Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

This article first appeared in Enterprise, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on September 10, 2018 - September 16, 2018

Every now and then, Elica Sdn Bhd’s Bobby Ting would get a request for funds to build homes for the poor. He usually obliged. But he soon realised that this would not be sustainable.

A few thousand ringgit probably meant planks, tools and some paint. A house built with such materials would inevitably end up being another perilous structure, observes the managing director of the Kuching-based luxury property developer.

After some reflection and picking the brains of his team — which included his graphic designer and entrepreneur wife, Shen-tel Lee — he decided to take matters into his own hands. Instead of just contributing the building materials, Elica would do its part by constructing affordable, long-lasting and relatively safer houses. In this case, 20ft-long repurposed shipping containers that were fittingly named KitKotak.  

“One of the first few that we did was for this woman whose house in the Batu Kawa area had burnt down. She baked for a living and I think the equipment had malfunctioned. Luckily, no one was hurt,” says Ting.

“Someone reached out to us to help rebuild her house. Initially, the people soliciting funds wanted just enough money to buy some building materials. But being in the building industry, we knew that a few thousand ringgit would not go very far.”

With that sum of money, the well-meaning party would just throw together some zinc sheets, plywood and slap on a bit of paint. Ting realised that it would mean just another rickety structure that would deteriorate in a couple of years.

“But we did not want to build something too permanent because this was in a kampung area. So, you never know. The council could come one day and say ‘This is not an approved structure and you will have to knock it down’,” he says.

Building approvals are a tedious and costly process and Ting was wary of breaking construction regulations and bylaws. “We were building a structure for someone in need, but we did not have any approvals. So, in the end, after consulting the city councils in Kuching, we built a semi-permanent structure — a half-brick, half-timber house on stilts,” he says.

“But it was quite costly. It came to about RM60,000, which is a lot to spend on one family. After that, we realised that we could not do too many of this a year because it is very time consuming to build this type of house and an extremely costly project as well.”

That was how Ting and his team came up with the solution involving containers. “Shen-tel and I engaged a family friend of ours, renowned designer David McKay from Australia. He came over to Malaysia for about six weeks and we went through the construction and design issues of creating living spaces using shipping containers,” he says.

They began scouting for shipping containers that were no longer seaworthy but still safe and secure enough to be transformed into a house. “They may have a little bit of rust and may have even buckled a little, but they served our purpose,” says Ting.

Architecture using shipping containers, known as cargotecture, has grown in popularity over the years as temporary solutions to address the lack of affordable housing and congestion in cities. In some cases, these containers have served as halfway homes for migrants and homeless shelters.

Ting says the containers’ inherent strength, wide availability, mobility and relatively low cost make them a suitable alternative. “Once we restore the containers — fill up holes or knock out dents — they are very conducive for people to live in and be protected from the elements, such as rain or wind,” says Ting.

The bare containers cost about RM6,000. But after Elica has completed the restoration, design and sprucing up, the total cost per unit comes to about RM20,000. “So, instead of RM60,000 for a house for one family, we can now build houses that can accommodate three families,” says Ting.

Elica foots the cost of construction, design and furnishing the space as part of its corporate social responsibility programme. “The container comes to us bare and simple. We fix it up and finish it off with timber padding on the walls as it can get very humid in there,” he says.

The developer makes sure that it puts together a living space that can accommodate up to eight people and is eco-friendly, flexible and affordable. It also ensures that the containers are designed to receive optimal natural light and run on low-energy lighting so as to keep the electricity cost down.

The containers are retrofitted with a toilet and shower, a simple kitchen, a living area that is equipped with a television and fan as well as storage units. It is also designed to collect rainwater using an angled roof.

“We made sure to install a septic tank. So, there is proper sanitation. We also put in a ground slab and elevate the containers to protect the structure in the event of flooding. And we put in a pitch roof to deflect some of the heat,” says Ting.

He adds that while these houses may not provide much space compared with their existing habitations, they are a bit pleasanter and a lot safer to live in.

One of the three containers that Elica has repurposed and outfitted was for a family of eight who live in Kampung Buntal, on the outskirts of the Kuching city centre. Ting got to know of their plight through Sarawak’s Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Ministry.

The main breadwinner, Shukeri Abdul Wahed, is an odd-job worker. The entire family lived in a cramped house made of planks. “We visited the site to ascertain their living conditions. And from what we gathered, the floorboards were at the point of caving in. They had probably been given new materials from time to time to maintain the house to the best of their ability, but it was falling apart,” says Ting.

Two more containers were built up for two families in Matang. “Those houses were set up side by side. One was for a family of six and the other was for a family with a premature baby who suffered from severe asthma,” he says.

“The house they were living in was basically damp, mouldy and not a very good place to raise a child. So, we decided to move very quickly and set them up in better living conditions.”

They also did their due diligence to ensure that the maintenance cost would be relatively low. “For example, the electricity bill of the families in Matang was previously about RM130 a month. When they moved into the containers, it dropped to about RM110 because the house they used to live in had no windows and the lights were always on. Now, even though they spend more time in the container, there is a lot of natural lighting. They also use LED lights, which consume less electricity,” says Ting.

“We did not want to give them a house that would increase their spending. In general, there is not much maintenance either. They just have to wipe down the insides. It is just like maintaining any other home.

“We do encourage them to incorporate an element of commerce. So, not only do we give them a house, we make sure that one day, when their living situation stabilises, they can generate a bit of income to support the family.

“They are minimum-wage earners. Shukeri, for example, cuts grass and his wife is a stay-at-home mum. But she is a fantastic cook. She used to sell burgers during Ramadan. She has a burger stand, which we retrofitted and put in front of their house. We hope this will encourage her to make some kuih and sell because their house is pretty much in front of a kampung area and anyone who goes to the kampung passes their house.”

Despite all this, it did take the families some time to get used to their new living quarters and maintaining them. “With the first house, we had issues with plumbing after a few months. But that is basically because they were throwing food scraps down the pipe with the oil and all that. So, it was getting blocked. After that, we told them to strain the food scraps before putting them into the trap. There were no issues after that. So, it is just a matter of educating them, really,” says Ting.

While the container homes are given to the recipients at no cost, they are required to meet some conditions before the handover. For one, the beneficiaries have to own the land they live on or have right of use for it. “We do not want to promote squatting. So, if they live there, they should have their own electricity meter and water meter,” says Ting.

“I think the utility companies are more stringent than us in demanding a land title and proof of ownership. So, if they have those two things, then that pretty much makes it easy. But we still require them to give us a copy of the land title and we get our legal team to check and make sure that it is rightfully theirs.

“Once that has been vetted, we look at their living conditions. For example, how many people are living in the house, and we try to customise the containers to suit their needs. For instance, in one of the Matang units, we put in a slightly larger door because they prefer to keep their motorcycles indoors at night. We don’t change the layout too much, but we do see what the family needs and try to cater to that as much as we can.”

Elica has completed and installed three container homes. Ting says it is looking to roll out 12 to 16 similar projects every year going forward. It identifies deserving families through charities and welfare associations.

“They are basically our grapevine and they tell us which families need what. We see what we can do,” he says, adding that Elica is working with the city councils in Kuching to identify those in need.

“We build high and medium-end properties, but we believe that the broad spectrum of the underprivileged or hard-core poor should be given houses as well. We do not want to generate any money out of it. Generally, these people are looking for a helping hand and some ready money,” says Ting.

“We want to give them the basics, like a blank canvas, and they can slowly build on them or improve them, however they see fit. Usually, we also give them some cash to help them out.”

Ting intends to keep the housing project going for a few more years and make sure that the idea is well received before taking the concept further. Elica plans to retrofit the containers for temporary housing in rural areas, mainly for aid workers and government servants.

“For example, nowadays, if doctors go to these areas, they have to stay in the kampung itself and it is usually not so pleasant for them. So, we created designs that would allow them to have their medical practice on one side and living quarters on the other. If they have that kind of an arrangement, it will be more comfortable for them to stay for an extended period,” says Ting.

He is responding to requests from people who inform him that these places lack medical care because there is no proper place to house doctors.

Similarly, the containers can be repurposed as temporary schools. “The 40ft container would be ideal for this. We have not rolled them out yet, but this is the general direction in which we want to move after housing.”

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share