A fun day at the basketball court

With all the frequent pouring rain that we are getting recently, there was a worry that our "gotong royong" to paint the basketball court,  and the basketball coaching clinic event, might have to take a rain check.

Surprisingly, the sun was up and shinning last Saturday morning. It turned out to be a perfect glorious morning for the event.

As promised, KL Dragons coach Ariel Vanguardia, players Loh Shee Fai and Ooi Ban sin were right on time at the court to kick off the event.

Those kids present were getting some valuable basketball tips from professionals on how to improve their games. It was a day they would remember for a long time.

A very hands-on KL Dragons coach Ariel Vanguardia

Kids doing basketball drills

KL Dragons player Ooi Ban Sin guiding the kids

KL Dragons player Loh Shee Fai demonstrating the proper shooting technique

YB Gobind Singh also showed up briefly to provide his support. Even he was feeling the basketball fever the minute he arrived, trying his hand shooting a few free throws at the court with the players.

YB Gobind Singh attempting a free throw

MPSJ JKP zone 18 chairman Michael Jalleh chatting with YB Gobind Singh

Finally it was time for everyone to get their hands dirty to paint the floor. Once started, more paint rollers and brushes had to be purchased as  there were more volunteers than anticipated. Without a doubt everyone was eager to help out on the whole "gotong royong" thing.

MPSJ JKP zone 18 committee members get the balls rolling

KL Dragons player Loh Shee Fai getting into some paint action

KL Dragons player Ooi Ban Sin also giving a helping hand

Residents of all ages really chipped in, making sure the court looks great at the end of the day.

BK3 resident painting the edges

Children helping out

BK 3 resident Edward caught himself stranded surrounded by painted floor

BK3 resident Lily and Margaret helping with the masking tape

BK3 resident Loh with his masterly paint strokes

When all is done BK3 has one of the best basketball courts around that they can be proud of. The basketball players at our area can finally have a very good basketball court to horn their skills.

Brand new basketball court

Kudos to all those contributed their effort

At the end of the day, MPSJ JKP Zone 18 committee members, KL Dragons coach and players, Suria BK3 RA, and more importantly, all the residents who were present readily put in a hard day's work to make BK3 a better place.

It feels that much more special with the combined efforts from all parties involved to make our community better. 

(All photos taken by Hilson Yeap)

Calling all basketball players

We would like to invite all basketball players (especially children) to come to BK3 basketball court for a fun filled morning this coming Saturday.

On hand will be KL Dragons coach Arieal Vanguardia, players Loh Shee Fai and Ooi Ban Sin to offer some basketball tips on how to improve your game.

Date: 30th November 2013, Saturday

Time: 8:45am

Venue: BK 3 basketball court

Great news for basketball players

In addition, we would also like to invite all basketball players to help and paint the foul area and tip off circle of the basketball court.

Location map

The paint and brushes will be provided. All you need to do is show up and support the effort.

We hope this "gotong-royong" event creates awareness amongst our residents to appreciate the great facilities that we have in BK3.

Together we can definitely help to make BK3 better.

KIDEX highway

As reported back in August 2011 in this blog, Kinrara centre of it all, one of the highways highlighted, KIDEX highway, linking Kinrara with Damansara is gaining a lot of attention in the news recently.

According to The Edge (Oct, 24th 2013), the highway will be 13.5km long starting from NKVE in damansara, passing by several housing areas before reaching BK1 and BK2, joining to Bukit Jalil Highway, and ends in BK 6.

Proposed KIDEX highway

(KIDEX news Facebook page)

The map below shows roughly how the highway will cut through Bandar Kinrara at BK1 and BK2, joins to Bukit Jalil Highway and finally ends just slightly pass Giant supermarket.

The probable route of KIDEX highway at Bandar Kinrarra

There is also rumor that the lands belonging to more than three thousand house owners will be affected by the construction of this highway, including those in Kinrara area.

Possible acquisition of land affected by KIDEX highway

Partial list of houses that may be affected

The full document showing all the plots that may be affected can be viewed here (114 pages).

It is probably too early to guess what will happen to these plots. However, if things were done like it was in the past, by the time the land owners found out the project is approved, they may have already lost their homes.

Don't forget that there is also a SKIP highway (Serdang-Kinrara-Putrajaya) in the pipeline that will probably be the extension of  KIDEX highway at BK6 going towards Serdang and Putrajaya.

There is no telling what will happen in the future if all these projects are materialized.

Bandar Kinrara may get better access to other areas with all the new highways.

On the other hand, Bukit Jalil Highway may become the biggest parking lot, with stand still traffic at all times, due to all the traffic converging at the same point.

Biggest parking lot in Malaysia?

(Find latest KIDEX highway news here) 

Updated 31st, March 2014

Upgrading of BK3 basketball court

Besides improving the securtiy in BK3, Suria BK3 committee is also working hard to help improve the public amenities in our area for our residents.

Although BK3 has some great recreational facilities for children such as a playground, football field, a futsal court, and a basketball court, construction of these facilities was not always good.

The basketball court especially was probably done by a contractor with very little or no knowledge of basketball at all.

As a result, we have a basketball court that has crack backboards and flimsy rims after a few years.

Old cracked back board and loose rim at BK3

Basketball being the number two most popular sports (behind soccer) in the world, it is a favorite sport for kids at BK3 as well. It is a shame that we couldn't provide good facilities for them to enjoy the game better.

After years of request by Suria BK3 committee to MPSJ (the request was put in to MPSJ even before the RA committee was formed), they finally approved some fund to upgrade the backboards for us a few months ago.

In fact they went one step further, they will even install a couple of spectator stands for us.

To ensure the backboards were installed properly with quality material this time, Suria BK3 committee was involved in advising, and help to get the right people with basketball knowledge to install the new backboards for MPSJ.

The contractors finally showed up last week and finished the work in a couple of days.

So now we have high quality tampered glass backboards with solid rims for our courts.

We can proudly say BK3 probably has one of the best basketball courts around our area now.

New backboard and rim

New backboard and rim

The contractor also installed two spectator stands right next to the court at the same time.

Spectator stand

We really want to thank MPSJ for putting their fund to good use. Hopefully they continue to do good work in our area to improve the quality of our life.

Now our kids have one more good sports facility to use for the sport they love. Who knows? We may be able to produce a few Jeremy Lin of our own in the future :)
  

Future basketball star from BK3?

The new and improved BK3

Thanks to the support of the residents, BK3 has been transformed.

From Jalan BK3/3A to BK3/6, our community has been secured with chain-link fence to provide a safer living environment for the residents.

Just to keep everyone up to date, these are the things done by Suria BK3 RA to safe guard our community since middle of March this year.

Security guard, guard house and boom gate at Jalan BK 3/3A

Chain-link fence along Jalan BK3/3A

A small gate at Jalan BK3/3B for access to BK2
(Note: the stairs, railings and small bridge funded by others)

Chain-link fence along Jalan BK3/3B joining to LRT construction hoarding

Security guard, guard house and boom gate at Jalan BK3/3B

Main gate at Jalan BK3/6 with small access gate at the side

Main gate at Jalan BK3/5 with small access gate at the side

Main gate at Jalan BK3/4 with small access gate at the side

Car stickers for residents

 

 

 

Additional street lights (RA provides contact, installation cost by house owners)

A big "Thank you" for everyone who has supported the RA so far. None of these can be accomplished without the support from all the residents. However, the RA still needs continuing support and cooperation from every resident to ensure the success of the system in the long run.

The RA committee will continue to improve on the security system to make our community as safe as it can be. There are still a lot of details to work out at this initial stage.

Let's work together to make BK3 crime free, a better place to stay, and put a smile back on every resident's face.

 

 

Q & A on Suria BK3 RA and the security systems

Some of the common questions the residents have asked the RA so far:

Question: What is a Residents Association (RA)?
Answer:  RA is an organization set up by a residents within the same community to address issues and provide voices for that community.

Question: How do you set up a RA?
Answer: A RA has to be officially registered with The Registry of Societies Malaysia. The ROS web page is here. Our RA covers only Jalan BK3/3A, 3/3B, 3/4, 3/5 and 3/6 only, not the entire BK3.

Question: Is our RA officially registered with ROS?

Answer: Yes.

Question:  What is the name of our RA?
Answer:  The official name is Persatuan Penduduk Jalan B/K 3, Bandar Kinrara, Puchong, Selangor. The name of a RA has to be approved by ROS. Our RA has proposed a few names to them and this is the one they chose.

Question: It is a rather long name, is there a short name for the RA?
Answer: Yes, our RA has a shorter unofficial name of Suria BK3. However, for anything official like cheque payment, the long name has to be used.

Question: What is the main issue facing our BK3 community?
Answer: Over the past three few years alone, our own statistic shows about 22% of the houses in our area were broken into. In other words, for every 5 houses, 1 was broken into. Security is the number one issue we face in our community.

Question: Why is BK3 so unsafe?
Answer: There are just too many open area and roads that intruders can use to get into our area.

Question: Is there any solution to that problem?
Answer: The best way is to provide perimeter fencing, temporary barriers at secondary roads and have reliable guards to patrol our area.

Question: Can we do the perimeter fencing and barriers to make the area more secure?
Answer: Yes, we need minimum 75% of the residents' consent to do that. Besides that, it also requires some fund. That's why our RA has started to collect a life time membership fee for all members. The amount collected is used mainly for that purpose.

Question: How about security guards?
Answer: The RA has decided to look into hiring some reliable guards to patrol our area twenty four hours a day.

Question: Who provides the fund to hire security guards?
Answer: In order for it to work, all the household must come together and contribute a monthly fee for the security guard fees. The RA has started a drive to get as many household as possible to contribute in order to have enough fund to hire the guards.

Question: What is the monthly contribution fee for each household?
Answer: It depends on the number of households contributing. The more residents contribute, the cheaper it will get.

Question: How many houses are there in our community?
Answer: 216.

Question: Is it mandatory for all household to contribute?
Answer: No, it is all voluntary basis. However, since it is for the good of the community, close to 80% of the households have decided to participate. We encourage everyone to participate to make this possible.

Question: If I decide not to contribute now, but want to at a later time, can I do it?
Answer: Yes. There is no time frame when one must decide. As mentioned before, the more residents contribute, the cheaper the rate is.

Question: Who keeps and decides how we use the money?
Answer: The RA has a committee chosen by the residents that decides on the activities organized by the RA. The treasurer is responsible to keep a proper account on the funds collected and spent. Everything is recorded and transparent. You can find the current committee member list here. The term for committee members is two years. After that, a new committee will be chosen by the residents.

Question: How do the RA keep the residents informed of what is going on?
Answer: There are regular briefing sessions,  news letters, as well as a Facebook page providing all the information about the RA.

Question: What happen when there is not enough fund to hire security guards?
Answer: Well, if for example, most residents decided not to contribute the monthly fee, and the RA run out of fund, it may have to stop hiring security guards all together. That's why it is important for all the resident members to work together to make it happen.

Question: Is the RA for security purpose only?
Answer: No, anyone has ideas about activities for the whole community can make suggestions. The RA can do many other things for the community such as organizing a family day, and so on.

Question: Can I volunteer to help out the RA?
Answer: Yes, the more people participate, the better. The RA is always looking for helpers. Please contact one of the committee members if you wish to help. All the committee members are working also on voluntary basis at this moment.

Suria BK3 Residents Association briefing on 30th April, 2013

For residents who were not able to attend the briefing, below are the slides on the matters discussed during that briefing session:

A piece of nature right at our door step

Tired of the hustle bustle city life? Want to get in touch with nature, but too lazy to travel too far?

Welcome to Air Hitam forest reserve.

It is no secret Puchong folks have been trekking the Air Hitam forest reserve trails for some time now. At around 3000 acres, the reserve is a surprise survivor of green lung encompassed by rapidly ongoing  development of Bandar Kinrara, Pusat Bandar Puchong, Equine Park and a few other developments.

Green lung in Puchong surrounded by developments

The Air Hitam forest reserve belongs to the Selangor Forestry Department, leased to University of Putra (UPM) for research purpose. There had been some altercations between hikers and UPM officers who were trying to prevent hikers from entering the forest reserve before, but that matter had been resolved.

Now hikers are free to trek the trails without any worries even though there are still Selangor Forestry Department signs warning hikers to stay away.

The Selangor Forestry Department does not interfere with hiker activities as long as they stay within the trails, without damaging the surrounding, and keeping the forest the way it is.

Warning sign from Selangor Forestry Department

The beginning of the trail is at Jalan Bukit, Pusat Bandar Puchong, not far away from Wawasan Park in Pusat Bandar Puchong.

From BK3, it is only around 5 to 7 km away depending on which road you take.

There are plenty of car park spaces around but don't be surprise it is packed during the weekends, especially in the mornings and evenings, as trekking activity is gaining popularity.

Map from BK3 to the start of trail

From the snap shot of Google earth aerial view below, the beginning of the trail is just right next to a few shop lots. The trail then gradually winding up the hill and slowly disappearing into the lush green forest.

Google earth view of the trail

Trail entrance

Once inside the forest, the hikers can choose to take the trail that goes one loop, which will take about 1 hour or more. Alternatively, the more popular and less strenuous route is just trek up to one of the peaks and turn back, which takes about 30 to 45 minutes.

The trails are just moderately tough (quite similar to Gasing Hill), suitable for people of all ages. Anyone in reasonably good health will have no problem handling the walk.

Part of the trail

Small stream with crystal clear water

Great view of Puchong skyline from the trail

Every morning and evening plenty of nature lovers are enjoying the hiking activities in the forest. It is a great way to do some exercise, meet like-minded people, and enjoy perhaps the last piece of untouched forest in Puchong.

The best thing is, it is only a few minutes drive away from BK 3.

It is a great alternative for BK3 residents who frequently walk up to the BK3 water reservoir in the morning, who are looking for something slightly more challenging.

At the same time getting in touch with nature.

Suria BK3 has a Facebook page

In case you are not aware, the Residents Association (RA) of BK3/3A to BK3/6 has a name - Suria BK3, and a logo.

Logo designed by Hilson Yeap

The RA committee likes the design of the logo with the sun, smiling face and the colours. It is friendly, green and ecstatically pleasing. The committee also like the sunny word "Suria", which happens to fit really well with the logo, and was unanimously chosen by the committee members as the name of the RA.

On top of that, the RA also has a Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bandarkinrara3/

Some of you may have stumbled upon this blog via the Facebook page. If that is not the case, you can join the page by clicking here. Since it is the Facebook page for the RA of BK3/3A to BK3/6 residents, it is kept private, limited to the residents who stay in this area only.

The RA committee always find reaching out to all the residents as the biggest challenge. Residents always complain somehow the information never reached them, or they were not well informed.

Previously the RA committee has tried using SMS to communicate with the residents, but it is very costly. The RA committee also tried using WhatsApp, which is free, but not everyone uses it.

Finally the RA committee decided on setting up an RA Facebook page. Not only the whole community can share information, but also create events, post photos, links and videos, to reach out to the whole community.

However, what good is a Facebook page if no one is joining? Therefore please do your part, spread the news, and ask all your friends and neighbors from BK3/3A to BK3/6 area to sign up to the page in order to get the latest information about what is happening in our community.

Everyone should sign up to the Facebook page

This Facebook page will be used by the RA committee as a two-way communication platform to share information with the residents, as well as getting feedback from the residents.


(Note: As the setting up of RA is still at its infancy stage, most of the committee members are still feeling their ways to serve the community better. Please work with the committee members, and support them to get through this initial learning stage. Hopefully by working together, the community can become better and stronger in the future)