Evidence of snatch theft

I have no idea where the theft occurred but it is evident the snatchers stopped on PJU 1A/20 by where Puspakom used to be to examine the spoils of their crime.

I saw this "Gucci" tote bag chucked in the ditch. Its contents emptied out and picked through for valuables. I could not see any wallet or other identification. So if you know anyone who has had a bag like this snatched, please tell the person that her bag could have been found now.

Drains getting a breath of new life

Finally! Finally some work is being done to clean upthe drains around here. But first let me pay due recognition to these hard-working souls who cleared up the monsoon drain that separates us from the rest of Ara Damansara.



The monsoon drain backing Claremont and Mutiara now flows easier after all the trees were pulled out and god knows how much mud and silt dug and removed. Nasty work, but these guys did it. Hurrah to them for the great work done!






Since then, I've been waiting impatiently and looking out constantly for work to begin on the neighbourhood drains. Hope and faith pays off, because lo and behold, this guy turned up, tasked with digging out all the stuff that has gone into the road run-off channels that leads to larger drains, that lead to the monsoon drain and river.





My husband interviewed him and found out his name is "Zan". Zan lives not far from here and is working his butt off literally, as he squats for long periods of time digging into the channel, unclogging it from dirt, tree roots, trash, you name it, he's probably pulled it out of there. And he's doing all this with dedication and determination. How many of us will acknowledge him as we pass him by? He probably won't look up out of humility and submission.

But now that we know his name, let's give him a cheerful "good day" and acknowledge his good service to our neighbourhood. A neighbourhood that is getting better as he keeps working at his job, as we keep working at making our neighbourhood a better place to live.

So don't forget, his name is "Zan" and I'm sure it will put a spring in his step and fire up his energy if we were to acknowledge him and the work he is doing. A plain simple good morning and thank you is all that is needed.

Fish out of water

After the outbreak of kerang shells strewn all over the path as a result of dogs tearing open the trash bag (my husband swept it all up by the way), a fish appeared from nowhere the next day.



Actually it appears that the openly-dumped trash was collected the next day, and a fish dropped out of it all.

Dead fish makes really good fertiliser particularly for roses and other fragrant plants. No need to throw it out in the trash where it's not going to benefit anything or anyone. Just dig a hole anywhere in the neighbourhood and give the fish a decent burial where it will make flowers smell sweeter if not at least look prettier.

Noise that's not music to the ears

This is an ongoing on again, off again problem here in Ara Damansara. We border with Subang Airport [or officially known as Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Airport] on our western fringe. No doubt it provides interesting views if you like aeronautics, it would be more appreciated if the occupants of hangers there realised what damage they are doing to our ears and homes. There've been lots of plans talked about with regards to the redevelopment of Subang airport.

Fortunately, I live a little further away from Ara Damansara's western border. But my friends over in Bayu particularly are having a rocking and rolling time especially at night when jet engines are revved for surround effect.

Roof tiles come loose, windows vibrate, koi fish jump out of ponds, people lose precious sleep, real-estate value drops; to list but a few consequences of nightly turbo disturbances from aircraft maintenance.

This complaint is not new. It has surfaced time and again in the media, but when the hype is over, the jet engines return to their daily revs.
Skypark plan riles Subang residents

Hmmmm, perhaps someone needs to fall off their roof while fixing loosened tiles before some permanent solution is adhered to.

Bayu residents tell me that they are faithfully bugging the police to keep aircraft maintenance within civil limits. I personally prefer the police to be policing our area to keep criminals out but when corporate society doesn't cooperate in good neighbourliness, what choice does private society have but burden the already short-handed police to spend their resources on lesser offences.

A Bayu resident informed me that she came home one night and noticed someone lurking under a tree in front of her house. She braved herself to question this someone and found that he was there to do a noise disturbance study. Apparently all he achieved was fattening up the mosquitoes. Whichever authority who sent him should have at least informed the neighbourhood that a representative was going to be sent for the noise study. The residents then would have appreciated the outsider presence in their neighbourhood. At the end of it, what were the findings of the study? Who knows? All we know is that the noise pollution is back to discotheque proportions where talking is futile and physical bodies just move to groovy vibrations.

... and I haven't touched on low flying helicopters yet.

Urban Civilisation or Kampong Redneck

I am confused... Do I live in a civilised urban neighbourhood or have I somehow returned to Kampong Redneck?

Over the weekend, in the green in front of my house, I found irresponsible dumping of wet kitchen waste, stinking to high heaven. Indeed the smell of rotting flesh. You know, like something had died and the stench that makes you sick to the stomach. I didn't even have to walk by it, because it wafted all the way downwind of the green, and spoiled the air around my home.

I can identify 2 immediate thought patterns here. Firstly the generous mentality of whichever household that decided the kitchen wet kitchen waste was too much stench for their own home so why not share it with the rest of the neighbours. Secondly, the economical mentality of why waste money buying a proper secure wastebin, when indiscriminate dumping is cheaper.

You would think that these behaviours are prevalent only among the uneducated, ulu village people. Nope, wrong! It is the behavioural mentality of urbanites as well. Nevermind that indiscriminate and open dumping of wet kitchen waste attracts flies and stray dogs. As long as it is not in their own yard, why care?




Take a look at the photographs here and be honest, would you like our neighbourhood to look like this? Will indiscriminate wet kitchen waste dumping increase the real-estate value of our neighbourhood? Does indiscriminate wet kitchen waste dumping foster closer neighbourhood relations? It this a pleasing picture that can be put on brochures to attract good neighbours?

Dumping of garden waste however is acceptable because
1. Plant prunings and cut grass don't stink and attract strays and flies.
2. The refuse is collected regularly every week i.e. Mondays





In contrast I've heard complaints about smell from dog poo. Significant differences between dog poo and wet kitchen waste are

1. Dog poo disintegrates within 48 hours as long as it's dropped on grassy, earth surfaces. In fact within 24 hours if it rains. It disintegrates fast because it attracts earthworms that recycle it into organic humus fertiliser and goes immediately back into the ground. Eventhough I have dogs, I take issue with dog owners who leave their dog poo on hard surfaces like roads and pedestrian paths where earthworms cannot access and is liable to be stepped on, thereby causing considerable inconvenience to everyone and causes dogs to be labeled a public nuisance.

2. Dog poo only stinks immediately after dropped. It doesn't continue to stink like rotting wet kitchen waste that makes you sick to the stomach. Nature's elements quickly takes care of it and returns ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Now those of you who want to start a Cat poo discussion on the other hand, can count on my support because it can be directly compared to wet kitchen waste on the same stench scale.

Ara Damansara Community Lake Park

My earlier post on Stagnations and Siltations and the photos within were mild compared to what the lake looks like now. I can't even call it a lake as the latest spate of heavy daily rainfall has turned the lake into a mud-flat.

White-breasted Waterhens can be seen traipsing across the flat in search of the daily bread. They must be pretty hardy to tolerate the deterioration of what used to be a beautiful lake.

Just take a look for yourself.

Blocked Drains

After the Ara Damansara residents' meeting with the local authorities on August 23 2008, I was pleased to receive a letter acknowledging my complaints about the blocked drains.

But I'm sorry to say that the buck seems to have stopped there while more and more comedic reports appear in the press about the mosquito problem on dengue and chikungunya spread.
Dengue serious in Manjung, Perak: Health Minister

Also recently the article which really made me laugh...
Public urged to be proactive

And we should all sit up and pay attention to what the Health Minister has to say...
Ministry to step up efforts against dengue, chikungunya

Meanwhile my blood is being sucked dry by this vermin and I have to drench guests visiting my home in "MozAway".

Puspakom Ara Damansara

Has moved out and relocated to Glenmarie w.e.f. 29/September/2008.

No more long vehicle trailers with the latest cars for inspection rolling through Ara Damansara now.

Bus Route update

Taking a long walk the other day, I was so pleased to discover that one by one Ara Damansara issues highlighted in my blog are being actioned and resolved. My latest discovery is the RapidKL's Bus Route T607 through Ara Damansara.

In my first Bus Route article, I questioned the wisdom of erecting expensive bus-stops on the inbound journey of the bus route. In effect, the state-of-the-art bus stop would hardly shelter long staying clients as people only get off the bus on its inbound journey.

Imagine my delight when I saw a new route map posted in the bus shelter detailing the revised bus route, and pretty much what I had suggested in my blog. Hurrah! Feedback works and a big thank you to the authorities for heeding the voice of the public. Thank you RapidKL and MBPJ for improving the service-ability of Route T607 through Ara Damansara.

Trees in monsoon drain ~ progress update

Some progress has been made in clearing Ara Damansara's waterways. Finally the tree population in the monsoon drain between section PJU 1A/30 and 1A/21 has been cleared. When I walked by today, I saw that even the silt level is reduced. Thank you MBPJ for the clean up.



Last Saturday, 23/Aug a dialog session was held between the local authorities and residents of Ara Damansara, It's a great step towards the improvement of upkeep and facilities in our neighbourhood. It was also attended by a reporter from The Star and her article appeared in Star 2 on Tuesday. Here's the link.

Residents in Ara Damansara pour out their woes By OH ING YEEN

Kudos to the residents of Alyssa & Atilla who have approximately 99% participation in their Resident's Association. Great teamwork spirit to be emulated by other AraD "constituencies".

Rubbish, rubbish everywhere; but nary a bin in sight

So much hype and talk about the environment in the papers, especially over the last couple of weeks with the onset of World Environment Day 2008.

As you all know, I am highly critical of the environs of Ara Damansara. On my morning walks, I take the opportunity to observe all that I see in this community. Or in this case, what I cannot see. The absence of public rubbish bins is so glaring, that I’m beginning to wonder if it is not standard issue with every development. And we’re not even talking recycling bins. Just your normal everyday, standard issue rubbish bins.

I presume that with all the talk about caring for the environment, “think before you throw”, dengue menace and the like, the authorities would be proactive in providing receptacles to collect trash not only to keep the environs clean, but to help the productivity of council sweepers, perhaps a small way of boosting their morale. Their job is already lacks incentive and inspiration, what more if they are expected to constantly pick up trash day after day, carelessly strewn everywhere with nary a thought to who’s gonna do the dirty job. I’m quite shocked actually that we have litter-bugs among us. I must compliment Dina (Malaysian Idol) for confessing her litter-bug carelessness before participating in World Environment Day events.

Friday June 6, 2008
Idol stars join in making green pledges
PETALING JAYA: She used to throw rubbish everywhere but now “Malaysian Idol” finalist Dina has renewed her pledge to stop littering.

We really need to ask these people what makes them litter? Do they enjoy living in a world filled with trash and filth? Does our education system breed the next generation to be so apathetic to community welfare? Or is it a case of “bapak borek, anak rintek”. I am nostalgic of school-days gone when it was “pick up papers” around the school after recess. It gave us a reality check on what our surroundings would be like if covered with litter and insight to a council sweeper job! An effective threat for not passing exams in my day.

But here and now, we live in a prized development called Ara Damansara, sorely neglected by the authorities and residents alike. Yes, there could be transients who wouldn’t think twice about dirtying a neighbourhood which is not theirs, but I’ll wager that the majority of bugs who litter here are residents. Who else to blame for the trash scattered at the various gathering points in the parks that so generously dot Ara Damansara?

We are lucky for there is one person I’ve chanced to see on occasion with his dog. Having met and chatted with him, he insists on anonymity, he is disgusted with the nonchalance of educated, upper middle class society who treat their surroundings so flippantly that they care less about discarding trash when a bin cannot be found. On his walks, he picks up rubbish with his bare hands, and has even trained his dog to help. He’s an educated, 40something working man who has no qualms doing what is necessary to clear trash thrown by those who disrespect our environment.


No bin at pondok


No bin at picnic bench


No bin at playground pondok and picnic bench


No bin at exercise area


The park @ PJU 1A/19 has loads of bin holders, but where are the bins?

The proof of it all is in the pictures I’ve taken while on my walks. Note that most of our Ara Damansara playgrounds DO NOT HAVE rubbish bins. One playground PJU 1A/19 has several bin holders but no bins. The largest park doesn’t have any indication of there ever having been a bin in its midst. At this rate can Ara Damansara ever hope to be assigned recycling bins?

Yes it’s time to expose where all state funds have squandered off to. Yes, it appears that state coffers have been cleaned out but not for the sake of cleaner surroundings for its rakyat. Anyone can remind me why is it we pay rates again?

Stagnations from Siltations

I am so encouraged by the keen response of Kerajaan Negeri Selangor and the Ministry of Health re my blog on blocked drains in my corner of Ara Damansara, somewhere in the enclave of PJU 1A/22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32 (22-32). And I am so pleased to see that it is truly in sync with the YAM Sultan of Selangor’s call to the State Government to be efficient in community and environment services featured in The Star 22/May article titled Sultan expresses concern over wasteful spending of RM27million allocation!

Of particular relevance in that report is YAM’s statement quoted “He said local governments should ensure roads and drains were in good condition, towns were always clean, waste management was efficient and streetlights functioned properly.”

Thank you YAM; I am truly grateful for your poignant remarks on the affairs of your State. The rakyat of Selangor are most fortunate that we have a modern and visionary ruler.

With the direction towards a better and cleaner Selangor steered by YAM, I am emboldened to bring to light other unsightly and uncivic shortcomings in and around Ara Damansara so that this district in PJ which I call home, lives up to the expectation in beautiful name conjures.

On my daily walks, I constantly notice the goings on in the environment of Ara Damansara. I cannot ignore the siltation in the large drains as a result of the continuing development in this area. The following picture is of the large monsoon drain that separates PJU 1A/22-32 from PJU 1A/19-27 the next enclave. There is a whole terra ecosystem living in this drain from all the siltation that has flowed down in the development of Ara Damansara. With the amount of earth washed up here, trees will soon start to grow. Water-flow has definitely slowed down, maybe even almost completely blocked further upstream of the drain, further increases chances for mosquitoes and other vermin to breed. I’m pretty sure the residents of PJU 1A/21, 30 & 32 fear snakes and other less welcome creatures of nature, will soon wander into their homes. Perhaps some have already had snakes already….





Now let’s move along to what started out to be a really beautiful community park between PJU1A/23-25 and PJU 1A/29. Before the construction of Ara Hills began, the water in the run-off stream was free-flowing and clear of silt. But not anymore.
Here’s the Google Earth link to show how visible the siltation is. It is so thick that even the satellite picture can pick it up. Too bad the clouds are hovering over Ara Hills, else you could appreciate the full extent of the siltation.

AraDamansara community park 1A/23-25,29

And here are some down to earth shots of the almost fully silted up run-off stream. The water-lilies are beautiful, but their beauty is marred by the growing ugliness of the silt.









As mentioned at the beginning of this post, I am impressed and grateful for the prompt response by the authorities at the top end of the community government. The State Government and Ministry of Health are the movers and shakers of the do-ers. It is now my hope that enough moving and shaking has rattled through the offices of the do-ers so that what needs doing GETS DONE.

I’m keeping my hopes up for the new State government’s new broom to sweep clean. You can DO IT

Dengue ~ the scourge of Selangor

I cannot help but laugh cynically that the government, be it local, state or federal are serious in their fight against the dengue scourge. So much about dengue has been reported in the media recently, but as far as I can tell, most of the blame is heaped on the tax-paying citizen. What are the authorities doing to clean up their own act?

I need not go far to see the extent of lackadaisical attitude of all the authorities involved in ensuring The Rakyat have a safe environment to live in. I just walk out of my house in Ara Damansara, my neighbourhood.

When we first moved in, I voiced my opinion to my spouse loud and clear, that the authorities must be truly blind or stupid or both to allow such a design for drains in Ara Damansara. I’m talking about the enclave of PJU 22 – 30. You can see clearly from the photo attached, that the drains are covered, but not completely. The concrete blocks covering the drains have hand-hold cut-outs in the event the covers need to be pulled off to allow human access to the drain. So far I haven’t seen any human accessing the drains simply BECAUSE THEY CANNOT!



In designing the covers this way, debris continuously falls and flows into the drain. Debris that doesn’t wash away such as sticks, stones, leaves, trash etc. It becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other vermin. Just view the next few photos as I stuck my hand with camera through the hand-hold cut-outs to reveal the ecology in these covered drains.






Then what about when renovations are in progress, and the contractors are irresponsible? Concrete mix pours into the drain, and as long at they can’t see it, why should they bother to clean it? This pic below shows concrete set into the drain, obstructing the smooth flow of water, causing water to stagnate for the propagation of mosquitoes. This drain runs directly under my front gate.



Needless to say, my house swarms with mosquitoes. I hardly ever see anyone sitting out in their garden enjoying the evening breeze BECAUSE WE ARE LITERALLY EATEN ALIVE if we dare to do so. Visitors tell me that I invite mosquitoes due to my plants and water features. My testimony to all of them is that when I used to live in Bukit Maluri, Kepong; I also had loads of plants and water features, yet we hardly suffered any mosquitoes and could sleep with windows wide open sans mosquito-net nor air-conditioning. Drains were not covered and could be cleaned easily to prevent blockages.

We complained to MBPJ and sent them similar photos posted here. We got a commendation letter and a visit from MBPJ for a first hand view of the evidence, that was the extent of their reaction. No further action to remedy the ridiculously designed covered (well, almost covered) drains.

My complaint is not only to MBPJ but to the Housing/Health Ministry, whose guidelines either do not regulate the design of drainage, or if it does, then MBPJ for allowing such a design to proceed when it is obvious at first sight that this sort of drain coverage breeds death and disease.

To end the scourge of epidemic diseases, regulations must ensure loopholes in designs for community development are tightly sealed. The majority of rakyat takes it cue from the government. So BUCK UP please and put some money where your mouth is and end the lip-service.

BusStop for who?

I have no idea how bus-stops in Petaling Jaya are commissioned, but I’m sure there must be a flowchart for the process which involves various relevant parties like the bus company since they are providing the service. I would think that the route is recce’d and proposed locations of the bus-stop shelters are tabled for approval.

I live in Ara Damansara, RapidKL Route T607, the bus travels the road directly behind my house and there are 2 bus-stops nearby, across the road from each other. One on the incoming journey (get-off), and the other on the outgoing journey (get-on). I also took the bus one day for the experience and to learn the route.

Recently construction of bus-stop shelters began around Ara Damansara, commendable effort, but is it? People use the bus-stop shelters to WAIT for the bus. The bus-stop shelter is not of much use to people getting off the bus. So when the construction of an ultra-modern bus-stop shelter was appointed across the road from my house I could only shake my head in dismay. Obviously whoever’s task it was to appoint the location of these shelters had no idea of the logistics of RapidKL’s Route T607 because the bus-stop shelter is located on the incoming get-off side of the route, not on the outgoing get-on side.



The picture attached speaks volumes, see the poor soul waiting for the once-an-hour bus while sitting on the road-kerb; looking longingly at the brand new shiny bus-stop shelter across the road where passengers get off the bus as it journeys into Ara Damansara. To be fair, 2 other bus-stop shelters are appointed on the outgoing route. I guess 2 out of 3 ain’t bad normally, but what do you think each of these bus-stops cost ~ easily RM10k +.

Then of course there’s the route to think about as well. I experimented the route one day, as my 70+ year old mother lamented that when the service first started, Bus 607 would take her to Carrefour in Subang Jaya, so easy she was gleeful at the independent freedom while I was at work. She’s from out of town and does not drive. A few months later on another visit, she was looking forward to another independent visit to Carrefour, but the adventure she endured was just too much for a “warga-emas” to bear, no more Carrefour en route.

So I took the bus to see what the fuss was about. Again where’s the wisdom? I believe buses serve a public purpose and there is no wisdom in a route that does not pass a mall, school and if possible a medical facility. People who use the bus, apart from working people are those who don’t have cars, the elderly and the school-children. Rapid RouteT607 does not pass any of the high-traffic amenities mentioned above. T607 merely takes its passengers to the Kelana LRT station where all get off and have to change to other buses to take them onward. How idiotically inconvenient? The kids who go to school in Kelana Jaya have to get off on the opposite side of the murderous LDP and cross over to their school.

Isn’t it also a logical presumption that a bus route should cover as much high-density population areas? Well take a ride on T607 and discover how wrong my logic is. Would you put a bus route through PJU 1A/41 which plies the high-rise Crimson Damansara or cut back into Ara Damansara on PJU 1A/1 which is waste land on one side and upmarket landed properties across?

PJU 1A/41 [high-rise Crimson Damansara] t-junctions onto PJU 1A/40 which passes the length of Taman Putra Damai, Lembah Subang an extremely high-density residence. No, instead T607 turns into 1A/1 [another RM10k+ bus-stop here] so that it’s passengers can view the scenic wasteland; then it cuts through the bottom end of Taman Putra Damai via a narrow dirt road that is deeply potholed.

By the way, PJU 1A/40 also runs alongside the Putra LRT’s non-station depot. But that gripe is for another blog… keep tuned.

Why oh why do we pay rates to pay non-sense to provide for our community?