Meeting at last!

Dear Residents,

The meeting between the complainants and the residents finally got off the ground this afternoon at 3 pm in MPSJ. As the notification was given at the last moment, most of you were not aware of the meeting. Anyway, it would have been futile too as the officials of MPSJ initially did not allow any of the residents to go in until YB Hannah Yeoh intervened.

This was at the entrance before the meeting started. She has requested that the residents be allowed in but as observers to which the officer then agreed.

There were about 30+ residents who came and a few of us spoke on behalf of the residents of USJ 11/3. Bakri, our secretary, myself, Salleh and K.L. Wong.

The complainants who came were Giblet (sorry - just do not know how to spell his name), Mr. Kamariah (think it's the husband), one Indian chap (don't know which area he is from), Mrs. Lim (from 11/4), Chester and a speckie man from 11/3A.

The chairman was Timbalan YDP while several MPSJ officers and 2 MPSJ councillors were present. Sargeant Segaran from USJ 8 police station was present as well.

The meeting started about 3:20 pm as one of the councillor was late (the one who had something to do with the postponement the last time). The chairman then opened the meeting and spoke to all about the law governing gated and guarded and also the by-laws supporting such initiative.

And under the law, it clearly states that such barricades are indeed unlawful which all of us already knew. However, with the local council's permission, this G&G could still be done. He then invited the complainants to speak.

Giblet was the first person to talk about his loss of business. He attributed it to the closing of USJ 11/3K as he claimed it was a main road. He then said that with the opening of the entrance at Chatters, it was not good enough as cars are still restricted in moving in and out (I wonder if he was awake lah when he made that statement?).

The chairman then asked him about the reasons behind his fall in business - could it be that it was it due to the slowdown in the general economic condition rather than the closure of the entrances, to which he replied, it was already bad enough for him but we have apparently added "salt to his wound". Gee, I hope it was painful!

Fact of the matter is, there are 2 major entrances totally unhindered into the shop areas. Never mind, the fact that we have also opened one near Chatters (which by the way is costing us RM2,000 monthly) just to let their customers have easy access.

Anyway, as K.L. Wong has mentioned, if your food is so gloriously delicious and it is reasonably priced, you can have a thousand barricades and people will still flock to your makan place. So, get real lah, Giblet! So Dineout or Die-out now? It does not matter anyway, as the residents here are no longer patronizing your outlet!

Then it was Mr. Kamariah's turn. (Complainant is Kamariah but somehow he does not look like a Kamariah!). He was complaining about taking his children to school and could not access the entrance along USJ 11/3K.

Huh? What talking - you speaking lah, uncle?

By the way, do you all know that he actually operates and run a transportation business ferrying children to school? What on earth is this man talking about when he said he was ferrying his own children to school? As far as I am concerned, he seemed to be just looking after his own busniess interest!

He also complained about people knocking into the barrier when they are walking and also the barricades have somehow prevented people from jogging!

Aiyoh, the agony of listening to this man! Obviously I was not the only one cringing as I am sure the 30+ residents present must also have the same thoughts on their minds at that time.

Bottom line - do not want to pay but make noise anyway. What type of neighbour is this? SUPER-CHEAP-SKATE!

Then, Mrs Lim from USJ 11/4 - complained about our guards not being polite and all. Hey, Mrs Lim, they got a job to do lah! They have been told to screen everyone who does not have a sticker.

She insisted that the shortcut on USJ 11/3K was important to her and that she has kids that she wants to ferry through our area. She now wants the committee to issue her a pass so that the guards do not have to screen her and that she can drive freely through.

But she does have choices - go right around the area or be screened. If we were to deal with this issue by issuing a pass to everyone from outside our area who have similar complains, can you then imagine what would happen to the committee members? We will become some sort of full time JPJ officers lah!!

Mrs. Lim. do us a favour, either you go right around or be screened. In fact, better you go right around. It will save us a lot of problems. We can live "happily ever after..." without getting on each other's nerves.

Then a speckie resident from USJ 11/3A started to relate his complaint to Timbalan YDP (did not get his name - lucky for him, otherwise he will be famous here!). He lamented the fact that he has so many cars and that as a result he had problems coming in and out as the cars he owned did not have the proper sticker on it. (Wah liao eh! Must be damn rich man lah got so many cars but want more free sticker - what do you call such people?!!).

And the fact that he is quite mad as he only got one sticker from the committee (free some more!). And that his wife's car and his other cars got no sticker and that the guards have been screening him and how unfair we have been towards him. "How come the committee only gave me one sticker?", he asked and demanded loudly.

To which, the chairman told him, this was not the forum to resolve the issue that he had raised. Well, you know what Mr. Speckie resident from USJ 11/3A with one sticker? We should in fact take that one sticker BACK from you!

If you want more then just suscribe lah. When you do that, you automatically get 3 free stickers (three, tiga, 'sam chek', 'sah eh' - just in case you don't understand).

Sir, you are not only a cheapskate but also a selfish free loader.

Bakri then got to speak and he explained about how when we started we did not know about the problems that will crop up at the shops area but when it did, we immediately tried to resolve it.

There were attempts, he explained to resolve the problems but the resolution came to a nought when we wanted Giblet (still cannot spell the name right!) to sign off on the agreement which we have have put together after discussions with him and some other shop operators.

He did not want to discuss with us to resolve the problems but instead he went to the press. Utusan, Nanyang Siang Pau, Harian Metro, The Star and also involved politicians from MCA, etc, etc and made it into one big issue.

So what is the beef, Giblet? We did listen, we did try to come to a compromise. Who was the problematic one here then, huh?

I then got to speak. I had asked a question to the residents who had complained. I wondered if they are sleeping more soundly these days? And if they are, instead of complaining, should they not thank us?

I then appealed to MPSJ to leave the G&G as it is, as it had done a lot of good in reducing the crime rate in our area. Also, we had so much support from the residents in the area to get this off the ground. It had not been easy and so we would like to keep the momentum going. Besides, the residents here are feeling much safer and they are closer to each other as a community.

Salleh was the next person who spoke. He told everyone how concerned all the residents were, how many cases of crime he has come across of which his wife was one of them and how much fear everyone had until the committee came along to set up the G&G.

He was very impressed with the committee's genuine and sincere effort in getting all the residents together to fight crime collectively. He feels that this is what Malaysia needs, that is, having the community to come together to work as one united 'family' to which the 30+ residents who were present applauded loudly.

He also informed everyone that the primary reason for setting this G&G was only for security and nothing else which has now become a national issue/problem.

In this respect, even the police are not issuing anymore statistics just so as not to instill fear in people anymore. However, I am not sure if this is the right move. It is as if, sweeping things under the carpet will resolve problems naturally and that it will just go away!

K. L. Wong then spoke next. He mentioned the fact that he had lived in the area for more than 9 years and he knows a lot of residents himself. He then mentioned that of late, because of security, the kindergarten operating in our area actually brought the children out to the playing field to play in the mornings. Something he had not seen in all his years living here.

He also questioned Giblet's rational and motive as he mentioned if his food was fantastic, he would retain his customers anyway, no matter what. He also pointed out that those shops were designed as community shops serving the area and so if his targeted customers were from outside USJ 11/3, he should not then locate his shop here.

Frankly, I think he should just move out and save us the agony!

Next the police gave their views. Sargeant Segaran spoke of the fact that USJ 11 remained the area with the highest crime rate but for our area, that is, USJ 11/3, it has reduced dramatically since we started our G&G.

He said snatch thieves and robbers used USJ 11/3K as a link road and also as an escape route to roam the USJ 11 area freely, hopping from one area to the next via this road to carry out their crimes. In that respect, he thinks the committee together with the residents have done the right thing by manning the entry and exit of USJ 11/3K.

The emphasis here, he said, was to work closely together between the residents, MPSJ and the police to battle crime. And so he says, the police have no objection and supported the committee's move to install barricades at strategic areas and control entry/exits with manned guards even on USJ 11/3K.

Then councillor Ismail Kamal said that he still thinks that alternatives like putting guards at USJ 11/3K is a better bet. He also asked the police for a written statement since they support the resident's move to have this G&G and to have USJ 11/3K closed as he is concerned that some people (who lah brudder?) in the future may question MPSJ about this issue.

I wonder what his interest really is? Even the Timbalan YDP nor any of the officers and representatives from MPSJ raised this issue! Or maybe he is not cut out for the job!

I only have one comment here.

We have had 3 meetings in all with MPSJ on this G&G issue so far. And councillor Ismail Kamal was present, I believe, in at least two of them. In no time at all, during those meetings in which he was present, did he constructively suggest to us on how to make our G&G more effective to help us bring the crime rate down. Or where to set up the barricades or look at why we have had to set up the gates in the manner in which we did due to our limited resources and capabilities.

Instead he has always been focused on how inconvenient our barricades have been to other road users, how inconvenient it has been to the shop operators and that "this barricade should be removed and that gate should not be closed, etc". In other words, reduce our effectiveness in fighting crime. And he is supposed to be our councillor for our area?

I wonder if he really have our interest at heart? I really question his ability to address real problems affecting us as a community. What do you think?

YB Hannah then spoke and told everyone that it is a difficult situation that needed immediate remedy. She also highlighted that while the law does not allow barricades but if the local council allows it then we should be able to retain our G&G.

She felt that it was difficult for us to start this as there are not many people who will come forward and sacrifice the time and effort to do something like what we have done in USJ 11/3. And so, she explained, supporting this is indeed important.

She also highlighted the USJ RA is now studying the implications of G&G and the effectiveness of the guidelines as more and more communities in Subang and USJ are starting to look into this concept to protect themselves from escalating crime.

Timbalan YBP then closed the meeting and thanked everyone for being so civil in their conduct during the meeting. He further mentioned that the decision will be made regarding our status and we will keep us informed. He then thanked everyone for coming and adjourned the meeting.

Well, dear residents. A report on the meeting which has just taken place today.

Now you know who these cheapskates are, living amongst us.

Anyway, never mind. We will be generous and we will continue to provide these cheapskates the security services for free. Let them sleep in peace!

Compliments from us residents who have paid using our hard earned money.

Jeffrey Khoo
Treasurer
11 Trees @ USJ