BH,
I shall answer your misguided attempt at sarcasm. My comments in bold italics (don't read anything into this because I cannot change font color from where I am posting this).
On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 10:22 PM, bayibhyap<[email protected]> wrote:
So much have been said about the topic and even an e-mail has been circulated in our Yahoo! e-Group to invite our residents to read my initial post about car stickers. I did not think I deserve such honour! :)
The heads up in the Yahoo group is to highlight both your post and replies. Nothing to do with honor but the fact that the memberships in both sites are not identical. This is until the proper PH portal is ready. Your post was relevant and pertinent and as many residents must read it together with the replies and comments.
1. There was no engagement with the residents of Puchong Hartamas about the issue of charging the residents for the stickers. We have an e-Group, this partichlar puchonghartamas website and a recently erected noticeboard in the playground and yet the residents were not told of any intention of this scheme prior to the sudden announcement by the secretary to apportion and to levy on the residents based on the number of cars.
The notice board was vandalized a few days after it was put up. The memberships in the existing two sites will have doubled at least after information was collected last weekend. It is nevertheless still not exhaustive.
The objective was to engage residents as they show up. Notices were circulated and a banner was put up. You more than anyone else should realize that committee are volunteers and cannot be expected to be as perfect as you want them to be. What is wrong with telling residents in person as the come to the "booth"? Why be so petty? You mean they must be foretold so that they can budget for it?
2. The core issue is not the number of cars but the arbitrary decision made by the committee to charge for red stickers if a resident needs more than two. Comments have been made subsequent to my earlier post to show how some other residents who have more cars were far more magnanimous whereas I had probably made a big deal over a small matter. And of course, the message was for me to shut up and pay up!
Nothing arbitrary about the decision. If it were, there would not be two types of stickers in the first place.
Yes you did make a mountain out of a mole hill.
2. Following my earlier objections, the secretary replied that he had meant that if a resident needed more stickers than the two red ones allowed per resident, he could buy additional red stickers, not yellow ones. But a comment by Brian said he has 5 cars in his household (Wow!) and he got two free red stickers and purchased 3 yellow stickers. Wait a minute, didn't I just say the secretary mentioned that residents could purchase additional red stickers? Someone please tell Brian. He probably didn't know what the secretary said. Or perhaps he really didn't mind the colour of the stickers.
As far as I know, Brian's two sisters visit him every weekend. I do not think he is obliged to spell everything out to you.
Well, I can only say this. Just because you don't mind doesn't mean I won't mind. If you allow someone to slap you around (in a fit of magnanimity, maybe), it doesn't mean that I will have to imitate you blindly! As I said above, Brian is not obliged to explain to you his seemingly magnanimous nature. Why are you so fired up over Brian?
I am a resident and I have a right to be treated as one. I am proud to be a resident of Puchong Hartamas (not a regular visitor, mind you)!
Which PH resident wouldn't? Which PH resident is not treated as one?
3. Cars that ferry children to the kindergarten are a different matter all together. The kindergarten is a business in our residential area and these cars are mostly traffic from outside Puchong Hartamas. They increase the traffic within our compound and to an extent, even pose a possible security breach. That's why they should be made to pay.
They are regular visitors. Give the kindergarten a break ok? We have many, many young families in PH.
Incidentally, what about the van that goes round our houses selling dim sum, pau and soya bean milk? And other likewise vehicles?
I understand most matters including the vendors you mentioned will be tackled in due time. It is easy to demand immediate action and if the pressure was put on you as a committee member I wonder how eloquent you would be. No committee member is being paid to work for you or anyone in PH and I think they are trying their utmost including sacrificing personal work time. The least you can do is to show some class and be gracious.
4. The secretary said that I should have directed my post to Ramesh, who is now the Chairman of the PHRA and who is in charge of the arrangements. My dear secretary, was there any mention in your announcement that Ramesh was the person in charge? Anyway, if you read my post, I was just voicing my thoughts...ranting, as some would say. I was not even directing my post at anyone and I must say that the angry sarcasm in some of the replies and comments took me by surprise indeed! I must have hit a sore spot somewhere. My apologies if I did. Your comments were pertinent and relevant and warranted answering. Your sarcasm in your comments also needed answering. No sore spot with committee members who dare to stand up and be counted. You should be glad to have these people rather than snipe from the sidelines. Constructive criticism wrapped in sarcasm and insinuations becomes counter-productive.
And, if I may observe, to date the Chairman seems to have taken a most quiet stance. Hello, is he there? Indeed, some past office bearer who has supposedly resigned (I have indeed resigned and am merely assisting the committee as a volunteer since I am also conversant with particular issues. If you cannot find the charity in you to volunteer your services, then refrain from criticizing those who can. Show some class mate! To insinuate that the PHRA committee takes instructions from me would show you out to be the ingrate that I hope you are not. Please appreciate every single one of them. ) seems to have taken on a more active role in directing the residents to read my post. I started the Yahoo eGroup and still own and moderate it. Anyway I explained above, it has nothing to do with honoring you so no need for mistaken flattery. Thank you for your effort. Otherwise I would not have received so many calls of support to my cell phone from residents whom I did not even know previously. Good for you. Perhaps you better take over from Ramesh soon.
5. Indeed there was even a chap (the chap is me, Cheah Keat Swee) who invoked a suspiciously profane call to my mother by quoting another blogger. Have we come to this depraved level that we need to do this? I used the word "Niamah!!!" and intentionally paraphrased Patrick Teoh precisely to avoid such accusation from you. The "Niamah" referred to the situation and never, never your mother. There was no need to. If you are so. depraved as to want it to refer to her then it is entirely your issue. It appears I have over-estimated your command of the lingo notwithstanding the fact that you majored in English.
6. My thoughts are that
(a) All the residents who pay their monthly security dues have a right to go to their homes unimpeded, save for the normal security checks. Unless the guards are checking all the residents, a resident who has paid his security charges up to the current month should not be stopped. Agreed but if there are no stickers, do you want to be the one who stands at the gate everyday to identify who is or who is not a resident?
(b) If a red sticker is used to identify a resident's car, a resident who has paid his security dues up to date is entitled to receive the necessary red stickers for all the cars in his household. If a fee is charged for each sticker, every sticker has to be charged the same fee, from the first to the fifth or sixth or even more. Really don't know why you mean.
(c) Membership of the PHRA is not compulsory (but of course, residents who think that the committee is doing a good job are at liberty to join and to pay their subscription fees to support the association). Not compulsory but recommended. The issue of security stickers is linked to residential status (if you are living within the confines of our walled community) and not whether or not the resident is a member of the PHRA.Absolutely correct. In other words, if you live here you have a right to be part of any security arrangement paid for with the fees you pay monthly for this community's security maintenance. Correct. So what is your beef?
(d) The supplemental agreement empowers the PHRA to collect monthly fees from the households within our community, only after the developer has assigned the rights of collection to the PHRA. At this point in time, there has been no announcement as to whether the rights have been assigned. The secretary had shown a proposed copy of the document early in this website not there has been no update to this issue since. Perhaps the secretary can enlighten us further on this? Regardless whether the assignment has been done or not, I would encourage all the residents to pay their monthly dues so that the security services are not compromised. And if the agreement has been signed I would encourage to put this on the website so that the residents are updated. I will let Ramesh answer you this. If there is no assignment, he will be the first to give up, stop sacrificing quality time with his family and the whole PH community can go fcuk itself!
"...and the whole PH community can go fcuk itself! " ???
Surely you can do better, mate? Show some class lah!
I believe I have made my point.
BH, so all your purpose here is to instigate people?
I supposed to learn from you on secretary work, but there was nothing to learn. Now I even feel I should distance myself from you for you didn't show the characteristic of a leader.
Save all the energy to write. Just go to field and start do work. I haven't been sleeping properly for the past few weeks due to all this PHRA works.
Talk is cheap.
I was referring to Ramesh's sentiments. I think you need to learn more about perception. It appears language alone is not enough, BH.
Yeah talk is cheap. That has been the problem in the past, NATO.