The 1st Bandar Kinrara BK3 3 on 3 basketball tournament

With the collaboration of JKP Zone 18 MPSJ and Suria BK3 RA, the 3 on 3 basketball tournament was completed on 21st June, 2014 with great response from the youths from all around Puchong area.

Participating teams and organizers

The tournament managed to attract twelve teams to participate in the under 18 group. However, the under 15 competition has to be cancelled due to lack of support for that age group.

Prizes and medals to be given away to the winners

Nevertheless, the tournament saw many young talents challenging to be the best team in our area. The competition was intense showcasing some of the best young players from our area.

The two finalists team "Yak Chee A" and team "Mix"

Some of the court actions

Eventually team "Mix" emerged as champions, edging out team team "Yak Chee A" in a pulsating final that went into overtime. Team "Three Guys" also did well, coming as the third place team.

1st place team "Mix"

2nd place team "Yak Chee A"

3rd place team "Three Guys"

It was a fun day out for all the participants as well as the spectators, at the same time promoting the sports of basketball.

The overwhelming success of the tournament has prompted the organizers to promise looking into more similar events for the community in the future.

3 on 3 basketball tournament

MPSJ Zone 18, working together with Suria BK3 RA, will be hosting a 3 on 3 basketball tournament for youngsters under 18 and 15 on the 21st. June, 2014

You can find all the details on the flyer below.

3 on 3 tournament flyer

Proposed KIDEX hghway briefing in Bandar Kinrara

The KIDEX roadshow finally arrived in Bandar Kinrara.

Last Saturday morning (29th, March 2014) representatives from KIDEX together with MPSJ, and Kinrara assemblyman Ng Sze Han were present at Bandar Kinrara BK2 community hall to brief the residents about the upcoming project KIDEX, or Kinrara-Damansara Expressway.
 

Residents attending the briefing at BK2 hall

To cut a long story short, these are what the residents in Bandar Kinrara were briefed during the meeting.

1. The highway will be 14.9km in length starting from NKVE, and ends at Bukit Jalil Highway next to Bandar Kinrara Giant supermarket. There will be two toll plazas along the highway with toll rate to be determined later.

KIDEX highway layout

 2. The whole length of the highway will be completely elevated with a single pier "T" shape concrete structure. Height of the structures varies from 8m to 16m. In other words, KIDEX highway will be built on top of existing roads. None of the existing roads will be taken away and made into tolled roads like LDP highway.

Section view of the elevated highway

3. Some of the private properties will be acquired by KIDEX to accommodate the construction of the highway. However, it will only be about 10% of what was originally reported, as KIDEX will only acquire land under section 8 act, which covers a lot less land than initially fear by residents staying adjacent to the proposed highway. Most of the acquired land will be near the interchange as the ramps that need more space will encroach further into the private properties.

Land acquired based on section 8 act, not section 4

4. Closer to our area, KIDEX will cross KESAS highway, runs on top of Jalan TK 2/7, cut across army camp to Jalan Kinrara 1, and ends at Jalan Kinrara 6 near Giant supermarket (based on the map provided in the briefing).

Approximate route of  KIDEX highway in Bandar Kinrara

In the future, there is also another SKIP (Serdang-Kinrara-Putrajaya) highway in the pipeline that is supposed to join to KIDEX highway at Jalan Kinrara 6, as reported here way back in year 2011.

The briefing ends with a Q and A session. Some of the concerns that residents have:

Q: Is my property going to be acquired?
A: It is not finalized yet at this moment

Q: Will the noise level be too much?
A: There will be sound barrier wall to reduce the noise to acceptable level

Q: Any EIA or traffic study reports available for public viewing?
A: No. The documents are considered "classified". It can only be released to public with government approval. 

Q: Can the highway be toll free?
A: This is not up the KIDEX representative to decide, who are just a concessionaire taking on the project. The concessionaire needs to collect toll to recuperate their investment.

There were also some questions raised that were not answered immediately.

Kinrara assemblyman Ng Sze Han raised the question why there is no diamond interchange at Bukit Jalil Highway and KESAS highway. 

For example, from KIDEX motorists can exit to Bukit Jalil towards Kuala Lumpur direction and not Sunway direction. Similarly, motorists coming from Kuala Lumpur on Bukit Jalil Highway will not be able to get on KIDEX. 

The questionable Bukit Jalil highway interchange

Artist's aerial view impression of Bukit Jalil highway interchange

Ng Sze Han was also concerned why no EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) and traffic study reports were made available for the public. There should be transparency to allow the public to fully understand the impact KIDEX highway will bring to the affected areas.

Many residents are also worried that instead of easing traffic, KIDEX will be like LDP, bringing more traffic jam to our area. 

One resident even suggested KIDEX should end at KESAS, which is a proper highway that might be able to handle the additional traffic coming to our area.

Overall the response from residents had been lukewarm at best, uncertain what the highway will bring to the residents of Bandar Kinrara in the future.

So is KIDEX highway a sure thing?

Will it ease traffic as promised?

No one can answer that.

However, one thing is for sure.

Anyone staying in Bandar Kinrara driving to work daily knows how painful it is to deal with the rush hour traffic at Bukit Jalil highway.

It is unlikely KIDEX highway will change that for the better.

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)

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?

End of the road

On 8th August, the was another meeting with Tan Seri Syed Hamid Albar of SPAD, Prasarana, Dato Yap Pian Hon and BK3 protem committee in SPAD's office.

This was the final push with the suggestion of constructing a new ramp exiting from the left lane of Bukit Jalil Highway to BK4 in order for the LRT track to be realigned to the middle of Bukit Jalil Highway.

SPAD, JKR and Prasarana had visited BK3 area the week before to see if there is a possible way for that to happen.

In Prasarana's presentation, they have concluded that the new ramp is not a viable option. It will have temporary as well as permanent problems for the residents of BK3 if materialized.

In fact, the ramp will be closer to the houses than the LRT track. On top of that, time frame, temporary traffic diversion, etc. making that option not possible.
 
SPAD concurred with Prasarana's finding, leaving us no option but to stick to the original plan of having the LRT track at our green lung.

In consolation, Prasarana proposed to install sound barriers next to the track, and beautify the area with landscaping after the construction is completed.

Sound barrier and landscaping proposed by Prasarana

That was the end of discussion.

The protem committee had tried their very best over the last two years to resolve the issue of station no. 5 and realignment of LRT track.

While they managed to get station no. 5 canceled (on hold), they were not able to convince the responsible authorities to realign the LRT track.

They have tirelessly approached MPSJ, Selangor State Government, YB Gobind Singh, and Teresa Kok, Dato Yap Pian Hon, and finally SPAD chairman Tan Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

Yet the answer is still the same every time - nothing can be done about the realignment.

While still not satisfy with the non-solution, there is really nothing more the protem committee can do. They have exhausted every avenue possible trying to get the realignment done.

Therefore the committee feels it is time for it to dissolve. There is really nothing more can be done.

They would like to thank every BK3 residents who offer their support over the past two years. Without your support, station no. 5 would not have been canceled.

If there is any consolation, winning half the battle is better than nothing, life still goes on.

Have a good holiday and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all Muslim friends.

Back to Drawing Board!

It is consensus opinion amongst BK3 residents who attended the dialogue in MPSJ yesterday that Prasarana should go back to drawing board again to restudy the alignment of the LRT track.
 

Prasarana should go back to drawing board

With the presence of YB Theresa Kok, residents who attended the dialogue pointed out no matter how difficult it is, it is still an engineer's job to find the best solution to realign LRT track back to the middle of Bukit Jalil highway. 

As it is now, Prasarana is just taking the easy way out without considering the negative impact the tracks will bring to the residents.

Although the residents found out from the dialogue station no. 5 is indeed canceled (now marked in the drawing as possible future expansion station), nothing has been done to the realignment of the LRT track.

There are other parties present who wanted the station back but they were easily out-numbered by the residents of BK 3. The support from the residents of BK3 has been incredible all this while, even after facing so many obstacles, including sacrificing their time during work hours to attend the dialogue yesterday.

Some proponent of station no. 5 also feel bad for the residents in BK3, and openly supported the effort to push for the realignment of the tracks as well. 

It is inconclusive at this moment whether station no. 5 will be brought back but judging from the presence of the supporters from various camps, BK3 residents definitely have the upper hand.

One clear message we are sending to them is there is no way BK3 residents can accept station no. 5 in our area without realignment of the LRT track.

Say no to LRT track on green lung

In a separate event, it is rather unfortunate some residence in KL have to face similar predicament as us here in BK 3 with the MRT alignment. Is Prasarana really bulldozing their way aruond? According to Ong Tee Keat, they certainly are (read the full article here).

Malaysia Insider article on MRT realignment issue

Are they doing the same thing to us here in BK3? It certainly feels that way.

MPSJ coming to Bandar Kinrara

Upon urging by BK3 Protem Committee, Gobind Singh has finally fulfilled his promise to get MPSJ to our place to hear our concerns.

 

There will be a dialog session held at BK2 Multipurpose Hall to discuss the ongoing issues affecting BK2 & BK3 residents. 

                         Venue: BK2 multi purpose hall

                         Date: 24th. September, 2011

                         Day: Saturday

                         Time: 9:30 am

Please pass the word around to other BK2 & BK3 residents about this dialog which is crucial for us as a community to ensure that our BK2 & BK3 environment is protected.

 

We should voice out our concern over : 

- illegal banners that make our environment so ugly and pathetic.

- cleaners who are inefficient in cleaning our environment.

- upkeep of playground and football padan.

- security issues.

- illegal hawker stalls that are mushrooming.

- new playground opposite Merak Apartment should be properly planned

- 17 years the roads leading to all our houses are badly damaged and no upgrading has been done before.     You see patches here and there. 

- and any other issues our residents have.

 

SKIP HIGHWAY

One major thing is the SKIP Highway that will start from Giant and hit straight through BK6 passing by BK Golf and joining Serdang to Putrajaya. 

Check out STAR online and our post on this news.   

Not only we have LRT, we have also SKIP Highway – BK6 residents should be very concern as the highway partly elevated and some points the existing road will be converted to highway. 

If you study the map, something fishy is going on.  It starts from Giant but coming from where?  BK1 & BK2 road from Army Camp??? 

We suspect it will come from LDP which is what Prasarana always say that they cannot divert the LRT tracks cos in future LDP will extend their highway. 

One can go nuts with the authorities. 

Banners will be up by MPSJ at strategic locations this week.  

Meanwhile, our LRT issue now is up to the state level. We are still waiting for the outcome.

 

Meeting MPSJ didn't get us anywhere, but there is a silver lining.

 Don't wait, sign your online petition here now!

To cut a long story short, we are back to square one again after four months of back and forth discusssion with Prasarana.

Meeting with MPSJ and Prasarana

Even though the meeting was held during a work day, many BK 3 folks felt necessary to show up and support our cause for the good of BK 3 community. Fifty-five BK 3 residents showed up at the meeting last Wednesday morning. The turn out was just unbelievable.

BK 3 residents signing in.

BK 3 residents at the briefing

Besides that, the briefing by Prasarana in MPSJ office was a let down. They didn't bring anything new to the table. Everything was just the same like when it was started.

Encik Yunos Khashid, Pengarah, Bahagian Perancangan Bandar MPSJ

Briefing from Prasarana

To summarize the whole meeting:

1) No, the track can not be relocated away from the "green lung"

2) No, station no. 5 remains where it is.

Don't wait, sign your online petition here now!

This is the message Prasarana was telling us after four months of their study, with input from their consultants. 

In other words nothing can be done.

It is our feeling the whole meeting was put together in a very rush manner with not enough facts to back up their points. Things just weren't explained to us in a satisfactory manner.

When BK 3 residents asked who decided station no. 5 has to be in BK 3, no one could give us an answer.

No explanation was given on the traffic study as well. Prasarana just mention this is a drop and ride station, without any parking area provided. 

There was no traffic studies whatsoever on what impact the station will bring to the surrounding area.

Prasarana even presented us an artist's impression of how the station and track will look like at our green lung area (see below). It is not pretty.

Artist's impression of station no. 5 and track at green lung

Don't wait, sign your online petition here now!

 
While our government often spend millions and millions of ringgit in building white elephant projects, they just couldn't allocate more fund to restudy, relocate and rebuild the ramp to BK 5 area so that the LRT track can be at the centre of highway? 

With station no. 4 just a stone's throw away, why can't station no. 5 be relocated or canceled all together?

In the long run, that is the best solution with the least impact to the lives of the residents around our area.

So where is the silver lining?

With all the bureacracy our system has, we believe this is just one of the stages we have to go through. Quite simply put, neither Prasarana nor MPSJ are in a position to make the decision on our demands.

Therefore, MPSJ suggested we present a memorandum about LRT station no. 5 and track at green lung issue for  them to be discussed at the next Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Selangor (MTES) meeting.

In other words, the Selangor government will be making the final decision. We are moving this thing higher up. That is the silver lining.

It is getting closer and closer to the end. We have waited for four months and will certainly continue to fight for the future of BK 3 community.  

Your support has become more crucial than ever. We are still collecting as many signatures as we can. Please continue to provide us as much support as you can.

Be ready for the next meeting with the Selangor government. We will need more residents to be there to make our case stronger.

Help spread the news. It is not over yet but getting tougher.

Don't wait, sign your online petition here now!

Show your support at MPSJ July 20th Wednesday 8:30 am

  Don't wait, sign your online petition here now!

After  waiting for four months, the time has come.

MPSJ and Prasarana have agreed to meet the residents of BK 3 to discuss about station no. 5 and LRT track on the green lung issue.

                    Date: 20th July, 2011 Wednesday

                    Time: 8:30am

                    Venue: Laman Kenaga, Aras 1, Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya

If you need to take a half day leave, please do. If you don't have transport and want to be there, contact us. If you can not make it, ask your neighbour or relative to attend. Your support is the utmost important thing now.

We want all of you there. Do your part. It is now or never!

THIS IS PROBABLY THE ONLY CHANCE YOU GET TO SHOW THEM YOU MEAN BUSINESS!

Let's show them our solidarity and how much we care about our community.

Don't wait, sign your online petition here now!