Archive for September, 2008
Living in condominium
Sep 26th
I find this story quite interesting and relevant to be shared among Desaminium residents. Thanks to Puteri Kamaliah for writing and sharing this rather nice piece of yet another Malaysian ways of life. Yang baik jadikan teladan and yang kurang baik jadikan sempadan.
Pandemonium in Condominium
Are condo walls thinner than the average house wall? It certainly seems so here where we live. Somehow I feel so exposed and vulnerable, with every creak of my bed (ooooh dear!) magnified across a wafer-thin divider.My children say I am and will always remain paranoid of everything and everyone no matter what the truth. A lot of help they are!
Dear Pak Abu, the logical thinking mathematician not known for his diplomacy at the best of times, thinks the walls are fine. It’s my sense of hearing and attention span he worries about.
The man says it baffles him that I can hear the tiniest noise from upstairs but not his running commentary about the state of Malaysian politics, and why some people tend to nod off to sleep in the middle of meetings and such.
As the norm, I try not to argue with Pak Abu’s observations because he does have a valid point very now and then. Granted, I am pretty opinionated myself and can be as obstinate as a mule sometimes.
Back to the wall issue, I brought up this subject because the people living above us had been having rather over-enthusiastic domestic squabbles lately. You could hear furniture being thrashed and household stuffs flung about.
I assume furniture were broken because I could hear hammerings the following day, presumably of chair legs being reattached and such. The commotion they caused (the fighting and ensuing repairwork) was distracting, to say the least.
Whilst we weren’t nosy-parkers – far from it – we did worry in case the quarrels turned violent. I expressed my concern to Pak Abu but he said we should just sit tight and ride the storm, as it were. And we did, until yesterday.
The pandemonium started just after we completed our subuh prayers early yesterday morning. There was the usual shouting and screaming, followed by lots of stomping and clanging sounds (of pots and pans thrown at each other?).
Much as I was annoyed, I was also amused at the same time because the lyrics of P Ramlee’s song suddenly came to mind: “Periuk belanga terbang melayang-layang, menghentam my belakang…”
The clamour, carried by the still morning air, was such that it felt as though our ceiling was about to cave through. I could see poor Pak Abu’s temperature rising by the moment. Is this what we moved to this presumably high-end condo for?
Suddenly we heard a woman’s voice yelling: “Ooooiii, bulan puasa niiiii!!!” Moments later a man’s voice boomed: “Takder malu langsung!!”
Immediately the din ceased. Bless my unseen neighbours for taking the lead. They must have been exasperated beyond reason to do what they did.
Nonetheless, an irate Pak Abu went down to the security guard station, at six o’clock in the morning, to lodge a complaint. I followed up with another report at the management office a few hours later, only to learn I wasn’t the first.
Without divulging any more than I should, I was surprised to find out the occupant’s identity; quite a well-known personality from the entertainment industry. I just hope that from now on they will keep their domestic scuffles at a manageable noise level.
[I am so very tempted to slip a note under their door, giving them contact numbers of professionals who could soundproof their pad. Honest!]
Now, who says my life is dull?
Pelangi Utama Condo residents in a dilemma
Sep 19th
The following article from Star Online is not really our kind of problem here at Desaminium…YET, but parking problem is common in ALL high-rise buildings especially residential buildings. Don’t local council building laws have specific rules and requirements on the parking-residential unit ratios at any high rise development projects? Have you seen the same problem in Cyberjaya? Cars are parked along the road. Aren’t the developers supposed to provide reasonably sufficient parking spaces for residents and visitors? If Desaminium occupancy reaches close to 100% later, we definitely have big problems staring at our face… sooner or later.
IMAGINE waking up in the morning to find a parking summons on your car’s windshield and this happens three or four times in a month, almost once a week.
That is what some residents and tenants of Pelangi Utama Condominium in Petaling Jaya have been experiencing lately.
Parking woes: Due to limited parking space, some of the Pelangi condo residents have no choice but to park along the road.Damon Khaw moved in to the condo in July but has already received three summonses in August.
“My condo is not facing the road so I don’t know when the officers will come to issue summonses. One was even issued at 10.30pm on the eve of Merdeka,” he said.
“It sets us back about RM400 per month, which is almost 10% of our income.
“This has a big impact on our lives, especially with the high cost of almost everything since the petrol price increase,” he said.
Khaw and his wife each own a car but they were only allocated one parking lot.
“I bought the condo unit through a sub-sale. Thus, I would have to go through the first owner to apply for another parking lot,” he said.
“To apply for another parking lot will cost RM150 per month and it is subject to a drawing of lots since there are only 10 units left,” he said.
Khaw said he had raised this issue at the joint management body (JMB) committee meetings.
Aside from the summonses, safety is also one of his concerns.
“Sometimes, we park at the nearby shops and walk to the condo. I’m worried for my wife’s safety when she comes back from work late,” he said.
“It is also troublesome as we are not able to renew our road tax due to the summonses,” he said.
Pricey burden: Khaw holding up one of the summonses he received last monthKhaw hopes that the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) can allocate proper parking spaces for the condo residents.
His neighbour, who wanted to be only known as Epey, said other residents also faced the same problem.
“There should be some parking space for rent. I am so fed up that I want to move out. Why do we have to face this problem?” she asked.
Student Johnson Chua finds it difficult to fork out RM150 per month for a parking lot.
“I have moved in for less than a year and so far, I have received three summonses,” he said.
“I take turns with my housemate to park at the allocated parking lot.
“Sometimes, I park at the nearby shops but the space there is limited,” Chua said.
“It’s troublesome for me to travel all the way to pay my summonses, especially since I’m not local,” said the 20-year-old student from Malacca.
“I hope that the MBPJ will allocate a certain period of time, such as from night to dawn, for us to park for free,” Chua said.
APARTMENT FOR RENTAL
Sep 3rd
TENANT IS GOING TO MOVE OUT MIDDLE OF SEPTEMBER.
ANYBODY WANTS TO RENT THE HOUSE ??
PRICE NEGOTIABLE.
PLEASE CONTACT PUAN ZANARIAH 019-7732367 OR EN AHMAD 019 2332703 IMMEDIATELY
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