Friday, October 22, 2010

When Squatter Mentality Reigns



They finally fixed CCTV in each of the two lifts at the condo. Spied the orb-like thingy, black and opaque, stuck to the lift ceiling a couple of days back. Frankly, I'm glad to see them there.

One would have thought people living in a reasonably upmarket highrise in a middle-class housing development like Taman Tun Dr Ismail would be civic-minded enough not to litter and smoke indiscriminately.

Sadly, they do. Despite a big "No Smoking" sign on the lift wall, one could still catch tje occasional whiff of cigarette smoke when one stepped into one of the two carriages. It was very annoying, to say the least.

Yet another sign cautioned residents not to throw their rubbish out of their unit windows. I couldn't believe some people actually did this sort of thing. How uncivilised!

Every floor has a dedicated trash room/dumpster with a humongous green bin big enough to chuck one's freezer in. Use it, for God's sake!

And the other day, the bibik (maid) who comes in twice weekly to clean up our place told us to keep our 'good' slippers and sandals in the covered shoe rack inside.

"Bisa kecurian di sini, Puan (there have been cases of theft here, ma'am)," said she. Apparently, the ones swiped thus far were leather footwear. So now only our nondescript flip-flops are left out there.

PS: No finger-pointing here. Suffice to say lots of people move about daily at this highrise; househelp (stay-ins or otherwise), janitors and cleaners, delivery people, labourers and construction workers (all those neverending renovation works), guests of residents ......

Guess the security folks just have to be extra-vigilant in discharging their duties...

6 comments:

Pak Zawi said...

Kama,
It is shocking to know that people living in that upmarket place of yours are having that kind of mentality too. Time to move to a gated community where there are less number of people living.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Puteri,
You're being watched now. Beware! Don't you feel like being in a Big Brother episode? purrr....meow!

Unknown said...

no need for the p.s disclaimer, lady..even Winona Ryder did it..:)

Kama At-Tarawis said...

pak zawi - given half the chance i would, pak, tapi pak abu here likes the convenience of condo living, so ikut ajalah..:-)

cat - there goes crotch-scratching and nose-picking, cat..LOL!

pakmat - rich people lift stuffs from supermarkets just for the heck of it, and then blame it on depression.. such is dunia, eh pak mat ...

louis said...

Unfortunately one just cannot rely on people, at all socioeconomic levels to police themselves or to be considerate of others. As a matter of fact the more upscale the development in the USA, the more stringent rules and enforcement of rules you'll find, gated community or not, precisely because you cannot count on self discipline and consideration. Even on cruise ships at the first safety drill it is always emphasized that passengers must not throw items from their verandahs, something that would seem obvious, wouldn't it? So, that closed circuit monitoring of your elevators is a good idea in any building. The results of such inconsiderate behavior such as throwing items from a highrise had a deadly consequence in Penang last week.
In case you wonder how i wandered on to your site, it's because it was recommended by Pat (http://theenglishcottage.blogspot.com/) in reference to an earlier post.

Kama At-Tarawis said...

louis - couldn't agree with you more, louis.. and thanks for dropping by my humble abode..