I strongly agree with Mr Richard Koh that condominium managing agents should share the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) payouts they received with their subsidiary proprietors (Managing agents should try to pass on JSS payouts where possible, July 8).

First, in principle, the JSS is intended to relieve the burden of legal entities during the circuit breaker period.

The management corporation, or MCST, of a private estate is a legal entity, and the managing agent is but one of many stakeholders.

It is only fair that other stakeholders, such as subsidiary proprietors who have chipped in their share of funds for the collective estate, also receive their portion of the JSS payouts that went to managing agents.

Second, in practical terms, managing agents have for the most part continued to receive payment from the MCSTs without interruption throughout the circuit breaker period.

Indeed, the circuit breaker period, while disruptive for society at large, is unlikely to have had a significant impact on the highly routinised costs and processes of estate management.

Speaking from personal experience, a high-end condominium would typically pay in excess of $100,000 a month for services such as a professional managing agent, security, mechanical maintenance and cleaning.

Most of these tasks would have proceeded as usual.

If anything, there would have been a reduction of non-essential expenditures, such as events and landscaping.

This raises the question of whether it is necessary for managing agents to retain the full sum of JSS payouts.

Hence, for the benefit of subsidiary proprietors, it is only fair that the managing agent and the contractors engaged should work out the costs involved in servicing the MCST, and return the balance from the JSS payouts to the estate.

Paul Chan Poh Hoi