selangor times july 15-17, 2011 / issue 33

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comm n ty JuLy 15 — 17, 2011 / issue 33



⁄ July 15 – 17, 2011 ⁄ SELANGOR TIMES



comm n ty July 15 — 17, 2011 / issue 33

Moneyproblemsfor council

2nd state assembly sitting

p 6 p 4 & 5

competitive need for

p 10 & 11

New rules soonfor budget hotels

UDGET ACCOMODATION: New regulations to govern budget hotels will be introduced soon to regulate the booming industry.

y Basil Foo

HaH alam: A surge in budget hotels is

aising eyebrows, and authorities are laying own ground rules to ensure they don’t be-ome prostitution dens.

“We started dra ing guidelines because o n increase in applications over the past twoears,” said Klang Municipal Council (MPK)cting president Mohd Ehsan Mukri.

He said the move is to ensure that theudget hotels do not end up as a catalyst orocial ills.

“Tey must install security cameras andnly o er hotel services. No spas,” said Mohd

Ehsan when met at the state assembly onWednesday.

Other requirements include having proper registration counters, rental ratesot exceeding RM150, and or these hotelso be located at corner lots or better park-

ng capacity.he dra t was made during a meeting with representatives rom the 11 other local

ouncils and the ourism Ministry twomonths ago.

he guidelines are also aimed at curbing versupply. “I we have too many hotels butot enough demand, they (operators) will

convert [the hotels] intodi erent kinds o busi-nesses. So we need tocontrol them,” MohdEhsan said.

He added, however,that the guidelines are still

being fnalised and have yet to be approved by thestate.

MPK has sent out invitations to the otherlocal councils or a second workshop, whererepresentatives rom all parties would meet to work on the guidelines.

“MPK has been tasked with drawing up

new guidelines ... I oundeasible, it will be applied

to all 12 local authoritiesin the state,” said state ex-ecutive councillor RonnieLiu.

Liu, whose port olio

includes local government,said the state evaluatedMPK’s proposed guidelines last month buthas asked the council to fnetune them.

Budget hotels are currently regulated byby-laws under each local authority.

Liu said he was unsure o the extent o im-moral activity at budget hotels, but the new

guidelines will serve as a preventive measure.“Te local councils are conducting re-

quent checks at budget hotels with the helpo the police and religious bodies,” he explained.

On uesday, Liu told the state assemblythat there are 138 budget hotels in Selangor.

He said this in reply to a question romDatuk Marsum Paing (BN-Dengkil).Tere are seven registered budget hotels in

Shah Alam, 18 in Petaling Jaya, 17 in Klang,13 in Ampang Jaya, 13 in Subang Jaya, 20 inSelayang, 17 in Kajang, 3 in Sepang, 19 inKuala Selangor, 10 in Kuala Langat, and onein Sabak Bernam.



2 July 15 — 17, 2011

news

Elimination

No 3-LG-01, Block A, Megan Salak Park, Jalan 2/125E, Taman Desa Petaling, 57100 Kuala Lumpur ☎ 03-9059 1777

Liow to probe conficting accounts

High Court upholds ban on booksBy Gan Pei Ling

KUALA LUMPUR: Te KualaLumpur High Court yesterdayupheld the Home Ministry’s ban oncartoonist Zunar’s two books andKim Quek’sTe March to Putrajaya.

Both authors said they wouldappeal against the decision.

“Looking at the statement anda idavit by the (Home) Ministerand balancing it against the positiono the sensitivity issues in the coun-try, in my view there is su icientmaterial be ore the minister to cometo the ban.

“I do not nd the decisions to bein de ance o logic, or that it is arbi-trarily made without proper acts,”said Justice Datuk Rohana Yusu when delivering the judgment.

She said having reviewed theHome Minister’s a idavit, sheagreed that the three books raisedsensitive issues such as eoh Beng Hock’s death, race and religion thatcan be “potentially dangerous to public order”.

Te Home Ministry had on May25, 2010 banned Zulki ee AnwarulHaque, or Zunar’s,1FunnyMalaysia andPerak Darul Kartun, publishedrespectively by MKINI Dotcom andZunar’s own company Sepakat E ek-ti Sdn Bhd in November 2009.

he ministry prohibited the printing, production, sale, distri-bution or possession o the twobooks because they were prejudi-cial to public order under Section7 o the Printing Presses and Pub-lications Act.

he March to Pu t ra j aya was banned on Sept 27, 2010 underthe same act or the same reason, with 33 copies seized by the HomeMinistry.

Kim Quek, whose real name isYong hye Chong, and his pub-lisher Oriengroup Sdn Bhd led or

judicial review in November 2010, while Zunar, MKINI Dotcom andSepakat E ekti Sdn Bhd sought ju-dicial review last July.

Justice Rohana decided to deliverher judgment or the three books

together as the“issues involvedare the same”.

“In my view,there’s no irra-t i ona l i t y i n - volved [on theHome Minis-ter’s decision],and because o this public orderissue there is

there ore a needto restrict theundamen ta l

liberties provi-

phone (603) 5510 4566fax (603) 5523 1188

email [email protected]

EDITORIALCHIEF EDITOR KL Chan

COMMUNITY EDITOR Neville SpykermanWRITERS Tang Hui Koon, Chong Loo Wah, Gan Pei Ling,

Basil Foo, Alvin Yap, Gho Chee Yuan, Brenda Ch’ngCOPY EDITORS Nick Choo, James Ang

DESIGNERS Jimmy C. S. Lim, Chin Man Yen ADVERTISING Timothy Loh, Ivan Looi

ADVISORS Faekah Husin, Arfa’eza Abdul Aziz

sions guaranteed under the Fed-eral Constitution,” she said.

he court was mind ul o the“social and cultural sentiments o respective communities in the coun-try”, which have to be balancedagainst the need to protect unda-mental liberties.

She dismissed the three applica-tions with no cost to the plainti s asthe cases “are o public interest”.

Edmund Bon, one o the plain-ti s’ lawyers, described the ruling as

a setback or reedom o expressionin the country.“We have always been arguing

that the [ban] must be reasonable.

[But] the judge is saying the ban isreasonable because the minister saidso [in his afdavit].

“Te judge hersel had said in thebeginning that this must be an objec-tive test. She hersel must read thebooks and come to a reasonableconclusion,” said Bon.

He added that the three bookshad been in circulation or a ewmonths be ore the ban was imposed,and there were no reports o anythreat to public order caused by the

books.For instance, the cartoons in1Funny Malaysiawere published onnews portal Malaysiakini or over

two years be ore they were compileand published in book orm in No- vember 2009.

Bon said that the court did notaddress this irrationality in the judg-ment. Both Zunar and Kim Queksaid they would appeal against thedecision.

“Although I know the higher wego in the judiciary the chances o winning are lesser, I’ll still appealKim Quek told reporters.

Zunar said he expected the judg-

ment, but he would keep drawingdespite the setback. “I’ll keep drawing, I’ll keep exposing corruptionand government wrongdoing.”

SHAH ALAM: Datuk Seri Liow iong Lai has backtracked on his denial that police red tear gas and turned their watercannons on ung Shin Hospital inSaturday’s Bersih 2.0 rally.

Te move by the Health Minister comesin the wake o a signed statement by 11doctors, who expressed outrage at theactions o the police. Te doctors said the police acted without regard or the sa etyo patients and doctors.

“I would like to investigate this case. When I visited ung Shin ... they didn’t tellme all this,” Liow said during a presscon erence yesterday.

Te senior doctors re uted Liow’s expla-

nation that the hospital was not directly hitby tear gas, but that winds had blown thegas there.

According to Liow, the water cannonsonly brushed the edge o the hospital walls, while police have denied ring teargas canisters directly into the hospitalcompound a ter protesters had soughtre uge there.

“As the Minister o Health, we wouldlike to protect the hospital rom any assault

or abuse,” said Liow. He said discrepanciesin the story by the police and sta in thehospital had changed his mind.

Te doctors are ready to provide swornafdavits to back up their claim.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Com-mission o Malaysia (Suhakam) will hold public inquiry into alleged police brutalitduring and be ore last weekend’s rally.

A gathering is also planned or tomorro(July 16) at Lotus State Restaurant inPetaling Jaya, organised by members o tBersih 2.0 steering committee.

Te “open invite” on Facebook hails “allriends who were there in central Kual

Lumpur de ying water cannons, tear ga

police handcu s and blockades or obeloved Malaysia”.Bersih supporters have been asked to

wear yellow in support o the movemeevery Saturday.

Mo g

Friday Saturday Sunday

af e oo

n gh

Selangor WeaTHer

Source: Malaysian meteorological department

(From right) Zunar, Kim Quek and other cartoonists speaking to the press at the Kuala Lumpur HighCourt after the court upheld the Home Ministry’s ban on the three books.



SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ July 15 – 17, 2011 ⁄ 3



4 July 15 — 17, 2011

News

State assembly sitting in progress.

Rules against profteeringfrom affordable homes

By Basil Foo

SHAH ALAM: Illegal actoriesapplying to legalise operations un-der the state’s amnesty programmeare required to shi their operationsaway rom residential areas.

Some o the actories, which haveexisted be ore townships were builtup around them, have become thebane o residents due to the air andnoise pollution they create.

State executive councillor EanYong Hian Wah said the operationso an illegal cement- and limestone- processing actory in Sungai Long which applied or legalisation were

halted.He said the actory has since beenapproved to be used as a storeroom,and will ace ines rom local au-thorities should their operationscontinue.

Ean Yong, who spoke a er thestate assembly on uesday, said resi-

dents rom the nearby Sungai Long and Mahkota Cheras townships hadcomplained about dust rom the ac-tory.

“Tere were also complaints o noise pollution rom residents o Bandar Sunway Semenyih due to a

urniture-manu acturing actorynear their housing area,” he said.

Te actory was also ound to behousing its oreign work orce withinits compound.

Ean Yong, whose port olio in-cludes legalisation o illegal actories,said the actory will have to relocatetheir workers’ hostel and includesound barriers or their machines.

“Te minimum distance o acto-ries rom residential areas will dependon their individual industries. Teconditions have been set by the De- partment o Environment (DOE),”he added.

He said during the legalisation process, ederal agencies like the

DOE and Fire Department will bere erred to.

He was responding to a questionby Kajang assemblyperson Lee KimSin, who pointed out the cases o il-legal actories raising the ire o nearby residents.

Meru assemblyperson Dr AbdulRani Osman also posed a question o the actory legalisation process in hisconstituency.

“Te total number o illegal ac-tories in Meru is 35, with one actoryhaving their land conversion approved,” Ean Yong said.

As o January, applications or2,248 agricultural land lots have been

submitted to the state governmentor land conversion, and 1,061 applications have been approved.

Te state received RM86.6 mil-lion through additional premiumscollected rom the approved applica-tions, marking a 34.3% increase romcollections in September 2009.

Factories seeking amnesty mustmove away from residential areas

By Gan Pei Ling

SHAH ALAM: Selangor is mull-ing the legal viability o two rules to prevent pro teering rom its a ord-able home schemes.

hey include restricting thetrans er o ownership within the

rst ve years and only allowing thehomes to be resold to the state witha limited pro t margin.

“I the owner wants to sell his orher a ordable home, he or she canonly sell it back to the state govern-ment,” said executive councillor Is-kandar Samad on uesday.

He added that the state’s a ord-able homes (Rumah Mampu Milik), priced below RM100,000 or anapartment unit o 750 to 850 sq

eet, are targeted at middle-class

buyers with a monthly income o between RM2,500 and RM5,000.

Iskandar pointed out that a ord-able homes are di erent rom low-cost houses as the latter are cheaper,usually priced at RM42,000, andsmaller at 650 sq eet. But only those with who earn less than RM2,500 amonth can buy low-cost houses.

“Our a ordable homes are alsodi erent rom ederal government projects, where houses are sold at

RM100,000 to RM220,000 tothose with a monthly income o between RM3,000 and RM6,000,”said Iskandar.

He pointed out that rst-timebuyers are given priority to purchaseSelangor’s a ordable homes, with40% o the units reserved or buyersunder 35 years o age.

Senior citizens and people withdisabilities will be allocated speci cground-foor units as well.

Te Selangor Housing and Prop-erty Board (LHPS) will vet all applications to ensure only quali edapplicants are accepted.

Selangor Development Corpora-tion’s (PKNS) rst a ordable apart-ment project comprising 124 units was launched in Bandar Baru Bangilast month.

“PKNS plans to build 11,001units o a ordable homes in the next10 years, but the state also encour-ages private developers to build suchhomes or the people in Selangor,”said Iskandar.

he state investment arm willbuild another 480 apartment unitsin Kampung Seri emenggong inGombak and 242 units in Shah

Alam this year. Five more similar projects totalling 1,056 units arealso expected to be launched in KotaPuteri this year.

Between 2012 and 2021, PKNS will be launching eight more projectsin Shah Alam U12, Bukit CerakahU10, Antara Gapi, Bernam Jaya andSelangor Science Park 2.

As or private developers, Iskan-dar said two projects are ongoing:one in Sungai Long, Hulu Langat,is being constructed (136 units), while another in Shah Alam U10(536 units) is in the midst o getting state approval to convert the low-cost houses to a ordable homes.

He urged other interested privatedevelopers to approach the state.

Selangor’s micro-credit schemes

well received SHAH ALAM: Some 3,672 small and medium entrepreneurs have ben-e ted rom the state’s two microcredit schemes launched last Septemb

In urban areas around Klang Valley, 1,048 entrepreneurs have receivenancial assistance via Skim Microcredit Miskin Bandar (Mimbar).Executive Councillor Rodziah Ismail told the state assembly on Monda

that only one in ve applications or the scheme was accepted.She said close to 90% o the

success ul applicants were Ma-lay, more than 7% were Indian,and only less than 3% wereChinese.

“We’re taking steps to pro-mote Mimbar to the Chinesecommunities, including print-

ing publicity materials in Man-darin and organising publicbrie ngs in Chinese New Vil-

lages,” said Rodziah.Meanwhile, in rural districts, over RM7.27 million have been disburs

to 2,624 entrepreneurs via Skim Microcredit Selangor (Skimsel) as o Ju2011.

Executive council-lor Dr Hasan Ali toldthe assembly that Sa-bak Bernam has thehighest number o success ul applicants– 712 – among the sixrural districts in Se-langor.

He said the stateonly accept 30-40%

o the applicationssubmitted.Skimsel and Mimbar are separate microcredit schemes especially d

signed or rural and urban olks with a monthly income o less thRM1,500 and assets o not more than RM50,000.

Interested applicants can nd out more in ormation at www.mimbarslangor.com or www.skimsel.com, or via their assemblypersons’ servcentres.

Ethnicity No. of Successfulapplications applicants

Malay 4,458 943

Indian 744 79

Chinese 157 25

Orang Asli 1 1

TOTAL 5,360 1,048

District Successful Amountapplicants disbursed

(RM)

Sabak Bernam 712 2,309,600

Hulu Selangor 456 1,257,000

Kuala Langat 445 1,182,500

Kuala Selangor 431 1,072,100

Hulu Langat 366 956,500

Sepang 205 492,500

TOTAL 2,624 7,270,200

SecondSitting



5JULY 15 — 17, 2011

NEWS

Additional fundsapproved by the House

y Gan Pei Ling

HAH ALAM: A supplementary budget o RM114 million was approved by the state legislaturen uesday.

Tis is in addition to the original RM1.43 billionudget passed by the state assembly last Novembernd RM49.3 million in April, bringing the state’sotal expenditure or 2011 to RM1.59 billion.

More than hal o the additional budget – RM61.6million – will be used to und Selangor’s ree waterprogramme and to print ree water coupons or resi-ents in high-rise buildings that use bulk meters.

Tis drew fre rom opposition lawmakers such asWong Koon Mun (MCA-Kuala Kubu Bharu), whoaid the state’s ree water programme was fnanciallynsustainable.

But Wong’s remark was immediately retorted byNik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PKR-Seri Setia), who saidhe Barisan Nasional-led ederal government splurged

more on military, which is not even a basic amenity.However, Azmin Ali (PKR-Bukit Antarabangsa)

lso urged the state to improve its ree water pro-ramme so that only the needy beneft rom it.

“It doesn’t make sense to give RM11.50 (savingsrom the 20 cubic metre ree water) to people like the

Menteri Besar,” said Azmin.Apart rom the ree water programme, RM10 mil-

lion was allocated to set up a Natural Disaster Relie Fund ( abung Amanah Bencana Alam) in the wakeo the Hulu Langat orphanage landslide that claimed16 lives in May.

Te breakdown or the remaining RM42 millionallocation is as ollows:

· RM20 million or the state’s developmentund (Kumpulan Wang Pembangunan Negeri);

· RM10 million or Selangor Works Departmentto replace old vehicles;

· RM1.8 million or Selangor Irrigation andDrainage Department to replace old vehicles;

· RM1.27 million to accommodate the increasein allowances or state lawmakers which was passed by the House on April 12;

· RM8 million or the state’s padi programmes;and

· RM1.36 million or the management ee o theRoyal Teatre in Shah Alam.

Apart rom the supplementary supply bill, the stateassembly also passed the Natural Disaster Relie FundEnactment 2011 to allow or the setting up o the

und, and amended the Islam Administration Enact-ment (Selangor).

SecondSitting

SHAH ALAM: Selangor expects earnings rom sand mining to exceed RM40 million this year, said an Sri Khalid Ibrahimon Monday.

he Menteri Besar told the state assembly on Monday thatSelangor’s sand mining subsidiary, Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd,has earned RM20 million rom the sale o sand as o May.

He was responding a question rom Wong Koon Mun (BN-Kuala Kubu Bharu).

Khalid said revenue rom sand mining could go up to RM150million i the state could e ectively eliminate sand the t andbetter manage the industry.

He added that when he visited Hulu Selangor recently, thedistrict and land o ice reported that they previously only earnedRM300,000 annually rom sand mining.

But a ter 2008 when the state begun to re orm the sand-mining industry, the Hulu Selangor district is now reaping inRM2.5 million annually.

He said various local authorities will continue to monitorsand-mining activities around the state to prevent the t, andurged the public to report any suspicious activity to theauthority.

“ he state is organising a ew programmes, such as the Jom ke Supermarket [event] or senior citizens, so that we can channelthe earnings [ rom sand] back to the people,” said Khalid.

Launched this month, Jom ke Supermarket gives RM100 voucher to senior citizens registered under Selangor’s SkimMesra Usia Emas to shop at hypermarkets.

Sand revenue expectedto double by year end



6 juLY 15 — 17, 2011

news

EvEnts By Tang Hui Koon

hulu selangor: he HuluSelangor District Council (MDHS) islooking to the state or nancial aid asits tax collection is insufcient to -nance its operations and maintain public acilities.

Hulu Selangor is the largest districtin the state, and MDHS councillor LawSay Hin toldSelangor Times that thecouncil needs RM43 million.

However, it is estimated to only beable to collect RM20 million rom rate- payers this year.

“We managed to collect around RM8million or the rst hal o the year. It was barely enough to cover the council’s

overheads,” said Law.Due to the lack o development pro-

jects in the rural district, the council hasalways had to rely on nancial aid romthe ederal and state governments.

Law said the council has had to slashits operating budget so that the limited

unds could be used to repair its 508kmo roads, drains, streetlights and other public acilities.

o make matter worse, the council isalso acing difculty in recovering over-due taxes rom developers, whichamount to RM50 million.

Law cited alam Corporation, thedeveloper or Bukit Beruntung, as oneo the developers who owed the councilat least RM5 million.

Law, who is part o the council’s taxrecollection action unit, said the unitmanaged to collect around RM300,000to RM400,000 in arrears rom develop-ers this year.

He added that the district councilreceived the most public complaints onthe lack o maintenance o acilities inBukit Sentosa and Bukit Beruntung, thetwo areas where most abandoned projects are located in.

He said Hulu Selangor local council-lors appealed to an Sri Khalid Ibrahimto help the council when the MenteriBesar visited the district two weeks ago.

Law added that Khalid had promisedto meet the councillors to listen to their woes and look or appropriate solutions.

By Alvin Yap

petaling jaya: A three-a-side basketball tournament by thePetaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ)attracted 20 teams last Sunday.

“It is a success, with so many teamssigning up to compete with each oth-er,” said MBPJ councillor A Jeyaseelan.

Jeyaseelan organised the event as part o the state’s Local Youth Initiator programme.

Te teams comprised youths romSections 20, 21 and 22 in Sea Park.

Kampung unku state assemblyperson Lau Weng San launched theevent and also handed out prizes tothe teams.

he Local Youth Initiator pro-gramme is a state initiative to involve youths in sports activities and otherevents.

It is run at local government level,and local councillors receive unding

to organise sports events or youths intheir area.“ he Local Youth Initiator pro-

gramme was created [ or] communitygatherings like this, so that youths cancome together to compete in a healthyand wholesome manner,” Lau said.

By Basil Foo

shah alaM: he Clean Zonecampaign, implemented by local coun-cils to improve cleanliness, has so arcost the state government RM210,000

or the purchase o rubbish bins.“ he highest expenditure was un-der the Selayang Municipal Council with RM39,000,” said state executivecouncillor Ronnie Liu.

He was responding to a questionby Sungai Pelek assemblyperson YapEe Wah at the state assembly on

Wednesday.Other local councils accounting

or high expenditure were Petaling Jaya (RM33,000), Ampang Jaya(RM27,000) , and Shah Alam(RM24,750).

“ he Clean Zone campaign2009/2010 term received an encourag-ing response rom residents associa-tions, non-governmental organisations,and other agencies,” Liu said.

Liu, whose port olio includes localgovernment, urged local councils tomaintain e orts in keeping rubbish

to a minimum.He said a new 2010/2011 session

or the campaign was initiated lastOctober and ocuses on town areas.

“Residents will be exposed to theimportance o keeping the environ-

ment clean, in regard to dengue casesand recycling campaigns,” he explained.

He added that the state governmenthas so ar allocated RM1.2 million tobe distributed among the 12 localcouncils or carrying out the campaign.

Buddhist retreat

Ti-Ratana Buddhist Society will hold their Vassa RainsRetreat today (July 15) at 8pm. Devotees are invitedto take part in chants led by monks. They are alsoinvited to sponsor the monks’ break ast and lunch.There will also be the o ering o lights to Buddhaand evening blessings. Devotees may bring labelledbottles o water, medicine oil and rosaries which willbe blessed during the three months o Vassa. Theevent will be held at 99A 1st oor, Pusat PerniagaanNewcity Business Centre, o Jalan Meru, 41050Klang. For more in ormation, call 016-2787962 (Foo).

Free health seminar

The Senior Citizens’ Association Selangor (Secita)will hold a health awareness day on Sunday (July17) rom 10.30am-2.30pm. There will be ree bloodand pressure tests, besides ree consultations withspecialists (by appointment). The event will be held at4A Jalan SS 5D/6, Kelana Jaya, Petaling Jaya, 47301Selangor. For more in ormation, call 012-2020998(Wendy) or 012-2010163 (Agnes).

Mind competition

The Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement, togetherwith Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar) and Tunku

Abdul Rahman College, will hold a mind competitionon Aug 6. The competition, which will serve as aprelude to the Malaysia Festival o the Mind, will beheld at Utar’s Petaling Jaya Campus 9, Jalan Bersatu13/4, Petaling Jaya. Entries close on July 25. Formore details, contact 03-79606191 or email [email protected].

Free prostate screening

The Malaysian Urological Association will hold reeprostate screenings or men aged 50 and abovethis weekend (July 16-17). The programme include

blood tests, urine examinations, bladder scans andconsultations with urologists. The event will be heldat Hospital Kuala Lumpur (Urology Clinic Level 1,Institute o Urology and Nephrology) and HospitalSungai Buloh (Surgical Clinic, Level 2). For details,call 03-40251251.

Buddhist puja

Pertubuhan Penganut Samye Guan Yin BuddhistCentre will hold a two-day puja rom July 30-31. Admission is ree and vegetarian ood will beprovided. The event will be held at KL & SelangorChinese Assembly Hall at 1, Jalan Maharajalela,50150 Kuala Lumpur. For details, call 012-2689528(Grace) or 016-3818122 (Noreen).

Career forum

Adelaide University Alumni (West Malaysia) Berhadwill host a video con erence on career prospects orMalaysian students at the University o Adelaide. Theevent will be held on July 30 rom 10am to noon at18th South Floor, Menara Telekom, Jalan Pantai Baru,Kuala Lumpur. For more in ormation, contact 012-2623575 (Peter) or email [email protected].

Fundraising carnival

The Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) o SMKSeafeld will hold a undraising carnival on Sunday(July 17) rom 9am-4pm. Proceeds will be used tobuild a new co-curricular centre and upgrade theschool library. The carnival will be held in the schoolcompound on Jalan USJ 2/5.

Allergy-testing forum

Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur’s consultant immu-nologist and consultant ENT surgeon will be speakingat a public orum titled “The Importance o Allergy-Testing” on July 23. The talk will be rom 10.30am-1pm at Dewan Pantai, Ground Floor, Block C on JalanBukit Pantai, Kuala Lumpur. Admission is ree, andearly birds will be given ree IgE ( ood allergy) tests. Toregister, call 03-22960773 or 22960610.

Hulu Selangor indire fnancial trouble

Jeyaseelan congratulating the players.

Basketballtourneya success

Clean Zone drive to go on

Battling it out.



7July 15 — 17, 2011

news

State to impose maintenance fee

guidelinesy Basil Foo

ETALING JAYA: Guidelineso regulate maintenance charges inigh-rise buildings will be rolled outy the state within a month to pro-ect residents rom being eeced.

“Te guidelines are to preventhe Joint Management BodiesJMB) rom overcharging resi-ents,” said state executive councillorskandar Samad.

Iskandar, whose port olio in-ludes Housing, said the guidelines

will be out by Ramadan.Speaking at the Petaling Jaya City

Council’s (MBPJ) Dream HomeAwards 2011 on July 8, Iskandaraid the state was checking on sanc-ons that could be imposed on man-gement bodies that breach theuidelines.

“Te maintenance charges will beetermined by the type o apart-

ments – low-, medium-, or high-costand by the number o acilities

hey contain,” he said.He maintained that the guide-

ines were necessary as there arearge discrepancies in the mainte-

nance ees or high-rise residences.Fees or low-cost ats in the state

range rom RM15 to RM70.During the event, Lee Wing

Cheong rom Casa Indah 1 receivedthe Dream Home award and prizemoney o RM10,000 in the medi-um-high-cost apartment categoryon behal o his JMB.

“We are happy to receive thisaward as the management has worked very hard to receive a 99%collection o maintenance ees romthe residents,” said Lee, whose apart-ment is located in ropicana, KotaDamansara.

Receiving the jury’s special awardor the medium-low-cost category

and RM3,000 in prize money orthe Sri Damansara 2 JMB was itsadviser, Kong Chee Seng.

He said the achievement was aresult o residents’ cooperation andthe support o their building management company.

“We have managed to boostsecurity in our building by requiring the use o access cards and providing night lighting at our open car park,”Kong said.

Sri Ara apartments chairpersonSha rait Ezizi received RM10,000and the Dream Home award onbehal o his JMB or the medium-low-cost category.

He said residents o hisapartments were looking orward to participating in the competition orthe award every year.

“Tis has been a good experienceas it allows us to work together orthe betterment o our own homes,”he said.

Dream Home Awards 2011 head judge Abdul Halim Suhor said there were 33 shortlisted high-risebuildings that were judged bycategory, including building design,

landscape, security, acilities, andi m p l e m e n t a t i o n o g r e e ntechnology.

He proposed or next year’sawards to include homes classifedas conservation buildings.

he jury who decided on theaward winners were rom MBPJ’sBuilding Control Department.

Iskandar (left) presenting a mock cheque to Lee.



8 July 15 — 17, 2011

News

Facelift forLittle IndiaBy Brenda Ch’ng

KLANG: Little India, which issynonymous with tra ic snarls,crime and ilth besides being prone to lash loods, is getting anupgrade to improve the image o the royal town.

“Major in rastructure upgrades will be undertaken by the council toimprove the street’s (Jalan engkuKelana) appearance and to give it anew image,” said Datuk AbdulGhani Pateh Akhir.

he Klang Orang Besar, who isalso a councillor at the Klang Mu-nicipal Council (MPK), said theupgrades would be carried out instages under the council’s localdra t plan.

he improvements include re- placing all streetlight bulbs withlight-emitting diode (LED) lightsto provide brighter lighting, andinstalling closed-circuit television(CC V) cameras.

Te measures are to ensure thesa ety o shoppers.

MPK will also propose a study tobe carried out by the Public WorksDepartment ( JKR) to resolve tra c woes.

“Something major has to be doneabout tra c on the street becausethere have been numerous com-

plaints about the congestion,” saidAbdul Ghani.He is also pushing or enaga

Nasional Berhad ( NB) to changeexisting electricity cables to preventelectrical res rom destroying the pre-war shoplots.

He added that MPK was also waiting or the shopowners to sendin their own proposals be ore start-ing work to improve the acade o the popular tourist attraction.

o speed up the process, AbdulGhani wants shopowners to shareideas and submit their proposals tothe council quickly.

Meanwhile, the council has al-

located RM3.5 million or loodmitigation works.

Te unds are being used to in-stall new drainage systems through-out Jalan engku Kelana and tobuild three additional ood reten-tion ponds.

Tree existing main water culverts will also be replaced, while back-alleydrains and their small piping will beresized to wider ones to preventblockage and leakage.

Te year-long project will start inNovember.

“I’m relieved that they are nallyxing the problem. I have been put-

ting up with this problem or morethan 50 years,” said shopowner Ng Chin Kheng.

Despite the proposed plans andupgrades, shopowners are still wor-ried about water and electricitysupply and rubbish collection orthe upcoming Deepavali estival period on Oct 26.

“Every Deepavali, we ace disrup-tion o water and electricity. I haveeven seen sparks rom the electricitycables outside my shop, and there were times I thought they were go-ing to explode,” said Klang IndianChamber o Commerce chairpersonNP Raman.

He added that there are no en-orcement o cers to oversee tra c

congestion and heavy tra c owduring the estive month.o make matters worse, illegal

double parking and illegal traders who conduct business along theroads disrupt tra c ow.

“It is hard or us to do business when people cannot access ourshops due to illegal traders whotrade right outside our shops,” saidLittle India Business Association president Muthusamy Tirumeni.

Despite numerous complaints,he said nothing has been done toresolve their problems.

Now, the president and chairper-son o the two committees want the

State honours dads withFather’s Day programmeBy Alvin Yap

SHAH ALAM: Forty dads rom various departments in Selangor were honoured during the state’sinaugural Father’s Day programmetitled My Father, My Hero.

“Te programmme is to showour appreciation to athers and therole they play in the amily and so-

ciety,” said state executive council-lor Rodziah Ismail.

Rodziah, whose port olio in-cludes wel are, lauded the sacri ceso athers or their amilies.

She pointed out that athers to-day ace diferent challenges thanthose in the past, and must adapt tosa eguard their amilies.

Among them is the growing in-

uence o the internet and its un-healthy content, which could de-stroy amilies.

Te event held at the state secre-tariat last Sunday (July 10) and was jointly organised by Ikram, a Mus-lim non-pro t wel are organisation.

Present at the event was Ikramchairperson Pro Dr Ha id-zi Mohd Noor.

SHAH ALAM: Authorities seek-ing to demolish any houses o wor-ship must now obtain state approval, ollowing a motion passedin the Selangor legislative assemblyon Wednesday.

Te motion by M Manoharan(DAP-Kota Alam Shah) makes ita requirement or the state execu-tive council to sanction any reloca-tion and demolition o religious

premises.“ he House urges the stategovernment to retain the originallocation o mosques, surau, Hindutemplea, Chinese temples, church-es and non-Islamic religioushomes,” he said.

Te state assembly also called on

the state to issue a circular to allrelevant authorities on the newrequirement.

Te move is seen as a means to prevent overzealous o cers rommaking arbitrary decisions onhouses o worship, which in the past have resulted in racial ten-sions.

Manoharan said this new ruling is needed because rapid develop-

ments in the state has caused manyreligious homes to be displaced,especially prior to 2008.

Lau Weng San (DAP-Kampung unku) supported the motion. “It

is important or Selangor to develop both spiritually as well aseconomically,” he said.

However, Gan Pei Nei (PKR-Rawang) pointed out that not ev-ery house o worship wants to stayin its current location.

“What is important is that it isaccessible to devotees,” said Gan.

State executive councillor Xavi-er Jayakumar said the state has setup a committee o three exco mem-bers to look into applications ornew religious places.

“Generally we won’t relocatethem, but we will look at it on acase-by-case basis as it is a sensitiveissue,” he said.

Where houses o worship needto be relocated, the committee will propose an alternative location andcome up with a win-win situation.

State approval needed beforedemolition of houses of worship

Pro Dr Hafdzi Mohd Noor (le t) and Rodziah (second right).

council to set up a response team toaddress issues that will arise during Deepavali.

“A meeting will be held with allauthorities at the end o the monthto discuss the procedures to ensurethat operations on the street runsmoothly during the estival,” saidKlang Member o ParliamentCharles Santiago.

He asked shopowners to list all problems be ore the next meeting.

his list will then be sent toMPK, NB, Syarikat Bekalan AirSelangor (Syabas) and Alam Flora.

He urged police and MPK en-orcement o icers to patrol the

streets during the estive month.Shopowners listening to proposals brought up by Abdul Ghani andSantiago.



9JULY 15 — 17, 2011

NEWS

y Gan Pei Ling

HAH ALAM: Elections or Pulau Ketam’s villageecurity and development committee (JKKK) chie wille brought orward a week and held rom July 24-31.

Te inaugural village election was initially scheduledn July 31 to Aug 7.

“Nomination day is now set a week earlier on July 24nd polling day on July 31,” executive councillor Ean

Yong Hian Wah.Te move is to accommodate a request rom the

istrict o ce tasked with administering the elections.he o ice wanted it held earlier be ore the asting

month on Aug 1.Ean Yong, whose port olio includes new village de-

velopment, said election dates or Jenjarom and Pan-amaran remain unchanged. Jenjarom’s village-chie election will kick o at the

ame time as Pulau Ketam’s, while Pandamaran’s will beeld rom Aug 7-14.

Ean Yong said villagers rom these three ChineseNew Villages would be able to check their polling sta-

ons at their respective state assemblypersons’ serviceentres a week be ore the elections.

However, villagers who only registered as voters withhe Election Commission (EC) this year would not bencluded in the JKKK chie elections’ electoral roll.

“We apologise to these voters as the latest electoraloll rom the EC only includes registered voters as o

Dec 31 last year,” Ean Yong said.Te Seri Kembangan assemblyperson added that the

village elections are test cases carried out without theEC’s assistance.

He appealed to villagers to bear withany minor glitchesthat may occur.

Selangor is theirst state to hold

such elections, and i success ul, the state isconsidering electing all JKKK chie s rath-er than appointing them.

It is hoped that themove to hold village elections will be a precursor to therestoration o local government elections in Selangor.

Local government elections were suspended andlater abolished by the Alliance in 1965 due to theCon rontation, an undeclared war between Malaysiaand Indonesia over the uture o Borneo rom 1962to 1966. Local elections were not reinstated a er theCon rontation.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had promised to reinstate localgovernment elections i they were elected during the2008 general election. However, the Election Commis-sion along with Putrajaya have rejected the move.

Te Local Government Act 1976 specifcally statesthat local councillors are to be appointed by the stategovernment.

Despite the legal restriction, the direct election o village chie s in Selangor is the state’s frst step towards

ulflling its election promise.Ean Yong said the election o village chie s will serve

as a potential model or uture local government elections.

Pulau Ketam electionsto be held earlier

Ean Yong S H A H A L A M : A total o 49,704 babies have been registeredunder the abung Warisan AnakSelangor ( awas) programme, andthe state is targeting to increasethe number to 60,000 by year end.

an Sri Khalid Ibrahim saidamong those registered, 61% areMalay, 23% Chinese, 14% Indian,and the remaining 2% rom otherethnicities.

“We’ve established a database toregister the babies and their parents’details,” said the Menteri Besar.

Last Friday, he presented to-kens o appreciation to 15 leaders who have helped register thenumber o newborns in their com-munities, in a simple ceremony atthe state secretariat.

awas is a savings und that was

launched three years ago. Registeredbabies receive RM100 rom thestate as a starting und and a urtherRM1,500 when they turn 18.

Meanwhile, Khalid said thestate is also mulling setting up Jomke Sekolahor Jom ke Tadika, which would provide books or children,a er its launch o Jom ke Super-market earlier month.

“We’re thinking o ways tochannel the earnings we received

rom sand mining back to therakyat,” said Khalid.

Jom ke Supermarket givesRM100 vouchers to senior citi-zens registered under Selangor’sSkim Mesra Usia Emas to shop athypermarkets.

More in ormation about awasis available at www.tawas.org.my.

State to register 60,000babies for savings fund

Khalid and leaders at the state secretariat last Friday.

By Brenda Ch’ng

SHAH ALAM: Te May 21 landslide athe Hidayah Madrasah Al- aqwa orphan-

age in Hulu Langat which claimed the liveso 16 people, many o whom were children,was caused by human activity.

State executive councillor ElizabethWong said these activities included cutting he slope too steeply and ailing to strength-

en it.“Moreover, there was no bu er zone and

maintenance zone,” she said.

Wong, whose port olio includes environ-ment, pointed out that although landslidesare natural disasters, human inter erencecompounds the problem, causing them tooccur more requently.

As a precaution the state will be monitor-ng and maintaining slopes more requently,

and at the same improve public awareness o

those living nearhilly areas.

A u n i t t omonitor deve-lopments on hill-slopes in HuluLangat has beenset up by the Ka- jang MunicipalCouncil (MPKj)in the wake o thetragedy.

Te state is also creating a database to

manage hillside developments in HuluLangat.Certain measures have also been taken by

the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council orBukit Antarabangsa.

Tey will be working with non-govern-mental organisations to raise public awarenessand to identi y all weak slopes in the area.

Orphanage tragedy a resultof hill cutting

The Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa orphanage.

Elizabeth Wong



10 JULY 15 — 17, 2011

InsIght

By Alvin Yap

James Woon’s career and business are on the rise. Te so - ware developer recently started his own company to createapplications or the web. He has just closed a deal with a

multinational company to provide them with customer servicemanagement so ware.

However, the 29-year-old rom Kepong gets anxious when hemeets his clients and business partners. Woon, who comes roma vernacular school, is not con dent o expressing himsel inEnglish.

“Tere are ideas, concepts that I am unable to convey to myaudience i I speak in English,” he said in a mix o Cantonese and passable English.

Woon’s predicament is the reason why many English-languagecentres have been sprouting up in Malaysia. Enrolment into lan-guage education centres is at an all-time high.

Te mushrooming o the language centres and the steady streamo students signing up to attend classes has an “un ortunate” e -

ect: the debate on alling English standards in the country cannotbe swept under the carpet.

One startling revelation is thatnational schoolsare not teaching English gram-mar, something that is needed ora “complicated”language whichrequires an un-derstanding o sentence struc-ture and rules.

“ I w e n tthrough my son’sEngl i sh tex tbook. Te sylla-

bus is remarka-bly simple. Ithink it stresses‘communicative’English ratherthan a structuredstudy o grammar,” said Petaling Jaya resident Julie an, whose sonSean goes to a national public school.

“Te result is that some students go to college still unsure o the di erence between ‘pain’ and ‘pain ul’,” said an.

One reason or the sinking grade across the board is that Eng-lish is not a “compulsory pass” orthe Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)certi cate – an ‘O’-level equiva-lent examination taken at Fi hForm, or year 11.

In 2009, Deputy Prime Min-ister an Sri Muhyiddin Yassin

mooted to make English a “compulsory pass” subject be ore stu-dents can receive the gatekeeperhigh-school certi cate.

Nothing less than Malaysia’scompetitiveness in the globalarena was at stake, he said, citing the English language as the linqua

ranca o the business world.Muhyiddin, who is also Educa-

tion Minister, has been criticisedroundly or the idea – mainly byrural olks who say such a move will tilt the already slanted play-ing eld.

While urban settlers mostlyagree with his idea, their ruralcounterparts say they do not have

access to good English teachersand materials.Te stalled policy has contrib-

uted to the rise o continuing education and English-languagecentres such as Cambridge Eng-lish For Li e (CEFL) and ELSLanguage Centre (ELS).

CEFL provides English-language courses and examination orchildren rom the age o our to working adults who undertakethe study o English as a second language.

Established in 2001, CEFL centres are spread over the lengthand breadth o Peninsular Malaysia as well as in Sabah.

Te textbook used by the centre is oriented towards the Brit-ish syllabus and includes geography, history and cultural studies

or students living in a g lobalised setting.Te syllabus assumes students who have little exposure to the

English language can ollow the course.According to CEFL’s Keith Harris, parents who send their

children to the centre lament that their children’s English is weak.“ he Cambridge English as a Second Language (ESOL)

courses can be taken by anyone whose rst language is not English.“Furthermore, they are suitable or learners o all nationalities

and o almost any age. We o er speci cally tailored courses that prepare students or all the Cambridge English examinations,”the academic head said.

Te rst category are or those who take up language courses,comprising primary and secondary school students – most nota-bly those in Chinese vernacular schools.

h e o t h e rgroup are high-school students

rom Forms Oneto Five who needto become pro -cient in English

or their collegeentrance and ed-ucation.

Students inC h i n e s e - l a n -guage schools areenrolled as earlyas Primary Oneso that they canbe exposed to

su cient English-language con- versation and lit-erature.

H a r r i s d e -scribed the par-

ents’ request succinctly: “Tey hope their children will do well intheir school exams and that they will be pro cient in English bythe time they leave school.”

He pointed out that Woon’s predicament as a working adult iscommon but easily remedied with the right amount o exposure.

“I have students who tell me that they are embarrassed to speakEnglish because they have poor skills,” he said.

In this case, the Conversational English course provides learn-ers with opportunities to practise listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

Paired with vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation training,the course is taught at two levels.

Each course is conducted over 20 weeks and is aimed at helping learners develop oral fuency and grammatical accuracy, as well asknowledge o vocabulary, language orms and unctions.

Harris said the intensive and comprehensive course builds theoundation that will allow non-native English speakers to com-

municate e ectively.Learners who want to improve their language skills or better

job prospects can sign up or the more intensive Business EnglishCerti cates (BEC).

Available at three levels − Preliminary, Vantage and Higher −

BEC is ideal or learners preparing or a career in business or commerce.It is also the entry or those who

want to obtain the CambridgeESOL examination quali cation.

Te course duration is longer asit addresses the our cornerstones o language skills − reading, writing,speaking and listening.

Te errors and mistakes learnersmake are particular to their stationin li e, Harris pointed out.

For xample, while working adultsmight tackle mispronunciationearly or master vocabulary, they tendto make “bad habit” mistakes, in-grained rom previous uncorrectedlearning.

“Tey just have to unlearn thosebad habits,” Harris said.

On the other hand, some studentsmight have a head start compared with adults in learning English, butthey lack the opportunity to practise what they have learnt in the centre.

“Both groups need to plough thecommitment to be e ective in thelanguage,” said Harris, who hastaught the English language ordecades and now lives in Malaysia.

Harris opined that language pro ciency will decline among Ma-laysians until measures are taken bythe government to enhance both theteaching o English and the qualityo teachers.

Among the students who havegraced the centre’s hall o learning is a 14-year-old nacular student who arrived with below-average mEnglish.

Working hard to ac pass in the Cambridgcate o Pro ciency in(CPE) examination, thelater scored top marktertiary entrance exami

ELS Language Cen20-year presence in M with centres in urbaLumpur and suburban Jaya as well as in Joho

“We have two groupdents who are motivateEnglish, namely or thand the other or job psaid Robert Brander, E

erations vice-presidentHe said English-lacentres like ELS recomotivations in its stude

tailors the teaching o its syllabus to cater to learnersSenior high-school students or school leavers enro

ple, to pass the world-recognised International Englisesting system or IEL S.It is widely used in the United Kingdom and Austra

by most American and Canadian universities to assess

Competitive need for

CEFL Chie AcademicO fcer Keith Harris.

ELS Malaysia VP RobertBrander.

Students listening t

Reading kiosk at the CEFL centre in Kelana Jaya.



s

a

h

e

aa,ag

uns”-

eed

-e

o-

language ability o applicants.o this end, ELS structures its courses to take advantage o

students’ motivation to learn.“Our syllabus is geared towards making the students pro cient

in everyday use o the English language,” Brander said.Brander, a Canadian, has taught widely across South East Asia

and the Far East, and describes the lesson plans as event-outing-oriented as much as it is about textbooks.

ests and examinations comprise the “ ail and you repeat”system – that is, students who ail to meet the cut-o point orany level will have to repeat – as well as more relaxed quizzes andcompetitions.

Te centre comes equipped with a Language echnology Lab where students will urther learn the practical side o the language.

“Tey learn how to pronounce tenses, words and other soundsand intonations peculiar to the English language,” said Brander.

Te centre’s agship programme is the intensive nine-weekCerti ed Intensive English Programme (CIEP), where students areimmersed into a world o intensive reading, writing and speaking.

Brander said the programme is ideal or tertiary-bound stu-dents or working adult pro essionals who want to master businessEnglish in limited time.

Te teacher-to-student ratio is kept at 1:15, and the ormer arearmed with teaching degrees, notably eaching o English as aForeign Language ( EFL). Even with a two-year teaching degree,teachers who join ESL are required to attend a ull three-daytraining course.

Brander said native Chinese-dialect speakers as well their Japanese and Korean counterparts have greater difculty in master-

ing the language.Asian languages, notably those mentioned above, have di erentsentence structures than the English language, not to mention thelack o prepositions and other verbs, he said.

“Tey think in Cantonese or Japanese, and have to translatethat to English,” he explained.

Tere are no shortcuts to overcome the problem, Branderadded, apart rom a structured study o the English language.

Here, he agrees that working adults are more disadvantaged asthey use the “translator” method to learn English.

“Tey won’t know the structure or grammar be-hind that particular sentence. It’s a hurdle, to be sure,”he said.

Te quality o English is not uni orm across Malaysia,as urban speakers have a better command o the lan-guage, with the opportunity to practise their speaking and listening skills as they mix with their peers.

Semi-urban students, on the other hand, might lack the

space and opportunity to practise the language regularly.Brander said the government should recognise thatEnglish-language pro ciency is matter o “global com- petitiveness”.

“Te Malaysian worker should be someone who cancommunicate better, who can help the organisation orbusiness compete in the global market and grow,” heconcluded.

centresNG Mooi Heen, 48, and her husband JohnTam have their son’s uture plans laid out.

Fi teen-year-old Jue eck is articulate,smart and a whizz kid in mathematics andscience. rophies ll his room, accumulated

rom his years o scoring top positions in mathquizzes and competitions.

But Jue eck has a de ciency: he is weakin English. Tis is Ng and Tam’s worry.

Jue eck attends a Chinese-languageschool where English is only taught as asubject.

Ng points out that the English taught byhis teachers is not intensive enough, that it istoo basic.

So, every Saturday or the past ourmonths, while his riends attend musicclasses to learn the piano, guitar or drums, Jueeck studies hard to improve his English.

Te English-language centre he attends was established 15 years ago, and is part o a chain o “conversational English class”

ound in mainly Chinese-speaking areas inthe Klang Valley.

Ng says the classes and students are theclosest Jue eck has to English conversa-tional partners.

Ng and Tam rue their lack o pro ciencyin English, which sadly precludes them romteaching Jue eck.

“What we want is or him to learn romexperts, especially how to use the right words,grammar and intonation,” Ng, who is romKluang, explains.

Jue eck describes the course as similar tothose in public schools.

He is classmates with only 14 other stu-

dents; and the teacher, he says, constantlydrums into them the rules o English thatuent speakers take or granted.As a native Cantonese and Mandarin

speaker, Jue eck knows he has to stop think-ing in those dialects.

“My teacher said I have to stop orming my sentences in Cantonese or Mandarin andstart learning the rules by heart,” the FormOne student says.

He says his teacher patiently coaches thestudents with the basic building blocks o theEnglish language.

Tis week, he is learning his prepositionsand sentence ormation.

Articulating the mood in his class, Jue ecksays: “In this classroom, nobody laughs atanyone, because we are all learning. I’m not

a raid o mistakes, we try our best.”Ng, who hersel enrolled in an English-language class in the early 1990s, says herson stands a greater chance to master thelanguage with multimedia textbooks avail-able nowadays.

She wants her son to receive the best in li e,and shared how the couple’s lack o pro -ciency in the language has cost them dearly.A decade ago, they applied or a permanent visa to emigrate to Australia, but were deniedbecause they ared poorly with the English-language entrance requirements.

“I’m not thinking so ar ahead or Jue eck,but he’ll need to master English when he goesto college or even nd a job,” she says.

Much as she wants him to learn the drumsor dish out guitar ri s, Ng has to put her oot

down: she wants him to acquire the skills atthe earliest.Tat means, while Jue eck’s riends are

doing their scales or having un with theirmountain bikes, he is at home going throughhis grammar or learning to use the right preposition with the right noun.

Doing it theEnglish way

le conversations in the ELS Language Lab.

A teacher conducting a CEFL class in Kelana Jaya.



12 JULY 15 — 17, 2011

VIEWS

D ear Lord Bobo, with all the news and noise coming out ollowing July 9, how do I know who to believe?@Kon Fee Yusd, via email

LORD Bobo eels you. One side says 5,000, the other 50,000,another 100,000. One side says they were gassed, the othersays no such thing, tear gas was only red in Pudu. One sidesays they were sprayed in a maternity hospital, another sidesays that the water cannons were never aimed there. One sidesays they want ree and air elections, another side says thatit is an elaborate ploy to overthrow the government, and is

unded by Jews, Christians, communists, and Luci er himsel .One side says tomato, the other side says to-mayh-to, and it’sactually a damn banana. Yes, His Supreme Eminenceness

eels you, all right.Te best thing that you can do is to read, listen, and engage

with all views. Do not boycott the mainstream media simplybecause they treat BN more avourably. Similarly, do notun ollow certain witter olk who obviously biased one wayor the other. We are privileged to live in era o unprecedentedaccess to in ormation. ake advantage o it. Read the numer-ous views that are coming out rom all sides. Look at the photos. Watch the videos. Ten digest what you’veseen, heard, and read. Tink. Come to your ownconclusions. Add to the discussion.

Just as important as the above is that abil-ity to engage maturely. Lord Bobo does notmean indulging in 18-SX behaviour. What we mean is to not react adversely or emo-tionally to di ering viewpoints. Givethe bene t o doubt wherever possi-ble. Be humble enough to learn. Beintelligent enough to discern. Be pa-

tient enough to engage and put across your own views.I all this happens, Malaysia will see

society mature and develop into a truedemocracy. A true democracy is not aboutkicking out the government. It is about having several di erent viewpoints and parties whichare allowed to operate on a level playing eld.It is about check and balance. It is about reclaiming the power o the rakyat, taking it back rom the ministers and politicians whom or too long have been treated as VVIPs when they should be serving the people. It starts with eachand every single one o you – don’t let anyone take that power away rom you.

And i you nd yoursel con used over a speci c matterdespite doing all the above, hey, ask lah Lord Bobo.

Lord Bobo, what happened to those silat ellas? @FFK, via email

HIS Supreme Eminenceness didn’t really ollow up on thesesilat practitioners who supposedly were going to turn up and

“de end the palace”. Perhaps they got the dates wrong? Ormaybe they tried to drive in and got stuck at one o theroadblocks? And, you know, they had to turn back becausethey aren’t law-breaking ru ans like that Bersih and Pa-triot mob?

In all likelihood, they never intended to turn up anyway.Lots o people took advantage o the pre-Bersih hoopla toget into the news. Lord Bobo was hal -jokingly chiding someo his minions that they should have said LoyarBurok would provide ree bananas to everyone at the rally or something – that kinda stu would certainly get you onto the rst ew pages o our mainstream papers! An opportunity wasted.

D ear Lord Bobo, I’ve been trying to convince my riends that Twitter is now the best source o news.

Do you agree?

AH, interesting. It depends how you de ne “best”. In act, italso depends how you de ne “news”.

I by “best” you mean astest, then yes it does seem to be.Following witter on July 9 was sheer madness – the tweets were coming thick and ast. Certainly a lot aster than any o

the online news portals were updating their “breaking news” pages, and most de nitely a lot aster than anytelevision or radio channels were saying anything.

However, i “best” also includes accuracy, then that very much depends on who you ollow. Afer all, itis worth reminding ourselves that witter is about who you ollow.

I you ollow all pro-government people, orexample, you’d think that there was nothing wrong with the government and that anyone who criticises the ruling coalition is in a pact with the devil himsel .

On the other hand, i you ollow only opposi-tion members or sympathisers, you’d think the

country was going to be bankrupt tomorrow or every police o cer is out there to beat you up and throw you into

jail or wearing yellow underwear.aking July 9 as an example, someone actually set up

a ake account just to tweet ake news about the rally – people being shot, buildings being burnt, chaos and crowd violence. It took a ew hours be ore this account was outed astweeting ake news.

And as or “news” itsel , well, there’s much more rubbishon witter than there is actual news really. His SupremeEminenceness is o the view that people need to have muchmore discretion and be more vigilant o what they spend timereading. Between reading the newspapers, online media por-tals, international websites, RSS eeds, Facebook and witter– there’s hardly any time lef or anything else.

And what’s the point o keeping up to date with all this“news” – which by tomorrow would be mostly irrelevantanyway? Go or in ormation that enriches your knowledge,and your experience o li e. Seek out content that not only

makes you more knowledgeable, but also wiser and more atuned to the world around you. You know where this is going– read www.LoyarBurok.com lah!

I want to take my mind o Bersih, but it’s everywhere! Any suggestions?

HAVE you tried reading the local newspapers or watchinglocal news broadcasts? Not much Bersih there since two weeks ago. Tough they have been mentioning some “illegarally” organised by an unnamed “group” led by a bunch oevil olk trying to brainwash the rakyat into sacri cing the precious shopping time to overthrow their per ect government. Is that the same thing?

Have a question or Lord Bobo? Call on His Supreme Emi-nenceness by emailing [email protected], stating your ull name, and a pseudonym (i you want), or tweeting your questions by mentioning @LoyarBurok and using thehashtag #ask lordbobo. The irst 100 questions pub-lished will receive monkey-rifc Lo- yarBurok mer-chandise courtesy o Selangor Times. What thehell are you waiting or?

Twitter, silat and a certain

July 9 rally Ask Lord Bobo is a weekly column by

LoyarBurok (www.loyarburok.com),where all your profound, abstruse,

erudite, hermetic, recondite,sagacious, and other thesaurus-described queries are answered!

PERSA UANPromosi Hak AsasiMalaysia (Proham)recognises that

there is a maturing o de-mocracy in Malaysia and that citizens

are demanding greater democratic space orexpression.

In spite o the ban on public rallies, restric-tions placed on 91 individuals, the numerous

roadblocks and police presence, it is esti-mated by independent observers that be-tween 10,000 and 15,000 people gathered tomake a stand or clean and air elections.

We are able to draw a number o lessons roma human rights perspective, and call on all partiesto continue to respect democratic traditions.

Te ordinary people must be commended

or exercising their rights in a peace ul man-ner. While they broke the ban, wore yellowt-shirts and walked without a police permit,they were exercising their undamental rightto public assembly as provided or in theFederal Constitution.

Te July 9 march showed that Malaysianscan and will act responsibly.

Te police were well prepared and oper-ated e ciently. However, there were com-

plaints o police abuse o power in dispersing the crowds and the use o water cannons andtear gas in executing arrests.

Te authorities must investigate the complaints and take appropriate action to restorecon dence in the PDRM. Proham also callson the ederal government to review all thecurrent laws which restrict the right o pub-

lic assembly.Te breakdown in political mediation be-

tween the government and Bersih rally organ-isers is regrettable. It requires some intermedi-ary mechanism that will seek to secure a win-win resolution in a democratic society.

Te ederal government should have in-stituted a air and transparent mechanism inthe light o the Yang di Pertuan Agong’sadvice and the willingness o the Bersih or-

ganisers to compromise.Te core matter o the Berish rally mustalso be addressed, namely the concerns aboutthe electoral system and the call or ree and

air elections.Proham urges the government to estab-

lish an independent mechanism to reviewthese concerns, either through a royal com-

mission or a parliamentary select commit-tee. It is important that the ederal govern-ment sits down with all parties to nd anamicable solution.

It is imperative that the Bersih organisersas a civil society movement maintain politicalneutrality and resist being linked to any po-litical party. It is un ortunate that at somestages o the rally, this neutrality was com- promised. Tis damages the long-term inter-

est or electoral re orms and restricts its appeal to all sections o society.

Tan Sri Simon SipaunTan Sri R NavaratnamDatuk Michael YeohDatuk Dr Denison JayasooriaPersatuan Promosi Hak Asasi Malaysia

Proham: Respect democratic traditions



13July 15 — 17, 2011

views

Assimilation versus integrationL ast weekend, I was invited to

speak at a orum organised bythe Ministry o Youth and

ports and Institute o Strategic andnternational Studies (Isis).

Forum Generasi Muda, a orumor youths aged between 18 and 40,

was a positive sign. Panelists withviews that were obviously not pro-overnment were invited to sharepinions on a wide range o issues,ncluding economics, culture andender, and allowed to reely com-

ment on Malaysia’s political situation.Te theme o the three-day event

was, o course, 1Malaysia (what elseould it have been?), and how theoncept should be developed ur-her in numerous areas.

Although such discussions aresually positive, there is a tendencyor such events to end on a u yote, where participants and speak-rs call or unity in diversity, makegrand show o it, and end with a

warm buzz.Former Prime Minister un Dr

Mahathir Mohamed’s lunch dia-ogue was particularly provocativen that his analysis o race and poli-cs in Malaysia seemed outdated.

His reasoning: that it is becauseMalaysia has chosen the option o ntegration and not assimilationhat we are as ragmented as we areoday.

He cited examples o oreignMuslims like Indonesians and Arabswho have no problems assimilating with the local Malay culture in all

orms, including language, religionnd way o li e. Tey then becomeccepted as part o the “Malay” en-

tity, whereby original Malays them-selves have no problems extending their privileges to them.

Tis almost seems like an indict-ment o those who choose not to beassimilated, such as the Chinese andIndians, or by choosing to maintaindistinct cultures, they do not there-

ore receive similar privileges grant-ed to those who do assimilate. I wonder whether this is the sort o logic that can really be applied within a country that encourages“unity in diversity”.

His assertion that “race relationsare worse today than in the past”may be bolstered by the media hypein recent years, but my response isthat there is a great deal more as-

similation taking place than he would care to acknowledge.On the same weekend, I watched

a play titledParah byAl an Saat, based loose-ly on Yasmin Ahmad’smovie alentime and thenovelInterlok. Te latteris a compulsory text orschoolchildren, and hasbeen embroiled in con-troversy over the last year. Te play depicteda multiethnic group o

riends in Form Five whose riendship slowly deterioratesas they uncover their sentiments onrace, brought upon by re erences insaid novel.

Although the play’s characters were stereotypical o characteristicso each ethnicity (Chinese badmin-ton player, Indian insecurity), one o the points Al an drives home is thatthere is a great deal more assimilationby non-Malay communities. heIndian boy cannot speak amil tosave his li e; the Chinese cannot

speak Mandarin and eels extremelyuncom ortable in China while onholiday – but all eel most at ease

with the Malay language.Te key questions are there ore:

One, what is the degree o assimila-tion? What have the trends been inthe past and at present, and has thischanged signi cantly?

wo, how should a policymakerapproach communities that do as-similate versus those who do not –and whether it is air or such dis-crimination to take place based onthis actor alone, given the call ordiversity and encouraging a multi-

tude o various cultural heritages tocoexist in the country.Te rst question would require

some serious sociological researchto quanti y “assimilation”. o com- pare and contrast assimilation ratesover the years, data dating rom thelast several decades would beneeded.

Some o the actors contributing to assimilation would be, I imagine,the ability to speak in the nationallanguage, the sense o national own-ership, and subscribing to a certainset o values and so on, although thelatter is probably nonexistent.

However, in the absence o suchmethodological research, and ac-knowledging the di erent culturaland religious norms already in exist-ence today, I would hope or policiesto address citizenship issues.

Te argument that a particulargroup has not adopted the cultureo the majority race, thereby validat-ing its lack o equal access to thenation’s resources, is awed. Espe-cially so in the case o Malaysia, where minority ethnic groups haveexisted or centuries, in many cases pre-dating the arrival o other na-tionalities that did assimilate intothe Malay culture.

Far rom being able to remove“race” rom the national psyche, the

orum showed that Malaysians havenot yet cleansed ourselves o thistheme. It is well and good to speakon it, to comprehend more deeplyits impact on society, but at some point this discourse has to move on.

Tis is the role individual citizenshave to take up in encouraging

ideological debate on class, econom-ics, poverty eradication, incomelevels, equity and distribution.

First-class Malaysian sporting heroesH eroes. Tey’re everywhere! Flying, read-

ing minds, attracting metals, smashing buildings into pulp. It’s hero-invasion

eason now. X-Men: First Class had barelynded be oreTe Green Lantern swooped in,nd soon, we will haveCaptain America.

Heroes are being eatured everywhere.Tey’re in our cinemas, DVDs, television and… billboards. But those on billboards aren’t

he usual caped, crusading, costumed Hol-ywood creation – un ortunately, the onlyversion o “hero” we know now. What’slowly but surely taking over our billboardss our national ootball team.

Six months rom their Suzuki Cup win,illboards now eature them, not their West-rn counterparts. It’s Sa ee Sali and K Guru-amy’s aces up there now, not Messi’s and

Beckham’s. It is a true-born Malaysian, KRajagopal, the visionary coach who over-auled the team, who was awarded a datuk-hip. Not another Bollywood actor.

“Back then, we had [David] Beckham,iger] Woods and all sorts o oreign su-

perstars everywhere. Celcom actually spon-ored Ryan Giggs … but now you have

Maxis ads eaturing Mokhtar Dahari, San-

okh Singh, Arumugam, etc,” says 21-year-ld ootball an Jas Dhillon.“Nicole David used to have a massive

dvertisement at the side o a building nearalan Dungun, Bangsar, sponsored by CIMB.ive years ago, it would have probably been

Maria Sharapova.”Colonial mentality be damned, these

people we now call “heroes” areMalaysians. Cynics may dismissthis as over-the-top idealismand play down the e ects o such actions. But advertising tactics to generate sales aside,these sports billboards are sig-ni icantly a ecting mindsets,especially that o the young.

“Yes, sports icons are heroes,massive heroes. Kids, boys espe-cially, are going to look up tosports stars. Every kid wants to be the next

ootball/basketball/hockey/rugby star. It’sthe dream li e,” says Jas Dhillon.

Sport isn’t just about balls and racquets.Football isn’t just about 22 men chasing aball. ennis isn’t just aboutshort skirts. Sports’ maincontribution to society istheir stars. hey are ourmodern-day heroes.

We do not need to beable to read minds or attract metals or y.Tat’s odder or movies, not real li e. Tebeauty with sports is mankind’s maximisa-tion o the human body to its ull potential.

Using instinct, re ex and passion.Be it First Division or Tird Division, World Cup or iger Cup, these athletes g iveus a twinge o something entirely di erent

rom our mundane days o work, mortgage payments and in ation. Tey show us that itis possible to be paid to do something youenjoy. Tey prove to us that there exist suc-

cess stories just rom working hard.Most o all, in all they do, they display to

us passion, something sorely missed in ourdaily cycle o o ce blocks and rat races.

And to put these people on billboards, portraying to us prideand glory in a yellowand black Malaysian jersey, is to show the 23million and more young people in this country

that there are Malaysian heroes to look up tonow and be one someday.

My generation didn’t have such role mod-els. Te generation be ore us had the Sidek

brothers and also lived through the glory dayso Malaysian ootball where we actuallyquali ed or the Olympics (be ore boycot-ting it because o political reasons, un ortu-nately).

When we were growing up, everyone toldus that to ocus in sports was a silly idea. Goto your books, there lies your path to a suc-

cess ul li e. Reach or that penthouse, thatBeemer, those are the goals in your li e.

We were a generation that grew up idolis-ing oreigners, who donned ManchesterUnited jerseys in a game between the RedDevils and the Malaysian national team. By virtue o being a Malaysian, it is not your

ate to succeed. Parents gave ultimatums:“Show me any Malaysian athlete who has

made it and I’ll let you pursue sports.” We were lost or words. We did not have a beaten and downtrod-

den, corruption-stri e inexperienced ootballteam go all the way and be Asian champions(and quali ed or the Olympics afer a twenty- year wait). We did not have a Malaysian as the world’s No. 1 emale squash player. What i akid had grown up seeing our sepak takrawteam on billboards? What i we had grown upseeing Santokh Singh at some random wed-ding or mamak?

Well, it’s not a question o if now. Fortoday’s youth, the aces adorning those glit-tering billboards are Malaysian. Te yellowand black jerseys are being sold like hot cakesand worn with real pride. Te atmosphere instadiums, even when just seen through the

television, is both in ectious and electric.You don’t have to be a sports an to seethat this progress rom being nothing to be-ing one o the op 12 teams in Asia is noth-ing short o remarkable.

Forget X-Men: First Class – this is thereturn o the Malaysian sports heroes. Nowthat’s what you call rst class.

YouthologY Lee Lian Kong

The argument that a particulargroup has not adopted the cultureo the majority race, therebyvalidating its lack o equal accessto the nation’s resources, is

awed. Especially so in the caseo Malaysia, where minority ethnicgroups have existed or centuries,in many cases pre-dating thearrival o other nationalities that didassimilate into the Malay culture. ”

My generation didn’t have suchrole models. The generation be oreus had the Sidek brothers andalso lived through the glory dayso Malaysian ootball where weactually qualifed or the Olympics(be ore boycotting it because opolitical reasons, un ortunately). ”

Just selangor Tricia Yeoh



14 July 15 — 17, 2011

NEWS

By Brenda Ch’ng

KAJANG: Construction work is being delayed while two developers point ngers at each other over who is to blame or cracks in 10 houses due to devel-opment on Jalan Puncak Saujana 2/3.

“ wo developers are pushing the responsibilityonto one another, blaming each other or the cracked

walls and not wanting to x [the problem],” said Ka- jang assemblyperson Lee Kim Sin.

Te two parties involved are the developer o Pun-cak Saujana and that o a new site located behind thehousing area.

According to Lee, the Puncak Saujana developerclaims the other developer hadn’t properly maintainedthe new site, causing cracks to appear in houses during digging and piling works.

Some o the cracks are as wide as 5cm.However, the other developer argued that Jalan

Puncak Saujana 2/3 was built on a s ite where construc-tion waste had been dumped during earlier phases o development.

Te Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) has askedboth developers to conduct a soil test on their respec-tive sites. Te results rom the test will be handed into MPKj be ore a meeting will be held with bothdevelopers, Lee, and the afected residents.

“We will try to nd a solution at the meeting. Tedeveloper responsible, based on the soil test, will haveto repair the houses,” said Lee.

For now, residents will have to bear with the cracks while waiting or the results and the meeting.

“I’m so worried because o the crack in my kitchen.It is not sa e to live under such conditions,” said resi-dent Mohd Saberi Ramli.

Te 42-year-old workshop supervisor said he hadnoticed three 5mm cracks in his wall on June 20, which widened 18 days later to 5cm.

He hopes that the developer will repair the de ectsas soon as possible.

Residents living in fear,developers deny blame

Lee showing a crack in the foor.

SHAH ALAM: About 1,000 karate exponents rom16 countries are set to compete in the 20th KobeOsaka International (KOI) Karate World Cup our-nament here.

KOI, a non-governmental organisation promoting karate locally and internationally, are organisers o theannual tournament.

KOI Sabah president Loh Beng Hoi said this is therst time an international competition o this scale is

being held here.“We don’t see karate tournaments being organised

in our country at all, especially an international one which is open to participants as young as eight,” he said.Loh, who is a representative or KOI Malaysia, has

been appointed chairperson or the seven-day tourna-ment.

He will also help amateur participants train and prepare in the run-up to the event. Tis compulsorytraining or all participants, marshals, re erees and

scorekeepers will be rom July 25-27.“Tis is to ensure everyone is edu-

cated and well-versed with the rulesand procedures adopted by the WorldKarate Federation (WKF),” he said.

Amateur re erees and marshals who pass the training will also be li-censed to work with the WKF.

Te training will be carried out byexperienced exponents rom all overthe world, and inexperienced par-ticipants stand to gain invaluable

experience.Te event is open to children agedeight to veterans aged 40. Participants will be separated into categories ac-cording to their gender, age and ka-rate style.

Te two category o styles are In-dividual or eam Kumite, which is sparring; and Indi- vidual or eam Kata, the detailed orm o patterns andmovement.

Among the participating countries are Scotland,Norway, Iran, Egypt, Australia, Holland, Singapore andMalaysia.

“We already have about 70 Malaysian participantsregistered, but we are de nitely expecting more to comein,” said Loh.

Selangor’s Sports Council (MSN) has volunteeredto host the event. “We will never turn down an oppor-

tunity to both promote our state and sports,” said MSN president Norzamri Ishak.MSN will attend to logistics, medical and sa ety is-

sues, and marketing or the tournament.Te event will be held at Dewan Kompleks Belia dan

Kebudayaan in Seksyen 7, Shah Alam.Admission or the competition, which runs rom

July 28-31, is ree.

Selangor to hostinternational karate tourney

Members o KOI and MSN together with Loh (third rom le t) andNorzamri ( ourth rom le t).

SUBANG JAYA: Getting the mu-nicipality to set up a committee to ad-dress the needs o the disabled is one o the aims o Loka Ng Sai Kai.

Te rst-term councillor o the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) has been pushing or the approval o this proposalsince he was appointed last July.

“I hope I can gather enough supportrom all councillors to approve the orm-

ing o a disabled committee. I can’t do italone,” says Ng.

Te 46-year-old social activist wants the community to realise thatthe disabled need special acilities to get around.

Apart rom championing the cause o the disabled, Ng aims to

engage youths in nation building.He is also pushing or more places o worship or non-Muslims.“I’ve been invited to represent my Buddhist association to sit on

the committee which deals with matters other than Islam,” he says.He sits on the committee together with government representa-

tives and politicians who meet twice a month.Ng’s vast experience in dealing with the government helps him

with his responsibilities as a councillor.He believes that his duties should be based on the 3Es he has set

or himsel , which are empowerment, engagement and enrolment.He says residents should be empowered to take on proactive roles

in the community, and nd ways to solve problems rather than waitor answers and solutions.He believes that the personal touch is the key to engaging residents.“Residents like to be treated with special attention, and we can

make them happy by going to their neighbourhoods and listening totheir problems,” he says.

While meeting residents, Ng takes the opportunity to register

them in various state wel are schemes.Right now, Ng is encouraging the use o scout whistles in homesin Seksyen 1-3, Seri Kembangan, to combat crime.

Te use o whistles in 1,000 households will help reduce the crimerate as one whistle is enough to alert neighbours, he says.

Ng eels that residents must not be too reliant on the police ortheir security, and urges them to orm community policing teams intheir neighbourhoods.

Know your councillor:Loka Ng

Damaged wall in one o the houses.



15July 15 — 17, 2011

Media

Rymba

Hills – atnature’sdoorstepBy Brenda Ch’ng

ETALING JAYA: Sunway CityBerhad (SunCity) launched their

rst green development last Sunday,hree-storey orest villas enclavedwithin a 6.5-acre private orest park,n Sunway Damansara.

Te development known as Sun-way Rymba Hills is the only gatednd guarded low-density residential

development with a private orestpark exclusively or residents.

“As Malaysia’s pioneer in greenbuildings, we want to design a housewhich meets homebuyers’ desire ormodern living set in natural sur-oundings,” said SunCity property

development division managing director Ho Hon Sang.

Discerning homebuyers can havet all with the new Sunway Rymba

development, which comprises 60%

green space with magni cent viewso the park rom their rooms.

Ho said the landscape is designedto integrate nature and architecturein a harmonious manner to enhancethe beauty o the land.

Selected units are also designed with a sky garden on the roo , which

urther enhances the development’seco- riendly concept.

Natural trails, meditation sta-tions, herb gardens and a sculptured pathway will be accessible to all.

Te completed development willalso have a clubhouse equipped witha gym, swimming pool, reading room, meditation area and jogging track.

Te development eatures eightdistinct landscape garden themeslike ruit orchard, kitchen garden walk, terrace nursery, recreation pond, linear garden and playground.

With an approximate gross development value o RM270 million,

the project consists o our di erentdesigns, with the build-up ranging

rom 4,442 square eet to 4,650square eet.

Tere will be 80 units, dividedinto our units per acre so that resi-dents will have su cient personal

space.Tis development is strategicallylocated in Sunway Damansara, andis accessible via various highways inclose proximity to shopping mallsand amenities such as Sunway Giza,Dataran Sunway Commercial Cen-tre, IKEA, esco, IPC, Te Curve,

ropicana Medical Centre and gol clubs.

All villas are designed to looktowards the orest or landscapedgardens instead o highways andcommercial centres.

Te proposed completion dateor this project is June 2013. For

more in ormation, contact SunCityat 012-2096966, 019-2203103 or

03-61416888, or visit their websiteat www.suncity.com.

Worldwide HoldingsSelangor Masters tees off

HAH ALAM: Once again,Worldwide Holdings Berhad hashe honour o being the titleponsor or the Worldwide Selan-or Masters, which will be heldor the i th time rom July 20-23

t the Kota Permai Gol andCountry Club.Te event, which is a state initia-

ive to promote sports tourism inelangor and is part o Worldwide

Holdings’ corporate social respon-ibility e orts, is an annual pro-ramme in the state tourism calen-ar, and receives the royal patron-ge o the Sultan o Selangor.

Besides local stars such as DannyLim and 2008 champion Ben Le-

ng, a host o Asian sensations arexpected to compete in the tourna-

ment, or which Worldwide Hold-ngs is a RM1.7 million sponsor.

Former Asian our No. 1s JyotiRandhawa o India and Taworn

Wiratchant o Tailand will jointher Asian our regulars such asouth A rican Jbe Kruger, haiol ers Kiradech Aphibarnrat and

Chinnarat Phadungsil, and veteranrayad Marksaeng.Asian Order o Merit winners

Randhawa (2002) and haworn

(2005), who share a total o 20career titles, will be among the lead-ing contenders.

Te move to the Kota PermaiGol and Country Club rom SeriSelangor Gol Club this season

may just be the right tonic or thetwo Asian stars, as both have wonhere be ore.

For Randhawa, who has eightcareer titles, Kota Permai may justbe the right course or him to pickup his ninth title and end his bar-ren spell which dates back to 2009.

In 2004, the 39-year-old held o a strong ield to bag the VolvoMasters o Asia title in Kota Per-mai.

op 10 nishes this season inthe Panasonic Open and Sail Open will no doubt give him the con -dence to rise up again in the Selan-gor Masters.

Randhawa also nished 16th in

the recent Queen’s Cup in Tailandand is currently 29th in the Ordero Merit.

Despite challenges rom newerAsian stars, Tai ace Taworn con-tinues to hold his ground as one o the region’s best gol ers.

Having inished third in last

Cutting costs throughmobileadvertising

year ’s Selangor Masters, the44-year-old will want to improveon his 16th position in this season’s

Order o Merit. And like Randha- wa, Taworn has also previously won at Kota Permai.

Other treats or Malaysian gol ans will be rising star Siddikur

Rahman o Bangladesh, whoemerged as the top Asian gol erduring April’s Malaysian Open. He

nished in joint eighth a er taking his maiden title at the Brunei Openlast year.

Another gol er to look out or isKruger, who is currently ourth inthe Asian rankings.

Having played bridesmaid threetimes last season, the South A rican will be eager to break into the topthree in the Asian circuit a er closemisses two years in a row.

IN our previous article, we saw howthe mobile market has overtaken thecomputer market. his week, welook at saving on marketing coststhrough mobile advertising.

How much does mobile advertis-ing really cost in emerging marketslike Indonesia or Malaysia? It ismuch cheaper than any other adver-tising channel. John Gauntt, a senioranalyst at digital ad trackereMar-keter , says the cost o advertising viamobile is less than hal that o aninternet-access-enabled PC.

Mobile phones enable mobilesolutions, which is especially avour-

able in thebus ines s world todayas marketersare not boundto their o icedesks. Advertising is a ast-paced in-dustry that requires quick deci-sions and solutions. Marketers canthere ore log on to their mobile advertising account anytime, anywhere.

Te startup cost required or amobile marketing campaign is fex-

ible. Mobile marketing campaignrevolves around CPC (Cost perClick), whereby an advertiser is onlyrequired to pay when mobile usersclick on your mobile ads.

CPC starts as low as a ew sen, andit correlates your targeted consumer with requency o clicks received.

You also pay what you use, compared with the traditional campaign where you are required to pay in ull

or a billboard advert regardless o the result.

Furthermore, advertisers can eas-ily track their campaign per or-mance daily.

Mobgold, one o the largest mo-bile advertising networks, ran a

mobile campaign or Ozura in In-donesia or a month. Te cost cameup to less than RM2,000 to reachmore than 22 million mobile users.

Te marketing budget or mobileadvertising can start as low as RM50

or a campaign via Mobgold. Mar-keters can even amend the budgeteven a er the campaign has beenlaunched, making mobile marketing a more fexible option indeed.

As or cost per customer, Derek Johnson’s study shows that the costis incredibly low while attracting anincreasing response rom customers.Tis would prove use ul i you aredoing subscription-based marketing through mobile advertising.

In our next article, we will coverhow major brands like Coca-Colaand Adidas venture and succeed byadvertising via mobile. In the mean-time, or more in ormation, contactCeleste, our Malaysia representative, via [email protected], or visit www.mobgold.com.

Tan Sri Datuk Khalid Ibrahim (second right) receiving a mockcheque from CEO of Worldwide Holdings Bhd Datin PadukaNorazlina Zakaria, while state secretary Datuk Mohd KhusrinMunawi (second left) looks on.



16 June 24 — 26, 2011

Fiction/newsFiction by Nick Choo

T ime is passing.Te digits move, silently.You move, silently. I can see the sweat

on your ace. I can visibly see each bead o perspiration. I am a raid, too, but I smile.Tere’s no need to be rightened – we will not

eel anything. And a er, there will be no more pain whatsoever.

You say, “I am going to miss the little thingsin li e the most.” Te smell o owers. Tesound o birds singing in the morning. Teannoying bleep o your bedside clock. Te tasteo potato chips: sour cream and chives, your

avourite. You cry as you speak. And you shud-der as you cry.

I’ll miss them too, I say. But you understand why –

“Yes,” you say, “I understand.” And you ap-

preciate it. And you start to wonder i our lives will ash be ore our eyes, seconds be ore it’s allover. I don’t know. I honestly do not know. Buti it does – then I’ll be paying particular atten-tion to the happy moments. My rst pet; win-ning in school competition; my rst car. Andmy rst date – with you.

Te bad memories I shall rather try to orget.Like the day you told me about your illness. Likethe tears I shed when I ound out. Like the end-less sleepless nights that we both endured, to-gether.

Te digits move, silently. No tick-tocking. Just – silence.

You say, “Promise me you will be there.” I promise. “Prom-ise me the sufering will end.” I promise. Because I love you.Because I want to always be with you. Because we are destined tobe together orever – even death will be conquered.

Li e would be so empty without you. I don’tthink I’d be able to survive once you’re gone, not

or a moment. So this is the better choice: yougo, I go. We’ll go together. Because I love you,and I’ll never leave you.

“Promise me.” I promise.

Countdown

Recognitionfor founderof autisticchildren’s choirBy Basil Foo

SUBANG JAYA: he oundero Malaysia’s irst autistic chil-dren’s choir was honoured by theMalaysian Book o Records hereon July 3.

“I eel happy and honoured,” saidBrian John Yim, who was bestowedthe award at the Autism AwarenessDay held at Empire Mall.

Te 28-year-old local vocal train-er and recording artist, with threealbums under his belt, has beencredited with tapping the talents o 25 autistic children.

Te children, selected with helprom the National Autism Society

o Malaysia (Nasom), trained or sixmonths in 2009 be ore starting to per orm.

“When I wanted to orm thechoir, everyone told me I was crazyas autistic children do not stand still

and to get them to sing together isa real challenge,” said Yim.However, he persisted with train-

ing the choir and presenting themat various concerts to create aware-ness among parents o children with

learning disabilities.He hoped that by training the

choir, parents with autistic children would not have to eel helpless andcould come orward to seek assis-tance.

“In Malaysia, there are notenough acilities or these specialchildren, and their parents don’tknow where to go or help,” he said.

Te choir, led by Yim, per ormedseveral inspirational numbers likeYou Raise Me Upand We Are Te World to a crowd o applauding onlookers in the mall.

Clarence Kang, a 13-year-oldmember o the choir, wowed audi-ences by playing a sel -composedsong on the piano.

“He started ormal training a yearand a hal ago, but has since writtenhis own compositions and played tohis own style,” said Kang Kim Heng.

He said his son was initially sent

to a conventional school or Stan-dard One but could not concentratein class and was sent to Nasom.

Kim Heng said that he was gladhis son discovered his talents inmusic.

Te digits move, silently.And together, with the timer ticking

down – twenty seconds – we sit, and weshiver, and we laugh, and we hold eachother, and we cry.

Waiting to say goodbye. Waiting.

(From left) Nasom chairperson Teh Beng Choon, Kiwanis Malaysia governor Soo Ying Toh, Nasompresident Datuk Danny Tan, Yim, SP Setia Foundation chairperson Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, MBRrepresentative Leona Paul, Datin Rosalind Lee, and Autism Awareness Day organising chairperson

Yap Yun Fatt.

Thirteen-year-old Kang performing his original composition on thekeyboard.

Biodegradable products – lookscan be deceivingBy William Tan

PETALING JAYA:Memberso the public who are looking to

make a di erence by using envi-ronmentally riendly productsshould be wary o imitationbiodegradable ood containersin the market.

Many o these items are just polystyrene products dis-guised with dyes and misleading labels.

“Tey are taking advantage o the relative ignorance o the hawk-ers, playing of their trust in theirdealers and wholesalers,” saidGreatpac senior manager Douglas

an.an said Malaysian-based

Greatpac is currently the only sup- plier o local ully biodegradableood containers.Te issue is particularly apparent

in Penang, which has banned poly-styrene ood containers, where themarket has been saturated with

imitation biodegrad-able containers.

“I saw my sales[there] literally dropdown to near zero,”said an.

Wo r s e s t i l l ,the p rob lem i sbrought to the land-

ll as containers thatshould degrade intwo to ve years maynow sit there or upto 1,000 years.

Fortunately, theauthorities are nowaware o the issue,and many hawkersthere are risking

nes or using imitation products.

an said all states must havestrict guidelines and en orcementi they hope to address the issue.

“I Selangor ever intends toini t ia te a Go Green campaign, they’d best involve localcouncils and be very clear about

what the term ‘biodegradable’

means,” said an.He hopes consumers won’tcontinue to allow the smaller di -

erence in price and misleading labels to cloud their judgment, andinstead look or proper certi ca-tion.

Greatpac senior manager Douglas Tantelling the public to look out for the word‘biodegradable’ and not to be conned bymisleading labels.



18 July 15 — 17, 2011

Gallery

Junior Chamber International (JCI) membersa ter the JCI Petaling Jaya Fancy Hats

Charity Walk on June 11, which was held toraise awareness on leukaemia and to raise

unds or the JCIPJ Leukaemia Trust Fund.

Sixty residents gathered to help clean up thestreets o Seksyen 22 in Petaling Jaya onSunday (June 26), in a gotong-royongorganised by Petaling Jaya City Councillor

Anthony Jeyaseelen and the Rukun Tetanggao Seksyen 22. The event was launched byPetaling Jaya Utara Member o ParliamentTony Pua.

Dancers enthralling the crowd during the Petaling Jaya City Council’s Dream Home Awards 2011ceremony last Friday.

At a candlelight vigil at Bukit Aman on July 11, held in solidaritywith the six members o Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) detainedunder the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention o Crime)Ordinance 1969 or their purported involvement in the Bersih2.0 rally or ree and air elections.

Malaysia’s frst autistic children’s choir per orming at the Autism Awareness Day in SubangJaya on July 3.

Dogs and their owners during a dog-training session at 1UtamaCentral Park, in conjunction with an event or special-needschildren held on July 2.



19JULy 15 — 17, 2011

CULTURE

DreamgirlsMusical; 14-24 July; Istana Budaya; RM48- RM353; 03-87754666, www.airasiaredtix.com The Broadway musical that tells o an up-and-coming 1960sgirl group, The Dreams, and the triumphs and tribulationsthat come with ame and ortune. Dreamgirls premiered in1981 and was nominated or 13 Tony Awards, including BestMusical, and won six. Twenty- ve years later it was adaptedinto a major motion picture by DreamWorks and ParamountPictures. With music by Henry Krieger and book and lyricsby Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls is presented in Malaysia or the

rst time by Broadway Academy, and eatures the talents oElvira Arul, Cheryl Samad and Tony Euso .

Jom Improv! with AI:IAComedy; until 17 July; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre; 03-40479000; www.klpac.org The Actors Studio Teater Rakyat presents Jom Improv! with improv squad AI:IA (pronounced

Aiiiyahhh, also an expression o shock). With new members, crazier challenging games, mini-musicals, and all o this with the help o the audience’s suggestions! Find yoursel in stitches romthe comedic antics o these young madcap per ormers. Completely unscripted, dangerous andheart elt, anything and everything can happen!

Lush Li e with Junji DelfnoMusic / Theatre; 20-24 July; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre; 03-40479000; www.klpac.org; RM73 / RM43 / RM412 (t able booking for four) Following the success o her rst-ever solo concert in 2010, jazzextraordinaire Junji Del no returns to celebrate 51-der ul years o herscintillatingly lush li e, paying tribute to the geniuses o some o theworld’s most proli c composers, lyricists and artistes. Part musical,

part commentary, Junji will present interesting anecdotes about thewriters, the singers, their songs and their struggles in their journeyto be heard. Featuring the Michael Veerapen Trio and special gueststars.

SurreallusionExhibition; until 17 July; Core Design Gallery; 012-6674348, [email protected]; www.coredesigngallery.com “Physiological illusions utilise stimulation ocontrast, angles, colors and even movement thatchanges the way our eyes and brain interpretin ormation. Optical illusions play tricks onyour mind, by using unconscious in erences toinfuence what you see. What your eyes visuallyperceive vastly di ers rom reality. Nothing isquite as it seems.” Featuring the works o 14artists o diverse ne arts backgrounds as theychallenge to capture these illusions in their own

surrealist art style. “Mind-boggling works thatwould make you rethink your perception odimensions.” Free admission.

Images o GeorgetownExhibition; 7-22 July; Sutra Gallery, Kuala Lumpur; 03-40211092, www.sutrafoundation.org.my

An exhibition o photography by Eric Peris, highlighting the sights o the Penang capital inthe 1970s and 1980s. Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 6pm; weekends and public holidays byappointment only. Free admission.

By Terence Toh

THE Choir o the Philharmonic Society o

Selangor (The Phil) comprises over 200members, all volunteers rom variouswalks o li e. Known or their soaringharmonies and spirited singing, the choir’sprevious productions include ChristmasDazzles Charity Concert and Music romMovies and Musicals 3 .

Their latest production, Heart & Soul, will eature them taking on songs bypopular artistes such as Barry Manilow,Enya, and Bette Midler. Selangor Timessits down with The Phil’s choir director,Cheryl Teh (pic, ront row in white), whogives us a sneak preview o Heart &Soul , and shares with us her thoughts oncommunity building through choir.

Is there a story behind the name Heart & Soul ?The rst Heart & Soul concert was stagedin 2003 as a charity concert in aid o threedi erent charitable organisations. Thesongs we per orm will touch the heart andupli t the soul, not just or the audiencebut the singers as well. Audiences will behead bopping and toe tapping, and I’msure some will even be dancing with usright at the end. Through the two-hourmusical journey they will eel a range oemotions, but will de nitely leave with asmile on their aces.

How do you decide which songs touse for your performances? Are therecertain types of songs that are moresuited for choirs than others?I take into account a ew aspects – thelikability o the songs, the educationalaspects, and the ease o singing.

First and oremost would be theaudience, which would mostly be thechoir’s amily and riends – what wouldthey like to listen to? What would put asmile on their ace when they leave?

As or the educational aspect – I liketo choose songs which would educatethe singers and public alike, introducethem to songs that they may not haveheard be ore but have a message toshare. Some songs are more suitable

or choir in terms o melodic lines andarrangements, and I normally choosesimpler arrangements. Group singing isa journey towards a harmonious society,and we want to make this journey asenjoyable as possible.

How has the experience been like,coordinating such a large and diversechoir?

As a community choir which is inclusive– i.e. we accept anyone who can committo our rehearsal schedule, no auditions,no other experience necessary – there aremore challenges than i I were to directan auditioned, per ect pitched, music-reading choir. Our choir today is verydiverse, with singers aged between 11and 79 years young.

For me, it’s about building acommunity in harmony, and I stronglybelieve we shouldn’t reject people romthis experience. In such a large group,it’s also about interpersonal skills andencouraging acceptance and buildingtolerance amongst the singers. Forexample, I encourage the stronger singersto help the newer singers learn their parts,to help them nd their pitch.

My reward in directing this group isobviously not monetary, but joy in seeingthe singers grow in con dence, in ndingtheir voices, in the happy smiles as theyleave rehearsals.

Last year, we had a very timid youngteenager singing with us. You couldn’thear her voice at all as she was so so t,but she diligently attended rehearsals,and we encouraged her to sing. She’snow overseas and I recently got an email

rom her telling me that she sang a soloin public! Her parents were so overjoyed,and they said it was being part o thechoir that helped her with her con dence.

What makes a good choir member? Ishaving musical knowledge or a goodvoice essential?For a community choir like ours, havingmusical knowledge is de nitely an

advantage, but having the right attitudeis more important: attending rehearsals,being on time, practising at home andbeing tolerant and patient. A good voiceis not essential because I believe we canhelp you “ nd” your voice.

What can we look forward to seeingfrom the choir of the SelangorPhilharmonic in future?

About 50 members o the choir will betravelling to Perth at the end o August,proudly representing Selangor in thePerth-Bunbury International ChoralFestival.

We will also be per orming in Perthon Aug 31 as part o the Merdeka Daycelebration, supported by the MalaysianConsulate General. It’s a momentousoccasion or us as it’s our rst orayoverseas and we will be per orming in

ront o all these state-level invitees. All the members are very excited, andeveryone has been saving up money topay or the trip as we haven’t been ableto get much sponsorship. We hope thatSelangor-based organisations will helpand contribute towards our trip as wemake Selangor proud!

INTERVIEW EDITOR’S PICKHeart & SoulCharity concerts;July 21-24;Kuala LumpurPer orming Arts Centre;attendance by invitation;www.thephil.org.my

A series o concerts by the Choir o The Philharmonic Society o Selangor or selected locallybased charities. This 120-strong community choir will take the audience on a musical voyageas they chart a course through a selection o crowd avorites in a two-hour long programme.Repertoire includes medleys o songs by Michael Jackson, the Bee Gees and the Beatles,as well Uniquely You , written by Philharmonic Society o Selangor alumnae and composero Chang & Eng , the late Ken Low. Selections will be presented by solo singers or in smallergroups o members, backed up by a ve-piece band led by Nish Tham.Entry is by invitation only. Details to obtain invitations are as ollows:· For shows on Friday, July 22, 8.30pm , Saturday, July 23, 8.30pm and Sunday, July 24,

3pm , call 012-2139333 (Kok Wing).· For show on Thursday, July 21, 8.30pm bene ting the All Women’s Action Society (Awam),

call 03 78774221 (Bernie), email: [email protected].· For show on Saturday, 23 July, 3pm bene ting the SIC-PIHD Children Learning Centre

For the Poor, call 019-8554888 (Peter), email: [email protected].· For show on Sunday, 24 July, 8.30pm bene ting Hospis Malaysia, call 03-91333936 (Carol

ext 207 / Li Ping ext 208).Probably the oldest music society in Malaysia, The Philharmonic Society o Selangor was

incorporated in 1958. The choir is the most active arm o the society and to date has stagedmore than 50 productions ranging rom classical to contemporary. A stand-out eature aboutthis choir is that it’s made up entirely o volunteers who come rom all walks o li e, aspiringtowards building a community in harmony.

CALENDARCompiled by Nick Choo Send your events to [email protected]



SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ July 15 – 17, 2011 ⁄ III

International

avour to Vivaldi

unway Cit Berh d (S Cit ) st s tr eo its commitme t o bei g le di g i te-r ted propert developer ith its l test

Velocit service p rtme ts - V resi-e ce l ch.

Str tegic ll loc ted ithi 3.8km rom theighl prestigio s d coveted K l L mp rCit Ce tre ddress, S Velocit is set tore the hole e li e d tr s orm the citk li e.

Spre d over 22 cres o prime reehold l d, Velocit is other vibr t i tegr ted

evelopme t ith ell-pl ed e t res th tompleme t tod ’s moder li est le. It illomprise o ret il shops; o ce s ites; servicep rtme ts d over o e millio sq li e-t le shoppi g m ll.

all the ph ses ill be e sil co ected vi elev ted pedestri rie dl e viro me t l

eck hich is 550m lo g d 16m ide or ibr t l resco li est le.

S Velocit s desig ed to lloeside ts to experie ce co tempor r li e-

t le here the c live, ork, shop d rel x o e desti tio . Tis is m de possible set il d commerci l sp ces h ve bee de-ig ed to i tegr te h rmo io sl .

S , ith its tr ck record d m ge-me t expertise, ill be m gi g the shoppi g m ll d the e tire project.

Te rst l ch or S Velocit s

Ph se 1a, co sist-i g o 112 its o o ce s ites ith12 its o ret ilshops o the

gro d foor de viro me t ldeck, hich re-ceived good re-spo se. Te t ke-

p r te to d te is80% sold.

S Veloc-it is o l ch-i g its 264 its o service p rt-me ts ith seve

its o ret ilshops o the e vi-ro me t l deck.Te service p rt-me ts h ve

iq e livi g co -

cept ith cl sterd fo ti g villst les or selectio . Te l o t is pr ctic l,desig ed ith sp cio s t o-, three- d o r-room p rtme ts ith sizes r gi g rom 915to 2,368 sq .

O ers d te ts ill e jo co ve ie tli est le th ks to the shoppi g m ll, F&B

o tlets d b si-ess preci ct ith-

i the develop-me t.

he se rv ice

p rtme ts re lsoeq ipped i thli est le-orie ted

me ities s ch s s immi g pool, di g pool, fo t-i g medit tiodeck, g m, m lti- p r p o s e h l l ,g mes room, re d-i g cor er, chil-dre ’s pl gro d,BBQ re , l d-sc pe g rde dothers.

he se rv icep r t m e t s

chieved sig i -

c t milesto e he it receivedthe provisio l gree m rk certi c tio romSi g pore’s B ildi g d Co str ctio a -thorit .

Tis is i li e ith the Gro p’s Li est les o He lth d S st i bilit (Loh s) philosoph , hereb b ildi gs re desig ed to be i h r-

mo ith t re or the be e t o reside tsto le d b l ced li est le i tod ’s rblivi g e viro me t.

Accessibility and connectivity

Te developme t is co ve ie tl ccessible vi v rio s m jor ro ds s ch s J l Cher s J l Peel, J l P d , J l Loke ye d J l R z k s ell s high s th t icl de SMaR , KL-Seremb , M j Express- d the nPE.

P blic tr sport tio ro d the develop-me t re p blic b ses, t xis d LR st tio s hich re ive mi tes rom mM l ri d 10 mi tes rom Ch ShoLi st tio s. Tere re lso t o proposed MRst tio s t Cochr e (t o mi tes ) dM l ri ( ve mi tes ).

additio ll , there is proposed t el ith direct li k rom J l Cher s to the shoppi g m ll b seme t c r p rk, d proposed

derp ss rom J l Cher s to J l Peel.S Velocit ill be s rro ded b

co ve ie t d comprehe sive me ities s chs b ks, commerci l ce tres, shop o ces,rest r ts d c es, emb ssies, schools hospit ls. all these gre t co ectio s d

me ities ill pl ce S Velocit s thece trepoi t o K l L mp r Cit So th.

For e q iries, ple se c ll 03-92055500 or visit .s velocit .com.

Velocity service residence up for grabs

N med er the 17th-ce t r orld-re o ed composera to io Viv ldi, S

Viv ldi is high-e d l x r co -omi i m developme t i Mo t

Ki r hich ims to bri g i -er tio l l vo r to discer i g omeo ers. J st like the It li m estro’s

imeless Fo r Se so s, SViv ldi o ers c expect to e jo

s perior li est le i li e ithh t the project s co ceived to

eprese t. whether rom rchitect r l

r co str ctio perspective, S -’s project ims to r ise o ers’

ppreci tio d e jo me t o x r .

here re tot l o 228 itsilt over 7.7 cres o prime ree-

old l d, divided over six blocks o mid- d high-rise co domi i ms.

Te co domi i ms re lig edro d the ce tr l Eco Deck, d

its comprise si gle- loor dplex desig s.

ize matterso e s re the se se o size, sp ce

d priv c , the rst three i e-sto-e blocks o l h ve 18 its e ch,hile the rem i i g three 20-storelocks ho se 58 its e ch.

Priv c is preserved s SViv ldi h s o e o the lo est de sit

its over cre ge, t 30 itser cre (228 its over 7.7 cres).

rro di g co domi i ms h ve

ver ge de sit o 60 to 70 itsper cre.Te size o the Sk B g lo s

egi t 2,573 sq ll the to,946 sq t or the biggest it,esembli g sizes o l ded proper-es. as s ch, the mi im m size or

si gle-foor its begi t 2,573 sq, hile d plex its r ge rom

3,466-3,983 sq e ch.For those ho eed more sp ce,

the Sk Vill is 5,490 sq t e ch, hile the Pe tho se is bet ee9,085 d 9,946 sq .

Te size o o r d plexes c ters tothe gro i g dem d or l rge-sizeco dos rom reside ts o D m -

s r Heights, B kit k , KeHills, B gs r d m DrIsm il, ho re i cre si gl mov-i g o t rom their b g lo s orsec rit re so s.

Besides the size, the d plex its ill lso h ve 21- eet-high do ble-

vol me ceili g sp ce to cce t tethe eeli g o sp cio s ess dgr de r.

Strategic locationFor good q lit properties, sized desig lo e re ot s cie t.

Loc tio is h t ill e s re th tthere is he lth ppreci tio o the it.

S Viv ldi is ell poised toe s re th t b ers ill see stro g ppreci tio to their properties s

it is loc ted i K l L mp r’s mostso ght- er ddress, Mo t Ki r .

Besides the vibr t comm it ,Mo t Ki r is highl pop l ted

b exp tri tes d high- et- orthi divid ls.

Loc ted j st 12km romK l L mp r Cit Ce tre, Mo tKi r is lso e sil ccessible vi

mero s express s.S Viv ldi is i good com-

p , d o ers c be com ortedb k o i g th t Mo t Ki r is m t re eighbo rhood ith threei ter tio l schools, commerci lce tres, shoppi g m lls, medic lce tres, d rr o li est leF&B o tlets.

Unique featuresS Viv ldi h s lso t ke

gre t c re to e s re th t most its ill e jo perpet ll obstr ct-ed vie o the t o- cre Eco Deck.

Te six blocks re lig ed ro dthe Eco Deck, hich is the ce tr l p rk l d, cre ti g o sis o i te se gree er , pools d ter

e t res. Tis iq e desig llo sreside ts to “ ithdr ” rom theo tside orld, le vi g the h stle db stle o the cit o tside S Viv ldi’s lls.

o promote he lth li est le,the Eco Deck e t res 50m-lo g s immi g pool, sq sh d te isco rts, d i door g mes room.

Other speci l e t res i cl de priv te elev tors to ever it,imported Mir ri kitche c bi ets, et d dr kitche s ll eq ipped ith ppli ces rom Bosch dG gge , d H sgrohe, D r vit& C t l o s it r re.

Tere is lso r i sho er d j c zzi or the m ster bedrooms.

Te project is d e or completiob the third q rter o 2011, e -bli g i vestors to ge er te immedi-

te re t l i come. O er-occ piers ill lso be ble to move i to their

e homes b the .

selangor times july 15-17, 2011 / issue 33

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