In The Name Of A Good Cause

Some highlights of the day... participants and winners of the colouring contest...


Indah Water's En Ahmad Budaya taking a mundane subject...


...and having us in stitches several times as he entertained.












Finally, Bernard getting the money from Alam Flora for our recycled goods. I'm sure the next one will yield a lot more.


Gosh, this may sound sheepish but I felt proud having co-organized the first big community event in Casa Desa. Being a proud environmentalists I always believe actions speak louder than words. Thus, when fellow committee member Bernard proposed the Recycling Day I jumped on the chance to work with him.

Trust me, it was a hell of a lot of work. Organizing, learning, communicating and even putting in the hard work like carrying chairs and speakers from our cars to the condo.

We learnt a lot and that's the best thing about it: the next ones will be better and better. We had a few nervous moments though.

The morning started really well and we had most of the furniture set up in our vacant restaurant/common area by 9.45am. Then the weather threatened to intervene. The clouds got dark and started coming our way. After a few minutes it finally gate-crashed the party by introducing gale-force winds. The buntings and exhibition panels that Indah Water put up were inadvertent sail boards for a wind force right out of Wolfgang Petersen's A Perfect Storm.

Running for our lives, we grabbed everything and turned our outdoor fair into an indoor one. Within half an hour it was settled.

The colouring contest (organized by Bernard's wife Celine) next door was a hit with families but everyone seemed diverted from the Indah Water talk that was scheduled to go on so I ushered the parents and got as many people as I could to sit in. Some might have been moaning internally about a perceived 'lecture' heading their way. But Indah Water's rep En Ahmad Budaya gave a remarkable and funny explanation on the state of the nation's wastewater and the role Indah Water plays. The man himself is a hilarious character, part-comedian, part-educator.

Alam Flora, Hong Leong bank (who were our main sponsors), Streamyx and a few others played their part in the event. Committee president Lai Fong was there, as were other members Alifah, Ramlan, Jonathan and my beloved Nim too.

Of course, we wanted people to come down with their recycled goods; or we'd even go to them if they needed help. Which is what Bernard and a few committee members did, going from block to block. My good friend Charles helped me out too, although he found our second-hand book sale too good to ignore at times.

Due to some technical problems our planned movie screening didn't get underway but we managed to get people involved, meet some new friends and collect over RM200 dollars worth of goods to raise for our residents' leisure needs.

Malaysians can be a shy lot but it was great to meet a few people concerned about their neigbourhood. It's a start for us. And a good one at that.

Getting Down To The Nitty Gritty

Above: A pretty good bunch of people. I look petrified for some unknown reason. Below: It's all work at 10am in the morning on a Saturday!





It’s a scary thing, being voted into the Joint Management Body of a condominium. This is where you’re representing 2000 plus residents and their hard earned money that is being poured into making Casa Desa a safe and ideal home. Now I’m sure some of you who are lucky enough to own landed properties probably don’t give a hoot. And those renting out probably couldn’t care less except paying the rent each month. That’s perfectly fine.I wanted the responsibility out of curiousity and out of a need to make things better.

But its scary to have the responsibility. It really is.

Thank God the people elected alongside me are a wonderful, varied bunch of respectable citizens. And it starts with Wong Lai Fong, who was the secretary of the group when it first began (informally) but worked so hard and tirelessly that we HAD to give her the position. I mean, she worked 24/7 to make every building and maintenance fault known to us and to Faber Union, putting them on the backfoot from day one. From potholes to dangling wires, she had an eagle eye for spotting them that would make snipers in Swat Valley green with envy. I’m sure every time she comes around, the staff at the developer office go scrambling for cover. Or take a long toilet break.

Then there’s Jonathan, a la Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, with the toothy smile of an innocent boy and the wisdom of a sage. Can be as fiery as ol’ LKY himself too. Being the owner of another unit in nearby Danau Permai and involved in it’s body corporation he also had Faber Union staff wishing they never had their jobs.

But then again, while the staff at Faber Union have exactly been giving us 5-star service (not even 2, come to think of it) it’s not their fault.

Today, at our first Joint Management Body meeting with the developer representatives, much of it seems to be the fault of sub-contractors who can’t be traced or have problems responding to rectification work. And the problem with middle class condominiums like ours is that there are a lot of these to contend with.

I’m just happy to have the right people by my side. I’ll be content with looking after the residents/owners website which I believe is a great communication tool and can save all the unnecessary costs that go with printing newsletters and flyers, etc. I’ll be ably aided by fellow residents Kok Weng and Kenneth. As they say, things can only get better from here.