Election Matters

Police making their presence known right after dawn

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The rush was on at 7.45am for the 'early birds'

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5 minutes to 5pm and this couple get their chance to finally cast a vote'

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Taman Desa was full of life just after dawn this 5th of May. A crowd of people joined me to line up at SMK Perdana Taman Desa as we waited impatiently to make one of the most important choices of our lives.

I was up even earlier.

As an eager, first time volunteer, I had already arrived at 6am in the morning to get the DAP pondok panas ready for action. A small group of us were involved and we helped point people to the right voting stations around Taman Desa (as the stations are mainly in schools, people inevitably got lost finding which of the 3 schools in Taman Desa was which). By 7.20am there were enough people to form a 50m queue outside the gates of our school. I joined in and at 7.45am the gates opened.

My vote was cast and I was on my way out by 8.15am, passing by a couple of familiar faces on the way out.

The shop-lot eateries up the road were full of people who had either just voted or were about to. There was a lot of hopeful chatter - we were sure Seputeh, of which Taman Desa is a part of - would continue to carry as a DAP stronghold - but there was fear about how neighbouring constituencies would perform.

It was back home to Casa Desa for a short nap. Then back to the pondok at lunchtime to continue my duties. Surprisingly, voters continued to arrive in sizeable numbers. Even one of my close buddies from work dropped by. Coincidentally, he was also registered to vote and did his bit in no time. Throughout the afternoon folks idled around to chat with us and share updates from our smart phones every now and then. Even a thunderstorm didn't dampen voters and they continued to trickle in right up to the last few minutes before 5pm.

Taman Desa continues to be the staunch home of DAP supporters, there's no denying it. A lot of us were hopeful of the future that day, even though the results were ultimately disappointing. But life goes on in Taman Desa. As it always will.

Guarded and Gated: Taman Desa's Lock on Safety

I don't know about you but it's been a long time now since the first controversial 'pondok' sprouted a few doors down our condo and 'guards' appeared manning its boom gate. I thought Taman Desa was relatively safe so this was a surprise. But I should have seen it coming. Back in 2005, we already had motorcyle-bound security that provided 24-hour patrols to some effect (they weren't very helpful as some roadside car burglars would break windows, steal stuff and then easily out-speed them with faster bikes). I hoped the patrols would be better-equipped but I certainly didn't expect permanent structures, barriers and a plethora of booms that barred your entrance to what is essential a public space.

The alleged illegality of the actions don't trouble me as much as the fact that people do accept them. We've become tolerant of the fact that crime is not abating. There is a perception that we don't feel safe anymore to trust our fate in the police.

But seriously? Boom gates?

Anyway, they are almost everywhere in Taman Desa now and the quality of the work by the attendants has been patchy. In the last couple of weeks, they suddenly improved and took down registration plate numbers religiously before letting cars pass in-bound. The funny part is that out-bound cars only need to press a button that allows the boom gate to open automatically. I don't know about this last part as, if I were an escaping burglar, this means I would have an easier time getting away from my victim's suburb!

I don't know if anyone has stats to show that this whole scheme has helped drive crime rates down in Taman Desa. The truth is that things have traditionally been very quite here. People were careful and supportive of neighbours. They still are, I'm sure. However, the act of gating our suburb's many entry points is communicating a perception that we fear for our safety enough to act this desperately. We've lost the art of the old Rukun Tetangga or Neighbourhood Watch. We've almost stopped becoming the vibrant community we were a long time ago. Don't get me wrong. Taman Desa is still a great place to live in if you're in Kuala Lumpur. But now we're like other similar communities. And it's sad that we lost our unique identity.