OBJECTIVES OF aradamansara.com
In response to the accusation that articles have been posted in aradamansara.com with a hidden agenda, I wish to clarify. As most of these articles are either posted or initiated by me I feel a sense of responsibility. I do not hide behind a pseudonym. Articles are posted either as HN or Hannah Ng.
All articles have been posted as they have/should have a relevance/interest to the GENERAL Ara Damansara community. ‘Importing’ news about other communities serves only to enlighten our own community on the issues discussed. Hopefully we learn from their mistakes and don’t make the same ones.
There is no intent to support, oppose or provoke any one group in particular. There is no agenda except to enlighten and show that there are ALWAYS 2 sides to a coin and 2 sides to any argument.
I wish to re-emphasise that the objective of this site is to keep residents informed about happenings in AD and to form a common platform for residents so that they can be united in one objective, which should be to create a harmonious place for people to live in and families to grow up.
The comments/forums are for residents to state their opinions for or against the topic being discussed. It is about discussion – so that those who are not certain about any particular topic can get a clearer picture.
If you feel strongly about something and wish to comment about it, please do so. But do remember : rudeness, vulgarity or provocation will only reduce the reader’s perception of the writer’s opinions and therefore nullify his/her own written words.
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I wish to add that all comments should be backed up with facts whenever practically possible.
Also, commenters should be more discreet in revealing names on this site – a simple nickname is sufficient.
Indeed. If any one is a strong believer of free speech, then you allow and also respect dissenting views. There are a couple of hundreds of visitors to this site and all have the rights to express one’s opinions. No one will be allowed to bull doze his or her way and as moderators of this site, I can assure you, we will take appropriate actions when necessary.
As much as it is rational to claim that “there are two sides to the coin” and “freedom of speech and rights to express one’s opinion” in Aradamansara.com, I cannot help but partly agree w BraveHeart’s view: i.e. the recent few postings of articles outsourced from other community’s websites seem to be very strongly & peculiarly lopsided to support the negative, with regard to the installation of fencing by residents.
As you all are most certainly aware, the Alissia & Atillia phase is the only one w such fencing installed. This was only made possible through a lot of effort (literally sweat & toil) by a handful of our dedicated RA members who spent many hours in meeting residents & various authorities, taking into consideration all relevant views & options available to us, legally & financially. Our actions to eventually erect this fencing in Aug 2009 is not without substantial support from Allissia-Atillia residents (90% to-date), and numerous visits to consult the local authority & SimeDarby. There is a lot that can be explained to substantiate how & why we have gone ahead w it. If anyone on this website is interested to know more, you can contact our RA committee for further details.
In the meantime, I realise that people out of Atillia-Alissia phase who have not experiences going through this tedious process (of fencing up a neighborhood) and even from the 10% of our own who do not support/do not care, but are so free-willed to issue biased statements on what we have achieved, and import postings in the negative light that would rock our balance.
We have heard some go as far as to say our fencing “looks filmsy”, “our card system won’t last for long”, etc. etc. Unless you have gone through the entire hullabaloo involved in getting this done, you would not be expected to know the facts. However, the Aesop tale of The Fox & the SourGrapes does come to mind…
I think Hannah has done a good job in sharing these information to us, there is so much for us to learn about. I am sure Allissia-Atillia will face many feedbacks from Ara Damansara residents as they are the FIRST to implement gates and all. Also, there are other phases who plan to follow the footstep, discussions are bound to happen.
Our website intend to provide as many information that is relevant to our community as we can, I have YET receive an article or news from Allissia-Atillia who defends their thoughts. I have only seen comments that are bombarding the author’s view.
We are merely sourcing articles, aggregating news and information from other sites. Some content are contributed by the members of Ara Damansara residents. If you have problems with what is written and not happy about it, do speak to the SOURCE.
sd6,
You have made a fair comment and stated your perception on the recent posts. Thank you.
Personally, I have not heard or read any of the comments that the “fencing is flimsy” or that “the card system will not last long”.
The recent articles have all been in relation to TTDI which is probably due to the fact that it is current news. I have also read news a while back concerning USJ5 and Damansara Jaya, with both areas having the same discussion as TTDI.
Fact is, there are many articles and letters on gating a non-gated area in the various papers. Too many to post when most of them debate the same tired issue of the pros, cons and the legality of gating a non-gated area.
The recent post on the police stepping in to resolve the TTDI gated crisis is a good post to put up simply because it is (hopefully) the stand taken by the police on the legality of the issue (though it does seem that a cetain professor in TTDI had to pull some strings with his high-ranking friend in the PDRM – whether this means anything, I don’t know). Simply put, it is illegal as the relevant laws have not been drafted at this point in time. It may be legal in the future but as the law stands now, it is illegal.
I propose that those who are affected by this issue (and the moderators of this site) actively look for articles or letters in the press that cover BOTH sides of the issue and to post them here. You can always email the link to the moderators at the email contact on this site.
jefrey, surely u are mistaken when u say u have YET to receive any news from Aliss-Atilia defending our thoughts. There were several, however I can only recall a few off-hand : braveheart, keevster, etc. who posted comments IN SUPPORT of the our beefed up security measures. It does not help either, that the forum has been removed (for upgrading?), so I can’t extract these old postings to quote today.
And if we are to stay true to the spirit of according respect & freedom of speech to everyone one this forum, then there is actually a very thin line between defining one’s opinion as “bombardment” opposed to “constructive criticism”.
If this strain of bias (against gated efforts) continues to prevail in this forum, I’m sad to say, aradamansara.com will end up no better a media of disseminating information than the primetime news & local newspapers which carry only self-serving news & propaganda.
I do also sincerely hope that with the forum currently immobilised, ugly war of words like that which occurred in June (by tennychua & co.) do not reoccur. It’s in the grapevine this morning that some parties have been served w a lawyer’s letter with regard to the defaming contents of that particular forum.
I look forward to receiving updates on the lawyer’s letter. I have very little respect for the legal process in Malaysia as it stands.
I wish to state that tennychua & co cannot be considered as turning the war of words into an “ugly” one. From what I remember, they never indulged in name-calling and threats of violence.
We have had someone else (whom I will not name here) who resorted to name-calling, threats to physically harm property and people, etc all disguised behind his online nickname. I am sure you will know who I am referring to and just because he/she lives in the gated phase, doesn’t make him a saint. I regret that his posts have been left on the forum for longer than necessary.
But all this is in the past.
Before I end, I wish to comment on your “strain of bias” comment. Again, it is a very subjective view, there may or may not be a “strain of bias” depending on the reader. The person who posted the articles has already clarified his/her position and I hope this can be accepted.
Fact is – gating a non-gated residential area is illegal in the eyes of the law. Shall we agree on this before we debate on other issues?
I think Jefrey meant to say that he has yet to receive an email with a write-up that defends the RA’s decision to gate the phase. I think it is not a good idea to pluck comments from the forum and put them up as articles. He might get a lawyer’s letter if he did just that!
“Fact is – gating a non-gated residential area is illegal in the eyes of the law.” – AGREE
“Fact is – gating a non-gated residential area is illegal in the eyes of the law.” – agreed
My two cents :
1.Personally,I love the good old days where neighbours looked out for each other rather than depend on outside help.
2.It is indeed an ugly sight to see when we come into Ara with all the different areas fenced up. Does not say much about the security of the area then.
3.On top of that they limit you to two cars, requiring you to buy more access cards if you have more cars.For a home of four drivers with four cars, I find it ridiculous..
4.Also,they require you to sign forms that states that you agree to all terms and conditions which funnily enough, have no terms or conditions attached to the form. One seriously cannot believe that Ara have residents would sign agreements without reading?!?
5.I verily believe that for those that wish to stay in a gated or guarded community, why did you not choose to stay in areas with such facilities in the first place?
Again, the above are my two cents.
By the way Hannah, many thanks for all your efforts.Don’t worry, a lot of us will and have ignored the ramblings of the inputs of people who name-call and self glorify their efforts.
Many thanks again.
It is worth 3 cents, not just 2 cents. This is after 3 articles put together. Nothing constructive.
It is the same old story. Supporters vs detractors. No amount of justifications will satisfy either party.
I look forward to articles imported from other RAs that talk about the postive feelings of thier residents after having security arrangement. However, so far I can only see the opposite being posted. Having said that, I hope we only post articles that is directly releavant to Ara Damansara.
Selamat Hari Raya everyone
With my bags packed, I can surely smile & go off on my holiday having observed the following activities over the past 2 days:
1)with the new police beat a stone’s throw away, a patrol car is seen making it rounds a few times a day in our neighborhood. Now, that is what I call Taxpayer’s money put to good use!
2)With the new fencing in place, the Alissia Atillia guards have less work patrolling the perimeters, leaving us more manpower & time to beef up surveillance at the entrance – an effective deterrent to would-be burglars.
3) Due to our well-established RA, almost everyone here knows their neighbor (we have an email list of everyone on every street). This has helped me over the past 2 years(despite my very hectic schedule) foster very good relations w my immediate neighbours, who have offered to keep an eye on my house while I’m away.
With all this in place, AD sure feels like a haven. And off I will go with peace of mind knowing that even while I’m away, my haven will be safe & sound & just as I left it.
In my opinion, all this, for a mere fee of RM50/mth, is Priceless.