Sinar Harian Article 19th October 2007

Please click on the above article and print to enable easy reading. Readers please kindly inform your friends if they are a member of any other RA in other communities please kindly get in touch with the RA of Taman Mutiara Puchong at tmp_committee@yahoo.com.
We believe that there is a need for the RA of neighbouring communities to form an alliance to better govern and at the same time share resources to collectively have a stronger voice and more avenue to seek justice against errant develepers whom usually believe they are above the law and do not regard its residents seriously when it comes to issues pertaining safety of its residents.

Affirmative Action Paying Dividends When Diplomacy Fails.

Wow.....the last couple of days have been truly interesting and hectic as I have never been involved ever in a live recording by a TV crew on site nor have I seen myself and my fellow neighbours in TV, ever.
Please refer to the link for the impromptu recording by fellow residents of the TV3 news segment in:
1. Bulletin Utama TV3 (17th October 2007)
2. Bulettin Utama TV3 (18th October 2007)
Having said the above it was however the natural course of progression as diplomacy have failed and the RA had no other alternative but to act and to act fast!
To make it very clear to all residents in Taman Mutiara Puchong whether you are aware or not, handover of the responsibilities of managing Taman Mutiara Puchong will ultimately rest on all our shoulders come this 18th January 2008. Come this date the developer will wash their hands clean of whatever responsibilities they have to make good on all their promises whether it is via contractual, verbal or through their A & P materials what so ever.
The RA comprising common people as residents have been seeking the assistance of the developer for the past upteen months via commonly practiced procedures by conducting regular meetings, diligent correspondences as well as teleconversations but the end result has always been laborous and painstaking slow, and worst of all issues that the RA are fighting to get done are always the ones that are logically duty bound by the developer in the first place eg. properly designed drainage that will not overflow, proper termite protection by a trusted contractor, common area amenities like the basketball courts to be properly constructed that is even and without water ponding issues causing cracks and molding, signages at the guardhouse with written house rules, properly constructed entry and exit lanes that will cater and assist in smooth traffic flow for 504 units of residents (Average 5 individuals per household) will easily equal 2,520 residents with at least possibly 1,512 vehicles averaging 3 per household. This is not including visitors, vans, lorries, delivery and contractors coming in and out on a regular basis, proper and sufficient lighting in the common area to enhance overall safety of the residents, road humps in specific locations to discourage speeding and hence preventing fatal accidents, and last but not least the most important of all a properly and reasonably constructed perimeter wall that will deter intruders like other gated and guarded housing development you will be able to find in neigbouring townships within Selangor state.
We as house buyers at the time this project was launched had only the model replica of how the entire project will look like and of course by word of mouth and possibly to associate Malton Bhd with other project like Li Villa in Sec 16, Petaling Jaya, which I have to say at that point in time in year 2005 was recognised as a successful development. Honestly I bought and trusted Malton at that point in time is because of Li Villa. But sadly this is not what the residents in Taman Mutiara Puchong feels today as over the course of our residency since we were handed the keys had to deal with (click this link for a chronicle of pictures by one of our residents from the first day until current of his experience).
How would you feel if you had paid from RM 350,000 to RM 600,000 and above plus renovation costs to own your property in a supposedly gated and guarded housing development that is not delievered the way it should have been delivered? Please refer to previous post in the archive lists for references of all issues brought up, but do take note that the issues brought up goes way back to the very beginning after handing over of the keys. The RA only started this blog in August 2007 with the main objective of transparency and a chronicle of our activities as we foresaw the need to document our fight and plight in the near future.

More Support........Residents Please Come Forth And State Your Case.

Mr. Steven,I just came back fr bangkok on 14th late night n sorry to hear that our community turn into "sea" on13th evening. I would suggest to run a full resident signatory campaign & hand up to our MP and also prepare a memorandum to the housing ministry and request for further action. we just can not let go this irresponsible developer, they just don't care our safety! Therefore, I urge all Fellow Residents,kindly give your full support to our RA committee.

cheers,
Alvin Tan

More Residents Speaking Up!

Dear RA,

Having seen what happened last Saturday, I am very disappointed. The worst is this may just be the begining of bigger problem, when flood water gets into the house! I just want to bring a few points of this issue. The problem may not just be the internal drainage system within the TMP compound. I believe the internal drainage can cater for that sort of rain. I believe the real problem is stormwater can't "get out" of our compound due to the full capacity of the main drain in front of our entrance. When there is heavy downpour, I observe that the main drain will be near its full capacity (but not overflow yet).
Therefore, apart from our "beloved" developer, we still need to get MPSJ / JPS (depends on who is maintaning the main drain) to be involved to resolve this. Potential solution is to find another drainage discharge outlet (apart from the main drain; I can see the "lake" only). However, this will involve a lot of $$ to re-design and re-do the drainage gradient; possibly at Phase 3B. Another root cause is the design platform of TMP is not "high" enough. Useless to talk about it because there is nothing we can do about it now. Obviously, substantial amount of $$ saved on earthwork.

Another sickening sight is our guardhouse and entrance. Frequent beakdown of boom gate, dodgy CCTV (working or not working, I don't know), road barrier (why is it there? this is still a construction site? to stop motorbike????), insufficient road lighting, fast car / motorbike from industrial area, heavy lorry moving in/out from our entrance (dropping earth, dirty & damage the road) etc.
For the boom gate, I think the motor is under-powered. It can't support a long boom. When I visit One Utama, I noticed that their car park boom is the type when it lifts up, it will form an "L" shape (the mid section will fold and held by a tie back to the motor). I guess this will lessen the stress on the motor and less breakdown.

The guardhouse is the "face" of TMP. With the current deteriorating state, I believe our house value will drop. Floor tiles fallen off, dirty, potholes at the entrance etc need to be adressed.

I faced similar issues when I lived in an apartment by a shit developer called T****, and I can understand why it happens. I thought things will get much better when I moved here but doesn't seem worth the $$ paid for.

I hope the RA (with the backing of all residents) can bring all these issues up with the developer, authorities and MP/DUN. Thanks.


Regards,
SK Siauw
13, Jalan TMP 3.

A Resident's Truthful Comment (Two Thumbs Up Mate!)

V said.......
It's time for all residents of Mutiara Puchong to speak up and be heard. Please stand up for your rights as a house buyer. Do not just stand by the side and expect just the few of our outspoken RA committee members to do the work. It doesn't work that way. We need all the support we can get.
Our society has long been nurtured in such a way that most of us do not want to voice opinions or dissatisfaction against anyone for fear of repercussions(e.g. residents who think we can be sued or sent to jail for telling the truth about an irresponsible developer-how preposterous!)
Can we blame our fellow Malaysians. We've all been brainwashed since young to be seen and not to be heard. Teachers told us to be quiet all the time. Don't ask questions till you are asked to speak, they say. It's difficult to discard this type of thinking but we can all try yes? Just because we were lucky this time that the rain stopped in time doesn't mean we'll be spared the next.
It's a small little wake-up call from the great one above for us to sit up and do something before it's too late. Now after the first experience of flood I am sure each time it rains a little too heavily all of us will be worrying and looking out for the first signs of flooding even if it disrupts our sleep in the middle of the night, While i bet our dear Malton Bhd's CEO or COO or whatever O is comfortably snoozing in their well-built houses.(probably not ones built by their own company).
Honestly, I did not expect that when I moved here from Petaling Jaya, I would be moving to a possible flood prone Kampung! Although admittedly, PJ Sect 14 where I grew up was a flood prone area but that was in the 1970s! It's the year 2007 and we've just celebrated our 50th Merdeka. What does that tell you about how much has changed?
We have to make the change to stand up for our rights! Malton has to change! Change for the better! Become a more responsible, caring and far-sighted developer not a short-changing, solely profit-centric one.
October 16, 2007 10:49 AM

More Pictures By TMP Residents Of Flood.......

Flood VClip 3

Flood VClip 2

GREAT HARI RAYA FLOOD IN TMP - V1

Well, well and well......love to utter these words and I believe this is the perfect time to say "I Told You So Malton Bhd". Please click this link to see why? (Pics taken after the flood 14.10.2007)

This is a perfect and classic example of a developer like Malton Bhd not paying heed to the numerous complaints of its residents and this is the end result. This is headline stuff, imagine paying for a RM 380,000 plus home and having to deal with flooding after more than 1 year living in Taman Mutiara Puchong.

This incident was avoidable and definitely could have been prevented by Malton Bhd as the Resident Association have on numerous occasion highlighted the flooding of the backlane drainage as well as the drainage sump filled with sand and not to mention the gradient of the said drains is not optimum for enhancing drainage water flow out of TMP. (Please refer to pevious post as well as photo chronicle and do pay special attention to the dates of the posts, many months ago).

This is a very serious affair and we will make sure all home owners and Malaysians as well as propective home buyers will be informed of the incident as to how to avoid being in the position like residents in TMP as well how better the respective government agencies should govern developers that do not practice proper corporate social responsibility.

This is something we can all learn from and this is a slap in the face to Malton Bhd, as a main board listed company in Malaysia apparently ranked 32nd in the list of top developers in the country to have such an incident in one of its development portfolio. It a shame and it is unacceptable. Believe me this is one of the many issues unresolved and we the RA and all the residents are now even more united and vigilant after this. We will not waver our rights nor will we compromise from now on but instead "DEMAND" that Malton Bhd act now on every single justifiable complaint we have submitted to date and we will not stop in our efforts to lobby all governmental agencies and regulatory body until Taman Mutiara Puchong is the way it was suppose to have been built and delivered to all home owners.

Please advice all your friends and family members to be careful and to do the necessary research before purchasing from any developers. Spread the word let it be known that not all developers are the same and not all can be trusted and depended upon when push comes to shove and when promises made are not honoured.

More Pictures available in Picasa Web Album.