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:

Time to fight.

It has been three months since we talked to SPNB, and we are getting nothing out of them.

The promise of coming up with a satisfactory answer regarding the realignment of LRT tracks and relocation of station no. 5 is just an empty promise. While we are able to call and talk to their representatives, we are just not getting a firm answer from them.

Residents being informed of the latest LRT news

We thought the thing can be discussed and settled amicably. Turn out that SPNB is probably playing "Tai Chi" with us, with no intention to seriously looking into our problems.

Just like so many typical Malaysian politicians, SPNB thinks that may be by dragging the whole thing long enough, we will just give up and go away.

So last Saturday we decided to gather the residents to tell them about the whole situation. To our surprise there are many residents who are still in the dark about the whole LRT extension thing.

"Really, the track will be at our green lung area?"

"You mean there is a station here?"

So the time has come for us to really reach out, inform all residents, and get full support from them. Only then we able to put enough pressure for SPNB to really take some action.

BK 3 residents at the briefing

More residents should get involved, more voices should be heard, and more signatures should be collected to show our concern.

We must remember the track and station will be here forever, bringing with them all the social ills, parking woes, security issues, and cutting down the trees at our green area. SPNB will just build it, wash their hands and go away while we have to face this for the rest of our lives.

We want to meet the residents again. This time ALL BK residents should be involved. Everyone should inform their neighbours, friends and relatives to show their support before it is too late.

It is time to make some noise.

Let's keep BK 3 the way it is, quiet and peaceful.

Just say "NO"

Everyone wants the convenience of a LRT station close to their area. I imagine the residents in BK 3 feel the same way. However, the convenience of having a LRT station here comes with a price.

When the LRT track runs through BK 3, it will encroach into our green lung area, and station no. 5 will be right at our door steps. I have no idea why the planner or designer decided to do it that way. Obviously not much thought was put into considering the effect of all these to the residents around that area.

If the plan materialized, the negative impacts will be there. All the social ills, security problems, traffic congestion, parking woes and noise pollutions that are common to commercial area will eventually be part of our lives here in BK 3.

In fact, BK 3 will be turned into a public area. It will definitely become more like a commercial area than a residential area. 

Posters put up by residents

Some residents have already started an awareness campaign to let everyone understand the problem. We all know that with the support of the residents, something can still be done.

We are not really against the LRT line extension. It is just not right to put so little thought into planning a project of such magnitude, that affects people's life in a negative way. Better options are clearly available.

The LRT track should be realigned away from our green lung area, to the middle of Bukit Jalil highway. The trees at green lung area actually act as a buffer zone that cut off the noise and dust pollution from Bukit Jalil highway. They should be preserved.

We also don't need station no. 5 in our area. If the residents need to use the LRT, station no. 4 in BK 2 is just walking distance away. There is really no reason to have two stations so close to each other right at our area. It is a waste of tax payers' money.

Realignment of tracks and relocation of station no. 5

If station no. 5 is to be constructed, we think it will be better if it is relocated further down the highway towards IOI direction. That way the station can cater to more passengers from housings like Puchong Jaya, Taman Tenaga and so on, without directly affecting any of the residential areas.

The concern was also recently raised up and reported in several news papers like The Star and Sin Chew daily.

Some residents have in fact met and carried out a dialogue with Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPNB) regarding our concern. SPNB had also visited our area to understand our problem.

They have promised to restudy the whole thing and give an answer to the residents in a few weeks time. So far however there is still no reply from them.

We certainly hope that SPNB can give us a satisfactory answer. Only then we can ensure BK 3 remain the way it is, a quiet and peaceful neighbourhood. 

At this moment we can only wait with our fingers crossed, praying for the best.

No worries, you said...

With the impending construction of LRT station no. 5 in BK 3 very soon, what is going to happen to our neighborhood in the future?

The residents must understand once the structure is built, it will be permanent. There will be no going back telling SPNB we don't want it anymore, it will be there forever.

Let's start by looking at some of the issues that may arise, starting with security.

No one can deny that there is a crime problem in our area. There were never ending break-ins after break-ins. Every time you talk to someone from our area you hear new stories. Many cases even happened during day time, with residents inside their houses.

 

My own house was broken into a couple of years ago. A brand new laptop that just arrived a few days before was taken, together with some other valuables. 

Luckily none of us was at home during that time. So we came away with some losses but no one got hurt.

Others were not so lucky. Recent news reported an old man was set on fire and burnt to death by burglars in Perak. Another piece of news reported a housewife was gang raped by eight intruders in Johor. 

These are just a few of the daily occurrences we find reported in the newspaper. In actual fact there are many more. Although some of these crimes happened not in our area, it can actually happen here.

Just the other day one of my neighbors went out briefly to get "nasi lemak" early in the morning. When she came back she saw a motorbike parked in front of her house.

One moment later an intruder walked out from her house carrying laptops, handphones and some other valuables, hopped on the bike and rode off.

All these happened right before her eyes. She yelled and horned but the intruder was just ignoring her. Believe it or not, all these happened while her husband and kids were still sleeping inside her house.

Another neighbor also told me there was this one time after she parked her car in front of her house, got out, a guy riding a motorbike approached her right away with a "parang". Thank god she was not hurt but her purse and handphone were taken. Her family had since moved away.

There are many similar stories.  

Why do you think there are suddenly so many residents having dogs in their houses? Yes, there are many dog lovers out there, but the main reason is to scare off intruders.

BK 3 residents in general has been the target of burglars for the fact that there are just too many entrances to our area where outside intruders can come and go as they please. 

So what has that got to do with the new LRT station?

  

Basically it is very simple, security will get worse once the new station no. 5 is constructed here in BK 3. 

With a LRT station here, BK 3 will become a public area. Anyone can come in and out as they wish. We no longer can question why that motorbike is circling our area all the time, or why a stranger is driving a car through BK 3 so frequently. They will say they are going to the station and there is nothing we can do about it.

We can no longer control who goes in and out of BK 3 area.

We can also forget about hiring security guard service for our area anymore. It is not going to work with so many outsiders in our area. No security guard will be able to do the job.

While all these may sound scary, it is something that we must really think about if we want a LRT station here in BK 3. It is already a proven fact that with a LRT station so close to the residential area, crime rate increases.

Still no worries?