#5 Ghost From the Past: A Legal Twist
The ink was barely dry on our agreement when a new challenge emerged—one that shook the very foundation of the project. This wasn’t a problem of overgrown land or an aging caretaker; it was a ghost from the past, sealed on paper and waiting to be discovered.
From Proposal to Preparation
Earlier that week, after the signing of the agreement, I had requested my father not to proceed with the legal stamping at the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) just yet. We had agreed that I would be back home in the coming weeks to finalize an addendum to the agreement, which would address the pending issue with the 2.35-acre fruit orchard. The plan was to stamp the entire finalized agreement, along with the addendum, together.
The story began one morning while I was abroad. My mother, after a conversation with a family member, called me with news that the land had been pre-divided among her siblings years ago. She had a paper to prove it, given to her by Kalsom, Pak Ngah Ghazali’s daughter who is also a lawyer. I confess, my initial reaction was probably insensitive. Still caught up in the pending discussions about the 2.35-acre fruit orchard, I asked her to put it aside for the moment.
My mother, for a valid reason, was not happy. Her feelings made me uneasy. The image of the signed agreement, meant to bring peace to our Matriarch, felt suddenly fragile. My mind raced with questions. I knew the fruit orchard issue was important, but what if this new discovery was bigger?
The following weekend, I was not scheduled to fly home, but my intuition told me I had to go. I was unable to find peace, primarily because of the pending issue with the 2.35-acre fruit orchard. I booked a last-minute flight and arrived in Malaysia on a Saturday early morning. The next day over a quiet breakfast, the conversation that was put on hold began. The usual morning chatter was replaced by a tense silence as my parents sat with me, and my mother presented the paper she had found.
The Power of Attorney
As I analyzed the paper, the words became clear: a Power of Attorney. This document, signed seven years ago by Grandmother herself and witnessed by Kalsom as a laywer, gave my mother the power to fully manage 1.49 acres of Grandmother’s land—to work on it, rent, lease, or even sell it. She had never thought to read it then, she explained, as it was handed to her during a busy housewarming party.
This raised a storm of new questions. If my mother had been given authority over 1.49 acres, who held the power for the remaining 5.7 acres? Who decided how the lands were divided, and on what basis? Most importantly, did our Matriarch still have any authority over her land, and was the agreement I had just signed with her even valid? My quick research on the internet revealed a crucial detail: a Power of Attorney expires automatically when the donor passes away. This led to an even more unsettling question: beyond this Power of Attorney, was there any documented will or succession plan for the land after our Matriarch passes away—a plan that would only come into effect, we all hope, many healthy years from now? Why was a Power of Attorney created in the first place, and not a will?
A New Plan for a New Problem
My initial purpose for flying home had been to address the fruit orchard issue—a potential conflict of planning and management after my 3-year agreement. But now, a far greater legal issue loomed over us, threatening to unravel the entire project.
Despite the shock, I knew we had to act. We devised a new three-point plan to regain control of the narrative and the project:
- Temporarily put aside the question of the validity of my new agreement. We needed to focus on the immediate.
- Draft an addendum to the original agreement to solve the fruit orchard issue, which was still a key concern for Mak Su Ummi.
- Meet Kalsom, my cousin lawyer at her office. My father and I discussed the potential for a conflict of interest, given that she is a family member and she is the daughter of Pak Ngah Ghazali. Pak Ngah Ghazali might be the holder of another Power of Attorney, we guessed. We agreed that meeting her at her professional office would be the best way to manage this complex situation with the professionalism it requires. Our goal is simply to get a full clarification of the Power of Attorney documents drafted 7 years ago and to understand if the other lots of lands are subject to other Power of Attorney holders.
While this legal entanglement requires professional expertise, I don’t believe my family would intentionally nullify the agreement I made. After all, the Family Council had given its consensus first. Nonetheless, the very existence of these Power of Attorney documents makes it crucial to get clarity as soon as possible.
Looking Ahead
In the next chapter of this journey, we’ll see how we tackle the fruit orchard issue, which was brought up by a family member in the previous post. This will be the first of many steps to rebuild trust and re-establish a clear vision for the 9 Acre Revival project. The Revival Project is an exciting journey, and the next chapter is still unwritten. Subscribe to get the full story of what happens next.