Challenges in Year of Dog

ALLOW me to offer my wish list for The Year of the Dog: 

Beef up security: Many people do not feel safe anymore as rapes, burglaries, robberies, stealing of metal objects and other crimes are very rampant these days. 

Security has become top priority in every aspect of our life, whether at home or in public areas like shopping complexes.  

Many residential areas have engaged private security firms to patrol their areas and set up guard posts. Are these services reliable and effective? Anyone has the right to pass through these areas. I’ve seen some cases where the guards are often not at their posts or if they are, they seem to idle around. 

In the case of gated communities, unless the entire premises (including the internal roads) belong to the house owners, I believe, legally, one cannot prevent outsiders from entering the property. Residents of Bandar Country Homes in Rawang found leaflets placed by a security firm in their letterboxes offering their services soon after a spate of break-ins in the area. 

A guard house should not be left unattended

Some security firms have non-uniformed guards patrolling housing estates using sirens placed on top of their cars or a lighted rod fixed to the back of their motorcycles. What if the security guards are informers or what if robbers pose as security guards and check houses without causing any suspicion? 

Let us bring back the Rukun Tetangga and have more dedicated police presence. The authorities and police should thoroughly vet these firms, and there should be a law (if there is none) governing these operations to ensure that they are bona fide.  

Better services from the local authorities: Some local councils have spent huge sums of money on new council buildings and bought new office furniture and equipment but are not giving satisfactory services. 

There have been many complaints of poor services such as failing to clear clogged drains or sweeping roadsides, irregular rubbish collection and not providing sufficient facilities or replacing stolen playground equipment. For example, more than 20 lampposts that have been stolen several years ago in a field in USJ 4 have not been replaced.  

House owners often have to sweep the leaves or the grass that have been cut by council workers on the roadsides, and clear the drains, too! This is because council workers are seldom around or never seen at all. They re-appear just before a general election or festive seasons. 

Local councils should send questionnaires to all ratepayers to get their feedback on whether they are satisfied with the council’s services and what their complaints are. They should justify the recent increase in assessment rates; increases will fuel inflation.  

They should also refrain from approving unnecessary new housing projects. Although these might increase their revenue through increased assessment collections, they could cause further congestion and other problems. 

I would like to see elected councillors who are accountable to ratepayers. If their work is not up to mark, they get voted out. 

More affordable housing: Many people are finding it hard to own a house in good locations despite the low interest rate and easy housing loan packages. Developers have blamed rising construction costs and inflation for the higher selling prices of their products. There is also a trend to build upmarket homes, which offer higher profit margins. 

However, some developers like Sime UEP are still selling houses at fairly affordable prices. In fact, its new launch prices are usually much lower than the market prices.  

With the overall property market already softening this year, let us hope that developers lower their prices or make their products more affordable and attractive without compromising quality. 

Safety at construction sites and quality workmanship: People usually sit up when there is a tragic accident at construction sites like the recent death of Dr Liew Boon Horng, but many cases have gone unnoticed.  

I recall two similar incidents many years ago when a large glass panel fell from an “intelligent” office building under construction at Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpur and decapitated the head of a man. The other case happened at nearby Jalan Raja Chulan when a long boom from an “intelligent” office building, also under construction, dropped objects onto a car. The driver was killed instantly. 

The authorities should seriously monitor safety at construction sites and ensure that buildings meet the required standards and specifications. Developers should go for better building materials like metal roof trusses. 

Healthy economy and a real property boom: I believe it is everyone’s wish that our economy will continue to be strong and the “bulls” will return in full force in the current lacklustre stock market. We have not seen the kind of property boom as we did in the early 1990s. 

The opportunity to make quick money from property is much more remote now. Still it’s my wish that there will be more money around to spur the market to a real boom, if not this year, maybe in the near future.