Everything has changed since the pandemic hit the world globally at the beginning of the year and how we view our homes is no exception. The work from home (WFH) culture has affected our daily lives and changed what we look for in a home completely. In a buyer’s market, would you consider landed or high-rise? Which seems to offer the best living conditions in today’s world? This was the topic of discussion in last night’s live broadcast, hosted by Bay Suites. 

The session titled “COVID-19 Vs. High Rise” explored how the pandemic affected the market of high-rise condominiums and what it means to the consumer. The biggest concern evidently in this case would be hygiene. Group Managing Director of Remajaya Sdn Bhd, Datuk Chua Soon Ping proposed several solutions to this issue including;

1. Redesign crucial areas such as the lobby and maintain strict cleaning schedules



2. Build additional lifts to compensate for the increase in trips due to maximum capacity reduction



3. Introduce designs for contactless lift panel using QR Code, Bluetooth or card reader, etc.

In efforts to combat the pandemic, Datuk Chua recently hit headlines with suggestions that he made in their last Facebook live session that also raised RM68,000 in fund donations for medical frontliners. To save struggle businesses, he urged idle hotels to consider turning their short-term stay business into temporary quarantine centres. In last night’s discussion, he shared a contact number for hotels that want to get in touch to make this temporary change.

Also present was Mr Julius Kong, Finance Director of Sinaland Sdn Bhd. He said, “If you really look into it, living in a high rise is not that different from living in a landed property. COVID-19 is most likely here to stay for a while so, in the long term, we cannot avoid the situation, we can only initiate ways to mitigate the issue. Within a few months [after the pandemic hit], we were already able to come up with solutions and technology to manage the risks of shared space.” 

At the end of the day, it all boils down to your preference. Look into high rise living if you are looking for a lifestyle that offers security, high-rise scenic views and a better return of investment. You can review the full discussion, as well as find out what high rise condominiums there are available and upcoming in Kota Kinabalu by logging into Facebook and visiting the Bay Suites Facebook page.