What Security?

The present security firm took over the job on August 7 , 2008 and after 90 days I would say they are scoring very little points with me. I can give them some slack as for the proxy card changeover and all but they are no better than the old goons in other areas.

I had four visitors come by last weekend at about 9pm. Just as the other time (August 29) I had friends come by the guards did not stop them. I asked them if the guards were alright to which they said they were not even stopped. 9pm is definitely NOT peak time and yet the guards are so lazy. We all know well that the human as well as vehicle traffic in/out of the condo is very high. But hey, they are the "so-called" security experts. Can they suggest measures to improve the security? Or is it down to the money issue?

I have not heard of any break-ins since the Block A incident but I would not be surprised if it happened again.

Sterling @ PJ

I finally got to visit my friend's unit yesterday. Being priced in the mid-high price bracket it is obviously more posh than our condo.

The entrance and exit were dual lanes, one for visitors and the other for residents. His unit came with a tandem parking lot and additional single bays are priced at RM18,000 each and tandem lots at RM26,000 (it is all on the notice boards).

The unit is a 1442 square feet 3+1 room and 2 bathroom unit. I found all the rooms to be rather small for such a condo though the hall and dining is large. From the dining area the rooms are on a split level up like the ones in Kelana Mahkota. Finishing in the baths look quite posh too. We met two sets of tenants that morning, first were a group of Unitar students (horror of horrors) and the other were Indian IT guys. The students paid RM300 per person to Unitar but we forgot to ask how many persons stayed. Our guess is at least 6 - 8 as some desperate owners are letting out at RM1400 per month. That leaves a healthy profit for Unitar or whoever it is subletting.

Next we went down to the ground level and checked out the gymnasium. It was a pathetic room about the same size our our gym. The swimming pool (photo above) was nice though with it's Balinese feel. They had palm trees all round. We asked if there were squash courts but the Gurkha guards said no but there were badminton courts on Lower Ground 3. Huh, LG3? We asked again and he said yes LG3. Surprise, surprise they indeed have a hall which housed two parquet badminton courts complete with nets. If my senses are right I think it is right underneath the tennis courts on Ground level. It was well-lit with natural light coming from the North-West and floodlights.

Conclusion, my opinion is that with 611 units housed in two blocks (16 units per floor) and the current economic situation said to get worse Sterling will not be worth it's name if more students live there. Our condo has 625 units I think and we know jolly well how "lively" it is. The equation is simple, the higher the density the more crap there will be! I kept my thoughts to myself as I did not want to hurt my friend's feelings but he is not thinking of staying anyway. He'll either sell it or rent it out.

PJ at risk of being over-developed

THE Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) should relook its policies of approving development projects until a master traffic study has been conducted.

Councillor Cynthia Gabriel had, during the full board meeting last month, highlighted concerns regarding the proposed 22-storey office building in Taman Bukit Mayang Emas and a commercial hub at the FAS field.

“There are a lot of ad hoc developments being approved even before the RTPJ2 (Petaling Jaya Local Draft Plan 2) has been gazetted.

“If we keep approving high-rise buildings, what is it going to do to the traffic?” questioned Gabriel.

PJ will become a giant parking lot if all these highrises are built!!!

read story at The Star November 11, 2008.