed and decided upon in a meeting and such decisions are to be recorded.
Those proprietors above the age of 60 years are not encouraged to attend (you gotta be kidding – pun intended)

While the intention of the SOP is noble, to a certain extent, it curtails the rights of proprietors to participate in a meeting. For example, proprietors wishing to participate in a general meeting may find themselves being denied to do so as the venue has reached its full capacity even before the meeting starts.

With the Covid-19 statistics in the Klang Valley worsening in the middle of October, the government have reimplemented Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in the Klang Valley. Following this, all general meetings in strata schemes in the affected areas are prohibited once again and have come to an immediate halt.

However, as if oblivious to the danger in the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, the Housing Ministry (KPKT) in its latest FAQ dated 15.10.2020 still allows physical meetings of the management committees, joint management committees and subsidiary management committees in strata properties as per item 16 as follows:-

“Management committee meetings involving physical meeting are allowed on the conditions that it shall not exceed 10 persons in the meeting place, the committee members shall keep at least 1-metre distance apart from each other and they shall take preventive measures against Covid-19. Nevertheless, it is encouraged to hold management committee meetings by online meetings during the CMCO period.”

It is important to note that many of the committees have senior citizen members who, at their advanced age, cannot afford to contract Covid-19. Such a meeting is held in a meeting room that usually does not have sufficient space for effective social/ physical distancing. Furthermore, the duration of such meeting is normally of long hours and, in the unfortunate event of the presence of Covid-19 infected person or carrier, the built-up of aerosols of Covid-19 virus over the long hours within the meeting room will definitely be deadly and will endanger the lives of the committee members, particularly those who are senior citizens.

During CMCO period, many such committees have no choice but to conduct their meetings online with proper quorum and decision-making process by a simple majority vote where the chairman will have a casting vote if there is an equality of votes. It will be good if the Housing Ministry can confirm that, for the avoidance of doubt, all decisions made and resolutions passed by the committees at such online committee meetings are valid and do not need to be ratified later in a physical meeting.

Virtual General Meetings for strata Management Corporations can be a viable option

The Singaporean government recognised that allowing general meetings of management corporations to be held via alternative arrangements other than physical attendance will go a long way in mitigating the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Section 27 of the Singapore COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 allows meetings to be held or conducted in a manner other than provided for in the written law or legal instrument to limit or prevent the spread Covid-19. Under this provision, the Minister may by Order prescribe alternative arrangement for the meeting include provision for a meeting to be convened, held or conducted, by electronic communication, video conferencing, teleconferencing or other electronic means.

Pursuant to this provision, the Singapore government prescribed the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) (Alternative Arrangements for Meetings for Management Corporations, Subsidiary Management Corporations and Collective Sale Committee) Order 2020 (‘Singapore Order’). In order to facilitate the implementation of this Order, the Singapore government devised guidance notes covering various aspects of virtual meetings for strata properties from issuance of a notice of general meeting, quorum of meeting, appointment of proxy to voting process, etc.

Under this Order, a meeting notice will still need to be issued in accordance with the strata management law. In addition, the notice shall contain such information on how to use and access the relevant electronic system and how proprietors can cast their votes in the course of the meeting. The guidance note also provides that the management corporation should ensure that the electronic portal used will enable the Secretary of management corporation to identify and verify the identities of proprietors who ‘attend and participate’ in the meeting conducted via the electronic portal.

Source: iProperty