Dear all,

I'll be overseas on some personal/family matters from today, 18th December 2011 to 9th January 2012. I will still be contactable via email.

For any MPSJ related complaints or issues, you can refer to here:
http://www.rajiv4malaysia.com/search/label/How%20to%20Lodge%20a%20Complaint%20with%20MPSJ

You can contact my assistant, Salawati at 016-2213381 or wati.mpsj@gmail.com

For any DAP matters, or matters regarding the office of YB Hannah Yeoh, you can contact the office at

Tel: 03-5631 2768
Fax: 03-5631 2757

Service Centre hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday : 1pm to 7pm
Thursday nights : 8pm to 10pm


I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused.

An email from Arvin, one of my JKP3 members...

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Dear Datuk Idris Jala, Datuk Hishamuddin & Mr Eugene Teh,

Allow me to relate an incident that happened to me this morning. I live in USJ Subang Jaya & this morning at 11am, I went to the nearby town centre, Taipan, to buy some items from the hardward store. As a law abiding citizen, I parked my car a distance away across the main road at another block of shoplots and walked over to the shop. On my way back at about 11.30am (please refer to attached police report), as I was waiting to cross the main road to get to my car, whilst holding a few items in my hands, a lone motorcyclist suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched my goldchain from my neck from behind. Before I or anyone of the numerous people & motorists in their cars could do anything, the criminal zoomed off amongst the jam of cars. It happened in the blink of an eye and I now understand why a lot of snatch theft victims say that they were unable to react in time. Bear in mind that I am a 6 foot 82 kg, 41 year old male. Even the police were surprised that the criminal was so daring to rob a person like me as they rarely target males according to them and more so a fairly larger sized specimen such as myself.

Why am I taking the trouble to write in to you you may ask? Well, because I believe that we as Malaysians deserve much more than a lot of rhetoric and nice sounding sound bites regarding all the various acronyms that Pemandu has launched. I refer to Eugene's press conference recently where it was declared that Pemandu's crime NKRA's are working (refer to attached article). According to the said article, it was stated that an additional 30,000 police officers have been reassigned to hotspots. Trust me, we don't see them. The sergeant who took down my report was lamenting to my about his lack of resources as he had insufficient men to patrol, investigate etc. Thus, the rhetoric and the reality aren't in sync are they? USJ & Subang Jaya are definitely huge residential areas and crime hotspots. Why is it that even with a police station opened up in a shophouse in Taipan itself that criminals are still so brazenly daring in carrying out such thefts in broad daylight? What about the CCTV's that are supposedly at all main corners/junctions? I can safely say that our criminal minded members of society are able to get away with virtually anything as we as a country can't even seem to control a simple thing like illegal stickers defacing public property all over the place, even signboards and roadsigns. Nowhere else have we seen such blatant disregard for the law except for our beloved nation. I know this issue well & am trying to do something about it.

Let me state that I am a proactive Malaysian who many years ago founded the USJ9 neighbourhood watch and subsequently for the last few years, pre & post 2008, I have sat as a committee member of the MPSJ Jawatankusas Penduduk (JKP) Zon 3. We as committee members commit our precious time on a purely voluntary basis towards trying to improve the liveability of our community and every year, conduct many activities/programmes to make people's lives a bit better. Trust me when I say that I have seen things deteriorate over the years especially with regard to crime and as I stated above, blatant disregard for the laws by everybody. My story of being a snatch theft victim is not an isolated one as our Councillor for JKP Zon 3, Rajiv's brother was violently attacked from behind last week in Subang Jaya SS14, beaten up and robbed. We are men. How are we to protect our wives and families if we can't rely on the police and government to play their role in minimizing the danger to us as citizens when we go about our daily business? Almost everyone I know has been a victim of snatch theft, car windows smashed at traffic lights and robbed etc etc. These are not statistics, these are REAL PEOPLE GETTING ROBBED AND TRAUMATIZED!

Eugene, you were quoted as saying "In 2009, the main problem was snatch theft. But with a lot more police officers patrolling the streets, the number of snatch thefts was reduced. However, it doesn't mean we have resolved the issue". Definitely the issue hasn't been resolved much less reduced if you ask most of us Malaysians. Ask anyone and they will tell you that spotting police patrolling the streets either on foot or in cars is almost like striking the lottery. As stated, I stay in SJ but I work in the heart of downtown KL & frequently walk around Jln Raja Chulan & Bukit Bintang during lunchtime etc. These are busy places with tons of tourists; hardly any cops in sight at all save for those directing traffic during rush hour. Contrast this with major cities around the world; NY, London, HK, Singapore, police presence is visible everywhere and this definitely has an impact on would be criminals. In fact, the sergeant told me just now that even with a shortage of men, what he's trying to do is to get 1 policeman in a patrol car to patrol & his instructions if he comes across anything are to radio for backup as there normally should be 2 of them in 1 vehicle. He agreed that the visibility of the police has been proven to reduce the incidence of crime. So, if you say that there are an extra 30,000 officers deployed to hotspots, how come we aren't seeing them? Or are they all hiding behind some bushes somewhere?

I truly hope that as a law-abiding tax paying (the 10% who supports the balance 90% as you point out frequently, Datuk Idris), that more concrete action will be taken ASAP to bring a greater police presence where it is truly needed. The 'broken glass theory" works which I believe Rudy Giulani implemented when he became NY mayor & subsequently reduced crime drastically. We need to see this happening here. When people don't give a damn about speeding past red lights, breaking traffic rules at whim, defacing public property, dumping illegally, how do you address the bigger crime issues? There has to be a return to civility and abiding by the law. That will only happen if there's a fear of getting caught, which I can say with certainty that at this point of time, is virtually non-existent.

I hope this letter won't be filed away and forgotten as I would expect a response on how the government of the day is going to proactively make us feel that much safer about this country which we call home.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Arvin Chia

Jawatankuasa Penduduk MPSJ Zone 3 (JKP3) has sponsored a car for the Voluntary Patrol Unit (VPU). This will enable the VPU Team to patrol consistently.

While many were skeptical that such a voluntary initiative will not last long, and would fizzle out after a few months, I'm proud to say that this team has gone on for nearly 2 years, and will celebrate its 2 year anniversary on January 11, 2012.

Thank you to all volunteers, and VPU chief, Mr Mak Meng Chin.

For the 2012 budget, which was just passed in MPSJ last month, we have made some progress & improvements.

1. Cutting of administration overheads and transferring the amount to road maintenance and road works to the tune of RM3mil
2. Adding RM300,000 allocation towards our Crematorium, to add a second burner

This doesn't include savings from the termination of Alam Flora contract. Once we have finalized the new contract, then the savings would be allocated towards other services.

MPSJ allocates RM7mil for road maintenance

By THO XIN YI
thoxinyi@thestar.com.my

Something that MPSJ is considering imposing for future renovations...


Published: Fri, 04 Nov 2011

SUBANG JAYA: A checklist of pre-existing damage at homes has been proposed as a requirement before any renovation is approved to avoid disputes between neighbours.

Records of cracks or leakages can be used by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) as an official document to make sure houses undergoing renovation do not damage neighbouring houses.

“Fights and disputes always arise when damage occurs and both parties deny culpability,” said MPSJ councillor Ng Sze Han on Monday.

Ng, who made the proposal at the council’s full board meeting, said that the renovations could proceed more smoothly if any existing damage is identified beforehand .

MPSJ’s current rules, requiring home owners who want to carry out renovations to obtain consent from neighbours, do not help solve disputes that might happen during and after renovation works.

“Even with the immediate neighbours’ consent, there will still be disputes when cracked walls or leakages appear during renovation,” said Ng.

Neighbours will also be at odds with each other when no one wants to take responsibility for the damage.

“We will review it again at the one stop centre (OSC) meeting next month and see how this checklist can be incorporated into the current regulations,” said MPSJ president Datuk Asmawi Kasbi.

Writer: Brenda Ch'ng

SUBANG JAYA: Cleaning abandoned or empty homes is eating into council coffers, and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) is trying to find a way to make irresponsible owners pay.

MPSJ has spent RM47,990 to clean the compounds of over 4,000 homes since 2007.

Cleaning includes the cutting of overgrown grass and clearing of drains to prevent disease-carrying insects or rodents from breeding.

The issue was disclosed at the council’s full board meeting on Wednesday.

effective plan to make people pay up, like maybe getting a court order, to tell residents they can’t get away with not paying,” said MPSJ councillor R Rajiv.

He said these irresponsible homeowners are taking the council for granted by expecting them to clean their yards every time a neighbour complains.

Some houses are even missing doors and roofs, making it uncomfortable for neighbouring residents.

“Most residents fear that these abandoned homes with overgrown grass may serve as a hiding place for robbers,” said Rajiv.

He said although it is expensive to sue all the homeowners, a solution is needed to compel payment.

MPSJ president Datuk Asmawi Kasbi (pic), however, is un- sure if getting the court involved is the right way forward.

“To sue them will cost us more then they owe as the legal fees are high. It just doesn’t make sense,” he said.

The council charges each house a fee of up to RM100 or more for cleaning, depending on the size of compound and amount of work needed.

These cleaning works are done by either council-appointed contractors or MPSJ’s own staff.

According to council protocol, homeowners will be issued a two- week notice to clean up their premises before the council steps in.

However, some homeowners are not contactable, while others rent out their property and are waiting for new tenants to clean up the house.

The council is still brainstorming on the best way to resolve this issue.

Of course the selected poor (20 from each of the 24 zones = 480 poor residents) will enjoy a nice hotel dinner, I don't think that issue is being questioned. But the issue is, is this the right way to spend RM 60-70,000 on something that is titled "Pembasmian Kemiskinan". This year, RM200,000 has been allocated by MPSJ to run various courses/programmes for skill training. However, due to budget limitation, the program could only be run on 13 out of 24 zones. Money saved from this dinner, could fund 4-5 more programs.

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This idea of spay/neutering a stray animal, and subsequently releasing the animal back to the community has been strongly advocated by Animal Welfare NGOs & animal lovers. By releasing the spayed animal back into the community, with proper feeding and management, the animals can live out their natural lives, instead of being put down at the animal pounds (as is the practice throughout Malaysia today).

However, the biggest challenge towards implementing this humane idea is the community's acceptance of it. Complaints to MPSJ regarding strays animals still rank in the top 5 of all complaints received by MPSJ each month. It seems that people simply don't like the idea of stray animals around their neighbourhood, be it for fear, or nuisance.

Below is an example of Spay/Neuter & Release for Stray Animals implemented in Singapore...

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_728745.html

First official cat feeding station launched in Yishun

By Daryl Chin

The common area under a block of flats in Yishun Ring Road has been turned into the first official cat feeding station on Sunday.

This will be the first of about 40 more such stations located around the Chong Pang area, or one for every three blocks.

A notice, which includes guidelines on responsible feeding of stray cats, will be hung next to each feeding spot.

Besides this, results from a survey done with 2,523 households in Chong Pang were also revealed.

The reason I proposed this was to make it easy and popular for residents to call MPSJ on disposing of bulky waste, rather that illegally dumping them by the padang or street corners.

Since less than 10 people call every month, the amount that we raise from this exercise is virtually nothing. And we still have to spend on collecting it from the dumping spots.

Since we are not earning anything much, its better we just waive this fee, to reward the responsible citizens of Subang Jaya, and to encourage more to call, instead of illegally dumping.

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Published: Fri, 04 Nov 2011

SUBANG JAYA: A proposal for the municipality to provide free bulk waste collection in a bid to stop illegal dumping was shot down by Datuk Asmawi Kasbi.

“We cannot do it for free as there are still expenses to pay, like transportation. Residents who want their bulk waste collected will have to pay RM60,” said Subang Jaya Municipality (MPSJ) president.

The idea was raised by MPSJ councillor R Rajiv, during the council full board meeting on Monday.

Rajiv said that the free service would stop the public from dumping their waste along streets and empty plots of land.

Bulk waste, which includes refrigerators, sofa sets and other big items, will only be collected by the council if residents call MPSJ and request for a pickup.

“If we charge, very few people will call. But if its free, I’m sure many people will call the council to collect it from their homes,” said Rajiv.

Currently, only a handful of residents are paying for bulk waste collection while the majority are dumping it illegally, hoping it will be collected in a few weeks.

He said MPSJ should make it free for now to cultivate the habit of calling the council’s bulk waste collection hotline whenever they want to get rid of things.

“If we don’t do this, there will just be more and more illegal dumping happening in Subang Jaya, creating an eyesore for the community,” said Rajiv.

But Asmawi explained that MPSJ has other plans to tackle bulk waste collection.

“We will be placing Roro (Roll-on/ Roll-of) bins at areas with the most bulk waste disposal all around MPSJ, and people can dump their unwanted things there,” he said.

Starting next year, these Roro bins will be placed where they are needed, according to a schedule, and MPSJ will haul away the bulk waste for free.

Residents will be notified by the council on when and where the bins are placed in their areas.

MPSJ is currently identifying areas and drawing a schedule to cater to those living in Sri Kembangan, Subang, Sri Serdang and Puchong.

Signalling to MPSJ Enforcement that illegal dumpers can be traced and can be caught. We need to start enforcing to produce good behavior.



Published: Fri, 21 Oct 2011

SUBANG JAYA: Homeowners who unwittingly left their addresses in piles of trash got a visit from an irate Hannah Yeoh last Saturday.

The Subang Jaya assemblyperson, accompanied by Subang Jaya Municipal councillors Dr Loi Kheng Min and Rajiv Rishyakaran, decided to confront the culprits in an effort to curb the irresponsible behaviour.

The culprits were identified by addresses on letters and receipts found in garbage bags tossed on sidewalks in SS18 and SS19.

The man who greeted them at the first house was confused and then embarrassed when told of the purpose of their visit.

“I didn’t even know about this, it was probably my wife. I am really sorry, I will talk to her,” said the man.

However, the next visit was less successful because the residents refused to answer the door.

Undeterred, they called the house using the phone number on a receipt found a few streets away, but were told that the people responsible for dumping the trash had all recently passed away.

“It seems that a call from us was like a call to heaven,” said Rajiv.

He pointed out that illegal dumping was due to the lack of civic-mindedness by sections of the community and not because of lack of action by MPSJ.

“If you doubt they are doing their job, come to me; I want everyone, especially the residents, to play their part in solving this issue,” he said.

Yeoh said she hoped the culprits realise that their actions affect the whole community.
“Confronting them will make them think twice,” she said.

Dear Ahmad Suhaili Idrus,

Thank you for responding to my letter (response below). It is great to hear that Pemandu doesn't regard the MRT as the sole factor to improving public transport in the Klang Valley, and the solution has to be an integration of multiple modes, including the LRT and buses.

And we also acknowledge the efforts to improve the buses that you have listed, which by itself are commendable moves and efforts, which definitely has benefit.

However, we need to return to the core question - with an increasing population heading to 2020, how do you get Klang Valley citizens to abandon private cars for public transport. And towards that goal, more, much more must be done. Such as:

1) Increasing quantity of buses beyond 1450 (by 2012). Example, London, a city with extensive rail network and a population of over 7mil has 6800 buses. Buses are so important to complement rail, as there is no way you get link everyone within walking distance to a rail station.

2) Bus stops were refurbished and some new ones built - but an important element is still not installed - guides/journey planners. Unless you are already a regular public transport user, this makes it very difficult to learn the possible routes and thus use public transport.

3) No journey planner, which helps users get information on how to get from any one point to another. Examples of these are in Singapore (www.transitlink.com.sg) & Chicago (www.goroo.com). We need a similar journey planner, and one that covers all modes of transport, and all operators (not just RapidKL).

4) The bit up, bit down system for RapidKL should have been made compulsory for all public transport operators. Also, like Singapore, a discount should be given to users of electronic payment, to (a) speed up boarding of buses/trains, and (b) to gain important information on where people are traveling, to effectively improve routes and services.

5) Must have a program to recruit more bus drivers, as the industry is facing severe shortage of bus drivers. Incentives, "bus driving school scholarship" and other measures need to be implemented. This also augurs well for ETP's goal of job creation.

We know there's a lot to fix in public transport. And all effort must be geared with the single largest objective of getting people to want to leave their private cars and use public transport. And we are happy to work with Pemandu and SPAD towards improving public transport. We just hope that equal emphasis be given to other aspects of public transport and not just the MRT.

Sincerely,
Rajiv Rishyakaran
TRANSIT

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My original letter to Datuk Sri Idris Jala & Pemandu
http://www.rajiv4malaysia.com/2011/11/minister-is-wrong-klang-valley-will-be.html

Response from PEMANDU:
http://etpblog.pemandu.gov.my/posts/2011/11/03/mrt-is-integrated-with-lrt-ktm-monorail-and-bus-systems/

We refer to the letter ‘Idris Jala is wrong: MRT is not the only solution for Klang Valley’, written by Rajiv Rishyakaran from TRANSIT

Presumably, the writer was referring to Dato’ Sri’s response to a question during the recent ETP Turns One event, in which he said:

“MRT is absolutely in my opinion totally and utterly needed for our city. If we don’t have an MRT I can tell you, by the year 2020 this city will be choked.

The exact point where Dato’ Sri Idris Jala makes reference to the MRT project can be found in this video here: http://youtu.be/FmkCUl5TvXM?t=22m44s

We wish to clarify Dato’ Sri Idris Jala did not say that MRT is the only thing that will prevent Klang Valley from choking up by 2020.

The MRT project is part of an integrated and sustainable transport system for Greater Kuala Lumpur / Klang Valley, whose population is expected to hit 10 million people by the year 2020. Without the additional public transport capacity provided by the MRT integrated with the LRT, KTM, monorail and bus systems, the city will be choked by traffic, making it less livable for its residents and being an impediment to attract investors.

This fact has been communicated extensively, via several open days, engagements with the public and in the print, broadcast and digital media.

In fact, the Government is undertaking several initiatives under the National Key Result Area (NKRA) for Urban Public Transport to improve the quality of public transport. These efforts are being implemented by various agencies under the Ministry of Transport, RapidKL, SPAD, and as mentioned above, have already been communicated to the public on many occasions.

With reference to buses :-

• The improvement of bus journey times by implementing Bus Expressway Transit (BET) services, and commissioning studies on the possibility of implementing dedicated bus rights of way such as bus lanes and Bus Rapid Transit systems and adding an additional 850 new buses on the roads from 2010 – 2012 by Rapid KL, bringing the total number of buses to 1450 by 2012 – 200 new buses in 2010, 400 new buses in 2011, 250 new buses in 2012.
• Upgrading of 634 bus stops in 2010, 468 refurbished bus stop in 2011 across 7 PBTs with plans to build an additional 306 new bus stops in 2011 to ensure a bus stop is within 400m for 70% of the population by 2012
• Reorganising the bus network in the Klang Valley in 2011 on completion of Urban Public Transport Masterplan by SPAD
• Implementing integrated smart ticketing “Bit Up” and “Bit Down” which was launched on February 25, 2011 by RapidKL and sold on all RapidKL buses
• Decongesting the city center by approximately 500 express buses with the establishment of the Integrated Transport Terminal (ITT) in Bandar Tasik Selatan removing the load off the Puduraya terminal. Further initiatives include a new ITT in Gombak by 2012 to cater to eastcoast and north bound express buses which will decongest the city center by a further 300 express buses.
• Introducing performance standard monitoring for all public transport services

With reference to the LRT :-

• The RapidKL LRT Kelana Jaya Line has improved its capacity and services with 22 new 4–car train sets starting from December 2009 with reduction in headway (interval between consecutive train arrivals) from 2.8 minutes to 2.5 minutes
• Further initiatives include adding 35 sets of 4-car trains by 2012 and adding line extensions from Sri Petaling to Putra Heights and Kelana Jaya to Putra Heights to be operational by 2014
• There is going to be interconnectivity between the MRT, LRT and KTM Komuter. There are 2 MRT-LRT interchanges one at Pasar Seni (Kelana Jaya line) and Taman Maluri (Ampang line) and 2 MRT-KTM Komuter interchanges at Sungai Buloh and Kajang. The MRT will also have a station near KL Sentral where the station will be linked to the transportation hub via an underground walkway with travellators, lifts and escalators. The distance between the MRT station and the KL Sentral complex is about 200m.

With reference to KTM Komuter :-

• Adding 38 sets of 6-car trains to be delivered starting end 2011, doubling current capacity, with reduction in headway form 20 minutes to 7.5 minutes on major sections.

As for the MRT, the Klang Valley currently has a shortage of rail-based public transport coverage, with less than 20km of rail per million population. Public transport oriented cities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and London have more than 40km of rail per million population.

The MRT is a necessity as it will help to increase rail-based public transportation in the Klang Valley, and together with improvements to the existing urban transportation system, the Government hopes to increase the public transport modal share in the Klang Valley from the current 17% to 50% in 2020.

Ahmad Suhaili Idrus,

Director

NKRA Urban Public Transport

NKEA Greater Kuala Lumpur / Klang Valley