The other side of conflict resolution.
A few years ago, I somehow got involved in local politics: the supposedly joint management body for my apartment building. Somehow, again, i found myself getting elected as the president last year. Admittedly, the running has not been so bad. Of course there are those among us who are, evidently, of the more mentally challenged persuasion but somehow are in possession of particularly pronounced complaining abilities, but for the most part they are just people who want to live peacefully with a minimum effort on their part.
Things however took an amusing turn last week. Let me tell you from the beginning. There is this chap who has real problems paying his bills. For example, being an electrician, he would rather steal the electricity than pay for it. Last year, we reported him to the TNB for damaging the fuse box and consequently TNB has a case pending against him which carries an RM3000 fine. We did not believe that he had no money to pay because he bought a brand new car a short while later.
This time he’s back at it. Apparently the electricity company has contractors doing their meter-reading for them and he, he later claims, has been paying off these contractors to look the other way and allow his electricity theft. Last week the company sent on of their own to do the meter reading. Of course, the technician found the chap’s illegal connection and disconnected it.
He came home and an argument erupted with our caretaker and vice-president. The chap vandalized the door to the electricity room to get at the connections to reconnect the power. When I got home, I went to check the room and found that not only the main door was vandalized, he had also vandalized the backboard on which the meters were placed, probably to get at the wires behind the meters. I had no choice but to call in the electricity guys.
Anyway, the next day, we summoned him to the office to discuss the matter. My thoughts were that this guy may be in desperation, so it may be more prudent for us to ask what was wrong with him and try to help him out. After all, he is still a neighbour even if he was a pain in the nether regions. The meeting was called. People gathered. I had quite a time trying to keep the angers in check. That was when I realised that this chap was actually rather interesting. Apparently, in my view, he is the most ignorant person I have ever met and also the most mis / un- informed person also. In brief:
What he did:
1. He was illegally re-connecting the electricity after the TNB.
2. He used a metal cutter to cut open the lock to the fuse room for the whole floor to reconnect the electricity after the TNB man came and cut the electricity for the umpteenth time
3. He has not paid his maintenance fees worth more than a thousand ringgit.
4. He placed an air-conditioning unit in the parking lot then a few days later two chaps who said they were his workers came and took it. He claims that it was stolen and that the management was to re-compensate him for the “loss”. We of course ask for police report to confirm the matter but he refused to make it claiming it was not needed. A more transparent ploy, I have never seen.
His logic:
1. The management must not allow the TNB to open the meter room, so it is our fault that the TNB has cut off his power supply; the one that was illegally done.
2. The management was wrong for reporting his previous theft which resulted in him being fined about RM3000 on top of a similar amount which he already owed the TNB.
3. The security was deliberately trying to get him into trouble by allowing the TNB man to enter the premises to check them meter (incidentally, the TNB man was there to check the meters for all 124 unit) and consequently discover his theft.
4. The management must ignore his stealing of the electricity because, as he said, “The politicians and those rich people are stealing a lot more”.
5. He was not at fault for placing his air conditioning unit in the parking lot where there is a sign that says (park at own risk). The people who came to pick it up were wearing the same clothes that his workers wore and claim to be his workers, yet he claims that they were not. It should be added that it is great mystery how anyone who was not his worker would know that the thing was there.
6. The management must re-compensate him on his word alone. A police report is not needed. (of course, everyone in the committee realised that he had no case but still the procedures need to be followed).
7. He does not need to pay the maintenance fees because his air-conditioning unit was stolen.
There were some interesting points in the discussion. At one point, I tried to tell him that what I was saying is in accordance to the law. “Lu punya undang undang la”, he said. He then boasted that he was close to some big shot lawyer. So I said, “Good. Don’t take our word for it. Go see your lawyer and tell the situation. Then see what he says. I guarantee you he will concur with me”. To this he said, “He didn’t want to waste the lawyer’s time with such a small matter”.
Anyway, I was relatively happy at the end of the discussion because the committee managed to go through it without anyone losing their tempers whereas before they would have. Apparently, my suggestion that we should always maintain a professional distance when conducting these kinds of negotiations, worked.
Things however took an amusing turn last week. Let me tell you from the beginning. There is this chap who has real problems paying his bills. For example, being an electrician, he would rather steal the electricity than pay for it. Last year, we reported him to the TNB for damaging the fuse box and consequently TNB has a case pending against him which carries an RM3000 fine. We did not believe that he had no money to pay because he bought a brand new car a short while later.
This time he’s back at it. Apparently the electricity company has contractors doing their meter-reading for them and he, he later claims, has been paying off these contractors to look the other way and allow his electricity theft. Last week the company sent on of their own to do the meter reading. Of course, the technician found the chap’s illegal connection and disconnected it.
He came home and an argument erupted with our caretaker and vice-president. The chap vandalized the door to the electricity room to get at the connections to reconnect the power. When I got home, I went to check the room and found that not only the main door was vandalized, he had also vandalized the backboard on which the meters were placed, probably to get at the wires behind the meters. I had no choice but to call in the electricity guys.
Anyway, the next day, we summoned him to the office to discuss the matter. My thoughts were that this guy may be in desperation, so it may be more prudent for us to ask what was wrong with him and try to help him out. After all, he is still a neighbour even if he was a pain in the nether regions. The meeting was called. People gathered. I had quite a time trying to keep the angers in check. That was when I realised that this chap was actually rather interesting. Apparently, in my view, he is the most ignorant person I have ever met and also the most mis / un- informed person also. In brief:
What he did:
1. He was illegally re-connecting the electricity after the TNB.
2. He used a metal cutter to cut open the lock to the fuse room for the whole floor to reconnect the electricity after the TNB man came and cut the electricity for the umpteenth time
3. He has not paid his maintenance fees worth more than a thousand ringgit.
4. He placed an air-conditioning unit in the parking lot then a few days later two chaps who said they were his workers came and took it. He claims that it was stolen and that the management was to re-compensate him for the “loss”. We of course ask for police report to confirm the matter but he refused to make it claiming it was not needed. A more transparent ploy, I have never seen.
His logic:
1. The management must not allow the TNB to open the meter room, so it is our fault that the TNB has cut off his power supply; the one that was illegally done.
2. The management was wrong for reporting his previous theft which resulted in him being fined about RM3000 on top of a similar amount which he already owed the TNB.
3. The security was deliberately trying to get him into trouble by allowing the TNB man to enter the premises to check them meter (incidentally, the TNB man was there to check the meters for all 124 unit) and consequently discover his theft.
4. The management must ignore his stealing of the electricity because, as he said, “The politicians and those rich people are stealing a lot more”.
5. He was not at fault for placing his air conditioning unit in the parking lot where there is a sign that says (park at own risk). The people who came to pick it up were wearing the same clothes that his workers wore and claim to be his workers, yet he claims that they were not. It should be added that it is great mystery how anyone who was not his worker would know that the thing was there.
6. The management must re-compensate him on his word alone. A police report is not needed. (of course, everyone in the committee realised that he had no case but still the procedures need to be followed).
7. He does not need to pay the maintenance fees because his air-conditioning unit was stolen.
There were some interesting points in the discussion. At one point, I tried to tell him that what I was saying is in accordance to the law. “Lu punya undang undang la”, he said. He then boasted that he was close to some big shot lawyer. So I said, “Good. Don’t take our word for it. Go see your lawyer and tell the situation. Then see what he says. I guarantee you he will concur with me”. To this he said, “He didn’t want to waste the lawyer’s time with such a small matter”.
Anyway, I was relatively happy at the end of the discussion because the committee managed to go through it without anyone losing their tempers whereas before they would have. Apparently, my suggestion that we should always maintain a professional distance when conducting these kinds of negotiations, worked.
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