HEARTWARMING NEWS

So Sime Darby backed down on its bid for a substantial stake in IJN. Like many Malaysians, I am glad. I have many fellow pensioners and close friends who had operations there because they could not afford them elsewhere. Mimi's maternal grandpa had his bypass in SJMC and paid through his nose. My family doctor still has not referred me to IJN, touch wood (touching my head) maybe because, according to some family members, I have a heart of stone.

I hope IJN will be safe from the predators even after the Kuala Terengganu by-election. No more flip-flops please. If there is a dire need to hive-off any national institution, make a public offer and make every bid public. Do that for every government property. Of course it can be exempted if it is your grandfather's property. Anyway, I will keep Rocky's "Slimy Heart"(top, left column) for a while longer, just in case.

I am still without a housephone and a broadband line. A member of The Joint Management Committee told me that a group of TM people will take a look at the broken cables today. I could not be too hard on the Joint Management Committee because they officially took over the management (and problems) of Vista Angkasa only on the 1st of January 2009.

A few hours ago I received an email from a NST reporter who came across my posting on Vista Angkasa and wanted to speak to me and other residents. Since I do not read the NST and I am still without teeth (literally and figuratively) I will get some other people who are willing to be interviewed before I reply to the email later today. Suddenly, more people are curious about our plight. That's heartwarming indeed.

It is also heartwarming to know that there are still people who think of me and bother to send me New Year messages. I could not post about this earlier because my ancient pc had a transplant of its own. I had to give it a new heart (Intel Core 2 Duo) and a new motherboard. That entailed a reformat of the hard disk and reinstallation of the Operating System and all the programs I use. That took a few days. Now the pc is fast but I am still old and slow.
Better late than never, so I will share one SMS with you. This one from Pak Adib:

2009 is here, Don't be afraid to grow old.
Old folks are worth a fortune.
They have silver in their hair,
gold in their teeth,
stones in the kidneys and
gas in their stomach.
Kencing pun manis dan darah pun ada kelas-tinggi.
So Happy New Year.

Labels: IJN, JMC, Pak Adib, Vista Angkasa

DEAR DATO' BANDAR

Congratulations on being appointed the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. As a citizen who made the mistake of buying a place administered by DBKL, I am naturally hopeful that we have a mayor who cares about people's welfare and comfort, especially people living in DBKL's realm.
I am pretty sure that the people welcoming you in DBKL did not tell you about the urgent problem in Vista Angkasa, Bukit Kerinchi. It is not important, apparently. But, as you might remember from your studies, "important" and "urgent" are two different things.
Mr. Mayor sir, on the 3rd. of December 2008 (before you took office), thieves stole the phone cable in Block 2 and Block 8. Barely a couple of hours after the theft was reported to the police, Block 5 suffered the same fate.

So it has been nearly 4 weeks we have been without house phones and no internet. Not many people are lucky enough to have sympathetic relatives who could lend them expensive (but unstable) wireless modems. Old folks in the affected blocks complained of not being able to get calls from loved ones overseas, Calls to mobile phones are more expensive, whatever the ads say. Our friend, an old retired teacher on one of the lower floors is undergoing chemotheraphy for cancer. She is anxious to reassure her children in the US that she is holding on. She can do that only when the cable is restored.

If our Joint Management Committee were already up and running, we could have our cable back faster. As it is, the JMC was set up late, long after the Act came into effect in April and I saw them a few nights ago at the mamak shop downstairs meeting to get their papers in order. The maintenance fees that we pay every month are still collected by DBKL, DBKL still pays for the security guards that were unaware and unconcerned about the thefts. So, dear Mayor, it is still the DBKL's responsibility to replace the cable. The guards can be replaced later. We did not complain much when our buildings are the scruffiest in the Klang Valley, They have not been painted since they were built 12 years ago. That is important but not urgent. A working phone though, is very urgent. So, please take a bit of your time to evaluate our problem and tell your officers to get off their posterior and do the necessary.

Thank you sir.

Labels: DBKL, JMC, phone, Vista Angkasa