Monday, July 21, 2008

Following the footsteps of Taiichi Ohno


One of the great benefits of moving into our new home has been the opportunity to practise my personal philosophy of ‘Reducing Muda’ or ‘Lean Thinking’. Muda means ‘waste’ in Japanese, but is more accurately defined as ‘futility’ or ‘purposelessness’. In his words, Ohno-sensei called it “any human activity which absorbs resources but creates no value.” And Ohno-sensei opposed every from of waste.

Thanks to his established frameworks, Ohno-sensei became known as the father of the Toyota Production System, now the cornerstone of the world’s premier manufacturing organization and a precursor to the famous corporate bible Lean Thinking by Dr James Womack and Professor Daniel Jones.

How does this relate to making Taman Desa a better place to be? Well, all waste in my previous household was eliminated in the 3R method: reduce, reuse and recycle. The recycle part of things were easy because I bought three separate bins and segregated my waste. Every once in a while, this waste was sent to the Alam Flora pick-up centre nearby and I was actually paid for it.

Today, not only does this continue in Casa Desa but I manage to fit ‘compact fluorescent lights’ (or CFLs) and reduce my electricity bills by an estimated 80 percent. I also estimate that the higher cost of installing these CFLs will be see the payback by the end of the year and net savings in the second year onwards.

I’ve also installed blinds as opposed to curtains. These reduce the need for solvent-exposing dry cleaning and also eliminate exposure to dust-mites and other airborne allergens. All they need is a gentle wipe with a cloth once a week.

I’m in the midst of retro-fitting my toilets to half-flush versions that will save water when flushing. I mean, what’s the point of flushing half a gallon of clean water when all you did was pee?

Finally, I’ve installed intelligent fans and an aircond unit but exclusively use the former, leaving the latter on standby should guests really need to get colder. I also bought a south-facing unit so the home is never really hot. However the breeze in Casa Desa (being on a hill) is wonderfully soothing. The fans are used for overnight sleep and can be timed to cut off after 6 hrs so that the last hour or two of early morning sleep is still comfortable because the sun hasn’t fully warmed the home yet. And I get to save on more electricity.

In case some of you thought, no, I don’t use hot water so solar panels aren’t necessary yet. But you can bet I’m thinking of installing one in future to further cut down on electricity usage.

All this has made my home less CO2 reliant. Less electricity being used and less water being used. Finally, less waste to dispose of in our country’s growing landfills. If you do have the time, do consider these solutions as Global Warming is one problem that truly affects everyone. And if we don’t individually do something about it the end result is the very real threat to our Earth’s ecosystem.

Besides my work as a filmmaker, this is my other passion in life. But more on this in the posts to come…

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Being the First Residents of Casa Desa

Here we are finally in our new home; the first step in our path to a new life as a married couple. Two years ago, all these seemed so far away. Yet now, looking at the old familiar furniture within our newly painted walls, everything looks like it has fallen into place. Well, most everything.

Casa Desa is not without its flaws and being the very first occupants has its plus and minuses.

Here’s my rating of what’s God and what’s Not about this new experience.


#1 What’s God: Total Peace & Quiet
Being the only occupant in a six-block condominium means there’s absolutely not a single soul around except the two of you. No cute but noisy kids running around to wake up the neighbours. No cars clogging up at the guardhouse when coming or leaving (KL traffic is bad enough as it is, the least anyone needs is a jam right at their doorstep).

For someone who writes for a living, the peace and quiet is absolute bliss. As I type this, I’m playing a Kenny G CD at top volume on our humble but efficient Altec Lansing speaker system and I don’t worry about anyone complaining.

I can walk around naked (key word: can) past the windows and not have to look out first for passer bys. We can walk around freely and not worry about having those awkward condo moments; you know, the one where you enter into a lift with someone you know to be a fellow neighbour but stare blankly at the floor number because you don’t know how to address the moment.

To cut things short, I’ve always been a private person so this time has been nothing but pure bliss.


#1 What’s Not: Total Peace & Quiet
…well, okay, I admit, not all the times. Being the only occupant in a six-block condominium means there’s absolutely not a single soul around except the two of you. That means taking that long path down to your door with nothing but the click clack of your high heels accompanying you when you come home late at night.

It’s a bit freaky sometimes knowing there’s no one around but the guards (all the way down at the car park entrance at nearest) should there be an emergency. That’s why my husband, the darling, has gotten us extra locks and peep hole installed to ensure my safety but still, the creepy feelings abound sometimes…

#2 What’s Great: Everything’s Brand New!
The first thing I spied when Michael and I did our tour of Casa Desa was the freshly set up gymnasium with equipments still wrapped up! Being gym junkies, we couldn’t help but ogle at the spartan room with adequate machines through the glass doors like children through a candy shop – or like girls at a window display of Guess. If they came with weights, I think we’d both seriously reconsider our gym memberships.

#2 What’s Late: Everything’s Damn Slow!
I think we are the legends of Casa Desa already, having moved in before the water supply was connected. It was a full four days before we had any of that stuff – and it sure was a strong lesson in the importance of H2O in our daily lives. Another water factor that got me less than thrilled is the swimming pool. I had been looking forward to taking a dip with a free mind – seeing as there won’t be any neighbours prying down from balconies silently judging what I looked like in a bikini – but the water hasn’t even been pumped in yet.

The other reason is the lack of Wifi. Our old place has Wifi. Our local mamak, Vithya’s, has Wifi. But (supposedly) upper middle class Casa Desa doesn’t. How advanced is that?


#3 What’s Cool: The Sunrises
This has nothing to do with being new but I just have to say, one of the best things about Casa Desa is the airy environment the windows allow. Made of glass panels, they are so wide and placed generously around the unit that we get a good view, and a good breeze in every room. This factor has been seriously lacking in most condos, where the windows face out to a blank wall or other people’s units. Our hall faces out to the green hills of the next suburbs and then some. And when we wake up in the morning, it’s to the bright rays of that burning diamond in the sky which doubles up as our alarm clock. Simply perfect.


#3 What’s Bull:The Surprises
We’re residents in our own condo and we still have to pay for using the Barbeque Pitt, Community Halls and etc?! The biggest bullshit I came across is the signboard down at the BBQ Pitt. It read something like “Only a maximum of 10 people are allowed to use it and must pay so on and so forth”. This is the first time I’ve been to a condo where the resident has to put out extra money for stuff, in his residence, that he’s supposed to be entitled to use.

Tell me, am I a jakun for saying this or is the system really flawed?


Well, that’s all I can think of for now. Right now we are still busy with renovations and other works to complete the picture. But that’s another story.