Tuesday, December 1, 2009

PUT YOUR CAR KEYS BESIDE YOUR BED AT NIGHT

Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents and everyone you meet.
Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get into your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.
This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It’s a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test It. It will go off from almost everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage if your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won’t stick around.
After a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won’t want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there.
This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.
I am sending this to everyone I know because I think it is fantastic. Would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can’t reach a phone. A lady has suggested to her husband that he carry his car keys with him in case he falls outside and she doesn’t hear him. He can activate the car alarm and then she’ll know there’s a problem.
Please pass this on even if you’ve read it before. It’s a reminder.
Circulated by: Another blogger

Saturday, November 14, 2009

About LRT Extension to Subang Jaya area

The residents of Subang Jaya and Sunway in an effort to raise awareness about the extension of LRT line to their townships have started a blog to collect feedback on the matter.Aside from a detailed feedback form, the blog also provides lengthy explanations on the project, the proposed routes and the locations of the stations. Read more about in the above mentioned blog.
(source: Malaysiankini)

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Crime Statistics in Damansara - Revisited

Damansara, Criminals' favourite hauntDamansara has been identified as the favourite haunt for criminals committing various crimes including break-ins, vehicle thefts, wayside robberies and snatch thefts. In 2008, Damansara registered 30% of the total number of cases reported in the Petaling Jaya district, which contributed 16% of 57,000 cases reported throughout last year in the state. Click here to see more

Monday, November 2, 2009

Zone C event on 31.10.09

Zone C held a Security dialogue and Residents’ meeting at the DU Primary School canteen.
They invited several people to give their views on the security situation and the different approaches to manage security. Street Representatives have been appointed to get feedback on the way forward. For more information, link to their blog http://duzonec.wordpress.com/

Zone A event 24.10.09

Zone A held its 1Family Day to celebrate Malaysian festivals (Merdeka, Haru Raya, Lantern Festival and Deepavali) at the Dewan MBPJ. It was attended by about 250 adults & children. They were entertained with a Chiness Yo-Yo performance and an Indian Dance as well as the popular face painting. The children learned the traditional games like kabadi, galah panjang as well as played contemporary games. The adults were organized to get to know their neighbours as well as discuss improvements to the community program. For more information, link to their blog http://duzonea.blogspot.com/

Zone B2 event on 3.10.09

Zone B2 – 3.10.09

Zone B2 organised a community gathering to celebrate the Hari Raya and Moon Cake Festival on 3rd Oct 2009 which was a success. A member of the community was quoted as saying “Overall, everyone has a pretty good time”. For more information, link to their blog http://www.du21r.blogspot.com/

Zone B1 event on 6.9.09

Zone B1 had their 2nd residents meeting at the field on Road 21. They have reached the 200 mark of commitment to participate in the proposed security scheme and are actively collecting the 6-monthly fee and a 1-time contribution from the residents. For more information, link to their blog http://duzoneb1community.wordpress.com/

Gated community or not?

By: Sim Kwang Yang Oct 29, 092:51pm
I moved into a brand new housing estate at the top of a hill in Cheras more than five years ago, and have seen how the area develops into a very pleasant neighbourhood, with shops, an Econsave, a pasar malam on Sunday, and even a wet market in the morning every day.

Then, the usual crimes crept in, the usual personal assaults, the snatch thieves, and the break-ins. My neighbours had their houses broken in a few times. Strange looking people used to walk up and down the back lane. Cars with tinted windows and idle motor-cycles drove up and down the lane in front of my house everyday.

I was getting a little worried about security in the neighbourhood. A few private companies offered to provide security, but looking at the so-called security guards, I did not know whom to fear more, the guards or the criminals.

Over a year ago, the Resident Association (RA) was formed, and they hired their own guards to man two check-points. Over 90% of the residents joined in, paying RM50 each month, for the salary of the 11 guards. Every hour or so, the guards would patrol the lanes on their motor-cycles.

The guards are mostly Sabah natives; they wear smart uniforms, and are always courteous to residents and visitors alike. Immediately, the crime rate dropped down to zero. It is a rare success story, as far as I know, of community effort in ensuring security in their own neighbourhood.

Even so, not all people are satisfied. A local business person is in the process of suing the RA for blocking the roads and checking her customers' cars.

I am aware that a raging debate is going on in the Klang valley about whether such gated communities should be allowed. There are the inevitable grouses that such RA that put up the gates are committing an illegal act, because the roads within every housing states belong to the State of Selangor and they are under the jurisdiction of the local council, the MPKJ in my case.

Amoeba-like growth invites woes

Even if the local council has given their blessings for these RAs to block up their neighbourhood, some residents still complain about the legality of such a move, because the job of public security belongs to the police.

Personally, in theory at least, I support the idea of the gated community.

Klang Valley is developing like a giant amoeba, and there are simply too many housing estates even in the Cheras area, for the few policemen to ensure their safety around the clock.

With the Rakan Cop scheme in place, the police have assured citizens that police personnel would respond to calls for assistance within 10 minutes of a phone call. The police station nearest to my home is at Cheras Batu 9, and indeed on the two occasions that I called them in the past, policemen arrived at the scene within minutes.

But the setting up of road barricades in the neighbourhood RA has eradicated my need to call the police station altogether. The local residents who take the initiative to form RAs and hire their own guards are actually model citizens who have shown their sense of civic responsibility for their own safety. The presence of other guards alone is often an effective deterrent against petty thieves from invading into their area.

RAs add value to society

The RAs are also the civic organisation of citizens at the grass-root level that promote the spirit of public engagement for their mutual benefit. They are the very instrument that makes neighbourhoods out of mere collection of lonely houses. In sociological terms, they are the vibrant civic societies that accumulate social capital for a good cause.

Recently, the RA in my neighbourhood organised a Mid-Autumn festival on the park, and 1000 residents turned up to eat moon cakes and watch performances on the stage.

Of course, we know that a RA is as good as the spirit of co-operation, honesty, integrity, dedication, and diligence of its committee members. They must be registered with the ROS, have regular meetings and their AGMs, with properly audited accounts and meeting minutes passed at these meetings.

I know that sometimes, a RA can be paralysed by factional fights, personality conflicts, or people having their fingers in the till. Selfishness is often the cause of collapse of any local community. Sometimes, party politics also sour the neighbourhood spirit of any RA.

But properly run, the RA offers the best solution towards ensuring public and personal safety in the numerous housing estates throughout Klang Valley.

There is another strong basis for this sort of neighbourhood watch organisation. Many house-buyers have invested large sums of money in the purchase of their expensive houses. If their neighbourhood is crime-infested, it would affect negatively the re-sale price of their property and their rental earnings. The government has the moral authority to encourage the RAs in their effort in protecting their own investment.

As for the argument that the RAs have acted illegally in blocking up public roads, it is a matter of amending the relevant laws, either for the state government and the local councils to find the legal instrument to empower and entrust the RAs with some kind of authority over the roads in their jurisdiction, or simply to lease the roads out to the RAs.

Land is under the state's jurisdiction, and so the Selangor PR state government should look into this aspect of the problem, so as to settle this long-standing dispute about the legality of the gated communities. (Will someone send this article to the office of the Selangor MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim please?)

If a law is good for the people, then it must be kept. If a law is bad for the people, then it must be repealed or amended. That is the principle of good jurisprudence according to the natural law theorists anyway.

SIM KWANG YANG can be reached at kenyalang578@hotmail.com.
First posted in Malaysiankini; re-posted here with permission of author.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Developer Upgrading Uptown

For over two decades, Damansara Utama’s main commercial centre, Damansara Uptown, has been a hub of activity for businesses and residents in the area. Undoubtedly, Damansara Uptown, located in Selangor’s Petaling Jaya, has been a commercial success for its developer See Hoy Chan Sdn Bhd. Though popular, as mirrored in its almost full occupancy levels, this commercial hub has been showing some wear and tear in recent years, especially in the 4-storey shops which were built in the 1980s.



The developer is not oblivious to this nor is it resting on its laurels given the emergence of competition from newer commercial-cum-retail hubs in neighbouring locales. While most developers will be hunkering down during a downturn, the company sees this as an ideal time to invest in the renewal of Damansara Uptown so as to enhance the values of properties and rentals, especially when the economy picks up.

For more info, go to http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/property/14536-damansara-uptown-facelift.html

Future LRT and MRT in KL

Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB), the state-owned public transport operator, plans to spend up to RM7 billion to extend 2 light rail transit (LRT) lines in Kuala Lumpur.
The 2 extension lines will cover a total of 34.7km and is due to start early 2010 and fully completed by end of 2012.


In line with the extension of LRT lines, SPNB will also embark on fleet expansion.
It was also reported that the Kota Damansara - Cheras Line will begin construction as early as 2011 and completing in 2014.
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For more info, go to http://www.patchay.com/2009/09/future-lrt-and-mrt-in-kl.html