Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Security Alert - Break-Ins at Doritis 1

From Doritis Zone 1 Website.

There were 3 house break-in in Doritis Zone 1 on 21 October 2008. The incidents occurred in Jalan 31/155 and 31/161. The three houses were all unoccupied when it was broken into.

The thief entered the house through the ceiling after removing the roof tiles. All three houses were not installed with alarm. The security guards surrounded the two adjoining houses in Jalan 31/161 at 9pm after being alerted of the break-in and thereafter waited with members of the residents committee for armed police to arrive and check if the thief was still holed up in the adjoining vacant house. Unfortunately after a thorough search of both houses , the guards and the police did not find the thief who may have escaped via the slope to persiaran anggerik mokara.

It would appear that the thief are targeting houses where the owners are away for long period. The security guards have been instructed to prevent construction workers from taking short cuts through our residential roads as a precautionary measure. Residents are advised instal house alarm where possible and to be more vigilant especially on houses which appears to be vacant. Please inform the securtity guard immediately on any suspicious characters seen loitering in our residential area.

In view of the recent break-in, we are looking into the construction of a permanent perimeter fencing fronting persiaran anggerik mokara from 31/155 to 31/165 as this limit the access of non residents into Doritis Zone 1. We hope that all residents would support this effort. Your road reps would seek your feedback shortly.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Happy Diwali



Wishing all our Hindu friends a Happy Diwali, and to the rest ... Happy Holidays!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Time For Some Dignity In Malaysia's Public Transport

By Melati Mohd Ariff, BERNAMA, 22nd October 2008

Over the years, complaints on the shoddy services offered in the country's public transport sector have continued to snowball and reached colossal proportions.

This had forced Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take to the ground to witness and experience for himself the daily mayhem and disorder faced by commuters in the city.

At the end of the Prime Minister's day trip, he arrived at the conclusion that a more efficient, reliable and integrated public transportation, which provides seamless travel and greater frequency of services, is required.

In the Klang Valley alone, an average of 400,000 people use the bus services daily while another 350,000 go up RapidKLs trains. Overall, RapidKL provides 44 per cent of the public transport services in the Klang Valley.

These were some of the statistics in the 2009 Budget speech, delivered by Abdullah in the Dewan Rakyat last Aug 29.

To further improve public transport's efficiency, the government has pledged a sum of RM35 billion to be utilised for the period 2009-2014.

Improvement plans include enhancing the capacity of existing rail services, building new tracks and increasing the number of buses.Regular public transport users including those in the Klang Valley now harbour high hopes that the endless woes they are facing daily would be things of the past.

ATTITUDE CHANGE
Amidst the government's multi-billion Ringgit plans, the erroneous notion that public transportation is for only the low-income group should be corrected.

"We limit ourselves by assuming that public transport is for the poor people which is really not the case. One of its functions is to provide mobility service for the public and it is not just for people who cannot afford private transport but also for people who have the option of not using private transport," said Moaz Yusof Ahmad, a public transport activist.He is the adviser of 'Transit', the Association for the Improvement of Mass Transit-Klang Valley), a newly established public transport activist group.

Moaz said there were two other functions of public transport which were equally important, namely development and business.

A good system of public transport, he said, would encourage the kind of development which was good for the city and its people.

"It would create urban centres that are people-friendly, pedestrian-friendly, the city becomes more livable because people can walk and spend money. They do not have to drive, park or go through traffic jams.

"This community will also save money as the government can save money on roads and transportation and so can the people. We do not have this community in the Klang Valley except in a few of the older areas. Most of our newer communities are designed around cars," he said.

With available infrastructure, profitable businesses can also be generated around public transport stations. Where services are prominent, business operators can also expect increase in profit and property owners can command higher rentals.

"You have the opportunity to advertise and sell land around public transport stations, which in itself can be a profitable enterprise," said Moaz who is an economics lecturer in a Subang Jaya private college.

PLANNING
Moaz argued that issuing more bus or taxi permits and providing more train lines or coaches would not solve public transport woes without proper planning or organisation that would severely impact reliability.

"If we do not include public transport in initial planning to fulfill the transport needs of the community, we are going to see serious problems in the future," he stressed.According to Moaz, the main shortcoming in public transportation is the complete lack of wholesome or holistic investment.

"We built the LRT line and say the problem is solved and now we can move people. The point is when they get out of the LRT, there is another set of problems the commuters have to deal with. This is what you call the first mile and the last mile connectivity.

"The existing number of feeder buses are inadequate or unreliable and if we do not make the whole service reliable from the first mile to the last mile, then we are not going to get the people to use public transport no matter how many LRTs are built," said Moaz.

SPEND LESS FOR MORE
In terms of costs against the benefits, Transit considers that the LRT is actually one of the least effective choices of public transport.

Citing the Kelana Jaya LRT line, Moaz said currently it was running with double-coach trains and moving about 9,000 passengers in one direction each hour.

"The Kelana Jaya LRT will move approximately 20,000 passengers per hour when they operate the four-coach trains at the end of 2009.

"If we need to move 9,000 or 20,000 people, actually we should be building monorails as it costs less and can move the same number of people," said Moaz.

He also believed that extension of the Kelana Jaya line should continue right to the Shah Alam Stadium as there is ample undeveloped land to the west of the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE).

"If we go to the Shah Alam Stadium, we have access not only to Ara Damansara but also Subang, Kampung Melayu Subang and the rest.

"The stadium area is a very large spot, very open and we can have room for a depot, parking, and express bus lanes.He said the stadium is located near two highways - the Federal Highway and NKVE, therefore it is viable for a reliable bus system that could move people from Shah Alam to other areas including Subang Jaya, Kota Kemuning, Klang and even Kuala Lumpur.Transit also suggests plan to extend the LRT from Seri Petaling to Petaling Jaya South and through Petaling Jaya, all the way to Kepong and back to Sentul.

"The Klang Valley Transport Study identifies Petaling Jaya line traveling from PJ South to Taman Tun Dr Ismail. This line can be integrated within our proposed extension to Petaling Jaya. When completed there would be a KL-PJ loop line that could move 60,000 passengers per hour. This would remove thousands of car from the MRRII daily," said Moaz.

Transit has also identified a solution for Puchong and western Petaling Jaya.

"Jalan Klang Lama and Jalan Puchong are large roads which move thousands of cars per day. If we expand the KL Monorail to four or six-carriage trains and extend it to MidValley, and then along Jalan Klang Lama and Jalan Puchong, we can move 40,000 passengers per hour. MidValley will benefit and we would reduce traffic on Jalan Puchong.He said in the long term, Transit's approach would build more economic growth for the Klang Valley and Malaysia.

PROVIDE MORE FOR BUSES
The bus service is another area which Transit has great interest in.According to Muhammad Zulkarnain Hamzah, Transit's spokesperson, buses are very much affected by the traffic congestion.He said highways and expressways could be used as alternative routes for buses.

As an illustration, he said, 30 buses were more than capable to relieve the maximum amount of free flow traffic that the 1.2 billion Ringgit Akleh( Ampang-KL Elevated Highway) can sustain at any one time.He also proposed that expressways be used as 'Expressway Rapid Transit' (ERT) tracks with ERT buses functioning as 'trains'.

Muhammad Zulkarnain said bus 'stations' could be built on top of these 'tracks' at identified strategic transit points with high suburban population."Bus terminals for suburban feeder bus services together with depots and car parks can be built inside the suburban area and next to the ERT points so that transit time can be cut short," he explained.Accordingly, three strategic Kuala Lumpur gateway points for ERT buses can be created at KL Sentral/Mid Valley, Imbi (near the Pandan Roundabout) and Sentul Timur with dedicated bus ramps to Jalan Travers for direct access to NKVE and NPE, KL-Putrajaya and Duke Expressway respectively.

The gateway points should be conveniently linked to Ampang and Kelana Jaya LRT Lines besides KL Monorail while the Dang Wangi LRT Station could be the main gateway point that caters to ERT buses from Ampang via Akleh, he said."This is because it sits strategically at the west end point of Akleh. To fill up the demand during rush hours, express bus operators should be allowed to bid for periodical contract to serve ERT buses in which they will be paid based on a set of criteria set up by the transport authority," Muhammad Zulkarnain explained.

He said all buses and bus stops as well as mass-transit terminals should be designed based on the universal accessibility principle that would speed up bus service and encourage people to use them.POLITICAL WILL To fix the public transport system, it needs a strong political will. It also requires intervention from higher ups as voiced out by both Moaz and Muhammad Zulkarnain.

They proposed the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee on Public Transport led by members of Parliaments from both sides of the divide."The infrastructure is already there. It is just getting everybody to cooperate for the sake of facing this problem and not thinking of their particular vested interest," said Moaz.He also stressed that a proper public transport system that provides a level of standard should also be available across the nation and not just only for the Klang Valley.

"If we stick to what we are doing, we are going to stagnate. Jakarta, Bangkok and Singapore have invested in their public transport networks. Jakarta has an exemplary Bus Rapid Transit System. They built seven lines in four years and three more are under construction.

"Bangkok has expanded their Metro and Skytrain and they are building Bus Rapid Transit and Airport Express line. Singapore is building three MRT lines and three more are being planned.

"There is a lot of work ahead but it can be done if we just change our attitude, our perception in public transport," said Moaz

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands

Articles extracted from New Straits Times, 3rd August 2008

Owners and residents of Prima Bayu Apartments in Bayu Perdana here took charge and formed a joint management body to address problems on maintenance following the developer's failure to respond to the set up.

Residents' Association chairman P. R. Rajah said the body had to be formed, although under the law the management body should comprise the developer and residents. He said a letter was sent to the developer urging it to set up the management body, but there was no response." Following which residents lodged a complaint with the Commissioner of Buildings, which is under the Klang Municipal Council."

The council appointed an agent to help us form the joint management body which was supposed to comprise the residents and the developer. But the developer did not turn up." This is the first meeting where an agent has been appointed to help us form the body," he said at the meeting recently.

In the absence of developer Palm Grove Sdn. Bhd, the meeting was conducted by Peter Chong, the agent appointed by the council. Rajah was elected as chairman of the joint management body, Albert Yeow as deputy chairman, V. Gunaseelan as secretary and V. Kalaisilvan as treasurer.

Prima Bayu comprises 672 apartments with 3,000 residents. Not all are owners, some companies have rented the flats to house their workers. Rajah said the residents have had various problems especially on maintenance and security. Klang MP Charles Santiago, who was present at the meeting, advised developers in Klang to work closely with residents to work out complaints and problems."

Many complaints from residents of apartments have been about the lack of maintenance and the developers' lackadaisical attitude."

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fun way to get to know the neighbourhood

More on other RAs ... perhaps we can emulate as well and organize this as one of our social and sports event - Canal Gardens Treasure Hunt. Any volunteers? Takers? Comments? Suggestions?

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Fun way to get to know the neighbourhood
The Star, by Tan Karr Wei, 16th September 2008

KNOWING their neighbourhood well paid off for Steven Lim and Pamela Chen as it won them two return air tickets to Melbourne.

The two emerged tops in the Taman Megah Residents’ Association (Tamera) Treasure Hunt-Walk organised in conjunction with the 51st National Day celebrations.

Damansara Utama assemblyman Dr Cheah Wing Yin flagged off the hunt at the Taman Megah community hall in Petaling Jaya.

RA chairman Ong Thiam Hiong said 29 teams of two people each took part in the event that was open to residents of Taman Megah and the neighbouring areas.

Participants had to take a 2km walk around Taman Megah while looking out for clues to answer about 30 questions given to them.

Cheah said the treasure hunt was a fun way for residents to get to know their neighbourhood better.

Guests also tucked into a selection of fried meehoon, nasi lemak and satay, among others, as they mingled with their neighbours.

MyFM deejays Wan Wai Fun and Royce Tan dropped by to play games and hand out freebies to those present.

Chen Tat Ngee and Chen Wai Kit of the A Team won the second prize of two return AirAsiaX tickets to Perth while Eugene Lee and Horng Jir Yih of Megah Duo won the third prize of two return tickets to Hangzhou.

All air tickets prizes excludes fuel surcharge and taxes.

Three teams also won consolation prizes sponsored by CIMB.

Also present were Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and representatives from AirAsiaX and CIMB.

Puncak Nusa Kelana Folk Up in Arms Over Mall Plan

More Residents' Association actions around the country.

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Puncak Nusa Kelana folk up in arms over mall plan
The Star, by Tan Karr Wei, 22nd September 2008

Residents of Puncak Nusa Kelana in Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, are going all out to save the lake in the area.


Help us out: Residents protesting the development at the man-made lake
About 30 residents showed up at the lake to object to the development of a strip mall at the site.

“We noticed that they had set up equipment to drain the water from the lake about a week ago but there was no notice put up regarding the development,” Puncak Nusa Kelana Owners and Residents Association (PNKORA) chairman Sudesh Ratnarajah said.

He said even though the lake was not a natural lake, residents were concerned that the draining would affect the soil around it and compromise the safety of their homes.

“We have not been given the traffic and social impact assessment reports.

Many residents also said the traffic congestion was getting from bad to worse in the area and another commercial development would add to their woes, especially with the issue of the Taman Megah Mas tunnels still unresolved.

According to Kota Damansara assemblyman Dr Nasir Hashim, he had chaired a monthly meeting with the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) on Sept 19 and has requested for another meeting between all the parties concerned, including the developers and residents.

“We’re hoping to have the meeting by next week to clear the air,” he said.

“There is a school near the lake and it is not viable to have a strip mall there,” Sudesh said.

Residents were unhappy with a previous meeting with the developers because their concerns were not addressed and the development would still take place despite their protests.

Sudesh said residents would start a signature campaign against the development.

Residents were peeved that MBPJ councillor Mohd Halil Haji Harun, who was in charge of their area, was not present despite having been informed of the event.

Puncak Dana Sdn Bhd had earlier explained to the residents that the area was not originally a lake and that approval was received in 1998 to build an 18-storey commercial building that was scaled down to a four-storey community shopping centre.

Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah was also present at the protest.

Residents Want Tunnel Closed

Just wanted to share a few stories related to Residents' Association around the country. We will be setting our very own RA soon ... and we look forward to getting all your support.

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Residents want tunnel closed

The Star, by Jade Chan, 14th October 2008


Residents from Taman Megah Mas and Taman Mayang held a peaceful demonstration last weekend to protest against the use of the Taman Megah Mas tunnel as an access road to the Ara Damansara and Lembah Subang areas.

The rally, organised by the Taman Megah Mas Residents Association (RA) and Taman Mayang Rukun Tetangga (RT), was aimed at highlighting the residents’ concerns about the traffic congestion and pollution they have to endure to the authorities.

The tunnel was originally built as a temporary route for garbage trucks to access Lembah Subang, which was previously designated as a waste disposal area.

However, the Taman Megah Mas tunnel and nearby FAS tunnel are used as alternative access roads linking the eastern side of Petaling Jaya, like Ara Damansara, to the western side like Kelana Jaya and the LDP.


Stating their needs: Taman Megah Mas and Taman Mayang residents protesting against the use of the Taman Megah Mas tunnel as an acces s road to the Ara Damansar a and Lembah Subang areas.

An initial traffic study revealed that an average of 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles cross the Taman Megah Mas tunnel per day and 2,000 vehicles at peak hour.

“The motorists will clog the narrow two-lane residential roads at Jalan Emas 1 and 2 in Tamah Megah Mas and squeeze their way into the tunnel, which measures a mere 8m wide, when the required width for public roads is 12m,” said Taman Megah Mas RA chairman G.C. Goay.

“Motorists from as far as Kota Damansara and Bandar Utama will also cut through Taman Mayang (via Jalan SS25/32 and Jalan SS25/39) to use the tunnel as a short cut to go to Saujana and Ara Damansara,” said Taman Mayang RT chairman Chan Chow Wang.

“The congestion is expected to worsen with future developments in Lembah Subang and Saujana like a four-star 18-storey hotel and several commercial and residential developments.”

“The congestion in our neighbourhood is very bad, particularly during peak hours, and the heavy traffic poses a danger to residents and pedestrians,” said Goay.

“When the Taman Megah Mas tunnel was closed last month for a traffic study initiated by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), crime went down to zero. Otherwise, there would be reports of car and house break-ins, and snatch thefts every week.”

According to Goay, the residents have been requesting for better access roads for those residing on the eastern side of Petaling Jaya since eight years ago.

“I would prefer a long-term solution like having a flyover be built at a suitable location to address the problem,” he said.

“I also hope that the relevant authorities would hasten efforts to provide a proper access road while making motorists’ safety a priority, as well as to restore the neighbourhood’s peaceful environment.”

“We want the authorities to close the Taman Megah Mas tunnel as soon as possible and construct a proper access road that doesn’t cut through residential areas,” said Chan.

Poll Result: How Would You Rate Our Security Services?

Recently we had an online poll via our CG Community Blog. The question is "How Would You Rate Our Security Services?"

And here are the results:
  • An overwhelming 64% requested that we replace the existing security team
  • Quite a few, 24%, felt that the current security can do much better
  • Only 7% felt that they are doing a good job
  • Only 3% felt that they have done a superb job

FYI, we have requested for improved services from the existing security team. If there is no improvement, we may request to change them.

And we thanked all of you who took the initiative to response. Stay tune for more online polls. Thank you!

Monday, October 13, 2008

How Come Ah? Can HGD Property Services Enlighten Us Ah?

For those of you who turned up at our annual AGM, thank you. You will have a copy of the "unsigned" Financial Statements of Canal Gardens .... Yeah ... "unsigned" one!?

So we really have some questions for HGD Property Services and we really hope to get some good answers lah ... so we are compiling lah. Let's start with:

1. How come ah we only receive the statements only in October after we asked and asked for it since a few months ago? By the way, the financial statements are for financial year ending 31st March 2008? How come ah?

2. How come ah the financial statement we received got no signature one from the auditor? Forgot to sign? So is this the "final" or "approved" financial statement? How come ah? Again-lah I ain't auditor, so not sure if you kena sign the financial statements ....

3. How come ah, we don't see any extra "landscaping maintenance" when Landscaping Maintenance = RM156,000 ... In FY (Financial Year) 2007, our landscaping = Zero. How come ah? Do you see "landscaping maintenance"? Please enlighten us ...

Dear residents, please feel free to comment and add more questions to the list.

Thank You For Your Support - Canal Gardens AGM 2008



Approximate Figures ...
Turnout = 120 households (Out of approximately 500 occupied homes)
Joined PPKK = 50 (Almost half of the attendees)
Donations (On the Night Itself) = RM1,169 (which we used to pay off the rental for tents, chairs, printing, bottled water etc.)

We thank you for the time and effort ... and we look forward to more volunteers in the coming days as we will have open invitation to all Canal Gardens residents to join us in our monthly meeting.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Financial Statements of Canal Garden

Just got hold of a softcopy of Financial Statements of Canal Gardens - Reports & Financial Statements for the Financial Year ended 31 March 2008.

You can collect the hardcopy during the AGM this Sunday.

In the meantime, if you want the softcopy, just drop us an email: CanalGardens@gmail.com Subject: I Want - Financial Statements of Canal Gardens. Please include your Name, Mobile and House No/Road e.g. Thomas Tan / 66L / 012-8888999. We want to take this exercise to update our database and disseminate community alerts through email and/or sms in the future. Don't worry - our database is not for sale.

So see you this Sunday, 8pm @ CG Basketball Court.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Wanted - Transporter to Subang Jaya SS19

Another community service - looking for transport for kids to pre-school in SS19 Subang Jaya. Please contact Michele Loo (016-257-8565).

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I'm a resident of Canal Gardens and I'm looking for a reliable transporter to take my 4 yr old daughter to a preschool in SS19 Subang Jaya and fetch her back home after school. The time for sending her to school is around 11am and back from school at 3:30pm. I'm am willing to pay a higher fee. Hope someone can recommend pls, thank you. (Michele Loo - 016-257-8565)

Private Tutors

As part of our community services, we will help out as much as possible through our blog. For those parents looking for private tutors, you may contact Justina (013-4304158).

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From: Justina (013-4304158)

I am a part-time tutor in a tuition centre, teach English in Cambridge English for Life, and also managing a pre-school in the mornings. I can teach English, BM, Maths and Science to primary school children. For parents looking for tutors, you can contact me at 013-4304158.

Monday, October 6, 2008

More "Green" Community Effort Around Klang Valley

Residents green Bandar Puteri Klang
The Star, 6th October 2008

In line with the Selangor government’s efforts in greening the environment, Bandar Puteri Klang organised “A Tree in My Garden’’ event for its residents on Aug 24.



Te event was graced by Muhammad Hijaz Sanusi, the director of the Landscape division of Klang Municipal Council and DSP Zailan Tazir from the Klang Police headquarters.

The main objective of the event was to promote activities to enhance the town’s environment and to foster closer community ties among Bandar Puteri Klang residents.

About 1,000 Bandar Puteri Klang residents took part along with their family members to green the Town Park the shared common garden of Bandar Puteri Klang, with trees and shrubs.

At the end of the event, to motivate the residents to green their homes and neighbourhood, each participant was given a free plant.


MPAJ embarks on tree-planting programme
The Star, 14th June 2008

In conjunction with the World Environment Day, the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) held a tree-planting programme within its municipality.



The council conducted its first exercise on Thursday by planting some 100 kelat paya trees. A total of 300 trees will be planted by the council.

Sponsored by Nilam Simfoni Sdn Bhd, the plants were planted by council officers from various departments along the MRR2 opposite the Tesco hypermarket.

MPAJ community and youths department director Sarodin Shahri said the council always had such tree-planting activities from time to time but this was the first time it was done in conjunction with environment day.

In support of the state government's project of planting one million trees in Selangor this year, Sarodin said the council was in charge of planting 100,000 trees. Currently, the council has managed to plant 33,000 trees in various locations in the municipality.

“Last year, we planted about 42,000 trees and we hope to exceed our quota of 100,000 this year,” he said during the exercise.

Sarodin explained the Kelat Paya was a suitable plant as it can beautify a place and provide shade.

“When it is trimmed, it is good for landscaping purposes and when it is grown, the tree provides a good shade,” Sarodin said.

MPAJ will plant 150 of the plant at Taman Angsana Hilir Jalan 1 and 7 and 50 more around Kampung Pandan futsal court.


Bandar Puteri residents spend a fruitful day planting trees
The Star, 11th April 2008

In response to the Subang Jaya Municipal Council's (MPSJ) campaign to plant more trees, a group of Bandar Puteri Puchong residents rolled up their sleeves to plant fruit trees in their neighbourhood last Sunday.

In collaboration with the MPSJ landscape department, the residents planted about 450 trees around the green areas and in the parks at the neighbourhood.


MPSJ president Datuk Adnan Md Ikhsan officiated the campaign.

The Bandar Puteri resident association advisor Samson David Maman said that they have requested for another 500 trees from the council.

“The response has been so overwhelming and Adnan has agreed to our request,” he said during the launch at the Puteri 8/10 field.

“Once the trees bear fruits, all of us would be able to share it and this promotes a sense of neighbourliness,” said Maman.

Some of the trees planted were mango, guava, rambutan, and sour sop.

Adults, with children in tow, excitedly dug up holes and even the elderly joined the activity.

“I think the residents should be commended for being the first resident association to organise its own tree planting activity on such a big-scale,” said Adnan.

He added that the state government has targeted for one million trees to be planted in Selangor this year with MPSJ to plant at least 100,000 trees.

“So far, the council has planted over 43,000 trees of various types under our jurisdiction.

“However, the council does not encourage residents to plant trees like bananas, sugarcanes, or vegetables as its leaves would fall and create a mess on the ground."

“Fruit trees or trees that provide shade are much better,” said Adnan.

Adnan also urged for developers to be more socially responsible towards the community's welfare.

“There are so many types of developers - some passive and others more proactive.
“Developers must always remember their responsibility to the buyers and it doesn’t just end with the selling of a property,” he said.

After the activity, the residents raised few pertinent issues with Adnan with regards to the township such as repair work and maintenance and he assured them that he would get the developer to look into soon.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Pokok-Pokok Baru from MBSA

Recently, we have managed to get MBSA to plant around 200 new trees all over Canal Gardens. This is part of the exercise to replace the old dead trees as well as tambah new ones to beautify as well as to provide more shades, in the near future, once these trees "grow up".




Trees are "green machines" that act as natural filters of our air. Through the process of photosynthesis they absorb carbon dioxide (a key contributor to global warming) from the atmosphere and store it in their trunk, branches, leaves, roots, soil and foliage, while releasing oxygen back out.

Apart from that, by planting more trees ... we can ...
  • create more shades - suasana lebih redup

  • provide an interesting, soothing environment for our children and our community especially for morning/evening walk and cycling

  • prevent soil loss

A BIG THANK YOU to MBSA and the CGRC folks!

How Would You Rate Our Security Services?

Well ladies and gentlemen, let's do an online poll and see how our security guards are doing.

Question: How Would You Rate Our Security Services?
  • Excellent - First Class
  • Good
  • Can Be Much Better
  • Please Replace Them

Polling will be open for one (1) week - ending next Sunday, 12th October 2008. Hurry up!

Scroll down and the POLLING is available on the right-hand, right below our lovely Canal Gardens logo.

Join Us - Open Burning at Kampung Johan Setia

A meeting has been called by the State Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment Commitee Chairman YB Elizabeth Wong to discuss the progress of open burning issue at Kampung Johan
Setia. We need some concerned residents who are able to make it tomorrow, 6th October, at 10am - to join.

Invitations were out for all the press. There will be representatives from Putra Heights, Kota Kemuning, Bukit Rimau, Bandar Putri etc.
You can find more information here: Smokechaser's Weblog: http://smokechaser.wordpress.com/

A big thank you to Smokechaser for the heads up and invitation.

Venue: Meeting Room, Majlis Perbandaran Klang, Bangunan Sultan Alam Shah, Jalan Perbandaran, 41675 Klang Bandar Diraja, Selangor.
Date: 6 October 2008, Monday
Time: 10am-11am
Tel: 03-3371 6044 / Hotline : 03-3371 4404 / Fax: 03-3372 0344

Another Community Site - Putra Heights Forum

Added another community site - Putra Heights Forum - so that we all can know a little bit more on what's happening within Canal Gardens and Kota Kemuning, as well as our surrounding neighbourhood.

Check them out at: http://www.putraheights.com/forums/

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Climate Change & Reducing Emissions

What is Climate Change?
Climate change, or global warming is the result of a build up of greenhouse gases (GHG), chiefly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. GHGs serve to trap the suns heat in the earth’s atmosphere, forming the ‘greenhouse effect’ – a natural phenomena that keeps the earth warm. However, when the concentration of GHGs gets too large, and the earth’s equilibrium gets out of balance, we experience a dangerous rise in temperatures, which can result in severe and extreme weather conditions. In effect, earth’s blanket thickens and our atmosphere absorbs and holds more heat than it radiates back. This could directly affect rainfall, flooding and droughts, agriculture, economies, health and biosecurity.

Reduce Your Emissions
Reducing your emissions is a vital part of combating climate change. We encourage everyone to be aware of their energy usage and its effects, and take steps to reduce this. What remains can be offset through Carbon Free programme.
  • By being more energy efficient at home, you can reduce your emissions and lower your energy bills by more than 30%.

  • Adjust your air conditioner when you go out and shut down your system when you are away for extended periods.

  • Turn off and unplug stereos, radios, TVs, and DVDs when you leave for holidays. These appliances have a stand-by function that uses energy even when they are turned off.

  • Close doors to unused rooms trapping cooling in rooms in use.

  • Consider switching to compact fluorescent lighting. Compact fluorescent light bulbs use about 75 per cent less energy than incandescent bulbs.

  • Clean all of your cooling appliances, making sure they are dust free. Energy is lost when cooling units have to work harder to draw air through dirty filters. Ensuring that your air conditioner filter is clean can save 5 percent of the energy used.

  • Wash your dishes manually, or ensure your dishwasher is full when you run it. Allow your dishes to air dry, by not using the heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher's total electricity use.

  • Recycle glass, metals, plastics and paper.

  • Plant shade trees and paint your house a light color if you live in a warm climate or a dark color if you live in a cold climate.

  • Turn your refrigerator down.

  • Select the most energy-efficient models when you replace your old appliances. Look for the Energy Star Label - your assurance that the product saves energy and prevents pollution.

  • Slow down and drive sensibly. The faster and more aggressive you drive, the more petrol your car uses.

We, the residents of Canal Gardens, are proud to have played some small parts in helping mother earth through our monthly recycling programs and, recently, having 200 new trees planted all over Canal Gardens. Let us all do our part to reduce emissions.

Source: Plant-A-Tree-Today.Org

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Recycling Day - October 2008

Our monthly recycling event is on this Sunday.



When: 5th October 2008 (Sunday), 10am - 3pm

Where: Gazebo Near 2nd Exit

Here are some of the items which you and your family can contribute - big or small - doesn't really matter as long as you contribute. The money collected from these Recycling Program will be channeled into Canal Gardens Community Events.

Beverage Tin Cans
We take soft drink / coffee drink tin cans. Help us rinse and empty the content and if possible, keep them dry in plastic bag(s).

Plastics
We take plastic bottles and this includes mineral water bottles, juice or milk containers, shampoo bottles, household cleaning containers like washing detergent etc. Please help rinse and empty the content, and where possible keep them dry in plastic bag(s) or tie them together. Easier to group these materials together.

Papers
We take clean, dry paper that come in many forms like newspapers, magazines, junk mail, office paper, letters, envelopes, cardboard and boxboard like cereal, soap and tea packets and greetings cards, egg cartons and cardboard milk cartons etc. Help us by tying the papers ... Easier to weight and load into the lorry.

So see you all this Sunday, from 10m - 3pm.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

Wishing all our Muslim friends - Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri - Maaf Zahir Batin.